A Hard Man To Love

Temper

You didn't run into Andrea or her creepy boyfriend again over the next month but Caesar did come to the ER a few times trying to intimidate you. He'd tell the triage nurse he had some urgent issue, of course without giving his real name, and you'd come out to the waiting room to find him sneering at you. The hospital you worked for was in the city so his boss being Mayor of your little town held no sway with the police officers that worked security there. Once they realized he was just there to threaten you they walked him right off the property. Of course it wound up pissing creepy crawly Phil off even more that he wasn't getting to Merle through you. The man definitely got off on intimidating women to get to their men. He tried the same thing with Carol at the daycare she ran but with Daryl at the garage right next door that failed miserably.

By the time Andrea was five months pregnant with what she still claimed was Merle's child the paternity test still wasn't done. There were rumors running around town that Merle refused the test and was going to be a deadbeat father winding up like his and Daryl's old man. The fact that Merle's temper was starting to get the better of him wasn't helping and he was laying into anyone that brought it up. That of course led to more whispers that maybe he was taking his temper out on you which couldn't have been further from the truth. Sure, did he and Daryl get into a few scuffles, of course they did, but other than snarling a little bit Merle still never took his anger out on you. All you really had to do was remind him you were always behind him no matter what and the snarling stopped. It was strange how so very different he was with you. Not a different man. Just a different temperment. As much as he loved his brother, Carol, and his nieces he could be surly with them as well when he was in a foul mood. He said you calmed the demons that chased him and made him want to be a better man.

You were at work in the ER one afternon when Daryl texted you that you needed to leave work for the rest of the day and to meet him outside the ER. Fortunately, since taking over as Clinical Manager of the ER you weren't always needed for patient care and that day was strictly a management day so you could leave. When you let your charge nurse know you had a family emergency she gave you a sympathetic look. She was aware of what was going on with Andrea and had been supportive, though you believed she thought the baby was Merle's. Frankly you suspected if there had been any truth to that Andrea would have jumped to a paternity test in order to have some control over Merle. The fact that she wasn't spoke volumes in your opinion.

When you walked out to the parking lot you found Daryl sitting out front on his motorcycle. Between the cigarette, sunglasses, leather jacket, and perpetual scruff he was intimidating to look at. There was definitely a don't fuck with me look going on, especially when he was on his motorcycle, but underneath it all he was a sweetheart of a man. Merle was the same way but his exterior was much harder to get through and he tended to keep up the gruff demeanor with anyone else even when he got to know them.

He put his cigarette out on the bottom of his boot and stuck it in the pack inside his jacket when he saw you coming toward him. While he would probably never quit smoking he didn't do it when Carol, the kids, or you were around.

"What's going on Daryl?" You asked when you were standing next to the handlebars of his bike.

Daryl pulled his sunglasses off to look at you and rested the hand holding them on his thigh, "Rick picked Merle up 'bout an hour ago. Got him down at the lockup."

"What?!" You exclaimed, fear and frustration mixed in your tone, but you refused to jump to conclusions.

"Yeah, apparently Martinez caught him goin' into Tom's store for some parts. They got into it, and ended with them fightin' in the street. Rick picked them both up," he told you with a slight edge to his voice.

You took in a deep breath and looked up to the sky while resting your hands on your hips. Nothing was going to stop you from marrying Merle but damnit if the saying hell hath no fury like a woman scorned didn't ring true right now. All of this because Andrea wouldn't give up on chasing after Merle. Still though, the end game wasn't clear. Creepy crawly Phil wanted something, but you couldn't figure out what. Merle must have something on him that he didn't even realize. Something big enough that it would ruin his chances at his gubernatorial run in a few years. All Merle would ever say was the man was sadistic and he didn't want you around him. His showing up at Merle's one-year sober party had been a not so surprising surprise considering neither he nor Andrea had been invited. They'd done it specifically with the purpose in mind of ruining the celebration which didn't work at all and that you knew spurred some of this. You were starting to think the dress shop had been a set up though.