𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐌 (𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛)

𝐹𝑖𝑣𝑒

Everyone fell silent as they watched the girl crumple to the floor. Glenn stood frozen in his place, wide eyes and mouth agape as he stared down at her. The doctor was the first to move from his place and he rushed over to Charlotte's limp body.

"Is she alright?" Rick came over to Dr. Jenner, worry laced in his brow.

"She ain't look like it," T-Dog came up behind Glenn, the rest of the group watching the scene unfold from their spots in the room.

"She's fine," the doctor eyed T-Dog, "She's just dehydrated."

"Well, I have some water," Carol meekly offered, walking up to Rick with a water bottle.

"Thank you, but right now she needs an IV drip," the doctor responded.

From his own corner in the room, Daryl watched the dramatics. He couldn't help feeling guilty at the sight of her lying helpless on the floor. Daryl knew he had been an asshole to her and he knew that she hadn't done anything to deserve it.

He had seen her outside when Rick was screaming at a damn camera to get the doors open. She only had a knife while others stood armed with guns. Yet, she stood at the rear, ready to help defend a group of strangers she had only just met.

"Can someone, uh," Jenner motioned to Charlotte on the floor.

For a moment, Daryl considered stepping forward to help, but while thinking it over he got beaten to the punch.

"I got it," Shane called out and walked over to Charlotte, scooping her up so easily that it made her look weightless.

✯✯✯

My eyes opened, blurry and unfocused, to see Glenn sitting next to the bed that I had been placed on. 

"What happened?" I lifted my hand to rub my eyes and noticed the long plastic tube that was attached to my arm, leading up to an IV bag hanging on a metal stand near my head. I scowled at the tape-secured needle in the bend of my elbow and used my other hand to clear my vision.

"You fainted like I said you would," his voice fell.

I felt guilt form a knot in my stomach for not taking his advice. 

"At least I got this cool bag," my voice shook as it came out. Glenn let a small smile slip through his worried demeanor. He turned to the edge of my bed and picked up a pile of clothes that I hadn't noticed before.

"Carol dropped these off," he cleared his throat, "She offered to wash everyone's clothes and noticed that you don't have any extra stuff."

"I'll be sure to thank her," I slowly sat up and took the clothes from Glenn. 

"Thanks, for staying with me," I said to him.

"Well, someone had to make sure you didn't die," a light blush had spread across his cheeks.

"We're about to have dinner, you should come down. There's a shower over there," he pointed to the closed door on the right side of the room. I nodded in thanks and he left me alone in the room. The walls were all the same eggshell white with no pictures or shelves occupying its space. Even the bed looked bland with sheets that were a muted brown.

I grabbed a strand of my hair and smelled it, immediately getting a whiff of dirt and smoke.

✯✯✯

I finished rolling up the sleeves of a grey button-up shirt that Carol gave me, the loose fabric tucked into the waistband of my jeans. I felt like a kid again, wearing my cousin's hand-me-down clothes that were two sizes too big.

My gaze went back to the mirror above the sink before me. I felt lighter, with the sweat and dirt gone from my scalp and underneath my fingernails. I'd tried my best to comb through my hair with my fingers, though in the end, it wouldn't matter since I would eventually throw it back into a ponytail. 

A part of me felt shallow for still being concerned with how I looked. In retrospect, it wouldn't matter how pretty I was when I died, if my nails were filed and my split ends gone. Yet, I still found the sight of my unplucked brows to be a scary one.

I tore myself from the mirror and pushed away all thoughts about my appearance. I didn't want to waste any more time fretting about my looks while everyone else was enjoying dinner without me.

I let out a small sigh before leaving my room, feeling slightly nervous about showing my face after embarrassing myself in front of everyone in the group.

✯✯✯

(𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 5/5/20)