Just Hold On - Daryl Dixon (TWD)

11.

*Lucia's POV*

"Ugh" I groaned as I felt Jackson jump on top of my sleeping body. He giggled at my obvious pain and I couldn't help but smile at him myself.

"Wake up," he said, shaking me gently.

I opened my eyes and looked at the six year old boy. He had a small smile across his face and he was giggling. Seeing him looking much better than the last few days brought a smile upon my face as well.

A small chuckle came from across the cell and I looked over to see Daryl leaning against the wall.

"Bob and Hershel said you two could come out today. I thought I'd come get you and we could go for a small walk. Get those legs moving again."

I looked back over to Jackson, silently asking if he felt okay enough to go, but my question was answered when he smiled down at me and his grin grew ten times the size it already was.

"Can we please go?" He asked, emphasizing the please.

I laughed a little bit and then looked back to Daryl who was still looking at me.

"Sure. Let's go, boys," I said back.

My body still ached, but seeing Jackson at the happiest he had been in a few days had me on my feet. I got up and put my shoes on, helping Jackson with his laces as well. Soon enough we were ready to follow Daryl out of the cell block.

"Lucia! Before you go, take these. And remember that you still need to rest, so don't push yourself too much," Bob said as he ran to meet us before we could exit the cell block.

I could feel Daryl tense up at the sound of Bob's voice. He wouldn't even look at the man as he handed me a couple medicine tablets and gave me the children ones for Jackson. Daryl scoffed and as soon as Bob turned to leave, he was gently pulling Jackson and I away.

"Alcoholism is a disease, Daryl. Addicts will do whatever they can to get their fix. We need to help him, not shun him. I'm not saying that what he did is okay, but you need to move past it," I said while looking towards the rough man.

He looked down at me and scoffed once again.

"Hell you know about alcoholism? It ain't no disease," he said back.

I looked ahead to see Jackson skipping gently. He paid no attention to the two adults' conversation behind him. He was too happy to be outside of that dark, stuffy cell block.

"After my parents died, I started drinking. At first it was just a few glasses of wine at night. Eventually that turned into a bottle. Then two or three bottles. After that, I got into the heavier stuff. I was spending hundreds of dollars on alcohol every week. Lillian and I would get into explosive fights over money. She almost dropped out to help with the bills.

"I was going to grief counselling sessions, but I had started going less and less. Then one day when I went, a guy came up to me. Said his name was Greyson and that he had noticed me coming less frequently. Asked if he could take me out for coffee so we could talk and I almost said no, but for some reason I agreed. We became friends and he told me that he was in AA. At first I didn't think it would work. He took me to a couple of meetings, but I thought they were bullshit," I laughed slightly, remembering how stupid I thought it was back then.

"He told me that I needed to really try it out. So I did. I made a promise that I would do it for a month and if it didn't help, I could stop. I had no intention of actually sticking to it after. We went to four meetings a day together. I would get up every day for a five am meeting and we'd spend all day going to them. Lillian and I strengthened our relationship. John and Kathleen had moved in beside us and they were very understanding. Everything came together again and I realized just how much it was affecting my relationships.