Abby made her way down the hall into the busy ER where everyone was running around. The ER always made her feel crazy and she tried to avoid it as much as she could.
"I was paged?" Abby asked the nurse at the main desk as a man with a ax sticking out of his leg was rushed by her.
"Bed 4, we have sedation ready if you think it will come to that" The nurse pointed her down the row of beds. Abby pulled back the curtain to find a girl sitting up in the bed scowling.
"Hi, I'm doctor Griffin" Abby introduced herself with a smile.
"Look I just need some lotion or something and I will get out of here" The girl said firmly.
"Lotion huh? Those are some pretty bad burns, how did you get them?" Abby asked. The girls hands and forearms were red and blistering, the skin was cracked and bleeding in a few spots. Abby could only imagine how painful it was.
"I'm a mechanic, I spilled some stuff on me, then the car back fired. It was stupid." The girl shook her head and Abby took the time to look her over. She might be putting up a brave front but she was still just a kid. Tan skin, long dark hair, shocking dark eyes.
"Well I can get you some lotion, but what we really should do is clean all those burns, and wrap those arms, and you might even need a few stitches to help those cuts heal properly" Abby said.
"No, I just need a note from a doctor I can go back to work"
"Well I can't give you that. Not if you don't let us treat you."
"Come on! I can't afford to miss days of work, or pay any hospital bills." the girl yelled.
"What's your name?" Abby asked her gently.
"Raven" The girl muttered.
"Raven, I'm Abby, listen we're going to help you out ok. I can treat you and you can be back to work soon. But your arms could get infected, and without the right treatment those are going to leave some pretty nasty scars" Abby said.
"Scars are bad ass" Raven muttered. Abby almost laughed out loud.
"Scars are bad ass, but your to pretty to have them all over your arms" Abby said softly.
"Why are you doing this?" Raven asked. Abby thought for a minute. She honestly couldn't say why, she didn't know why. Maybe it was just the day, or maybe it was something she saw in this girl but everything inside Abby made her want to help her out.
"Let's just say you caught me on the right day. Can we call someone for you Raven? Where are your parents?" Abby asked.
"Dad ran off, Mom's gone too." Raven said firmly.
"A sibling, Aunt? Someone to be here with you?" Abby asked again
"Nope. Just me, there is no one else." Raven shook her head and Abby sighed.
"Well I'm going to admit you. Someone will come and clean those and stitch you up and I will be back in a few hours to check on you" Abby said. Raven just nodded and Abby gave her a smile before leaving closing the curtain behind her. It was late, well past midnight and she had been working since five that morning. She needed to go home for a few hours, eat maybe take a nap and them come back to help this girl. Abby knew there must be a lot more to her then some burns on her arm.
"Come on O, wake up your going to make us late" Bellamy said again as Octavia buried her head under her pillow. The bed was so soft, much softer then a park bench.
"5 more minutes" Octavia muttered.
"If you get up now we have time to get breakfast" Bellamy called again. Octavia thought for a minute, what was more valuable, food or sleep? Finally she stuck her head up squinting in the sun light.
"What kind of breakfast?" She asked.
"Muffins and coffee?"
"Really? Do we have enough money for that?" she asked looking at her brother as he tied his tie for work.
"You let me worry about the money, now are you eating or not?" Bellamy asked.
"Yes, eating" Octavia nodded jumping out of the bed and crossed the room grabbing a pair of her jeans and an old t-shirt heading into the shower to get ready.
Clark woke up squinting in the bright sun making a mental note to buy some curtains, so much for sleeping in on her day off. She got up puttering around her empty kitchen. She had a bag of bagels and ate it cold because she had no toaster as she started making a note of everything she wanted to buy. Clark thrived on notes and organization, the more thought out something was the better if you wanted her opinion. She didn't have much money but she had been saving for years for exactly this, working odd jobs since she was 12 years old had finally paid off. She finished her bagel gathering her purse and shoes and quickly headed out the door.
Abby returned to the hospital as the sun was coming up. She had managed some middle of the night dinner but sleep had never come. She knew the bags under her eyes must be terrible, she wasn't young anymore by any means, but she couldn't get the girl from last night out of her head. She hoped now that the day was over she would be ready and over all the emotions that it brought, at least until next year when it hit her again. She went up to her regular floor and found Raven's room. The younger girl was asleep her arms wrapped in bandages but she jumped awake when Abby entered the room.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Abby asked.
"Itchy."
"Yes its just the skin healing." Abby nodded picking up her chart at the end of the bed to read over.
"You denied your pain meds" Abby raised her eyebrow at Raven.
"No pain no gain right" Raven shrugged.
"You have second degree burns and stitches. There's bravery and theirs stupid"Abby told her making Raven smirk.
"Well did you eat anything at least?"
"They serve crap breakfast here, the eggs looked dyed yellow and the toast was hard enough to crack a tooth on" Raven muttered as Abby held back a laugh.
"I'll get you a chair and we can go down to the cafeteria to eat the food is better" Abby winked at her.
"I don't have any money" Raven shook her head.
"Well lucky for you, I have a badge, no money needed" Abby said.
"quiz you on your capitals?" Bellamy asked as they walked down the busy street.
"Yeah go" Octavia nodded.
"Rhode Island."
"Providence"
"New York?"
