CHAPTER TWO ,
before i wake

⠀"Daryl?"

⠀Said man immediately turned at the sound of his name. He had stopped looking throughout his clothes at all the marks. The ones she had left in a shade of red. A colour so familiar to him it coincided with the girl in almost every moment around her. The ones on his hands bound round his wrists like red strings.

⠀The face who had called his name was Maggie, and she had an almost relieved but desperate look in her eyes. The woman approached with outstretched arms but did not touch him, as her hands went back to her sides.

⠀The young woman didn't know what to say ― to a man who ran away at the sight of a girl with closed eyes and an empty sound in her chest.

⠀The man who was now staring at her hands with concentration, as they shook helplessly stained with blood. Maggie tucked her hair behind her ears, pacing on the spot.

⠀"She―uh," Maggie gestured to the doorway behind her. "We didn't know where you went... she's in there."

⠀Daryl had no idea what she was trying to get through to him, and all he knew was the everything was foggy and disorientated. He knew he couldn't listen to the sound of her voice without it echoing, therefore there was no use in listening in the first place.

⠀"Daryl!" Maggie almost yelled. "It's Marley!"

⠀The person she was so desperately calling for met her wide-eyes with his own― surely he forgot to breathe in that moment. He couldn't recollect to do anything and he was sure his body was as dead as what he thought hers was.

⠀He had probably convinced himself that he must have been dreaming, and this was his head giving him what he desired; the thing these past, harrowing few moments had reminded him that she was like summer ― appreciated only when gone . He must have hit his head and fallen asleep in those woods. This was no reality in his eyes ― it was a haunting trick.

⠀He saw Maggie's lips say "She's alive", yet did not hear a single syllable. There is no particular way to feel about this, except a tripping helplessness in your mind.

⠀Reaching forward but being pulled backward at the same time.

⠀Daryl almost lurched forward at her words, like an invisible force pushed him. The image of her like that ― limp ― gnawed away at him. It was something that consumed him and the mere possibility of that going away struck adrenaline in his blood. The miniscule, yet entirely real, possibility that the last image he had of her, didn't need to be the last.

⠀It was like the light at the end of a tunnel, one he was sure she had experienced.

⠀Maggie left him to walk forward, reaching for the walls as his legs felt unsteady― until he realised what was happening. He was an echo crawling up the hallway, bouncing off each wall.

⠀Because everything echoes, eventually. And now he knew he had the chance of hearing hers, maybe just not soon enough for his taste. The pain is deep and it strikes Daryl like lightning. It's a silent sleeper at the back of his head, you won't hear a sound until it's cracking your skull.

⠀And all of this, he now knew he had a chance of letting it go. Even after that sight painted his eyes ― the constant relapsing image of Marley's closed eyes. The soft pinch of her cheeks paired with golden framing.

⠀He didn't want to feel like an integral part of his skin was missing; almost debilitating.

⠀The doorframe felt cold under his fingertips and it washed right through every nerve, giving all energy to his eyes as he leaned into view. The view of rumpled sheets on a bed, encompassing a body that wrapped itself up ― in an almost protective cocoon. She snuggled into the warmth, he observed how her eyes trailed up to the ceiling.

⠀Her lips parted into the air, breathing lightly as if the oxygen wasn't there at all. As if she was still like what he had seen minutes ago. But he didn't know if it was minutes.

⠀He could have been out there for hours, but it all looked the same. The only thing he couldn't fathom was the idea of Marley being anything different than breathing.

⠀And now she barely was, hair tangled on the old pillow. It cascaded down past her collarbone and shoulders. All the while her green irises made slight erratic movements, going along each and every single detail she could find in the whiteness above her.

⠀Daryl simply observed, letting his shoulders slump. Again, there wasn't one way to go about this. There was no instructions or presumed instinct.

⠀She was dead, and now she's not. Nowadays that was horror, but this was just an illusion, he thought. If this was a nightmare he was going to wake up. If this didn't make sense it isn't real. He didn't find any bliss in not knowing if he was dreaming or not.

⠀He needed this moment. One where she wasn't weeping. One where she didn't look utterly terrified; of things around her or something inside. Where she had a moment to just look, and he almost wanted to glue his shoes to the floor just to let her have it. This unblinking moment of silence and slow hearts.

⠀But noise is a disturbance, and his uneven pulse caused his body to not stay still. The floorboards creaked beneath his body, and Marley's eyes averted with a sharp intake of air.

⠀The girls glassy doe eyes met him, and he saw her fist curl in the corner of his eye. He stood taller, letting his own hands fall into his pockets.

⠀She maneuvered her neck so her face was fully facing him, her mouth still open. She had no words to say, but she watched Daryl turn to look at who was approaching him from where he had come.

⠀Hershel showed his face, sighing loudly until he saw who was standing in the doorway. He looked taken aback for a moment, as he took in Daryl's almost solemn expression.

⠀Hershel was silent on his approach, reaching out to the other man in he hallway. He showed him a white bottle, shaking it for a moment. "Codeine; painkillers. Make her take them. She needs them or its gonna hurt more as the minutes to by."

⠀Daryl furrowed his eyebrows, taking the bottle on his own.

⠀Hershel continued talking, keeping his voice low. "She seems to not want any help. When she woke up she still wanted us to get off her."

⠀Hershel nodded in finality, throwing him the water bottle in his other hand.

⠀Daryl caught it, immediately turning his eyes back to the girl on the bed and she was still looking at him. As if her eyes had arms that reached outwards towards him. She was desperate and he wasn't sure what for.

