Hello! I was going to make this a one shot like my other Bethyl fic but I got inspired and ended up writing out an entire plot and everything, oops! So here is the first chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy it and I will be updating quickly, I'm already writing the second chapter. Please let me know what you think! I post gifsets to tumbrl frequently that tie in with my stories if you guys like visuals, there is a link to my tumblr in my profile. Happy reading!

Summary: Beth is alive but fading fast. Dr. Edwards does all he can but Beth remains in a coma and unable to travel. The group decides they can not stay at the hospital but are torn with leaving Beth behind. Daryl volunteers to stay until she wakes up and then take her to them in Virginia. Unexpected circumstances make life a little more difficult for Daryl Dixon.

Stay

Chapter 1: Asleep

"This is ridiculous, she can't travel and we need to go." Abraham was pacing frantically outside of the hospital, his eyes darting up to the windows as the people inside stared out at them with curious eyes.

Daryl still held Beth cradled in his arms, kneeling down, watching the faint pulse throb in her neck that he had only noticed moments before. She was still there, she hadn't gone yet.

Maggie had fallen to her knees beside Daryl at the mention of this and no one had spoken since.

"Go where Abe?" Glenn asked crossing his arms. He stood near Maggie; she leaned against his leg slightly for comfort. "She's alive we can't just leave her here!"

"She's going to die, look at that wound," Abraham snarled jerking his head towards Beth's limp body.

Daryl's head shot up at this and a low growl escaped his throat. Rosita rushed over to Abraham and took his face in her hands, "Calm down, what if that was me?"

He seemed to consider this momentarily before his features softened.

"We don't have anywhere to go anyway; your scientist is a fraud." Maggie bit out angrily, glaring at the truck where they had left Eugene unconscious.

"Virginia."

Everyone turned to the newer voice in the group. Noah stood off to the side unsure of his place among the close knit group.

"I'm telling ya'll its safe there…me and my family had a nice set up, before my uncle went missing, before my father was killed and I was taken." He glanced up at the hospital, a few people still stood in the windows, staring down as if they were a circus attraction.

"That's a long walk…" Carol murmured; she was watching Daryl, who still had his eyes trained on Beth's face, waiting for any sign she'd wake up.

"We can find a car and supplies and make it," Rick walked over with Carl trailing behind him. "Still doesn't change the fact that Beth is fading fast and I don't think she should travel if there's even a chance she'll survive."

"Stop sayin' that!" Daryl's rough yell caused the entire group to jump.

"I didn't say she's going to die Daryl," Rick held his hands up in a gesture of peace, "We need a game plan."

Daryl gently placed Beth on the ground, making sure to cradle her head until she was secure. Maggie looked up at him surprised.

"Keep an eye on her," Daryl said looking Maggie straight in the eye, "don't even look away."

Maggie just stared at him, her mouth slightly open in surprise. He acted as if someone looked away Beth would slip away from them all in an instant; or maybe just slip away from him.

He jumped up and grabbed his crossbow, marching back toward the hospital. Instantly Rick was in front of him along with Glenn and Tyreese.

"What are you doing dude," Glenn asked, "You can go back in there!"

"They have medicine and medical supplies that she needs!" Daryl shouted attempting to push past them. Rick placed his hand firmly in the middle of Daryl's chest and pushed back gently.

"We can't just barge in there and demand they give us supplies they have." Rick gave Daryl a knowing look and Daryl turned red and looked away.

"I don't see why not, they kidnapped her, they shot her." His voice was wavering so he snapped his mouth shut and bit the inside of his cheek.

"Maybe if we asked," Noah approached the trio slowly, "I know the doctor there, and he isn't that horrible…"

Daryl studied him for a moment and then glanced at Rick who looked thoughtful.

"We'll send you in Noah, with Maggie and Glenn to plead our case. Hopefully they're feeling generous."

Rick rubbed his face, the stress clearly etched deep.

It was quiet for a moment, the ghostly remnants of Atlanta gave off an eerie feel, but for once there wasn't a walker in sight.

And then the smallest of noises caused the entire group to swivel around to Maggie's kneeling figure. It was a tiny groan of pain, soft, and it had come from Beth.

She looked up at all of them.

"S-she made a noise," She gasped tears filling her eyes, "She's responsive; I pinched her arm…"

Rick turned back to Noah and gave him a grave look, "Go, now!"

Glenn ran over to Maggie and touched her shoulder, "Come on babe, we'll leave her in good hands, they can save her in there."

Daryl sat down next to Maggie and nodded his head in agreement. Maggie took one shaky breath before leaning down and kissing her sisters cheek.

Glenn helped her up and together they followed Noah back to the hospital's main entrance.

Noah walked swiftly down the halls with the couple in tow. He was searching for Steven, who he knew would help Beth. He had a fondness for Beth, he could tell.

Rounding the corner he came face to face with a few of the hospital's inhabitants. They looked startled and reached for their weapons but Maggie and Glenn where quicker.

"We just need to talk to Steve," Noah said holding his hands up. "Beth's responding, she isn't dead, and he can save her."

The small group of people looked to one another for confirmation.

"Come on dammit, my sister is dyin'!" Maggie shouted harshly making them jump.

"No need to cause a panic young lady," Steve emerged from a room down the hall. "Bring her in, I'll help her."

He turned to the group of people, all wearing scrubs, and spoke a few commands in a low voice and they nodded.

"They're getting the supplies, there is a gurney at the end of the next hallway, get her on it and bring her to me."

Noah looked back at Maggie and Glenn who had now lowered their weapons.

"Come on I know where the gurney is," He motioned for them to follow and they quickly holstered their guns before bolting after him.

Rick stood next to Daryl in the doorway as they watched Dr. Edwards work on Beth. He had cleaned the entrance wound, saying something about a perfect entrance and exit which had pissed Daryl off, there was nothing perfect about this, but he held his tongue.

