Authors Note:

This story takes place during a dark time in American history. It deals with racial attitudes in the South that some might deem as offensive. By no means am I a racist and I wish not to offend anyone, but there are some words and terminology in this story that is offensive, but it is only to keep the story true to the times. Good will win out and I apologize in advance for anything that is hurtful.

August 1938

Daryl looked down at the laceration on his hand and new he finally needed to head to town to see the doc. He had hoped it would heal on his own, but by the slight fever he had been running for the past two days, and the drainage seeping from the fiery red wound on his hand, he figured it wasn't going to heal on it's own. Sweat was pouring down his face as he worked on the blue tractor in front of him in the scorching Georgia heat and he was finding it difficult to concentrate.

"Jess, I gotta go into town to see the doc." Daryl yelled to the older man working in the field not thirty feet away. Jess was Daryl's uncle, and along with his father and Merle, they ran a successful, but modest small farm. It was by no means a lucrative operation like their neighbor, Hershel Greene, but it was enough to put food on the table and a roof over their heads with a little left over.

"Told ya that two days ago Daryl when you sliced it open. Wish you would have listened to me then." Uncle Jess said, a bit frustrated at his nephew.

"Didn't think it would get this bad, besides that you know I can't exactly go into to town and have Dr. Blake look at it after what happened with Merle." Daryl said. Dr. Philip Blake was a third generation doctor in the town of Holly Springs, GA. Blake was about Merle's age and his Grandfather had not only been Holly Springs first doctor, but had also served as a Colonel for the confederacy in the war of Northern Aggression. When Sherman made his march through Georgia, he burned Canton, the next town over and was headed to Holly Springs, but forces led by Colonel Blake turned away the Yankees, and the town survived. His legacy was still heralded even to this day. The Blake family owned over half the town and his wife Andrea was one of the most beautiful women in Cherokee County. She was also one of the biggest bitches Daryl had ever met. She came from some Hoity Toity family in Atlanta and felt like everyone in their small town owed her a debt of gratitude just to be blessed by her presence.

That was until she came up against Merle at the Founder's day celebration. Merle had gone over to speak to the woman, after drinking quite a bit of liquid courage, and Merle being Merle, said quite a few derogatory things to the woman. Most women would have run from Merle, face low and head spinning with his crudeness, but instead, Ms. Blake took it upon herself to strike him in the face, catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground.

"You fucking Cunt." Merle shouted out loudly, drawing the attention of just about everyone attending the celebration, and most importantly, Dr. Blake.

He immediately rushed to his wife's side and grabbed Merle by the shirt, staring him directly in the eyes (Something no one ever dared to do before in the past).

"Apologize right now." Blake barked out.

"To what, I don't see nothing but a whore and a piece of shit in a suite in front of me." Merle said, this time inciting Blake to jerk Merle forward.

In a snarling voice Blake publicly chastised Merle "Calling you white trash would be an insult to trash…your worse than trash, you and your family are like cockroaches…vile creatures that everyone avoids. You disgust me." Then Blake shoved Merle to the ground. But Merle being Merle, he couldn't let this lie. Instead, he jumped up and tackled Blake and began to beat the Doc. If it hadn't been for Sheriff Grimes and Deputy Walsh, Merle would probably be rotting in the Georgia State Penitentiary waiting to be hung for murder, but instead the Sheriff and Deputy managed to secure Merle and let him sleep off his drunkenness in the jail for the night.

Daryl could count on one hand the number of times he actually left the farm and went to the Doc to get treatment, but he knew this wound was bad and he couldn't risk his hand getting worse. Being a farmer meant a lot of hard work and the crops would be coming out of the field in a few weeks. They had equipment to repair and fifty acres of Cotton to harvest. He knew Uncle Jess and Merle would bust their ass to help, but they could never rely on his worthless father (which was a shame because the man was a good farmer when he wanted to be). Fifty acres was almost too much for four men to handle, and with Will's unreliability, Daryl wasn't sure if they were going to have to hire someone to help out with the harvesting. There wasn't much money set aside for the extra laborers, but if it meant getting the crops out of the field in time, then they might have too. That of course opened up an entirely different can of worms. Will refused to let any of the black field hands work on the farm, and that meant they would have to go to Canton to hire out labor, which would cost twice as much. Daryl found it ironic that his drunk of a father would dare to judge anyone based on the color of their skin, when the old man had been found drunk and passed out in his own piss and filth in a ditch on more than one occasion. Daryl couldn't stand a hypocrite and his father was one the biggest one that he knew.

