The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 28

Meredith

It was the next morning. I never went to sleep, neither did Daryl. He wanted to stay with me, stay here with me. I really appreciate him for staying with me, understanding that I wasn't ready to go back to the cell block yet. I didn't even have to say anything, he just knew. He said he was ready when I was, I wasn't ready yet. And still...not sure if I'm ready or not.

"Daryl." We pick up our heads and see Rick stepping in the doorway. I inhaled deeply and averted eye contact with him. I feel like a horrible person to Rick. I killed his wife, kidnapped his baby. He must really hate me and lost trust in me now.

"What's up?" Daryl asks.

"There a letter left from the Governor himself. He wants to meet in person. He wants to..." Rick inhales deeply. "Negotiate." He says.

"I can go with ya." Daryl nods.

"Yeah, I'd feel better if you were." Rick nods. "Hershel, too." He says. He turns his eyes to me and I quickly look away, feeling that he'd yell or say something pretty hurtful.

"Meredith." He calls. I look up at him, and all the guilt and apologies come flying out.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Rick. I didn't mean to-to scare you. And I didn't mean to kidnap the baby." I shook my head.

"It's okay, I understand." He nods.

"How is she? Is the baby okay?" I ask him. Rick turns his eyes to Daryl, who nodded his head. Rick slowly steps into the room and falls to his knees in front of me.

"She's good." He nods. "She's okay. You weren't you. You weren't aware of the situation. You...I don't know if anyone caught this, but you were holding her like you were protecting her. You kept saying someone was after you. Do you remember that?" He asks. I shook my head. "It's okay, Meredith. I'm not mad. But are you okay? How are you doing? You feeling alright?"

"I'm...getting there. Coming out of it just makes me tired. It's like...having a seizure. People come out of it and they're tired because their brains were firing off." I explain.

"Okay. Let's get you back there and make sure you get some food in your stomach, some water and some rest." He nods.

"Okay." I agree. He helps me up on my feet, but I paused. "So, I guess everyone knows about my illness, huh?" I sigh out.

"Only us and Carol knows." Daryl says. I furrow my brows.

"What did you tell the others?" I ask.

"We don't know how people deal with schizophrenia, as some people may find it unsettling." Rick begins.

"Or the fact that it can be dangerous." I nodded.

"Right." Rick nods. "Well, we gave you a cover story. You have parasomnia." He says. I let out a snort.

"I mean, that's smart." I nodded. "People think I have night terrors and sleepwalk."

"Which you kinda do...sleepwalk." Daryl nods. "Sometimes I gotta bring ya back to bed cause you wonder off."

"Well, we're gonna sleep with the door closed and locked." I nodded. Daryl lightly chuckles and nods his head.

Daryl, Rick and I made our way back to the cell block. Hershel was already prepared for the meet up. I planted myself at a table and I rested my chin in my hand, watching Rick and Daryl gearing up.

"We'll be back soon." Rick announces to everyone. "Keep each other safe. Watch each other's backs. Eyes and ears sharp. We're gonna be okay." He and Hershel turn away. Daryl walks over to my table and leans down on it, hovering over my body.