Knife Edge [Daryl Dixon]

Chapter Two - The Fight (1/3)

There is only the fight to recover what has been lost.
T.S. Eliot

Rick watched the fast moving clouds roll above his head while he waited with Daryl on the infirmary porch. It was getting colder as the hours passed but when he tried to get Daryl to leave, he refused. So he stayed too. 

Daryl was tightly wound at the best of times. This saw him pacing along the edge of the porch. Rick had a list of questions but as much as he wanted answers, sometimes it was wise to back off and give Daryl his space.

What did those North Carolina plates mean? Was this the work of a group, or a predatory pack of men that Daryl had already taken care of? Where were the Saviors and were they going to come for Negan? But no matter how many times he dragged his mind back to those questions, all he could think about was how many times he had stood right here, on this very spot, waiting to hear if someone would live or die. 

Daryl pounced, crowding Siddiq when he slipped out of the infirmary onto the porch, 'How is she?'  

Siddiq clicked the door closed, 'It's too soon to say, Daryl. She's in a bad way but she's stable just now.' 

Daryl's jaw clenched. It was clearly not the answer he was hoping for.

Rick stepped in, 'What're her injuries?'

'Where do I start?' Siddiq exhaled wearily. 'She has an injury to her head.' He ran his fingers through his thick black hair above his left ear, 'I think that's caused a concussion. It might be a fractured skull but I can't know for sure. Time will tell.'

Daryl took a step closer to Siddiq, 'A fractured skull?'

Siddiq raised a hand as if to hold Daryl back, 'It might not be. As I said, only time will tell.'

Leaving Daryl to pace again, Rick prompted Siddiq to go on.

'Well, she has hypothermia. She's been badly beaten, more than once from the age of her bruises. And she's got some broken ribs.' He looked at Daryl, 'That was what affected her breathing, and together with the head injury are why she passed out.' He went on, 'Other than that, there's lacerations to her back and her throat is severely bruised... and,' he hesitated, 'she's been sexually assaulted.'

Rick passed a hand over his face. Daryl said he found Sarah after hearing screams in the forest but he had no idea she was this badly hurt. He had been a sheriff. Had seen the worst that people could do. But this? Now? He couldn't fit it inside his head. 

'When do you think she'll wake up? I need to speak to her.' He expected the stony look Daryl gave him, he was too close to what happened, but Siddiq blanched too. 

He tried to make them understand, 'We need to know who these men were and if there's more of them. Only she can tell us that.'

Siddiq paused as if he was weighing that up. 'Look,' he said, 'I don't know how long it'll be before she'll wake up, never mind be ready to talk to you. And you have to bear in mind she might not remember anything, it depends on that head injury.' 

Rick was about to push but Siddiq anticipated him, raising a hand at him this time, 'But when she wakes up, I'll let you know when I think it's worth a try.'

Rick nodded, 'As soon as.'

Daryl gave Rick one final flint-hard look then turned back to Siddiq, 'Can I see her?'

'She's unconscious Daryl. She won't know you're there.'

Daryl shrugged in response and Rick didn't fancy Siddiq's chances if he said no, but thankfully he stepped aside and let Daryl pass.