The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 64

Meredith

I KEPT MY distance around Maddie and her mom. I've given Mrs. Hailey some medication to take any pain away she was going through, but with the way her stats are going, I don't think she'll make it through the night. All I was doing was waiting around so I could take care of the after death, putting her down to make sure she didn't come back.

"Mom?" I hear Maddie. I hurry into the room, seeing Mrs. Hailey's eyes opened a little. She breathed heavily, raspy, knowing it's getting harder and harder for this poor woman to breathe.

"Mom? Can you hear me?" Maddie asks. Her mother inhales deeply and her eyes close again. Maddie exhales and shakes her head. "My mother, she...she taught me something. When I was eleven years old, I got in trouble at school for calling someone a name. Teacher told my mom. And when we got home, she made me grab the tube of toothpaste. She told me to squeeze all of the toothpaste into the sink. So, I did, thinking we were about to do some type of science experiment. And so, after every pinch of toothpaste was out, she asked me to put it all back in. And I remember looking at her like she was crazy. And she told me to put it all back in there and I told her it was impossible to do it. And said, 'well, honey. That's what happens. You took out all the toothpaste and you can't put it back in. That's what happens when you say something mean to someone. You can't...take back your words. Because you hurt the other person. Now matter how much you wanna take it back, you can't. Because it's already said and done." I show Maddie a small smile, feeling good that she felt that she could share this very personal moment she had with her mother with me.

"I'm sure it was a big teaching moment for you then." I nodded my head. Maddie smiles and nods.

"It was." She lightly chuckles. "Ever since then, I always thought about what I wanted to say, out of anger, out of excitement, just anything." She nods. Her smile fades and she sighs out. "Mike...he doesn't know. About my mom. His mom went through the same thing. I haven't told him. I just didn't wanna bring up any old pain for him. And..." She brings her hand up to her face, wiping away a tear. "I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been hard. Or painful. Because what we're all going through now is hard enough. I-I knew this day would come...someday. And she's lasted longer than I thought she would. It's...hard to talk to someone who hasn't been there. Who...doesn't know what it's like to go through this type of pain. No one understands how it feels to watch your own mother die...twice." I nod my head. "And it sucks because she has no idea what the hell is happening. I mean, going through the panic of all this...her asking a million questions every single day?"

Mrs. Hailey huffs out a breath of air and her eyes open up. She turns her head and finds Maddie standing by her bedside.

"Mom?" Maddie softly calls. 

"I-I wanna..." Maddie slowly leans down.

"Mom?" She calls. "If you're ready to go...it's okay." She nods. "It's okay. We-We're gonna be okay." Mrs. Hailey's brows furrow.

"Go? I-I'm not ready." She coughs weakly. Maddie shakes her head.

"Mom, it's okay." Maddie nods her head. Mrs. Hailey lightly shakes her head.

"I-I wanna go home." She says. Her eyes close and her head falls to the side. Maddie blows out a huff of air, pulling away from her mom and walking out into the hallway. I glance over to the stats, seeing them down in the 60s. I walk over to Maddie, lightly grabbing her shoulder.

"She's dying." Maddie sighs out. "I know she is. But...I just can't do this." She shakes her head.

"Should we go get Mike?" I ask her. "We can have somebody here with you. You don't have to do this alone, Maddie." I say. She shakes her head, wiping her face.