CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀do with that what you will.

⠀Despite the comforting position of our bodies pressed against each other, and despite the fact that we could hear each other's hearts, my body was telling me that something was wrong. My eyelids fluttered, and my forehead tensed uncontrollably. Despite the panic coursing through my veins, my heart refused to beat faster. Refused to flush it quickly in and out of my system. All it did was slow, and I could hear it in my ears as it did so.

⠀Slow thumps radiated from within my ears, making it sound as if large cracks of thunder were sailing through the sky and hitting my body with its pressure. All I could do was try and get the words out that I was going to fall, and someone should catch me.

⠀But it was all so confusing to me — the lights, and the sounds, and the wind chilling my hands as they lay across Daryl's shoulders. I couldn't help but let it all go and unclench myself. Let it feel like the air was swirling its way around my bones.

⠀The feeling on my skin was steadily getting more numb, as the lights around me sharpened, and pierced my eyes. All of this could have been happening quickly, but my mind was lagging.

⠀My body started to make its way backwards, and my numb fingers couldn't grip onto Daryl's clothes, although I did try. In an instant, I had turned my shoulder outwards, and letting it cushion my fall as to not hit the back of my head for the second time that day.

⠀A slow, flickering buzz. The concrete pressing into my skin through my clothes. The brightness of the sun. And the shadows that cut through it were the only things I remember seeing before I fell unconscious.

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⠀Daryl was too caught up in the sudden adrenaline rush that was Marley being in his arms once more. Sadly, he was thinking about how long it had been since he had pressed his hands into the small of her back, and had felt her shoulder blades shift between his fingers. Her extremely long hair brush against his knuckles. And that was when her hands weakly gripped at him, her nails barely scratching the fabric of his shirt.

⠀He went to pull her away, the oddness of her actions making him think something was wrong. But he felt her pull away first, but further. Her small hands reaching out to him as her body quickly thumped to the ground, so quickly that he had no time to try and catch her.

⠀His breath hitched in his throat, and his eyes widened. Everyone's attention was drawn to the girl now on the floor, as some of them noticed her eyes close slowly.

⠀He couldn't go through this again, and feeling as if their sudden break in contact had done something, he leapt forward to her body and gripped the fabric of her clothes — so close to her skin — just as Harvey was now doing.

⠀Everyone huddled around Marley, as if to shield her from the sun, all eerily quiet as the pre-med student beside them examined her body. Daryl watched silently, with a shaking feeling crawling all over his skin. He watched Harvey carefully move her head, pushing back her hair into her face. Still lifeless, like they had seen her before. The quiet made his heart thump in his ears, and the previous feeling of annoyance towards his brother had faded from that day.

⠀No longer was this the day where his brother screamed in his face, it was now the day where Marley fell.

⠀"She has a piece of glass just at the base of her skull," Harvey stated evenly, carefully holding her fragile head in his one hand as he looked to the others. "Not too big, just a couple stitches."

⠀Hershel nodded towards the younger man, still slightly breathless from the attack just gone. "We can do that, but—"

⠀"My best guess is a concussion," Harvey cut him off, leaving the people around him confused at his sudden confidence in speaking. "But without an MRI or a CT scan, that's all it is. A guess."

⠀Maggie leaned forward with the two men on the ground, going to her knees and pulling the hair from Marley's face.  Weaving the small tendrils from her eyelashes. "Let's just get her inside, we don't wanna be waiting out here for another attack."

⠀And with that, everyone's feet got moving. Even Merle had the sensibility to stay quiet and adhere to the orders given by Rick. As this was all going on, Daryl couldn't help but feel frozen by the situation at hand. His eyes still wide, and feeling electrified by the sun, and tears that threatened to wet his eyes. Either from the sheer terror at the thought of her not waking up again or that his eyes had not blinked since she fell.

⠀"Take her, Daryl," Rick barked. And the man quickly went to do as he was told, but the scarred one to his side jolted outwards to stop him.

⠀"I don't want her neck to move too much," Harvey gently flattened his palms and weaved them between Marley's head and the ground. "Just go slow."

⠀Still, not a word from Daryl. Instead, simply nodding. His arms shook as he too flattened his palms, and like the touch of a feather with the stem as strong as the spine of a book, he took her. Harvey to his right, and Marley, lifeless upon his bones. There was no blood being spilt onto his chest this time, but the vicious sense of terror stained right to his skin.

⠀His heart was beating so fast, whilst hers stayed at a steady pace. He was carrying her, but the slow, thunderous thumbs beneath her skin were the thing that was keeping them both afloat.

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⠀

He swore he saw her eyes flutter, but he hadn't moved his eyes or even blinked for so long that it could have been the light. She was alive, and she was going to get better, he would make sure of it.

⠀The piece of glass was now laid upon the black rag on the floor beside her bed, no longer in the space between her head and neck. Daryl glared at it as if it were this evil thing. A sharp intruder. He felt like squashing it beneath his shoe and hearing it crack. His face held a somewhat permanent scowl of grief and anger. The building crowd at the door of Marley's cell didn't help.

