Red ~ TWD (Daryl Dixon)

Listen To Your Heart

Shouting in the hallway startled me into awareness. My head jerked away from the wall, and I hastily swiped the drool from my chin. My eyes darted around the room anxiously, but nothing had changed. It was the same room they'd brought me to when I first arrived. That was either really good or really bad. On one hand it might mean this was actually real. On the other it could just be an exceedingly long hallucination which would kind of suck. At least there weren't any recently deceased people hanging around. I was going to consider that turn of events progress.

It was dark outside, no light whatsoever streaming through the three windows scattered around the room. When I'd laid my head on the wall the sun was bright in the morning sky. I'd slept, and long enough for the sun to have set and drool to dry on my face.

"Get outta my fuckin' way or I'll kill ya!"

My breathing seized in my lungs even as my heart thumped in my chest. I knew that voice. I'd know that voice anywhere. It was my salvation, and it was only a few feet away. I wanted to get up, run out of the room and throw my arms around him, but I stayed rooted in my corner, knife in my hand. Too many people and too many unknowns lay outside this room. It wasn't safe. Worse still, I might be imagining the entire thing.

"She's not in a good way. You need to be prepared..."

There was a scuffle followed by a loud bang then silence. I crouched low with my weight balanced on the balls of my feet, palm sweating as I twirled the knife in my hand. My body throbbed painfully, desperate for rest, but now wasn't the time. I had to be ready. For what I had no idea.

"Daryl please!" My mouth went dry. That sounded like Rick, and he'd said my husband's name. "Let him go. He's only trying to help."

"He's right lil' brother." Merle. I squeezed my eyes closed, tears cascading down my face. "Firecracker needs ya. That's all that matters right now."

I heard them talking, but it was too muffled to make out their words. The distinctive thud of boots made my bottom lip tremble. I watched the door knob twist, holding my breath. I wouldn't be able to keep it together if this turned out to all be a vivid hallucination.

The door opened slowly, a lone figure standing silhouetted by the light shining in the hallway. His long, lean, powerful body stood immobile save for his fists which were clenching at his side repeatedly. The contours of his face were partially shadowed by the light, but the familiarity made my stomach bottom out. My eyes strayed to his long hair, and I found comfort in the disobedient strands falling in his eyes. His muscled chest swelled at steady intervals, the fabric of his shirt straining against his bulk. His jeans were beyond filthy, covered in dirt with strands of rope tied around the ankles.

He stood motionless in the door, watching me carefully with an unreadable expression. His steel blue eyes scanned me quickly, taking in every injury. In the blink of an eye his face cycled through every emotion, fury, regret, sadness, before finally settling on horror. I bit my lip self-consciously, watching him warily. If I looked half as bad as I felt this must be agonizing for him. If our positioned were reversed I wouldn't be able to stomach it.

"You need to be sure," my sister warned.

My eyes slammed shut, a puff of air punching out between my lips. She was right. She may be dead, but she was right. It looked like Daryl, but that didn't mean it was Daryl. I couldn't trust my own mind so what I saw right in front of me meant absolutely nothing. There was only one way to be sure.

My heart.

Minds could be tricked, but my heart had never failed me. Even when everything else abandoned me my love for this man was like a beacon in the darkness leading me home. My heart knew him. The burning feeling in my chest that was spreading rapidly through my body simply couldn't be hallucinated.