There was a time when the Dixon family had been respected in these parts, but Will and even his Uncle Jess had done a lot to tarnish the family reputation. Will had already started his wild ways when he was a teenager. His parents, Earl and Dora Dixon, had done everything in their power to curve their eldest son's behavior. They had taken him to church, and Earl had taken the time to teach him how to run the farm, but Will wanted no part of it. At sixteen years old Will had been attending the local cotton festival and had spotted fourteen year old Nellie Faye Harper and had been immediately smitten with the girl. She was the Cotton Queen that year and Will had never seen anyone with eyes that blue and hair that golden. There was no denying that Will himself was a handsome man and could charm even the most skeptical of people. Within a week he was spending all his time at the Harper farm working hard to win the young girl's affection.

Their relationship blossomed and Nellie Faye was in love with the handsome older boy. Somehow, Will managed to talk the young girl out of her virtue, and within two months Nellie Faye was in the family way. When she told him, Will left and had no more plans to return to Nellie or her family farm. He wasn't ready to be a father and the way he saw it, it was her problem, not his.

It wasn't his problem until Cole Harper showed up at the Dixon farm armed with his shot gun and anger at Will for what he had done to his daughter. Earl and Dora were mortified at what their son had done to the sweet girl. Before the sun rose the next day Nellie Faye and Will were at the Justice of the Peace's house with both sets of parents, getting hitched in the truest sense of a Southern Shotgun Wedding.

Earl helped Will build a little three room cabin on the outskirts of the property, and it seemed that Will was finally taking responsibility for what he had done. He helped his father out on the farm and began to act like a man that cared about his wife and unborn child. Nellie and Will seemed to be happy, and their first son was born shortly before Christmas in 1891. Will was a proud papa and he was sure to have his wife and son at Church every Sunday so he could show off his little family. Things went well for young Dixons until Will started spending time away from the farm in the local bars in town. It started out as a once a month excursion and Nellie Faye didn't mind too much, knowing men still needed a little time to themselves so they could unwind. But once a month drinking soon became once a week and once a week became an every day event.

Will's tender and loving side was completely gone, and any time that Nellie would bring it up, she would either get beaten physically, or verbally assaulted. Merle was almost seven and rarely ever saw his father sober when Nellie found out she was expecting again. More than anything she wanted to leave, but her parents were adamant that she stay with her husband and make the marriage work regardless of how miserable she was. So at twenty-three years old she now found herself the mother of two small boys without anyone to help. Will rarely provided for them financially, and Earl and Dora did what they could to help out, but the crops were lean and the price of cotton had plummeted, making times tough for everyone.

As hard as it was raising her two boys, Nellie Faye did her best to be both mother and father to her sons. Earl would take Merle hunting and Daryl begged to go as soon as he was able to walk and talk. Earl was the only fatherly influence her sons received since Will rarely made his way to the house much anymore. He was out drinking with his buddies, gambling away any wages he earned, or carousing with loose women that were more than willing to take a turn at the handsome man. Nellie wasn't oblivious of her husband's actions, but there just wasn't much she could do. To be honest, she was thankful the abusive man rarely showed his face around the house anymore. At least her boys were safe from his drunken tirades and she didn't have to deal with his drunken and aggressive fumblings when he came to their bed.

