Finding Myself, Finding You: Chapter Four

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Story is 18+ for mature content/themes, minors do not interact please

TW/CWs for this story--implied/referenced past rape, canonical violence, non-canonical violence, blood, gore, referenced past suicide, swearing, surgery, excessive drinking, nightmares, vomiting, amputation, medical procedures, non-con medical procedures, referenced past medical torture, referenced past drugging, attempted sexual assault, panic attacks, mental health struggles, referenced sibling death, referenced parent death

Each chapter will have its own TW/CWs listed

This story, Lydia Vector, her family & bestie (c) me, TheVeganDarkElf

TWD & its characters (c) AMC & Robert Kirkman, the writer of the comic series

TW/CWs for this chapter--swearing, description of nightmares, mention of being held at gunpoint, allusion to drugging, mentions of blood, medical stuff (changing the dressing on a wound)

Word count: 2k

I was finally able to open my eyes ever so slightly. My eyelids felt like lead. Where was I? Why was I so groggy? Had I been drugged? Eventually, I was able to open my eyes all the way. My vision was fuzzy, and it took a minute to clear. Before it did, a gun was forced into my mouth. It tasted of metal and gunpowder. There were a few moments before I was able to piece together what was going on, and before my vision could fully clear, I screamed.

I hit the floor with a loud thud, scaring myself awake. I scrambled up into a sitting position next to the bed, taking in my surroundings. I was still in the bedroom in Alexandria. I was safe. It had all just been a terrible dream.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I had screamed in real life, but that was confirmed when my door opened. I poked my head up over the bed to see him standing there.

“The hell was that?” a half-asleep Daryl asked me, sounding frustrated that he had been startled awake. God, his tired voice was even more attractive. I tried my hardest to keep myself from blushing, both from the sound of his voice and from embarrassment. Thankfully, it was dark outside by this point, so I don’t think he could tell.

“I umm, just fell out of bed. Sorry to scare you,” I replied. I propped myself up into a squat and stood up.

“Well don’t do it again,” he told me, “scare the shit outta everyone with how loud ya was.” He turned and started to walk away.

“I’ll try not to,” I said, “sorry again.” With that, he shut the door behind him. I sat back on the bed, laying down and staring up at the ceiling.

“Fuck. Way to make an impression,” I whispered to myself.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The following morning, I rolled myself out of bed and looked out the window. The sun was just coming up, and I figured most people were still asleep. Despite my nightmare, I felt rested for the first time in months. I looked over and noticed a piece of paper sitting on the dresser with a small basket next to it. In the basket were all of my clothes and some extra, minus the plaid shirt I had used to wrap Aaron’s leg. The note read “Didn’t wanna wake you. Dinner’s in the fridge.” I figured it was from Maggie. I was going to have to do something nice for her and everyone here for welcoming me in so warmly.

I realized I was absolutely ravenous, so I dug through the small basket of clothes for a pair of my underwear and put them on, tossing my shorts back on before going downstairs. The floor was cold, and it creaked slightly under my feet. I tried to walk slowly to make sure I didn’t wake Daryl.

In the kitchen, I saw a coffee pot and grounds on the counter. I hadn’t had coffee since this whole thing started, and I missed the sweet rush of caffeine in the morning. I opened the fridge to see a plate it in with a note that read “Vector” on it. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but I didn’t care. I was just happy to have food that wasn’t freeze-dried. The first bite was pure ecstasy. I almost cried.

I managed to figure out how to work the coffee pot and got it going. I cracked open the kitchen window, and a gentle cool breeze made its way in. I leaned back against the kitchen counter and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, yawning. My eyes and face felt puffy from all of the sobbing I had done the night before. My bun was starting to fall out from rolling around, and I’m sure I looked like hell. I was hoping to be able to get a cup and get back upstairs before he came down. Even though there wasn’t even really a friendship between us, I wanted to stay out of sight until I felt a bit more put together.

I heard a door open upstairs, followed by footsteps. It appeared I spoke too soon.

I quickly turned and faced the window, pretending that I had been looking out at birds or something and didn’t notice him coming down. My stomach dropped as I heard him making his way down the stairs, and I could feel the butterflies trying to make their way up my throat and out my mouth. I turned around once it sounded like he hit the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing the tank top and vest that he was wearing the day before, and I got a better look at how muscular his arms were. He looked strong, like he could pick me up and throw me on the ground with ease, and his bed head was tousled all over the place. He was beautiful.

“Mornin’ Daryl. I made coffee,” I said semi-cheerfully. He hardly looked at me as he came over and stood next to me, pouring himself a cup. I took a sip of mine. I hated the taste of black coffee, but I would take it over nothing.

“I’m sorry again about last night. I usually have nightmares when I sleep. Just never had a bed to fall out of until this point,” I explained.

“Dunno know why ya telling me,” he replied. His morning voice made me swoon, but he sounded cold. I tried to remind myself of what Maggie said about not taking anything too personally.

“I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” I sipped my coffee repeatedly out of anxiety. He stared out the window and sipped as his. There was what felt like an eternity of silence before he said anything.

“What’s your name ‘gain?”

“Vector.”

