Hello to all my lovely readers! Last chapter was intense but hopefully this chapter will answer some of the questions you guys may have had after reading the last one (It's just as intense). Thank you to all the people who are taking the time to read the story, and that have made it to this point *insert virtual hug*. A special big thanks to everyone who followed, favourited, and to lijahsgirl & a guest for reviewing! You guys have no idea how happy it makes me to see that you guys are enjoying the story. So without and further babbles, here is chapter 9!
Chapter 9
Bellamy's POV
Rachelle had finally calmed down and Bellamy sat there, sweating, nervous with what he had to do next. She was still extremely weak from the amount of blood she had lost, and her wound wouldn't start healing until the tiny arrow was dislodged from her back. "You look like you're about to pass out, give me the knife, I'll do it," she said to him weakly. "No," he replied, "You're injured, and I can do this. I'm just carving a really tiny arrow out of your back." He heard her chuckle at his hesitation. "Go ahead," she said laying down on her front to give him access to her back. Just as Bellamy moved the knife to her right shoulder blade Rachelle spoke up, "Just letting you know, I'll probably pass out from the pain. After you take the bullet out, put those herbs over the wound and bandage it. After that, it'll be up to my spirit to see whether or not I can survive this."
Not trying to drown himself in negative thoughts, Bellamy waited for her to finish and immediately after pressed the knife into her shoulder blade carving out the arrow, which looked more like a shiny acorn. Rachelle's muffled groans and screams stopped as she passed out a couple seconds after he made the incision. He patched her up like she had told him to and laid her down to rest, covering her with extra pieces of clothing as blankets. He looked at her peaceful sleeping form, and brought his hand towards her to caress her face, and to tuck a piece of stray hair behind her ear. He knew at that moment the decision he made was the correct one. Exhausted from the day's events, Bellamy passed out right at her bedside, holding her hand, while he was waiting for her to wake up.
Bellamy woke up in the dark of night unable to see anything. He moved himself over to the other side of the cabin to light up some candles. Once the room was dimly lit, he made his way back over to Rachelle's bedside. When he went to look at the bandage to see if the bleeding had stopped he realized she was burning up. Confused, and with his limited medical knowledge, Bellamy started to panic and tried patting Rachelle awake. She didn't respond to him, but was shivering. How can she be shivering when she's burning up? Her body temperature is way too high, I need to find a way to bring it back down! he thought to himself. Looking around the room in a panic, he looked for something that could be of any help.
"C-Cold…" he heard her mumble unconsciouly. Bellamy, with a pained expression on his face had no idea what to do next. She already had all the blankets over her, and yet she was still cold. There was nothing else he could do for her. Maybe this really is a test of her spirit. He thought, Bullshit, I can't leave this to fate, I have to save her. Think! How can I warm her up? So Bellamy did the only thing he knew that could possibly warm her up. He crawled under the covers with her and pulled her into a strong embrace. I hope this works…, he thought to himself over and over again. He was relieved when she started sweating profusely, causing all of his and her clothing articles to become soaked. Realizing that having clothing on wasn't the best idea, especially when all wet, Bellamy slowly stripped away her clothing, until she was left only in her undergarments. He followed by taking off his clothes and relocking her into his warm embrace.
Hours later, Rachelle's body temperature seemed to cool down, although, their bodies were now an entwined sweaty mess. Bellamy had passed out again, and sunlight was now streaming into the hut.
Rachelle's POV
Rachelle didn't know what to do. Light was pouring in the cabin, and she could see it. That meant she hadn't died and she had survived the night. She was also feeling all the pain from her right shoulder although the herbs really helped with numbing that portion of her arm. That was another sign that she was still alive. But why was he entangled in the sheets with her, their bodies a sweaty mess. Nothing could have happened last night, she was wounded….after all. Trying to piece together the puzzle pieces, she noticed that she only had her undergarments on, and so did he! Why was she locked in his embrace, head resting on his chest, clothes off, in a sweaty mess!? Panicked, Rachelle tried to move from their current position but her wounded arm made it practically impossible. So she had no choice but to lay there until he woke up.