One summer morning when Daryl was four and Merle was twelve, Nellie decided to take the boys on a picnic in the woods. She had actually wanted to take the boys to town to get them new shoes and maybe some ice cream, but she didn't even have a nickel to her name to buy the ice cream. Instead they went to a spot down by the creek and enjoyed their lunch of left over squirrel and dumplings and when they were done she let the boys play in the water and then they picked blueberries on their way back home. Nellie was starting to feel poorly by the time that they got back to the cabin, but she pushed herself to make some sweetened cream and served it on top of the blueberries for the boys to enjoy. Seeing the smiles on her son's faces gave her more joy than anything else did in her world. That night she tucked the boys into their beds and gave them each a gentle kiss on their cheeks, Merle complaining that he "didn't need to be babied," causing Nellie to let out a little laugh.

Daryl awoke first the next morning and was confused when his mother wasn't in the kitchen like she had been every morning before. He went into her room and found her lying on the floor in a heap. Immediately the four-year-old Daryl called for Merle and the two young boys managed to get their mother back up on the bed. Merle gave Daryl strict instructions for him to stay by their ailing mother's side while he ran to his grandparent's house to get help. Daryl climbed up on the bed and curled into his mother's side. Heat was radiating off of her body like nothing he had ever felt before and he knew something was extremely wrong with her. He grabbed his mother's hand and held onto it with everything he had in his little body.

Earl and Dora arrived shortly thereafter with Merle, and Earl took the horse and buggy and made his way into town to retrieve Dr. Randolph Blake (Philip Blake's father.) It didn't take long for Dr. Blake to determine that Nellie's appendix had burst and that she was now suffering from septic shock. She was terminal and all they could do was make the woman comfortable in her last few moments left here on earth. Nellie was in and out of consciousness during her last few hours and in a final moment of lucidity she pulled her boys close to her and gave them each one last kiss before she succumbed to the sickness that took her away.

When Nellie passed, Daryl refused to let his mother go so they could prepare the body for burial. Nellie's own parents refused to have anything to do with their daughter or their grandson's, saying that they believed Nellie Faye received God's judgement for getting pregnant outside the confines of marriage. Earl and Dora's heart broke for their grandson's, but they both agreed that the boys would be better off not interacting with Nellie's family. They buried Nellie on the family farm, the sounds of Daryl's cries echoing throughout the area as they placed Nellie in the ground. The only thing that comforted the small boy was his brother's protective arms. From that day on Daryl remained a painfully shy child and never seemed to really come out of his emotionally protective shell.

After Nellie passed, Earl did all he could to try to find Will, and after a few days he found his drunken son in a brothel on the outskirts of town and informed him of what had happened to his wife. Earl wasn't sure, but he thought for a moment that he saw a glimpse of regret in his son's eyes.

Will returned home, but it didn't take long for him to start abusing his sons on a regular basis. As the boys got older they lost the last bit of security in their lives when Earl and Dora both contracted Yellow fever and died. Will moved him and the boys into his parent's house and Jess took off to head out west and explore the country. Merle started getting in more and more trouble, and between stints in jail, and days he was just gone, that left Daryl as Will's sole target of violence. Will left numerous scars and injuries on his youngest son, yet somehow Daryl managed to get through his schooling, and miraculously graduate early. It turned out that one of the things Daryl excelled in was learning. Maybe all the years of needing to be acutely aware of his father's mood swings left Daryl with the skill of being able to process information better than most.

When Daryl was seventeen the Great War was raging in Europe and the United States had taken a stance to join in the battle. Merle looked at joining the military as way to get out of the hell he and Daryl lived in and convinced Daryl that this was the honorable thing to do. Plus he added "women love a man in uniform baby brother…when we come back we will have our pick of any woman around here we want and we can even maybe take in a bit of the local cuisine over in Europe." Daryl, as usual, followed his brother's cue and lied about his age, joining up at barely seventeen years old. They went through military training for three months at Camp Gordon in Chamblee, Georgia then took to the sea for a two- week trip from Savannah to France. While training at Camp Gordon, Merle and Daryl had become close with three brothers from Augusta by the name of James, Louis, and Charlie McDonnell. James was the youngest at twenty-four years of age, and Charlie was the oldest at twenty-eight. Merle and Louis were both twenty-five and they all called Daryl "baby boy" as he had yet to turn eighteen.