Maggie sat in a chair gripping her sister's hand, Glenn loyally standing behind the chair rubbing her shoulders soothingly.

Dr. Edwards was now wrapping Beth's head in gauze to cover the wound. Once he was finished he turned to the group and sighed.

"This is the best I can do, I had to replace the missing skull fragments with a small piece of metal but it wasn't quite that large, scar tissue will grow over it and she can cover the exposed skin with her hair…" Dr. Edwards let out another sigh, "I did the best I could with what resources I had."

"Is she going to be okay?" Maggie asked tearfully, her eyes still trained on her sister.

"I can't say," Dr. Edwards removed his glasses and wiped them on this shirt. "She's responsive in some ways and there is no swelling or severe bleeding that I could tell but again I have no proper equipment."

No one said anything to this. The silence grew more and more tense as the minutes ticked by; Finally Carol spoke up,

"Can we stay here until she wakes up?"

Dr. Edwards frowned and glanced at Noah who was standing by the window.

"Unfortunately I don't know when she will wake up, and we don't have the resources to care for so many people…"

"You know that's bullshit Steve." Noah turned to him giving him a hard look. "We have plenty of resources."

Dr. Edwards turned red at this and Rick stepped forward, "I understand, I know how hard it is to survive and how hard it is to take in new people. Give us a moment to talk alone."

Rick motioned for Daryl and the rest of his group to follow him into the hallway, Maggie reluctantly let go of Beth's hand and followed.

Abraham was leaning against the wall, Rosita leaning against him. Tara was cleaning her gun and looked up when Rick and the others came striding up.

"We need to talk, where's the others?" Rick looked around immediately for his son.

"Michonne and Carl are with Judith, Sasha and Tyrese are watching Eugene in the truck…" Abraham said jerking his head towards the exit.

They headed out to the front where they found Judith slowly making her way towards Michonne as Carl walked behind her, hands ready to catch her if she fell.

Rick let out a low whistle and Michonne scooped up Judith and walked over with Carl, Sasha and Tyreese joined a few minutes later.

"How's Eugene?" Tara asked.

"Still out cold, you really did a number on him." Sasha said nodding at Abraham who just shrugged.

"Okay we have a problem," Rick announced alerting everyone's attention.

"Steve patched up Beth pretty good but we don't know if or when she's going to wake up." Noah explained to the confused faces.

"They also don't want all of us here, I understand that, we're a big group and I think it would be in our best interest to gather supplies around the city and get a few cars and head to Virginia as originally planned."

Daryl waited for someone to protest but no one spoke up. He agreed with Rick, Virginia was the best option; at least they knew they had a place to stay there that would be safe.

"What about my sister?" Maggie finally asked, Daryl had been waiting for someone to bring her up.

"We're going to talk to Dr. Edwards about possibly getting supplies to take her…it'll be hard and it'll slow us down but we're not leaving her." Rick said firmly, Maggie gave him a grateful smile.

"All right, everyone get into teams and get to scavenging, get anything you think we'll need. Abraham and Glenn should work on fixing the truck and Michonne see if you can get us another working vehicle."

Everyone jumped into action immediately and grabbed their weapons, splitting into teams and heading out carefully through the gates.

Rick turned to walk back into the hospital and Daryl fell into step with him.

"Why aren't you going with them?" Rick asked casually as they made their way down the hall.

"I feel responsible for what happened," Daryl said simply, "I lost Beth and now I feel a duty to help as much as I can."

Rick said nothing to this and Daryl appreciated it. Rick knew Daryl had spent a good amount of time with Beth when they all got split up and Daryl didn't feel like getting the third degree.

They entered Beth's room and Daryl was relieved to see her still breathing, her chest rising and falling so slowly he wasn't sure it was real.

Dr. Edwards was cleaning up and turned to look at them as they stood in the doorway.

"Yes?"

"We need to talk to you about transporting Beth," Rick stepped further into the room slowly, "We're heading to Virginia and we only need a few supplies to keep her going, I know you don't have much but maybe we could get just enough to get her to a safe place."

"I'm sorry Rick but she's not going to be able to travel in this condition, even if I gave you supplies." Dr. Edwards shook his head sadly, "The safest place for her is here."

"You can't take care of all of us, I know that, but we can't just leave Beth here alone with you, what if she wakes up?"

"Again, Rick, if she travels in the state she's in now she will probably die."

Daryl had moved to the chair and was watching Beth's face for any sign that she was still there. If he had been alone with her he would have talked to her, perhaps asked her to wake up.

Instead he reached for her hand, his fingers barely brushing hers before taking her small hand in his and gave it a small squeeze.

It may have been his imagination but he swore she squeezed back.

"I'll stay with her," Daryl looked up at Rick who stared back slightly surprised.

"We need you Daryl."

"Someone needs to stay with her, Maggie and Glenn need to stay together and you know Abraham won't travel without them," Daryl explained, "I can stay here and keep an eye out for her and when she wakes up and can travel I'll come find yah."

"How are you going to find us?" Rick asked incredulously, "What if she doesn't wake up?"

Daryl glared at Rick for a moment before answering, "She will wake up, and when she does we'll head your way, Noah can draw us a map."

"Are you sure you want to do this Daryl?"

"Yes."

Rick turned to Dr. Edwards who was studying Daryl with an odd expression on his face.

"Is this going to be okay with you?" Rick asked him, Dr. Edwards turned his attention and gave him a curt nod.

"I think we could manage one, he'll have to help around here to earn his keep but I can accept that."

"I'll have to discuss this with everyone, Maggie included." Rick turned his attention back to Daryl who was watching Beth again.

"I don't give a shit what any of them say, I'm staying."

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!