The Devils Eyes •Daryl Dixon•

F O R T Y - S I X : S O R R O W

My father slapped the scoop of the liquid food on my plate.

"No," I narrowed my eyes at him, not daring to eat the unknown contents in the food. It was like cafeteria food, but worse, it was undistinguishable. I couldn't even tell what kind of food it was.

"I said eat!" he shouted and yanked my head back, pulling tightly on my hair.

"I'm not eating that!" I screamed.

"Pathetic!" he growled and my head was flown forward, my face smacking on the table, my nose immediately beginning to throb. I wrapped my hand around my nose and lifted my head, keeping my slit eyes trained on the slob of food in front of me.

"I feed your ass, and you won't even eat!" he shouted, grabbing a spoon, and storming back to me. "Kids would be grateful to eat this stuff!" he slammed the spoon on the spot of the table next to me.

"Now eat."

I locked my view on the spoon before I looked back at him and snarled. "Never."

"Eat it!" he screamed and grabbed the spoon, dipping it in the food, hovering it inches from my mouth.

"Open your dirty mouth, and eat this." He growled.

"Make me." I challenged.

His hand was thrown forward, and the spoon was shoved into my mouth, earning a gag from me as I immediately began coughing.

I was thrown out the nightmare, and woke up coughing and gagging, blood spitting out of me.

I rolled over in pain, the pain exploding everywhere in my body and I fell of the bed, hitting the ground with a grunt.

I continued to cough, and stopped in attempting to cover my mouth, letting the blood spill out and hit the floor.

"Clementine!" I heard a gasp and felt two strong arms pick me up and lift me on the bed.

Hershel.

"Hey Santa," I plastered a smile on my face, coughing into my elbow.

My face twisted in disgust at the sight of the blood-soaked clothing.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, handing me a rag and pouring some liquid in a cup.

"Healthy as a horse," I said sarcastically before coughing once more into the rag.

I pulled it back and examined the blood.

"My baby..." I whispered, a tear spilling out.

"We won't truly know if it's survived until after you get over this," he says handing the cup to me.

"If I survive," I say sadly, taking the cup.

"You will," he said. "It's tea, made from elderberries."

I nod and slowly sip the hot liquid, the hot tea spilling into my mouth, touching every inch.

"The others," I say hoarsely, coughing lightly. "How are they?"

"The others are fine," Hershel said, grabbing his medical tools. "Daryl and Lee took some people on a run to get the medicine."

I nod, letting out another cough. "Anyone else get sick?"

"Doctor S," he said glumly, placing the stethoscope on my chest. "Take a deep breath for me please."

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out, hearing myself wheezing.