The camaraderie between the men was strong and for the first time in Daryl's life, he felt accepted and cared for by his brother's in arms. The men fought strong, celebrated strong, and lived life to the fullest during their time together. When they finally arrived in France Daryl was sure they were all gonna get locked up after one particularly wild night out on the town. Merle had been right about women being excited about men in uniform. Daryl had his virginity taken from him by a beautiful older French woman that the men met in one of the clubs close to the military base. It was an awkward encounter for Daryl, but he wouldn't have traded it for anything. His shyness had always left him a bit handicapped when it came to women, and he guessed the amount of alcohol Merle and the McDonnell brothers had plied him with had a lot to do with his boldness regarding the events of the evening.

Within a week after arriving in France the five-some was given their orders and they would be participating in an offensive in the town of Cantigny, France. They were sent to the battlefield and found themselves ensconced in the trenches in the hills of France. Death, mortars, rain, mud, and gun shots peppered at the men for three days until Daryl and three brothers were given orders to take the offensive against the German troops while Merle was to provide sniper cover. Daryl and the brothers' belly crawled across the battlefield towards the menacing German trenches, taking fire but avoiding anything more serious than dirt being thrown up at them.

They had made it three quarters of the way across the field when Daryl heard a click and before he could react, his ears were ringing and he found himself covered in blood, brain, and various body parts of the McDonnell boys. The brothers whom had been crawling beside him just a few seconds earlier were no longer among the living. Louis had inadvertently snagged a trip wire, triggering a land mine that exploded and killed the three brothers immediately. Daryl had been on the outer left flank, and somehow had managed to avoid most of the blast. He remained in shock for a moment, unable to move, until he heard the unmistakable sounds of Merle's voice calling for him. Merle had abandoned his post when he saw what happened and was running fully upright across the battlefield towards his baby brother.

When he reached Daryl, Daryl stood up and ignored the chaos ensuing around him. He had a look in his eyes like Merle had never seen, and before Merle could stop him, Daryl was now running full speed directly into the line of fire towards the German's entrenched twenty-yards ahead of him. By now other troops were providing cover for both Daryl and Merle, and the two brothers were running forward towards the enemy. If by some miracle, they both made it into enemy territory unscathed. Merle began firing his machine gun, taking out men left and right and Daryl pulled out his gun and began to match Merle's tenacity. Daryl was in a blinding rage and had turned into a killing machine, and Merle was simply in self-preservation mode. It was all over in the blink of an eye when Merle realized he and Daryl had killed almost twenty men and opened up a line that allowed the Infantry division to move through and push back the Germans.

When it was all said and done Daryl and Merle had both been wounded without realizing it. Merle had taken a gunshot to the shoulder and Daryl had a bayonet stuck in his left side. Both brothers collapsed in a heap from their injuries and exhaustion and were carried from the battlefield to a medical facility set up a few miles away. Their wounds were treated, and the Dixon's would live to see another day, but a part of Daryl died out there on that battlefield. He had lost the first individuals outside of Merle that he was close too in his not quite an adult life.

For their heroic actions at the Battle of Cantigny Merle and Daryl were awarded the Silver Stars for gallantry on the battlefield. They were sent home to Georgia as heroes, and while Merle soaked in the attention, Daryl pulled away from it. Night after night Daryl dreamed about the events of that day and other than working on the farm he became pretty much a recluse. Occasionally Merle would convince Daryl to leave the farm and go out for a night on the town, but that usually resulted in Daryl drinking too much or a rare fumble with some whore in the backseat of car. Daryl just barely managed to get through each day. He rarely slept more than a few hours at night, and those hours he did sleep were continually filled with night terrors.