⠀It took all he had in him to take those first few steps into the room. Daryl carefully lowered himself to the ground beside the furniture, bending his knees to bring them close to himself. He didn't look at her for a moment.

⠀"Who was that?" Her voice was strangled and small, and he could tell she had nearly no idea what was going on.

⠀"Hershel," he replied meekly. "Told me to give you these." Daryl watched Marley recoil, turning her nose into the mattress at the sight of the bottle.

⠀Daryl let out a scoff. "Marls, why?"

⠀"I―" her eyes searched his face, whilst the rest of her body stayed absolutely still. "No one's told me what happened."

⠀He finally brought his gaze over and steadily. The breath between them was thick and warm, shown by the glistening that seemed to hang in the breeze.

⠀"Daryl... what happened?" She closed her eyes tightly, feeling a burn under her eyelids. Marley swallowed heavily, taking a moment to try and not panic by looking at the white ceiling again.

⠀Daryl wasn't very apt at knowing what had happened, but he acknowledged that she was an adamant person who wanted what she pleased. He admired her for that, seeing as when he first met her, she could hardly look after herself.

⠀"You gotta take the meds," he panicked in the moment, turning so he was kneeling beside her, on his knees with his elbows digging into the mattress.

⠀Marley only cried out as she turned, clutching a hand to her waist. Her jaw locked, and teeth clenched in pain. She wouldn't let him help her when she really should be.

⠀She had stitches riddling her front, and the pain that rang through her body should leave her screaming but she was tired of screaming.

⠀"You―" Daryl tried to find the right words. How do you tell someone something like this? "Marley..." His voice was so soft, dancing on her brain like the slow strum of a guitar. "You― your heart stopped"

⠀She looked at him, wide-eyed and hysterical. "I... died?" She asked in a whisper, closing her eyes once again and letting out a long train of air through her nose.

⠀She whimpered, vulnerable and small. She needed a release from whatever she had been through but this was not something she was familiar with. Death was always a passing thought, now and again - she thought about it so much, it felt like a memory.

⠀"Oh," it was a gesture of awareness.

⠀Daryl realised his position, slowly backing up so he was standing again. There was a moment of silence between them, and he knew her eyes sought something from him he did not know what.

⠀And then he realised, the bottle in his hand and the water bottle that accompanied it. And so he stepped forward again, sitting next to her legs that lay perfectly still.

⠀"C'mon," he shook a single pill into her hand, cupping her palm. Holding her knuckles lightly, he pulled her gently upwards.

⠀She held a scream behind her teeth, letting Daryl sit her up and she spasmed under the hot pressure. Marley had no anchor, no way of staying up herself, so she propped her chin on his shoulder, pressing her cheek into the fabric of his jacket.

⠀She tucked the pills to the back of her throat, throwing water back with it in a swift movement. She breathed erratically, heavily, still letting all her weight fall on his shoulders.

⠀She wrung her arms around his own, the one holding the weight of his own body on the mattress. The one that leaned into her, he couldn't help but only stare at the copper locks now adorning his shoulder. They fell as she closed her eyes, for what felt like the millionth time.

⠀Marley didn't seem to want to move, and he didn't have the heart to move her. The familiarity and casual acceptance of their own company was something he was going to have to get used to.

⠀He didn't move an inch, letting her soak up all he comfort she needed - he didn't much know why from him - but he let her, regardless.

⠀He let her shake in the hold she had on him. Marley shook with what he did not know, but she seemed to do it less the longer she was pressed up against him.

⠀She finally opened her eyes up again, casting them to look at his face but not his eyes. So close but she stayed still.

⠀He saw Marley wince, biting her lip as she readjusted her posture. A high sound echoed from her throat, coming up only so she could reach her hands up to clutch the back of his jacket.

⠀She buried herself in soft, warm fabric. A stony shape beneath her own. Completely still, not shaking like she was, and reliable in its stance.

⠀He had a question hanging from his lips, and he didn't let it stay. "S'wrong?"

⠀She lifted her teary face, giving into the pull and baring her soul in the form of glistening reddish eyes.

⠀"I just I hate..." She swallowed heavily, still tasting the blood that riddled her skin like puzzle pieces. Each marking like a curse burning into her skin. Red scriptures about what type of person Marley really was; because despite her heart being stopped and being cut open, not all of it was her blood. "I feel like I've come back from worse things than death... and that scares me."

⠀"Where did you go?" She sniffed inwards, unable to control the words that rolled off her tongue. "You weren't here when I woke up."

⠀"Jus-" he paused, squirming under her tight hold. "Away from this." He nodded lightly, taking his lips between his teeth.

⠀She mirrored his nod, switching sight between both his eyes in a hazy manner. "Yeah," her voice so small, he wasn't sure this was Marley at all.

⠀All this time she was laying there, touching her and saying words to him that had the value of liquid gold; he forgot to ask if this wall all real.

⠀She still had the tight grip on his limb, but he eventually curled into the stance himself. "Away is... ideal."

⠀They both nodded, a small watery laughter igniting past her lips. They were basking in the hollow wind that battered the windows in a slight disturbance.

⠀Both agreeing, even if they didn't know it then ― it was this day and the next, but it was their days from now on.

⠀Singularity hadn't been an option for a long time now.

━━━━━━━━━━

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ note.
guys I'm sorry these chapters aren't as
long as possible. the chapters i planned are like single scenes and i didn't want them any other way.
( edited ✓ )