⠀Death and Marley already filled the room so much it was suffocating. Not that she would die, just that it constantly tapped her shoulder. Every time he looked at her lay upon that bed, it flickered between the images of her screaming those months ago, and the hush of her form in front of his eyes right then.

⠀Harvey rolled a somewhat white towel into a roll, small flecks of blood embedded between his fingernails. He and Daryl were the only ones within the room, so when he nodded, the latter reached his body over ready to hold Marley's face in his hands.

⠀Daryl's thumbs slid down the sides of her eyes and onto her cheeks as he took a stance above her, being forced to look directly at her.

⠀Still, still.

⠀When the towel was neatly, and surgically place under her neck, Daryl felt like he could finally breathe. Not a drawn-out, easy exhale; a stuttered, and unsure one. Despite the silence and somewhat serenity, nothing could make him relax until she opened her eyes again. He leaned back into the wall, his knees crouched.

⠀Hershel had stepped past the lip of the doorway, leaning his head down to examine the unconscious woman, then passed over a small instrument to Harvey.

⠀"Found it," Hershel's voice was small as if too much volume would somehow bruise.

⠀In the moments from when Marley had hit the ground, it seemed Harvey had found a new sense of confidence, evident in the way he was speaking. "Thanks," He briefly pushed part of the bandage on his face back into place, as it slid from the sweat of his skin. "There's just hoping nothing too major happened to her brain." The instrument was a small, medical pen, a torchlight at the end.

⠀Before Harvey could reach and do what he was planning, he looked up expectedly to the others in the doorway. They were all waiting... just waiting for something to happen. Harvey knew they would be disappointed, but shouldn't spend the rest of the day gawking into the cage of an unconscious creature. "She's not waking up anytime soon."

⠀Rick sucked in a sharp bit of air, like he had been holding his breath, then turned towards everyone, ushering them to leave the space. That way there could be some peace, as static worry was not peaceful. They all did as silently instructed, leaving Rick last to go, as he pushed the sheet attached to the lintel of the door, back into its rightful place — shielding the chasm from the sun.

⠀"Can you hold her head again?" Harvey's voice penetrated him like a needle, and he shivered. Standing up yet again, Daryl reached out with trepidation to her face once more as the med-student continued. "Thought we might need some privacy for this."

⠀Harvey lifted the plaid shirt, Daryl still hadn't noticed it was actually his, revealing her stomach and chest. Daryl almost let go of Marley's face, instead of turning his away in respect. "Jeez," he hissed. "What the hell is this for?"

⠀"Breathing restrictions are not the best to leave on," the younger man put simply, reaching carefully between the mattress and her back and unclipping the bra from her torso, sliding it away and tucking it discretely under her bed. Pushing her shirt back down to cover the small splotches of purple, and fading green — Daryl slowly pushed out a long breath from his puffed-out cheeks.

⠀When that was all done, and there seemed like there was nothing left to do but wait, Daryl shrank into the far corner of Marley's cell, seemingly dragged by the shadows and enticed by her mere presence. Time seemed to slow in the small space, and Daryl felt every small crack and divot in the wall as he pressed his entire spine up against it.

⠀Harvey's figure was disappearing from his view until the man gave him some words as he was just about to leave. "You're her favourite person, you know?" His back was turned, hand up against the sheet and tracing it carefully just as he was with his voice. "It's a hard position to fill. One left empty by her father."

⠀"She hung on his every word, even if it was a clear lie. I knew him a little, and all I knew was that he was kind."

⠀"Why are you telling me this?"

⠀"Because she won't tell you herself."

⠀Daryl felt wrong speaking about the girl whilst she was still in the room, even if she wasn't really present. And as Harvey turned, he took a deep breath in as if to prepare for the unflinching truth Harvey seemed to find was in his nature to speak. It was slightly frightening.

⠀With his slowly falling bandages and wide blue eyes, Harvey narrowed them at Daryl for a moment. "Do with that what you will."

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⠀It wasn't long before someone else came to visit. To check on both of them. Daryl hadn't moved an inch, and unfortunately, neither had Marley. He wished the tidal waves of consciousness would pass her by — but that was hopeful thinking.

⠀Being honest with himself, he was trying to think of anything but what Harvey had said, and slight nervousness overcame him when the curtain of the door was pushed to the side.

⠀It was Carol, a thin smile on her face, immediately looking to him. She had a small pile of clothes in her arms, and an eagerness to speak in her stance.

⠀"I'm glad you're back," her volume alarmed Daryl for a moment. "We all are."

⠀"Back to what?" He shrugged. "All this? A tomb?" The man dug his nails into his crossed arms, teeth clenching at the thought of this room becoming an actual tomb.

⠀"This is our home," Carol lightened the tone but lowered the volume to a level as if Marley was just simply asleep. She lifted her arms to place the piles of clothes upon the top bunk of the bed. "She thinks it's our home."

⠀Daryl's eyes darted up to her as she spoke, took a moment to look at Marley, then back. He didn't think Marley would say such a thing. She's eternally pessimistic... but maybe she had a moment.