Daryl leaving the confines of the farm and heading into town to seek medical treatment was actually a rarity for the man. Daryl didn't leave the farm much unless it was to run an errand related to the farm, or to enjoy the solitude of hunting in the forest or the beauty of the nature surrounding them in the mountains of Georgia. Daryl was not a people person, and for the most part the people of Holly Springs went out of their way to avoid him. Daryl's introverted lifestyle was well known and there had even been rumors in town that Daryl was mentally unbalanced. Of course it wasn't true, but Daryl Dixon never really left the battlefield in France, even twenty years later he re-lived those events of that day everyday. He lived in his own personal hell and it never seemed to end.

Daryl was getting in the truck, dreading heading into to town when Merle hollered at him "Jess said you were going into to town to get your hand looked at. You going to see Blake?"

"Fuck no, you pretty much ruined that didn't ya. I reckon I'm gonna see the new doc in town…please tell me you ain't done something to piss her off too?" Daryl asked in a frustrated voice.

"Not yet, but you know she treats the Darkies around here too…not to mention she is a woman" Merle said in a warning voice.

"And why should that matter to ya? You think I don't know about you heading out to the Juke joints on the East Side of town on Saturday nights? I thought you were better than the old man was. And I don't care if she is a woman or a giraffe…I need a doc for this. Ain't like I'm gonna get married or something to her." Daryl said in a challenging voice showing his brother his hand.

"Just wanted you to know is all. Ain't making no judgements baby brother." Merle said. Merle knew Daryl held no judgement against anyone white or black, unless they had given Daryl a reason to do so. Merle really didn't hold his father's racist beliefs either, but growing up in the rural south he did sometimes make offensive statements. However, there were more than a few times Merle had taken comfort from some of the dark skinned women down in East Holly Springs. It wasn't something he bragged about, knowing full well if Will found out there would be hell to pay, but Daryl knew and never judged him for it.

"I'll be back later…if Pa is getting on your nerves you can stay down at the cabin with me." Daryl told his older brother. Tension between Daryl and his father had gotten so bad that Daryl took it upon himself to fix up his parent's old cabin and moved in a few years back. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was clean, comfortable, and his. He had running water, indoor plumbing, and electricity and he couldn't ask for more. He kept the guestroom ready for Merle any time he needed to get away from their daddy and about once a month Merle would come stay for a few days. Normally Merle would stay in the main house with Will just to make sure the man didn't choke on his own vomit or burn the place down.

Daryl drove into town and pulled up in front of the Old Blake place. The new doc had purchased it and Daryl had to admit, she had done a lot to fix up the old house. For several years the house had sat in disrepair after Philip had built him a mansion in the center of town. The faded paint had been replaced with bright yellow with white trim, and the old wrap around porch had been repaired and looked like it used to when Daryl was a young child. The flower beds were well kept and their was a newer model blue Ford truck parked out to the side of the house.

Daryl bit his lip out of nervousness and made his way to the attached office to the left of the main portion of the house. He slowly entered, his nerves getting the best of him. He was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a young woman with a bright smile. She was tall for a woman, and had hair and eyes as dark as chocolate. Her lips were ruby red, her skin was like porcelain, and she wore a red collared shirt with white polka dots and a fitted long tan skirt that hit the back of her calves. Over her clothing she wore a bright white apron and her hair was pulled back in a red snood. On a good day Daryl would hardly speak, but seeing the attractive doctor left him with sweaty palms and the inability to look up from the floor.

"Hi, can I help you?" She asked in a strong southern accent. It surprised Daryl. He assumed she must have come from somewhere up North, but there was no mistaking the Georgia accent.

"I hurt my hand and I need ya to take a look at it." He managed to mumble out, still not looking her in the eye.

"Well I'm Dr. Alyssa Cambridge and I will be glad to look at it." She said.

"How much does a visit cost?" Daryl asked softly.

"If you can't afford the visit we can work out something." She said sweetly.

"Didn't say I couldn't afford it, just needed to know if I had to go to the bank to get more cash. How much?" Daryl replied a bit gruffer than he intended.

"I charge three dollars." She replied once again in a sweet voice.

"Okay. Names Daryl, Daryl Dixon." Daryl said, finally looking up to make awkward eye contact.

"So what brings you here Mr. Dixon?" Alyssa asked the obviously nervous man. She prayed it wasn't something involving his personal parts, but by the way he was acting she couldn't be sure.