"New York"
"No I asked you" Bellamy glanced at her smirking
"Shut up!" Octavia punched his arm, he was so corny.
What kind do you want?" Bellamy asked as they neared the coffee shop.
"Any kind"
"They all cost the same just pick one"
"Blueberry"
"Ok, go wait for me on the corner"
"Why?" Octavia asked.
"Because I said so"
"Bell, your not going to steal it again are you?" Octavia whispered.
"Shhh, just go wait over there I'll be right out" Bellamy pointed her down the road.
"look I'm not really that hungry"
"Well I am, and there's not going to be any food for us until dinner and that's only if I make enough. Come on O, it's this or go hungry for 2 days" He whispered back.
"fine" she sighed she hated him stealing, but they had gone without food before and it was the worst. She was already really skinny, days without food made her sick and weak and that made Bellamy freak out over her.
"Go wait over there I'll be right back" Bellamy said. Octavia hooked her thumbs through her backpack and shuffled her feet down the street. She hated when Bellamy was stealing food, but sometimes it was all they would eat for days. She sat on a bench watching everyone driving by, everyone looked so busy all the time. Bellamy was always teasing her about how she liked to take life slow, she thrived having some quiet time outside. Last year they had an apartment on the top floor for a few months and Bellamy swore she was on the roof more then anywhere else. Octavia always felt that the world moved to fast for her, she was a stop and smell the roses kind of girl, literally while everyone else was to busy to notice they were stepping on them. Bellamy came around the corner smiling holding a bag out to her.
"How did you do it?" Octavia asked taking the bag realizing she really was hungry.
"I took the cash from the tip jar while their back was turned" Bellamy said. She sighed, it wasn't ideal for sure, but it was better then when he just grabbed the bag and they had to run for blocks because the owner was chasing them. Then they would have to stay out of that part of the town for a while.
"Ok, you get to school, meet me at the diner after, have a good day" Bellamy called as she headed off to the high school building.
"So Raven, a mechanic, that's something you don't see everyday" Abby said as they sat across the table from each other. Raven had no interest in going back to her room and Abby had no other patients so she had pulled out a deck of cards and they sat at the table playing.
"You've never gotten your car fixed?" Raven asked.
"I meant female mechanic"
"I know what you meant. I'm one of a kind I guess" Raven shrugged.
"There must be a story there, how did you get into fixing cars?" Abby asked slapping a card down on the table.
"It was supposed to be rocket ships. That was always my dream, work on rocket ships, maybe even take one into space, work on the space stations."
"Pretty ambitious"
"Yeah well, big dreams die pretty fast when you have a single mom who can barley put food on the table." Raven muttered.
"But why give up on it?" Abby asked.
"Because I'm a girl. You see how surprised you were when you found out what I did? You know how many people turn me down because they want a guy to fix their car? A lot. I'm better then all the guys in the garage but because I have boobs, they think I don't know what I'm doing. There's no way in hell I would get a job with NASA." Raven shrugged.
"But that shouldn't hold you back"
"But it does, welcome to equality right? Except not really. That's a king I win, will you discharge me now?" Raven asked.
"Umm no, I want to keep you one more day, but let's go up so I can find a nurse to clean and redress those burns while I see if I can track down some cleaning fluid for you to take home with you." Abby said
"Bell…Bellamy" Octavia called looking around the empty diner.
"Hey Octavia" The cook behind the little window called to her as she glanced at him.
"Hey Luke, is Bellamy around?" Octavia asked.
"He got picked up"
"What?"
"The police came looking for him, said he was caught on a camera steeling from a coffee shop this morning" Luke said.
"What? Where is he?" Octavia cried.
"The police station, Listen I know you guys are in a tight spot but I had to fire him. I can't have a guy like that working here"
"No Luke please, one more chance he was just trying to get food" Octavia cried.
"I wish I could, but the cop who was in here said he had a lot on his record and they they had been looking for him for a while" Luke gave her a sad sigh.
"What station?" Octavia asked.
"The one on 5th, here Octavia, his severance pay it's not much but it should get you guys through a few weeks.. Listen tell him he can use me for a reference if he finds another place." Luke said handing her an envelope.
"Thank you, bye Luke" Octavia whispered putting the envelope in her bag and heading out the door. 5th street was a long walk and the sun was going down by the time she got there. She gave the officer at the desk Bellamy's name and was told to sit and wait. She sat for another hour before a man came out.
"I'm Detective Marcus Kane, are you here for Bellamy Blake?" He asked her.
"Yes."
"Bellamy is being held on bail, for multiple charges of theft."
"How much?" Octavia asked.
"400 dollars"
"I…we don't have that kind of money" She whispered.
"Then he will have to wait until his court date next week. But I have to say it's not looking good. We have a lot of tape of him" Officer Kane told her sternly.
"Please, you have to understand, we don't have a lot on money we only take food when we need it…"
"Theft is theft there's nothing I can do about that" He shook his head cutting her off.
"Can I talk to him?" Octavia asked.
'Not tonight, visiting hours are between 9 and 4" Officer Kane said firmly.
"I will be back tomorrow" Octavia said just as firm. He just nodded watching her leave the building. She had a long walk back to their motel and the air was chilly but her mind was racing. At least she had one more night left in a safe place.