Shattered

Chapter Sixteen: Help

       "You're in no condition!" "I don't care." He grabbed my arm and stopped me. "No one's out there to save you." I pulled my arm away and walked out of the prison. I got on Nelly and Glenn unhooked the gate. I grabbed the bat and took out the walkers in my way. I rode into town having a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I saw the walkers and flipped out the bat. I went by and cleared out a line of them. I came back around and Nelly knocked a few of them down. I grabbed Daryl's shirt and pulled him up. I whistled at Nelly and she took off for the prison. I got on the motorcycle with Daryl unconscious behind me. I took off and grabbed the bag off the ground. 

         I stopped on the road and checked Daryl for any bites or scratches. I smiled slightly when I didn't see any until I saw the bullet wound. Not having anything else I pulled off my shirt and pressed it to his wound. I pulled him back onto the motorcycle and started moving again. I heard more gunshots and Daryl made a terrible yelping sound. I looked back and saw him arm hit. I got to the prison in a rush. Glenn opened the gate and I pulled in. "What happened?" "He got surrounded. He's clean though." He tried to help me until I pulled Daryl onto my back. I opened the door and Merle came after me. "Hershel!" "Lay him here." I laid him down and pushed everyone out knowing he needed to remove Daryl's shirt. Everyone walked to the lower level leaving only me upstairs with Hershel and Daryl. Merle came running up the stairs but stopped when he saw the blood on my hands and chest. "Grace.." "Merle.. I'm sorry." He put his arms around me and shushed me. I couldn't do anything but stare at Daryl.

       "He'll be fine." I started crying and grabbed onto his shirt. He just stood there not really knowing what to do. We sat down across from his cell and just watched. Hershel moved carefully pulling out fragments. Daryl flinched and would make a painful expression with each pull. I pushed back my hair and looked over at Merle. He stared at Daryl thinking hard about something. His past? His regrets? Revenge? It was hard to tell. Hershel walked out of the cell wiping off his hands. "How is he?" "Keep an eye on him." I nodded and went inside the cell. I pulled a chair over and watched his chest move up and down with every breath. "Please be ok Daryl.. There's so much I need to tell you."

        Carol walked up and I threw the blanket over him. "I brought you something to eat. I knew you wouldn't want to leave him." "Thanks.." She smiled and paused at the door. "Thank you for everything Grace. You don't get told that enough. You've saved all of us some more than once."  "It's what we do." She smiled and left the cell. I took a bite of the soup and looked over at Merle. He was still sitting outside the cell but moved on to play with his pocket knife. I put the bowl down and walked down the stairs. "I'm going for a smoke make sure someone is with Daryl." "I'll go." I nodded at Maggie and went outside. I lit a cigarette and sat on the stairs. About time I had one.

       I smashed it out and walked back inside. I was half way up the stairs when I saw him alone. I ran up the stairs and tripped over the chair knocking it over. I went in and threw the blanket off and checked for a pulse. I put my shaky hands on his chest and started CPR. Everyone came up and I slammed the cell shut while I worked on Daryl. "Come on Daryl.." Someone tried to pull me away from him and I punched them right in the face. All I heard was them hitting the ground. I didn't care who it was. Everyone decided to stay away from him while I tried to get him back. His eyes fluttered and he grabbed my wrist tightly. I checked his pulse and sank to my knees. "Welcome back Dixon.." I pulled the blanket up and looked over at Rick who was holding his bleeding nose. I left him alone and got a few glares but a smile came from Maggie and Carol's direction. I gave them a slight nod and they left with everyone else.

        I sat quietly next to her bed holding her pale hand. Doctors and nurses were in an out checking on her. I looked over at her bandaged and bruised neck. Her chest had a slight bruise from my first CPR performance. I stood up and pushed her hair back when her dark green eyes finally opened. "Im sorry.." "No Mary. I'm sorry. I should've saw that you were unhappy." She shook her head and put her hand up to her face. "You were at basic training. You wouldn't have known.."  I wiped the tears off her face and sat on the bed. "You saved my life." "No you saved your own. I just helped out a bit." I smiled slightly and the doctor came in to check on her. I sat back on the chair and sighed knowing this is my fault.

       I jumped awake by the sound of something moving. I leaned over Daryl and made sure he had a steady pulse and wasn't bleeding through his bandages. I completely forgot about not getting a shirt. I didn't trust to leave him alone again. I caught him with a slight smirk making me smile. "Thought you were a professional Dixon." "Better than you Ellis. You hurt?" I looked down at the blood and shook my head. "It's yours. Last time I left you alone for a smoke you died. I didn't want to take another chance." 

      I realized how close we were. His warm breath went across my cold skin giving me chills. I looked up at his blue eyes and saw so much more than his face every says. They told me the truth. He leaned up slightly. His chapped lips were so close to mine. I needed him, wanted him, craved him.. I heard footsteps and jumped away from him. I left the cell and went down to my own. I walked in and started wiping the blood off me. "Got some on your back." I jumped and saw Merle on my bed. "What do you need?" "Just wanted to check on you." I rolled my eyes and turned away from him grabbing a tank top off my bag. I reached back to undo my bra but pain went through me. I put my hand on the wall to keep from falling and heard Merle get up. "I'll get it." "Thanks.." "What? No argument?" "I trust you Merle. I don't see the racist pervert everyone else does." He undid the back and I changed into the tank top.

       "Still in pain?" "I'm fine." I sat on the bed trying to ignore every inch of my body on fire in pain. "Here." He tossed me a bottle and left my cell. I flipped it over to the label and saw that they were painkillers. I smiled and popped one in my mouth. I laid back on the bed and tried to sleep.