A Simple Coincidence // Daryl Dixon

24 | Silence My Pain

We had no proper explanation for what was going on with my blood. I called Hershel in, as Patricia advised me, simply because I wanted to know what the hell was going on with me, and if it would put Carl in any danger.

When he came in, I had to show him what Patricia and I saw. Let's just say he was extremely confused as to what it meant or what it was. He then advised me to tell Rick and Lori, since my blood was going into their child.

I had to once again show them because they weren't believing anything, which was very understandable yet frustrating.

What kind of human bleeds black-blue blood and heals in a matter of seconds?

No one knew about the incident that happened in the CDC; I had to explain to them all what¹ I knew and remembered.

We came to an agreement to keep giving Carl my blood, considering how fast it healed me, we thought it might do the same to Carl.

Lori was objective at first, but after Hershel explained to her -from what he assumed- that if I was healthy with the blood, it wouldn't do any harm to anyone that had a transfusion. There was no actual way of telling if that were true.

Any other time if something as such happened, no one would've believed or trusted the old man that was trying to make sense of my unexplainable situation. But with the many extraordinary things surrounding us, we were vulnerable and believed anything.

It was also a strand of hope that the parents were holding onto with all their might. It was very possible for their son to die either way and if my blood could possibly stop that from happening in some way, even if the chances were slim, it was a risk worth taking.

During some point in the conversation, they forgot that I was still there and had an opinion, they didn't even ask me if I was still willing to give blood and didn't involve me in the decision.

Rick and Hershel had decided on it and were trying to convince Lori as well.

It wasn't as if I would deny helping the little boy, but many thoughts floated through my head, 'what if he dies and they blame it on me?' and 'what if my blood kills him?'

How would I live knowing that I was the reason a little kid died, how would I live knowing that I left his parents childless? In a world surrounded by death, I did not want to be another threat.

But do I really have a choice?

***

A couple of hours had passed, and I was once again giving blood. My blood seemed to be doing good for Carl, stabilizing his heart but his bleeding didn't seem to be slowing down. Making him need more blood to keep him from bleeding out until Shane and Otis returned. That also meant taking more blood from me, which I didn't mind. But I was in a lot of pain, maybe it was because my body was growing weak from all the blood loss. Or maybe it was just in my head, but the pain from the needle and the transfusions were getting worse each time.

Maybe fourth time's the charm!

As I was back in the chair with the blood-sucking needle in my arm, Rick and Lori came in.

I think they were talking to Hershel about making a decision.

Lori had tears streaming down her face as she sat down next to carl, and started caressing his face, whispering sweet nothings into his ear, as if he was able to hear her.

Maybe he can.

As for Rick, he sat down beside me, looking at me with grateful eyes.

"Thank you, Elleanore. You uh, you're savin' him" Rick spoke to me as I struggled to keep my eyes open.