“The hell kinda name’s that?”

“Oh, Lil’ Ass Kicker is fine, but Vector is a problem?”

“Ya parents give ya that?” I sighed and shook my head, taking another sip of my drink.

“It’s my last name, so I guess they kind of did.” I could feel where this conversation was potentially going, which was uncomfortable territory, so I thought of an excuse to leave, “I should probably go check on Aaron.” Which was true, I did need to go check on him. His dressing needed to be changed, and hopefully there were some antibiotics and painkillers in the infirmary I could get him.

I set my cup down and scurried over to the stairs to go up and grab my glasses and bag. After I came back down, I took my bun out and flipped my head over, shaking my long black hair out. Tying it up wet had caused it to become wavy, which was a little bit of a confidence booster. I zipped up my boots and turned to Daryl. He had turned and was leaning up against the counter, facing me. I could feel my face start to get hot.

“Thanks for…whatever this was,” I told him before heading out the front door.

We were across from the infirmary, so the walk was short. It had started to get a little brighter, and I could see lights had been turned on in some houses. The only sounds were some birds and the sound of my boots on the ground. It was so peaceful, tranquil—things that I didn’t think were possible again after the world fell.

In the infirmary, I grabbed, gloves, gauze, padding, a bottle of painkillers, and three different kinds of antibiotics, in case he was allergic to any. I saw a light on in their house, so I figured it would be safe to approach. I gently knocked on the door, making sure not to startle anyone inside. After a minute, Eric opened the door.

“So the doctor makes house calls,” he laughed. He embraced me in a hug, which I wasn’t prepared for but gladly accepted.

“Mornin’. How did he sleep?” I asked, stepping in and allowing Eric to close the door behind me.

“He didn’t really. I was going to come get you last night for some painkillers, but Maggie said you were out cold. I didn’t wanna bother you given it was probably the first good night’s sleep you’ve had in a long time,” Eric explained.

“Oh my God, you can come get me anytime something’s wrong. That’s what I’m here for.” I unzipped my boots.”Now where is he? I come bearing painkillers and antibiotics.” I followed Eric up the stairs into their bedroom where Aaron was lying half-asleep.

“Wake up sleepyhead, the doctor’s here,” Eric told him, leaning over and giving him a kiss on the forehead. Aaron tilted his head over and looked at me.

“Sup doc?” he said to me, and I suppressed a chuckle.

“Sorry to wake you, but we should get that dressing on your wound changed. And I have painkillers.” A look of relief flooded Aaron’s face. “Now do you know if you’re allergic to any antibiotics? I grabbed a few just in case.” He shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he replied. I knelt down next to the bed and started taking supplies out of my bag. I slipped the gloves on once I had everything out that I needed.

“Can I get you anything Vector?” Eric asked me, “I made coffee not too long ago.”

“You’re so sweet. Umm, some water would be cool. I had coffee already,” I said, “can you also grab me a rag? Run a little under some warm water?” He nodded and stepped away, and I began carefully unwrapping Aaron’s ankle.

“So how are you and your roommate getting along?” Aaron asked. I set the gauze on the floor next to me. I could feel myself starting to turn red, so I shifted some hair in front of my face to try to hide it.

“At best, I’m being tolerated,” I explained, “he’s hardly said a word to me. Maggie said not to take personally, but it’s hard not to.” I gently peeled back the padding. His wound was looking about as good as it could given how it occurred. I folded the padding in half and wrapped the used gauze around it, tying a knot to keep it together.

“Oh my god, you’re blushing,”,” Aaron exclaimed. I couldn’t toss any more hair in front of my face, or I wouldn’t be able to work. I just swallowed hard and kept going. Eric, my saving grace, came back in with some water and the rag.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the rag from him. I began wiping up the dried blood from around the top of his wound.

“I’m making breakfast. I think we’d both love it if you’d stay for some. It’s the least we can do after all you’ve done for Aaron. For both of us.” Eric said.

“Aww, thank you. I’d love to,” I replied. I had finished the plate Maggie left for me, but I wasn’t going to pass up home-cooked food after months of freeze-dried ice cream. Eric went back downstairs, and Aaron tried to get me back on talking about Daryl.

“You’re still blushing.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh my God, you have a crush on Daryl.” I avoided his gaze as I pressed the freshly-unwrapped, clean pad to his leg and began wrapping fresh gauze around it.

“Here, this is amoxicillin. It looks like there’s enough for maybe a week in here. Take it three times a day, around every 8 hours.” I finished wrapping his wound and slipped my gloves off, grabbing the pill bottle and placing it on the nightstand near me, “and I found some Tylenol. Take 2 every 4-6 hours, and if it doesn’t help, let me know. I can see what else they have going

on in the infirmary. Change your dressing once a day. I’ll leave some supplies here for you for that.”

“So are you just going to ignore what I said?” he asked. I finally met his gaze, and my face was as red as could be.”Wow, you’re really blushing now.”

I inhaled deeply before letting out a long sigh. “Just…please don’t say anything to anyone. I just got here. I can’t fuck anything up.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” he reassured.

Finding Myself, Finding You: Chapter Four

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