Tragic Coincidence | Daryl Dixon

Chapter Three

The gun shot rang out and made me wince at its loudness, I learned these infected walking around are attracted to loud noises...I learned that the hard way when i popped off a couple rounds at the beginning of all of this...it wasn't pretty and I barely got away with my life. It was like slow motion in my head, this man was walking calmly, just avoided death by inches and now hes on the ground...a bullet grazing his face.

I yelled out to whomever shot out the bullet "What the hell!" I screamed. "He isn't infected!" I added. I ran up to him and saw he was still conscious and wiping some blood off of the side of his face. "Where did it hit you?" I asked trying to grab his head to examine his wound, but he swatted my hand away and tried to get up. "I said go away Merle!" He growled to me. Who the hell is this Merle character he thinks I am?

The sounds of several pairs of feet came barreling towards me, drawing my attention away from him. I saw four armed men and a woman farther behind sprinting in our direction. "Why the hell did you shoot him?!?" I screamed, now realizing the man had passed out...probably from shock. I grabbed the mans shirt that was tied around my bag and pressed it hard against the side of his head. It looked like he would only need a few stitches and the bullet didn't do any irreparable damage. 

"is he alive? Did I kill him?" I heard a frantic woman's voice call out, and soon the woman had shoved her way past the men and sank to her knees beside me...I couldn't lie, it was nice to at least see another woman had survived all of this. She had curly blond hair pulled back behind a cowboy hat, and rather clean clothes for the end of the world. "Hes alive, just passed out" I told her, keeping pressure against his head. 

"Doc?" I heard a familiar southern drawl say behind me. I turned to see one of my former patients and his best friend that practically never left his side after he was shot in the side on duty. I smiled at seeing two familiar faces. "Take this" I said to the woman, motioning for the blood soaked shirt that was against the mans head, she quickly took it from my hands and continued what I had started.

"Mr.Grimes...Deputy Walsh, so glad to see you both!" I said and wrapped my arms around both of their shoulders, as they were standing so close to each other. "I don't think we need to be so formal with each other anymore Doctor James" Rick said to me with a grateful smile on his face. I was actually pretty shocked to see him, last time I had seen him he was still in a coma and half of the hospital staff was trying to eat each other. "This is incredible, I'm so happy you both made it through all of this. What about Lori, and little Carl? Are they ok? Are there more of you? I'm so happy to see you!" I said spouting off questions and comments left and right, just way too happy to see familiar faces after being alone for so long.

Rick and Shane both chuckled at my exuberance "We will tell you everything soon, for now I think we should get Daryl back to the house..kind of perfect a doctor like you just shows up when we need her the most" Rick told me winking, I guess the man i had spent the past few hours with was named Daryl then, and he was still unconscious...that could either be a good or a bad thing...

Rick and Shane both wrapped Daryl's arms around their shoulders and dragged him in the direction of a pretty white farm house. "Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" I heard a voice behind us yell out. I turned around to see A dark skinned man with a goatee holding a small dirty doll in his hands. Rick and Shane gave each other a worried glance, and I heard the woman mutter something I couldn't quite catch, but it didn't seem good...

Rick Grimes had been my patient for three months, I was his primary doctor and I performed the surgery on his side myself. He was in and out of consciousness for about a month until he fell into a coma. I never had any worries, until a virus broke out and he had no way of protecting himself. The older gentlemen that owned the farm was named Hershel and he insisted on working on Daryl himself, so I let him. Rick and Shane caught me up on what had been happening with them and their group since the world went to hell. I even met the rest of the group and Hershel's family.

I was shocked to hear that Rick's son Carl had been shot by one of the men on the farm, but he was a tough cookie and he pulled though. Lori was pleased to see me, as I had kept her company on the days her husband want awake, she welcomed me with open arms. 

An older man named Dale reminded me of a father I never had, he seemed wise and a person who didn't lose their values on the world when the dead rose to eat the living. Andrea I learned was the woman who shot Daryl, and she kept pacing around on the porch feeling guilty for what she did....as she should. Glenn was an Asian guy around my age who was funny, but seemed to be awkward around me, which made me laugh even harder.  I could tell he had a thing for Hershel's eldest daughter Maggie, who was a bit younger than us. And then there was carol.....I felt terrible for carol, her daughter had gone missing a week ago and no one could find her...that was why Daryl was passed out in the water....he had gotten hurt searching for the little girl names Sophia.....and he earned my respect just by hearing that......even if he kept calling me Merle...

"He's going to be ok" Hershel said walking out of his house....Rick, Shane, Glenn, Andrea and I were all sitting on the porch discussing what had been happening with their group all this time. "Thank god!" Andrea exclaimed wiping some sweat from her forehead. I smiled at Shane who was sitting beside me on the steps. When Rick was in the hospital, Shane has asked me out almost every single day...I of course said no...but that look in his eyes was telling me he still hasn't quite given up yet......and with that look I got up and followed Hershel back into the house. 

"Hershel?" I called out walking through the foyer looking for the white haired gentlemen. I heard him respond from the kitchen and went to find him. "I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself, Doctor Emma James" I said holding my tiny hand out for him to shake. He smiled at me and took it gently in his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Im sorry for taking your patient...I'm just used to being the only doctor on hand" He said with a  small chuckle. 

I just smiled at the man, "Which hospital did you work at?" i asked him leaning against the island in the center of the kitchen, intrigued to find another doctor around. "I'm actually a veterinarian" He said nodding to me as he placed a glass in the sink. "oh" Was all I said. 

"Would you mind if I took over for Daryl, I don't like to abandon a patient" I said with a small laugh.  He just nodded in my direction "Of course, You did a very good job out there for what you were working with, your welcome to all of my tools though....we could use you around here" He said smiling. He patted my shoulder and pointed to a door down the hallway I'm guessing was Daryl's room and walked upstairs....

When I walked inside he was lying on his side facing the opposite direction, and I couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. I gently pulled down the covers and discovered he was topless, but that wasn't what made me stare....he has scars...long healed scars all across his back...I knew exactly what this was from, I unfortunately had seen these cases far too many times. The rest of his stomach was wrapped in white bandages, a few drops of blood seeping through here and there. 

His eyes were closed, and he was sweating profusely. I took the small rag from the nightstand and dabbed it across his forehead. But when I went to take my hand away his arm reached up and he grabbed my hand tightly in his. I stumbled forward a little bit from the forcefulness of his grasp and found him staring at my confused. He rolled onto his back, but still held onto my hand. 

"Am I dead?" He asked me softly. I could only laugh at his question, as countless times I had patients wake up from surgery and ask me that very same thing. I shook my head.

"Then why do I keep seeing you..And Merle?" He asked looking from my bright blue eyes, to my mangy brown hair, the blood stained t-shirt and ripped jeans...and then his eyes rested on my hand that he wouldn't let go. "I don't know who Merle is" I said quietly. He looked almost mad when I said that. "The hell ya don't! He was standing right beside ya!" He practically shouted at me. I raised an eyebrow and realized he had to have been hallucinating earlier, and that mixing with reality is a dangerous thing. 

I ripped my hand from him and placed them on either side of his face against his will. "I didnt see Merle, Im a doctor, Im here and Im real...Merle isn't here" I said shaking my head. He just ripped my hands off of him and rolled over. "Your not here! Go away ya bitch!" He called over his shoulder.

I sighed realizing that he was sadly seeing someone who must have died, and seeing me with them was confusing for him...not knowing if I was really there or not...I was going to have my hands full with this man....