I sit on the side of my hospital bed here at Grady Memorial. I've changed out of the dreadful scrubs Dawn has kept me in since I was brought here and now I wear my jeans and the blood-stained, yellow polo Daryl ruined the last time we were together. Daryl. I still can't believe he's coming here in just a few moments to get me back; he's never stopped looking for me. Carol was brought here yesterday and she told me everything. Daryl's coming for me.
I fall back on the stiff mattress beneath me and close my eyes. I can't resist the tiny smile that begins to form on my lips. I don't know how long it's been since I've last seen my family, but all I do know is that it's felt like forever. My mind won't stop drifting to Daryl and our last moments together before I was taken. I can't stop thinking about his eyes and how they were the last thing I saw before the walkers came out of nowhere. Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about seeing him again.
A knock on my door brings me back to reality. I sit up and watch Dawn push the door open. She doesn't look exactly mad like I thought she would. She just seems indifferent, I guess.
"They're here," she says.
My stomach flops. I stand up quickly and press my hands against the wrinkles on my sweater. I nod and follow her out of the room. We meet up with the rest of the officers and Carol, who sits in a wheelchair. She hasn't said much since she woke up except for that Rick and the others are coming to rescue us. She's pretty beat up from her accident but she smiles at me when we see each other. I take her chair from one of the cops and push her down the hallway. I can feel my heart pounding against my chest and my palms starting to sweat. It feels like centuries pass before we reach the end of the hall where we wait to meet Rick. I can barely contain my excitement so I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling or crying like an idiot.
We wait in silence until we see the set of double doors at the end of the hall open. The first person I see is Rick. I haven't seen him since the attack on the prison and he looks different. He looks tired. I try not to imagine what they've all been through since the prison. Noah is behind him and then Tyreese and Sasha come into view. Finally, I see him. Daryl walks around Rick and stands next to him. Eventually his eyes find mine and we stare at each other for a long time. I frown when I see the bruises on his face. They look fairly old but a hundred different scenarios of how he got them rush through my mind. I cringe.
"One of ours for one of yours," Dawn finally speaks. Her cold voice echoes and cuts through the tense atmosphere causing me to nearly jump.
"Alright." Rick nods.
Daryl grabs the male cop they have cuffed and walks him over. Someone helps Carol out of her wheelchair and they meet Daryl halfway, exchanging ours for theirs. He watches me as he backs away.
"Now Beth," says Rick.
Dawn takes my arm and directs me towards Rick where they exchange me with the last cop. The second Dawn releases my arm I feel free, like I could just run right out of here and never stop. Rick touches my face and barely smiles. I lean in and he hugs me. We all walk out together again and I don't look back. There is nothing about this place that I want to remember. Everyone finds their time to hug me or rub my shoulder as we make our way through the dim halls. I can feel the excitement growing rapidly inside me with every step that brings me closer to freedom. It feels indescribably amazing to see everybody again but I would be lying to myself if I said I wasn't purposely trying to get to Daryl.
Noah puts his arm around my shoulders and smiles. "We're free, girl," he says and I can't help but let out a laugh of relief.
Everyone walks close together in a clump and talks and laughs and keeps my attention but it's as if they all get tuned out when I feel his arm rub against mine. I look over to find him finally walking next to me. It's hard to see his face because of the shadows but just the energy I can feel from his presence is enough. The emotions running through me at this moment are like nothing I've ever felt before. Only this morning I was convinced I would never lay eyes on him again. Daryl slides his fingers over mine and holds tightly to my hand. The stream of soft daylight begins to come into view as we approach the exit quickly.
I open my mouth to say something to Daryl when Sasha speaks.
"We are so happy to have you back." She smiles widely and squeezes my shoulder.
"I am so happy to be back," I reply, my voice shaking as I try to fight the tears.
I look back to Daryl one more time before we step outside. In the light I can finally see his face again, his eyes. They shimmer in the sun. He smiles at me and looks like he wants to say something but can't find the words. Every fiber in my body longs to just jump into his arms. My stomach flutters and my fingers, interlocked with his, tingle to the tips.
He squeezes my hand tighter. He begins to speak, "Beth, I - "
"Beth!" my name is screamed from another mouth far ahead of me.
I look and see Maggie running toward me. "Maggie!" I scream back and bolt for her.
We meet somewhere in the middle of the parking lot and crash into each other so hard it nearly knocks the wind out of me. Her arms wrap around me and mine around her; we hold and squeeze one another till it hurts. But it's a good pain. Her body shakes and rattles against mine as she sobs. She pulls away to grab my face and kiss my cheek.
She cries and pushes my hair out of my eyes. "I love you so much! Thank God..."
"I love you too," I cry as she pulls me back against her.
"Are you okay?" she asks frantically. "Are you hurt?"
I shake my head and laugh because that's all I want to do right now. "I'm okay."
Maggie smiles and kisses my face again. I make my way around hugging Glenn, Michonne, Carl, and I even get to hold baby Judith. She's grown so much. I see a few other people I haven't seen before, but right now I am so happy I hug every one of them anyway. Even after I've collected myself and stopped the tears, my body still shakes from the exhilaration of it all. We all make our way to the giant firetruck parked out front. Only a few of us can fit so the rest of them take a stray cop car they found earlier and follow behind us. Maggie grabs my hand and leads me over to the truck. It's hectic and everyone is talking and hugging and disappearing into different cars. Just before I'm helped up into the truck I see Daryl standing a ways off to my right, staring. He looks almost anxious but he nods at me before I get in. I sit in the truck with Maggie's arm around me as we drive out of Atlanta. Glenn explains that they have been staying in a church a few miles out of town and that's where we're headed now.