Daryl pulled his hand out of his pocket and thrust it forward towards the doctor "Cut my hand working on a tractor and it's in pretty bad shape." He told her.

"Well follow me over here to the exam area and let me check it out for you." She said warmly. Daryl had to admit she had a much better bedside manner than Blake did on his best days. She led him to the corner of the office and pulled back a curtain revealing a cot and a chair. She directed Daryl to sit down on the cot and she began to ask him questions as she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

"Your date of birth?" She asked first.

"July second, nineteen hundred." He told her.

"Are you suffering from any ailments other than the hand?" She inquired.

Daryl thought to himself for a second "I don't sleep too good at night, but that ain't new."

She nodded and jotted down the information "When did you injure your hand?"

"Two days ago." He replied, getting a bit annoyed at the questions. Alyssa could sense his impatience.

"Just a couple more questions Daryl. Have you had any other injuries in the past?"

"Was wounded in the Great War, took a bayonet in the gut, but it didn't hit any major organs. A few broken bones and lacerations, and I got a bad fever when I was twelve." He told her.

"You fought in the War? You couldn't have been any more than eighteen?" She said almost in shock.

"Yes Ma'am, I was actually seventeen. Lied about my age and joined up with my older brother." He said, surprised he had volunteered the information. Then he realized she was a doctor and she probably needed to know this information in case she found something out of the normal with his health. He knew that other than his fucked up head, he was a healthy man.

"The lacerations and broken bones, were they from an accident?" She asked.

"No." Daryl said quietly, not volunteering any further information. He wasn't going to elaborate on anything unless she asked.

…

Alyssa had been surprised when she looked up to see the blue eyed man walking into her office. He was soft spoken and struggled to make eye contact, but she assumed he was just bashful. She had a steady stream of patients in the two months she had her practice open, but most of them were unable to pay for their visits at they time then received treatment and she had a lot of them on payment plans. Dr. Blake had the majority of the wealthier residents in Holly Springs, and she wasn't really surprised by that. Blake was a third generation doctor, and she had found out through the grapevine that he didn't go out of his way to help take care of those less fortunate in town. He specifically avoided anyone with dark skin.

Alyssa was no stranger to bigotry, she had grown up just outside of Atlanta and had been exposed to it all her life, but that didn't mean she agreed with it. She had initially been practicing medicine in Canton, and heard that the only medically trained person willing to take care of the poverty stricken in town had a propensity for alcoholism. That was when she made up her mind to move to Holly Springs and set up her own practice. Ironically, the only home available for her was Dr. Blake's old family home that he deemed too insignificant to take care of anymore. Alyssa had no family left, and was surprised to find out that her Mother's brother, her uncle, had passed away as a "confirmed bachelor" and left her his estate. It was ten thousand dollars and enough to purchase the house, a truck, and medical equipment she would need to take care of her patients. The remaining amount was put into savings and left there in case times got lean. She knew she wouldn't be welcomed with open arms in the small tight knit community, but there were many that desperately needed a reliable doctor, and she was ready to take on the challenge.

Alyssa charged her patients three dollars a visit, while Dr. Blake charged five dollars. She also accepted goods such as food, seed, or labor in exchange for payment if needed. She was finally beginning to grow her practice, but it was slow going.

This man in her office now didn't seem to fit into any of the categories her other patients fell into. Besides being extremely shy, he seemed to be the type that would prefer to see Dr. Blake. She wasn't complaining by any means, just surprised. When he finally was able to hold eye contact with her, she almost gasped at the intensity that they held. Those eyes were fierce, almost like those of a wolf. His shoulders were strong and his body was lean and fit. There was no doubt that he was no stranger to hard physical labor. Based on his tan skin, she assumed he was a farmer. His hair was long, and she figured he was too busy either managing his farm or taking care of his family to take the time to get it trimmed, unlike his facial hair that was trimmed neatly. He had on his work boots, tan work pants, and a plaid shirt over an undershirt. To be honest, she found the man very handsome in his own rugged way. She briefly blushed as she admired him, but quickly pushed it out of her mind.

