He nodded once to me in greeting before mumbling a gruff "Hello". I smiled slightly but it didn't quite reach my eyes. This man was my father! The one who left my mom... This was my dad.
"Angel was one of the Wolves...but she helped kill the walkers..." Rick told him, trailing off.
Daryl looked me up and down as you would someone you didn't trust. Although, why would he? I was a stranger to him...or so he thought anyway. His blue eyes searched my face then, almost as if he knew me even though we'd never met before. I fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze.
"What?" I asked him, crossing my arms nervously.
He stayed silent a minute before answering.
"Nothin'. You just look like someone I knew once..." he said, his thick Southern accent tinging his words.
He didn't elaborate and I didn't push. But I knew exactly who he was talking about. The only person he could be talking about - mom. He didn't need to know who I was just yet though. And I didn't know if I was even ready for that. From what my mom had told me about him, he was just a walk-away joe.
He had just been a deadbeat teenager at the time but how much had he changed by now, if at all? Seventeen years had passed but people don't always change. Those blue eyes landed on my angel wing key-chain then and panicked, I grabbed it before tucking it away into my jeans pocket. He couldn't see that! It wasn't very likely that he'd figure out I was his daughter by looking at a dumb key-chain but I couldn't risk it. This wasn't the way I wanted to tell him...if I wanted to tell him.
His eyes snapped to mine at my swiftness, suspicion evident on his face.
"I gotta be gettin' back. Carol said we were runnin' low on supplies since those idiots cleaned us out. Thought I'd go hunt for somethin'." he spoke up suddenly, directing his words at Rick.
Rick nodded once and Daryl brushed past me. His booted feet trudged on the wooden floorboards loudly before I heard the door slam shut. Sighing, I briefly closed my eyes. Well, that went well... I thought to myself just as the lyrics to my mom's favorite song flooded into my mind.
"Watch him go, let him go..."
"Hey, are you alright?" Rick asked from beside me just then, shaking me from my thoughts.
I nodded weakly to him, meeting his blue eyes. To my surprise, they held a hint of concern.
"Michonne said you...got sick this morning..." he said slowly, still wary of me probably.
I nodded again.
"I did. But I'm fine. It was probably just...everything that's been going on. I guess I've just been under a lot of stress," I told him, shrugging.
"Well...you might wanna go see Denise just in case. I don't want an outbreak of something," he said, his voice warm but firm.
I respected that. He didn't want his people to catch anything. After all, I was only a Wolf they allowed to live here. I had to do my part in the community. Including making sure that I didn't spread any kind of sickness to any of the civilians. I wouldn't want anyone getting sick because I was too stubborn to go to the doctor.
I did dread going a bit though. I hadn't seen Denise since the day that Owen died. What if it brought up bad memories? No, scratch that. I know it would bring up bad memories. Finally, I nodded my head.
"I'll go now... I have nothing to do anyway..." I trailed off and he smiled slightly.
"Good..." he nodded awkwardly before walking into the kitchen.
I suppressed a laugh. Was I really that hard to be around that people didn't know how to act around me? Rolling my eyes playfully, I walked back to the front door before opening it. A cool breeze hit my face, pushing my long hair back over my shoulders as I stepped out onto the front porch. I sighed and walked down the steps, my feet heading in the direction of the infirmary. It didn't take long to get there since it was a small town.
Within a few minutes, I was already standing on the front porch of the infirmary and my hand raised to knock. But I hesitated. What if she didn't want to treat me since I had been a Wolf? What if she held a grudge against me since Owen and I had kidnapped her? Surely, she wouldn't though. After all, Owen had saved our lives that night.
I sighed, remembering that night. The sadness still hadn't left me and sometimes...I wondered if it ever would. Shaking it off, I sucked in a deep breath and glanced back up at the front door before rapping my fist against it. Seconds later, it swung open to reveal Denise. Her eyes widened behind her glasses once her eyes landed on me. Time for my appointment, I suppose.