Rachelle laid there, looking up at his face. For the first time since she had met him, he slept with a furrow in his brow. She noticed the anxiety in his expression while he slept, but she also noticed his pale complexion, and she revisited all the parts about him that she found fascinating. His eyelashes, his hair, his lips. "Mmmm," Rachelle was immediately brought out of her trance when she saw that he was waking up. Panicking, and not knowing how to face the situation, she quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
She hoped he wouldn't notice that she was awake. She tried to even her breathing as quickly as possible, and to consciously lower her heart rate. She had almost reopened her eyes to check if he was really awake until she heard him whisper to himself. "You scared me last night, please don't put me in that position ever again," and then she felt his lips connect with the top of her head. Her heart exploded in her chest, and she knew that he felt it beating erratically. "Rachelle?" he asked, "Are you awake?" Rachelle cursed at herself under her breath for giving herself away. How can he be so calm at a time like this?! She agonizingly opened her eyes and looked up only to see his face plagued with worry.
"I'm up, and I'm alright," she said and she saw his expression instantly soften. "I'm great, thank you." He smiled at her, replying, "If you're wondering if something happened last night, don't worry, nothing did. You broke out in cold shivers last night and the only way I could warm you up was through body heat. Our clothes were on at first, but they got soaked as you started sweating, and now they're over there…" she saw him point to the discarded pile of wet clothing in the corner. Thinking to herself, Rachelle mentally kicked herself for thinking the worst towards a man who saved her last night from a life threatening fever.
"Rachelle," he continued, and his voice grew faint. "I was terrified last night. There was so much going on and I didn't know how to deal with all of this. First you getting shot, and then running away from the people who shot you. Carving a shiny acorn from your back, so when you started shivering," he paused "I thought you were dying, I didn't know what to do. I panicked at the thought of you dying. I know you're not good with all this emotional crap, but I just really want to let you know I meant all the things I said yesterday, and I really need you to get better."
Rachelle replayed the blur that was yesterday, and the explosive argument they had last night popped up in her mind. "Hey," she asked, "What did you mean when you said you made up your mind? Are you not going to go looking for your people again?" At this point, she was glad the awkwardness was gone. Rachelle was still unable to move from her current position, but the seriousness and vulnerability of this discussion had easily adjusted them both to the current environment. After a long pause and ponder, he replied while staring up at the ceiling of the hut,
"I chose you didn't I? I made a choice yesterday that I don't think I will regret. It's okay if you don't feel the same, but I need to let you know. After all the craziness of yesterday, and almost having you die, I've realized the past few weeks, although not ideal, has made me not want to focus my efforts on finding who I am. I'm happy where I am, and I think having you by my side has made it okay for me to not know who I am. I don't think any life that I had before would be better than the one that I've been given now, so I want to live this life to the fullest because the person right here beside me is someone so strong and so thoughtful, and I want to journey down this path with her. I don't need my past, it can stay where it will. I'm positive that there will never be anything better than this." He paused his confession to look her dead in the eye.
"Please don't blame yourself for making me choose between you and them. This is a choice that I'm making on my own terms, and it's something that has been weighing on my heart for a while now. I want to stay with you and to live with you, but all of this will only be meaningful if you'll let me stay with you…"
Rachelle concentrated on his gaze, with tears in her eyes.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think I'm in love with you."
*insert fangirl squeal here* I hope you guys enjoyed the longer chapter. I'm really happy with how this one turned out! The next chapter will be a little different with a slightly different writing style that hopefully you guys will like so keep an eye out for it. I tried really hard to keep Bellamy somewhat true to his character. I mean there's a bit of room to play with and work with when he doesn't remember who he is or the things he's done, but hopefully the essence of his character is represented in this story.
Please review if you are enjoying! It makes my day when I get feedback and it gives me so much motivation to keep writing. But nonetheless thank you for reading and staying on the bandwagon with me for this long!
Until next time!
