daryl dixon imagines

thirty-two

The horse jumps up when he sees the horde of walkers following behind the both of you, flinging you off the back. You expect your back to hit the hard ground, but instead, something pierces through your stomach, a weak gasp leaving your lips. You look down, seeing the large bloody pointy end of a metal rod, still connected to the ground underneath you.

"Fuck!" you yell, not caring at this point as the pain radiates though my body. You throw your head back, hearing Daryl's motorcycle catching up in the distance as the horde gets dangerously closer.

Sweat starts to form on your forehead, partially because of the hot Georgia sun beating down on you but mostly from the immense pain and almost immediate large loss of blood. You open your eyes when you see darkness over you, looking to see Daryl leaning over you and blocking the sun from your eyes.

"I'm gon' lift you off, we gotta get out of here," he says quickly, placing both his hands under your back.

"Shit- okay. Okay, let's do it," you huff, grunting as Daryl lifts you off the rod, tears forcing themselves from your eyes. You feel slight relief when you're off and back on your feet, but now you can feel the blood flowing from you even worse. Daryl quickly presses his hand tightly to your back as you press yours to your stomach, stumbling next to him as he leads you both over to his bike.

"Daryl- I love you," you mumble, wanting him to know those three words one last time just in case.

"Stop it. We're goin' home, 'yer gon' be fine," he says shakily, helping you on the seat first before sitting behind you. He quickly hits the gas as the horde approaches closer, driving right past them and quickly down the street. You lay your head back on Daryl's chest, the blast of wind cooling down your hot face. Another tear slips from your eye as you watch ahead of you, then wandering down to daryl's hands on the handles.

You feel your eyelids become heavier as you feel like you have no control over your body anymore. Your hands slowly fall from your stomach, and you feel it almost immediately replaced by one of daryl's hands before you shut your eyes.

-

The brightness burns your eyes as you slowly open them, moaning quietly when you feel the pain shoot through your body. You arch your back up slightly when you feel the pressure of the mattress against it, looking down to see your shirt lifted, a bloody bandage wrapped around your body. You can't believe you survived that, all the blood you lost and all the internal organs that could've been injured- you got extremely lucky.

You jump when you hear breathing, looking beside you to see Daryl. He sits on the ground next to the small camping cot in the infirmary tent at Oceanside, his elbow propped up on the mattress next to you as his head lays in his bloody hand, his eyes shut as he softly breathes. Goddammit, Daryl. He probably hasn't slept in a long time. You know him, and when something bad happens and stresses him out, he can go without sleep for days.

You choose to ignore him for now and let him get his most likely much needed sleep, slowly easing your body back down. You slowly lift the bandage wrapped around your abdomen and peel up the gauze, wincing slightly when you see the many stitches keeping your body from bleeding out. Your skin is still stained the colour and the blood is caked on all over, and the wound is surrounded by a large bruise. But, it's much better than being dead.

You look up when Enid enters the tent, her face lighting up when she sees you awake. You immediately put your finger to your lips, motioning for her to be quiet and pointing to Daryl.

"I'll come back," she mouths with the tiniest whisper, a smirk on her face as she drops what looks like medical supplies that were in her hands on the table before walking back out. You look back down at Daryl, smiling softly at how peaceful he looks. Even though he seems like a mess with his bloody hands and red stained shirt, his blue eyes are still shut as he calmly breathes. You play with the ends of his hair as he sleeps, the smile never leaving your face. Your eyes wander off when you hear some talking outside the tent, probably Enid telling everyone you're awake. But, when you look back over, Daryl's head is lifted as he watches you closely, tears welling in his eyes.

"Thank you," you say, pulling his head towards you to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

"What?" he asks.

"I would've died out there. You brought me here, you stayed by my side, thank you," you smile. Daryl shakes his head, obviously feeling slightly awkward in the moment.

"Enid and said you'll be fine. Stitches and bandages and you should be back to normal in a week or two," he says. You smile, nodding softly.

"I'll get them, make sure you're okay," he says, quickly standing up and walking towards the entrance.

"Hey, didn't get the chance to tell ya before, I love you too."