A/n: As always, in honor of my sister. October of this year makes six years without her, which is hard to believe. I listened to death bed (coffee for your head) by Powfu (feat. beabadoobee) and Everything I wanted by Billie Eilish while writing this chapter.

I will be 100% honest that I have not watched any of the show since Beth died, so my knowledge of the events and such are none. I'm completely diverging from the storyline and all.

Chapter 15 -

"Honestly, it's a miracle she made it here," Daryl frowned. His eyes on Beth in the bed in front of him. "From what I can tell in my initial exam, the bullet made a clear path through her skull, probably even grazed her brain. I've got her in a medically induced coma right now. She's breathing on her own, though, so that's a relief. Looks like some of her wounds are infected, so I've got her on an IV of antibiotics." Daryl closed his eyes and sighed.

"Show me," he muttered softly. He finally looked up and met eyes with the doctor of Hilltop, whose name his brain could not focus on and remember right now. He didn't care to try, either. He had just gotten Beth back. He could not lose her now. At the confused look on the physician's face, he continued, "her wounds. Scars. I need to see them."

"Daryl," Maggie's voice was strained behind him but he shrugged. After a moment, his eyes were raking over the stitched scars on her face, the scarring and scabbing bullet hole in her forehead. His eyes moved down to her bare shoulders and neck where bandages covered a knife wound, the one she had told him about after her shower earlier that day. Bastards, he thought, jumping Beth. Ambushing her.

His eyes took in the bruises and scrapes he could see on her arms and shoulders, probably from the same ambush she had been stabbed in. Her wrist was no longer in the cast it had been in when he had seen her last in that hospital, but it was wrapped in a clean Ace bandage.

"It healed decently in the cast, my assumption was that it was broken," the voice was distant, Daryl's brain and eyes solely focused on the blonde in front of him. "The bullet's exit wound is where the infection is. While she was on her own out there, keeping it clean must have been hard. There doesn't appear to have been any attempt on medical treatments for it." Daryl swallowed the lump in his throat as he moved to the top of the bed to look at it. Her hair had been shaved around it. He couldn't look at it for longer than a second.

The scene replayed in his mind, the feeling of her blood splattering on him, the sight of her falling to the ground. He couldn't take it. A sob choked him, and he covered his face with his hand as he took a deep breath to try and regather his emotions.

Beth's blue eyes opened to the loud beeping of an alarm clock. The sound actually jarred her so much that she actually dove off the bed she was in, flailing to find her knife or a gun. Her hands only hit the soft fabric of a shirt. A rather large, button-up shirt that barely covered her butt, which was bare. It smelled strangely familiar, and yet extremely different from what she recognized.

"Beth, what's wrong?" her eyes flew to the deep blue of her hunter. He was freshly showered, his hair shorter than she remembered him having before she fell asleep. She gave a small yelp and tried to pull on the shirt to cover more of her body. Daryl looked at her in concern when she tried to cover herself and continued to look around confused. "What is it?" He looked around the bedroom, his ears listening for anything besides the still blaring alarm clock. The hunter finally moved around the bed, his hands gentle on her arm as he passed her, and turned off the alarm.

"Where am I?" the blonde whispered, her eyes wide as she took in the soft blue walls, the plush bedspread, and the quiet of the house beyond the open door. Daryl's eyes narrowed in confusion as he stood in front of her, his hands coming back to her arms, and eyes searching hers.

"You're in your house...your bedroom? Are you okay?" his voice dropped in concern and Beth looked into his eyes in confusion.

"My house? I don't have a house. Are we still in Hilltop?"

"Where? No, Beth, this is your house," he paused. "Was I too rough last night? Did you get a concussion? I swear, I didn't mean to hurt you." Beth's eyes widened.

"What? Last night? What did you do last night?" her voice rose an octave, her hands coming to rest on the hunter's elbows. His lips tilted in a slight smirk, his cheeks tinting a soft pink, as he shrugged.

