The Devils Eyes •Daryl Dixon•

T W E N T Y - S I X : R E T U R N

"In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take."

~ Anonymous

Clementine's POV

My eyes flutter open, and I groan, the pain in my side unbearable.

I look around the room, and see Sophia sleeping in a chair in front of the bed I'm in. "Sophia," I croak.

Her eyes flutter open, and she spots me. "Mom!" she cries, running over to me, engulfing me in a hug.

"Hey there," I manage to say, wrapping an arm around her.

I hear gasps, and look to the entrance of the cell, where the rest of the group stands, watching me with shock.

I try to sit up, but I snarl, collapsing back down, clutching my side.

"Easy there Clem," Hershel chuckles, walking up to me.

"How long have I been out?" I raise an eyebrow, as Sophia pulls away, leaving a wet spot in my shirt.

"A few days," he injects a fluid into a needle.

"A few days?!" I gasp.

"It's fine, you needed to rest," Rick shakes his head, walking up to me.

"Rick," I breathe out, bringing him into a hug after getting into a sitting position.

"Here Clem," Hershel injects me with the fluid. "It'll make the pain go away."

I nod and look around the clutter of people watching. Everyones there, except for Daryl.

I raise an eyebrow and look at Rick. "Where's Daryl?"

His smile drops and he sighs.

Oh no. Something happened, he's dead.

"Is he dead?" I whisper, my heart stopping.

"No," shakes his head. "He left."

My heart drops. "What?"

"He left, we wouldn't let Merle stay, so he left with Merle."

I sigh. I can't be mad at him, I'd probably walk away with Lee, but it saddens me how he didn't at least stay to see how I was.

"Oh," I mumble, and try to stand up.

"No no," Rick gently pushes me down back on the bed. "You need to stay here."

"But Rick!" I pout. "I need to... go hunting!" I think of an excuse to get out of here.

No way am I staying here for a few more days.

He shakes his head. "Nope, you need to stay. Just for two more days, your injured Clem."

I sigh, and lay down, muttering.

"Ok, everyone out," Hershel ushers everyone out, except for Sophia.

"Hey sweetie," I smile, trying to take my mind off everything.

"How are you?" Sophia asks, pulling the chair next to me.

"I'm fine," I shake my head, not wanting her to worry about me.

"Your eye," she puts the tips of her fingers against her own eye.

"I'm fine Sophia, they tried to break me, but they couldn't."

"Why didn't you just give in? Then they wouldn't have done that!" she says, a tear slipping out.