As she continued to ask him questions, she could tell he was not comfortable talking much about himself. When she asked him about his previous injuries she was surprised to find out that he had fought in the Great War at such a young age. He didn't got into detail regarding his broken bones or lacerations, and at first she just assumed it was some sort of farm accident, but when she asked, she saw the man stiffen up and he simply responded with a "no" when she asked. She could tell there was more to the story, but she didn't need to know at this moment, so she decided not to press the issue.

"Are you married or do you have children?" She asked.

Daryl let out a small laugh "No."

"Okay, let's take a look at that hand." She said as she reached out and began to pull the dirty bandage off the wound. Immediately she could tell it was badly infected and would need to be drained and cleaned. She reached up to feel his forehead and it felt warm.

"Before I clean your wound I want to check your temperature, listen to your heart, and check your blood pressure. Would you be OK removing your over shirt?" She asked him.

Daryl nodded, reluctant to take off his shirt and leaving him only in a thin undershirt. She would be able to see some of the damage his father had left on his body, but she didn't seem like the type that would judge him for it. He took the shirt off and she continued to exam him while placing the thermometer in his mouth.

"Your blood pressure is good, but your heart is racing. I also am picking up a bit of an abnormal beat. Did you say you had a fever when you were younger? Were you ever diagnosed?" She asked.

"No, was sick real bad for about ten days, and then I started getting better. My father didn't believe in doctors so I had to just go through it." He told her.

"Do you ever find yourself getting short of breath doing simple tasks?" She asked.

Daryl though about what she was asking, and nodded his head in affirmation.

"I'd like to check on you periodically and continue to monitor your heart. You could have had Rheumatic fever and that could have damaged your heart without you knowing it. You are also running a fever, but I guess you suspected that." She informed him.

Daryl shook his head and let out a breath. This wasn't something he wanted to hear. He had read about Rheumatic fever and knew what it could do to the body. He wished he had known what had caused his sickness back then, but Merle was gone and Will hadn't bothered to get Daryl any type of medical help. Daryl survived, but he never did feel like he fully recovered.

The young doctor noticed the scars that his undershirt didn't cover, and by connecting the dots, she assumed Daryl had a less than ideal childhood. Evidence of abuse was littered all over his body, and she assumed that his bashfulness might also be a result of constant belittling throughout his life. The young man probably had no sense of self-worth and Alyssa realized that this visit to her office must have taken a lot of courage for him. She jotted down a few more notes and then told Daryl he could put his over-shirt back on.

"I'm going to need to re-open your wound, drain it and clean it out. I'm not going to lie, it's going to hurt like the dickens and I would like to give you a shot of some pain medication to help." She informed him.

"It ain't gonna knock me out or anything will it?" He asked.

"It shouldn't, but it might, it's morphine. I really would prefer you take the medication though. I will need you to be extremely still and relaxed for a good amount of time while I clean out the wound." She said, hoping he would agree.

Daryl let out a sigh, and then nodded his head again. "Okay, if you think it will help."

"I promise you will be fine." She said as she placed a comforting hand on Daryl's shoulder. She could feel his body stiffen at her friendly gesture, and she wanted to kick herself for the action. The last thing this man wanted was some stranger to touch him without warning.

"Alright, let's get this done." He told her, but she could tell he was really trying to get himself to calm down.

She prepared the shot and injected it into a well-defined vein in his arm. She guided him to lay back on the cot and watched him close his eyes and relax as the opiates began to flood his blood stream. His body became less tense and she could see his facial features soften. When she was sure that the pain medication was at its full strength she began to treat his callused hand. It took her about forty-five minutes to Drain, clean, stitch, and re-wrap the wound. When she was finished she started to speak to let Daryl know she was done, but realized he didn't hear her as he was soundly asleep on the cot.

Reviews? Drop me a note and let me know if this is something I should continue with. I actually have this story outlined beginning to end.

I hope you enjoy.