"We had sex last night, Beth. Again. Man, I must have really done a number on you," he paused as his hands gently probed into her hair. Beth's eyes widened impossibly, her cheeks growing hot. She and Daryl had sex last night and she didn't remember it? That is impossible.

"No, no. You and I were just talking to Maggie after showering. After I finally found you. What are you talking about?" Beth focused hard. He had to be pranking her or something. There's no way they had sex. "I got a bad headache. Oh, god, I threw up on you." Daryl frowned. His hands tightened their grip slightly as he felt the back of her head. She had no bumps or knots or physical signs of a head injury.

"Beth, did...did you have a dream last night about all of that? None of that...none of that happened," his voice was gravelly as he tried to hide his worry from her. Beth forced her breathing to slow down. Something was off. Maybe she was dreaming right now? She and Daryl were far from having sex. Right? She shook her head and forced a smile.

"You're right. It was all a dream. I'm sorry, yeah." She cleared her throat and opened her eyes to look into Daryl's. He was not convinced. "So, uh...what is on our plans for today?" Daryl tilted his head and continued to stare at her.

"I'm going to call both of us into work sick and then we're going to try and figure out why you can't remember anything." Beth tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean work? You mean going on a run or helping keep the walls up against the walkers, right?" Daryl stared at her in shock before jumping to his feet and grabbing her cell phone from the table beside the bed. The blonde's eyes widened at the sight of a cell phone. She hadn't seen a working cell phone in years. Since before the world was overrun with the walkers. With a few punch of buttons, he was on the phone with someone. She actually smiled hearing the sound of the phone ringing in his ear.

"Hey, Carol, look...I'll be honest. I have no idea what happened, but Beth seems to have forgotten everything." He paused, "yeah, she literally just asked me what jobs we have and all. I'm telling you," he growled, "I don't know why she can't remember anything. I'm keeping her home today…"

Beth let out a frustrated huff during the conversation but waited quietly for him to finish and hang up. An idea came to her as he lowered the phone.

"I can prove everything to you. I got shot, ya know," her hand shot up to her forehead as Daryl's face mixed with worry and fear for a moment. "I got that scar from it, here." She moved her hair to show her forehead. Daryl shook his head.

"Beth, babe...there is nothing there. I've seen every inch of your body, girl…" he sighed, his hands reaching out for her, holding her hands softly. "We are going to figure this out...I promise." He gently pulled her to stand between his legs, his lips pressing a gentle kiss on her covered stomach. "Come on, Carol wants us to come up to the hospital. She said your doctor friend would take a look at you." Daryl gently pushed her back a step so he could stand up. He quickly went into the closet and pulled out a soft, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans for her. He then bent to grab her sneakers. Beth watched every move he made, her eyes moving to the other half of the closet where his clothes hung.

"I'm guessing we live together?" she asked softly, accepting the clothes and shoes from him. A pained look crossed Daryl's face for a moment before he walked behind her to the table by the bed and grabbing something.

"Yeah...I guess you forgot this, too?" he asked in a pained mutter. Light blue eyes looked down at the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen and she felt her throat close tightly. The hunter slipped the ring on her finger and pulled her into a hug, a deep breath escaping him.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered as he swallowed heavily. She felt him nod before stepping away from her to grab the rest of her clothes from the dresser.

"I'm guessing there is some swelling in her brain. I'll need to run more tests…" a strange voice echoed around the bedroom, but Daryl didn't react.

"What did you say?" Beth asked as she set the clothes back on the bed, staring incredulously at the hunter in front of her. He turned to her, his face showing a pained confusion. "Brain swelling?" Daryl looked at her, his confusion deepening. Beth sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and putting her head in her hands. A distant throb moved like a shadow over Beth's head, like a ghost of a headache and she paused.

"That's it. This is a dream," she muttered to herself, her eyes reopening to see Daryl crouching in front of her. "I'm in a coma. This is a dream."