⠀"After all," Carol continued, as she leant up against the wall. "I would have thought she'd gone with you." Daryl could tell she was giving him a pointed stare but averted his own eyes.

⠀There was silence for a while, and Carol took that as her queue to leave.

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⠀A night had gone by and he hadn't slept much.

⠀He hadn't slept much out there when he had left... Her... them. It hadn't been the feel of the ground or the rain. It was that he really had just chosen to leave. The man had been so cowardice, and stupid to just abandon those who very obviously cared about him.

⠀Despite Daryl's nature to rebut any conversation to do with people caring about him, he was able to recognise such feelings. After all, he was observant.

⠀He couldn't help it... but he hated it most when he saw it in himself. An aged side effect of his childhood, and the company he used to keep. What the world before had left in him.

⠀The constant need to squash real feelings towards others.

⠀But as this new world had slowly shaped him, and as this girl got under his skin. He was learning that it was all okay.

⠀All of these thoughts were initially intended to distract from the real ones on his mind that night, but in the end, it always turned itself around to... The girl in front of him.

⠀Now the morning was breaking, his eyes were still closed but he could slowly start to feel his body again — it pressed awkwardly against the edge of the bed, his legs splayed out awkwardly beside him, and his head pressed into what little mattress he could crane his neck towards.

⠀As he slowly started to wake up, his right hand clenched against what it was holding — small fingers bunched up in his grasp — then suddenly, he took a sharp breath inwards, realising he had fallen asleep on his watch of her when he definitely didn't intend to.

⠀Maybe it was the ache of staring at her, expecting her to look back. Maybe it was the agonizing focus on her breathing pattern he had developed, despite his eyes straining from fatigue. Maybe it was the thoughts, and the words bouncing around in his head.

⠀You're her favourite person.

⠀He straightened his back quickly, ignoring the clicks and groans from his bones to inspect her face to see if she had awoken... but she hadn't. An entire night had gone by and she was still unconscious. He wondered if he should be immensely concerned, but his lack of medical information on that of concussions had him feeling around in the dark for how he should truly be feeling.

⠀But no matter what, he would always care, and he would always worry.

⠀He had spent the night thinking of ways he should apologise to her. Thinking of ways to thank her for leaving a small piece of her with him, the watch, so he couldn't forget to come back. Not that he would forget if he didn't have the watch.

⠀He had agonisingly admitted to himself during the night that he couldn't be without her. He knew why, but that was another admittance he had to pull himself through. Many others yet to come.

⠀Daryl then remembered what his last thoughts had been before he had fallen asleep... he had been begging her to wake up, and let him apologise. That's why he had still been clutching her bruised knuckles as he woke. Then remembering that, he let them go, stretching his legs out to stand up.

⠀As he intended to lift the curtain to guess what time of day it was, that small hand he was once clutching forcibly grasped his wrist.

⠀Daryl's eyes widened, his breath hitched in his throat, and his heart was burning as it had been all night from the ache.

⠀The man immediately looked to her, meeting her slightly swollen, and bruised eyes. Marley was surprisingly frightening at that moment.

⠀The blood vessels in the whites of her eyes had ruptured, leaving her irises surrounded by a messy river of blood. The bruises on her face had worsened as they had both slept — purple was now the dominant colour on her face. But despite the injuries, her expression was light.

⠀"Ah," she breathed out. "You're actually here." Marley smiled, somewhat painfully as tears dripped effortlessly down her cheeks. Daryl wasn't sure what the tears were from, he was still in a state of shock at her awakening.

⠀Marley let go of his hand, her own thumping onto the bed beside her as if holding his arm took all of her energy. "Jesus," she said to herself. "My head hurts."

⠀"You shouldn't get up," Daryl suddenly knelt beside her, letting their eyes meet up once more. "I should get Harvey." Daryl could look through the bruises, and the alarmingly red eyes, he just wanted to take a look at her. After an entire night begging her to open her eyes, she was finally looking back.

⠀She expectantly analysed him, taking her time to try and figure out exactly what he was doing here, and how long she had been asleep. Marley could see he was tired, the bags under his eyes were evidence enough. Her expectance turned to concern, and despite his instruction for her not to get up, she wanted to be on his level and sit up. She had so many questions for him, but all of that want was being stopped by the clouds soaring in her brain.

⠀Marley turned her eyes best she could to the door, but was greeted with a sharp brightness.

⠀With that, Daryl almost leapt from his position, exiting the door to retrieve Harvey. Still plagued by the aftertaste of his own thoughts about her, it seemed that leaving the room was the first time he had breathed since yesterday.

⠀That thought still there...

⠀You're her favourite person, you know?

⠀Do with that what you will.

⠀He had practically dug around his own insides all night, that's what he had done.

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note ⛈

merry christmas everybody!!
and happy birthday marley van allen.

i hope you have all had a good day and i apologise for this mess of a chapter.

love you guys xx

words : 3291
2020 / 25 / 12
edited ✓