A War On Her World | TWD: D. Dixon

Ch. 39

In the middle of the nothingness that had been my sleep, I felt the gentle touch of a hand brush across my forehead. The hand was rough, but the action was gentle in drawing me out of my unconscious state.

"I didn't mean t'wake you," Daryl said quietly as he let his hand come to rest on the side of my face.

"Mm," I mumbled, realising I was back home in my own bed. "You didn't... didn't wake me."

My eyes were still closed as I spoke. My headache had lessened to a dull ache and my skin no longer crawled with pins and needles every time fabric brushed over it. All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable in my body than I had however long prior.

A deep chuckle sounded from just above my body, meaning Daryl must have been sitting close to me. It was the sort of sound that brought a smile to my face, no matter how exhausted I was.

"What're you laughing at?" I asked with mock offence, though I admit, there was no energy in my words.

"You're beautiful when you've just woken up."

"Now it's my turn to laugh..." I muttered. Knowing me, my hair would have been a bird's nest and I had to have looked worse with all that I had sweated. "I pro...bly look terrible."

"Nah, it's true... y'look almost as beautiful as when I'm wiping sweat off your body."

With no strength or seriousness at all, I swatted the man in the arm for the innuendo he had in his words. He had seen me in all states and he was the only one I would want to clean me, so in no way was I mad, but I had to show him a bit of resistance, at least.

"Pervert."

"I love you," he said with all the sweetness you wouldn't expect from a man with such a gravelly voice. Following his words, I felt him press a light kiss to my temple as I was laying on my side.

"Mm, I know," I said cheekily with a smile. "How's Benji? Everyone?"

I really felt like I could fall asleep the second the room fell quiet for more than a heartbeat, but I wanted to know how my son was doing. He had been with me after I was in contact with Patrick and now I was sick and, on top of it all, he had asthma, making him more vulnerable to sickness. I wouldn't have been surprised if he was sick, but I hoped more than anything that he was fine.

"The little man is resting, nothin' could knock 'im down," Daryl reassured me, taking to rubbing my arm gently, knowing I would soon fall back to sleep. "...so get some sleep so you can see him yourself."

●

Daryl watched as Elizabeth drifted back off to sleep. They had made it back to the prison sometime in the night and gotten her the care she needed so she could get better. She had gotten lucky, only being in the early stages of the symptoms. So thanks to the medication, her condition hadn't gotten the chance to worsen and she didn't need to be placed on a ventilator. All she needed was fluids and bed rest.

She looked at peace now that the pain had been alleviated from her body... It was almost too much for the man to bear, his heart squeezing from the knowledge only he knew.

Standing up once her breathing had evened out, Daryl walked down the hall to where Hershel had the more serious patients situated for higher care. There were only a few patients left in this area, though. The rest? They had tragically passed away before help could arrive. And the ones who did manage to survive? They were currently hooked up to ventilators and IV bags, hanging on to the small thread of life they had left in them.

"Give it to me," Daryl said quietly, taking a ventilator bag from Hershel before sitting on a chair beside the bed.

"Daryl, you do not have to take on this responsibility," Hershel replied with sympathy, feeling sadness for the man who would never have normally been in the position to care for another human. "You have no obligation to this boy."