Flip Side {Daryl Dixon}

{Getting Sappy}

Long black lashes fluttered against cinnamon eyes, the dappled sunlight in the canopy nearly blinding. Everything was spinning faster than it should and the inside of her skull pounded with every heartbeat.

"We need to get her back or she'll bleed out." Voices floated in and out of focus, like she was wearing earmuffs at a concert. The voice sounded very familiar but the thick smog in her brain kept her from putting the pieces together.

"We'll have to cauterize the wound before we do anything first or we won't make it to the group." Cold dirt presses into Juno's spine a few seconds before a dark shadow hid the bright speckles of sunlight from her eyes. Warmth pressed into her cheek as clarity broke in her mind and she recognized the burly silhouette above her as Daryl Dixon.

"You- you found... me." Pain burned and clawed up and down her right leg and she remembered that she had injured herself running from that den in the hills. His bright blue eyes tore away from the trees around them at her voice, a small smirk lifting his mouth.

"Yeah, we did. But we have to cauterize yer wound and it's gonna hurt like a bitch." Glancing off into a field of vision she couldn't turn towards, he watched the flames grow brighter as Lilith fed the embers so they could close her wounds. Daryl slid his hunting knife from its sheath and slid the last few inches into the flames to heat up and sterilize.

"Luckily, it looks like she missed her major arteries so she won't bleed out and we can stitch it up afterwards." Lilith spoke as she leaned over to inspect the jagged hole in her thigh. After a few silent minutes, the Dixon pulled his blade from the coals- the once dull steel now lit a brilliant red and orange hue.

"Yer gonna have to hold 'er down. She'll start moving an' it'll just tear it open again." Jax presses down on her calf on her injured leg while Merle took her other one, Lilith holding her palms to the dips of her shoulders. "On three. One-" Daryl quickly presses the blade against her skin, Juno's hands flailing to find anything to grip so she wouldn't thrash around too much as she let low squeaks of agony slip through her gritted teeth.

Daryl pushed the blade back into the coals for round two on the back of her thigh, his free hand accepting Juno's as her second clamped down on Jax's tee. The little teen unclenched her jaw and let out a raggedy breath to try and calm her racing heart.

"I thought you said three." The adults lightly chuckle at her jab, Daryl reaching once more for the glowing blade.

"I didn't want ya to flinch. Ready?" They turned her on her side so he could reach back and get to the gaping wound. Juno took in a few deep breaths to prepare for the burning. "One...two-" He quickly did the same and pressed the hot knife to her wound, blood and flesh sizzling under the heat. Juno's grip on his hand tightened but he didn't mind, it reminded him that she was still here.

"All done. Time to bandage it up." They looked between each other to see who had anything to use as a temporary bandage until they got back to the group in the morning. Merle shook his head no, Jax barely even had weapons with him, Daryl was too mentally frayed to consider grabbing some, and nobody really knew what weird things Lilith was hiding behind those metal feathers.

"Tree sap." Jax blurted as he eyes the thick woods around them. Merle and Daryl eyed him like he had grown a second head that spoke in tongues.

"Why do we need tree sap?" Merle finally took the bait as he watched the ravenette man and Lilith push to their feet in unison.

"Pine sap can be used to replace a bandage once the wound has been thoroughly cleaned. Plus it has antibacterial properties. We'll look for the sap-" Jax kicked his head towards the cloaked woman, "and you two clean the wounds. We'll be back in a bit."