The sky grows darker as we drive, the decaying city vanishing into the night behind us. My heart still races and I lean my head against my sisters shoulder. All I can do is smile and close my eyes. My mind trails to thoughts of Daryl once again. His face is the last thing in my head before I fall asleep.
Maggie softly wakes me when we arrive at the church. It's completely dark now but from the sound of crickets filling my ears I decide we're somewhere near the woods. I quickly sit up and my head spins. I groan and hold my forehead. Suddenly, I feel dizzy and can't remember the last thing I ate.
"Beth, are you alright?" Glenn asks.
I nod. "I'm just tired..." I say quietly.
"Let me," I hear him say from the open door on my right. Glenn and Maggie exit the truck to make room for Daryl to step in. He stands in front of me, just a dark figure with a familiar voice. He bends down and slides one arm around my back and the other under my legs. I'm carefully lifted from my seat and held closely against his chest. "I got you," he says softly.
I slide my arms around his neck and burrow my face against him. The leather from his vest feels cold but soft against my cheek. The memories of him carrying me around the empty morgue we were staying in before all of this surface my thoughts. While he carries me into the church, my fingers trace the back of his neck and slide somewhere into his hair.
I whisper against his shoulder, "I missed you so much."
Inside the church everyone settles down in the pews while Carol and Maggie light enough candles to illuminate the front of the room in a soft, golden glow. The doors are locked securely behind us and at this moment - held in Daryl's arms, in this lonely little church out in the woods, with my family all around me - I feel safe again. I feel free.
While Rick holds a sleeping Judith in his arms and everyone passes around what they have left of canned goods for dinner, Daryl gently sets me down on one of the pews. He goes up and grabs a can of peaches from the stash and brings it back to me with a plastic spoon.
"You need to eat something," he says.
"Thank you." I take the peaches and eat each one slowly.
Maggie comes over and hugs and kisses me before her and Glenn go to sleep on a nearby bench. By the time I'm done with my peaches, almost everyone has hugged me goodnight and settled down to sleep. Soft snoring fills the silence. I set the empty can of peaches beside me when I finish.
"Are you still hungry?" Daryl asks quietly. He begins to stand up. "I think there's some more left -"
I grab his arm and he sits back down. "Thank you, but I'm alright."
He nods. He reaches his hand up and lightly runs his thumb across the stitches in my cheek and the one above my eyebrow. "Do they hurt?" he asks.
I shake my head.
His hand travels to the stray curls that have fallen in my face and he pushes them aside. His hand feels hard but it's warm and it's his. I lean my cheek against it and he strokes his thumb back and forth across my jaw. My eyes fall shut and I let myself indulge in this moment with him; this moment that I've been yearning for since the last time I saw him.
"Beth, I'm sorry," he whispers.
Slowly, my eyes open again. "What?" I whisper back.
Daryl's face falls into a frown, his gaze shifting from mine to the floor. "I shouldn't have ever let you out of my sight that night. I was just afraid you would get hurt and it all happened so fast I didn't have time to react." He talks fast and frantically, his voice rising. "And then when I saw your bag on the ground and I knew you were taken I ran after them; I chased the car for as long as I could. I tried to keep up but I couldn't - they were just too fast...I'm sorry..."
"Daryl, no," I stop him, taking his hand from my face and holding it in my own. He looks back up at me, his eyes glossy. "No." I shake my head. "None of this is your fault. I was there; I know how crazy that night was and we both did what we thought were our only options." My throat tightens and forms a lump. "I don't blame you for any of this. I don't know how I could ever even begin to thank you for coming back, for not giving up. You saved me, Daryl."
He shakes his head. "I couldn't give up. I couldn't let you just disappear..." His face is sad and he avoids my eyes. He plays with the loose strand of fabric that hangs from the hem of his shirt.
He leans in and lays his forehead on my shoulder. I slide my hands over his hair and hold him tight. His breaths are heavy and quickening. His arms circle around my waist as he pulls me across the bench, diminishing what little space was between us.
"It's okay," I say softly against his ear. His arms tighten around me.
"I promise I will never let it happen again," he mumbles against my collarbone. "I'll protect you." I start to pull back to look at his face but he holds me closer. "No, please just stay."
I can feel my eyes begin to tear as I try again to swallow the knot in my throat. I run my hands over his back until I can feel his breathing slow down and his body relax. Eventually, he sits up and looks me in the eyes. He presses his forehead against mine. The heat from his body radiates onto me and sends chills over my skin. When he pulls back a little, I kiss his cheek. He watches me for a moment and he moves closer. His stare flickers from my eyes and then to my lips and back a few times before he finally pushes his mouth against mine. It happens so unexpectedly that I almost pull back. But then I realize that I don't want to and that this is what I've been waiting for. His kiss is soft and nothing fancy. Just a gentle kiss and he moves back.
I finally speak. "Daryl..." but then I don't know what else to say. So I kiss him back. I grab the collar of his shirt and kiss him hard. He doesn't hesitate when he takes my face in his hands. I don't know how long this goes on but when it's over my eyes are closed and I'm laying against him on the pew.
He holds me while, eventually, I slowly begin to drift off. I fall asleep to the sound of Daryl's heartbeat and to the protection of his arms. Just before I am completely gone from this state, and swallowed up by my dreamlands, I hear him whisper, "I love you."
THE END