Hi everyone. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. This was probably one of my favourite chapters to write because well... nevermind. That would have been a spoiler.
Please continue reading and I hope to hear your thoughts on what's going to happen next.
Happy reading, and stay safe.
~~Present~~
"Hope, you sure you know the way to the park?" Diyoza asks her eldest as she makes sure both are bundled up warmly for the snow.
"Yes, mama." She smiles, exasperated. "We've been there loads of times. I could go there in my sleep."
Octavia giggles at that as the mother gives the two of them stern looks. "Less cheek, young lady." She says firmly, softly poking the girl's cheek, but even she can't help the grin forming on her face. "Now go have fun."
"Bye mama." The girls chorus before closing the door and making their way to the park.
They walk arm in arm before challenging each other to walk on the raised side of the pavement to see who can balance the longest. Of course, Hope being older and more in control of her limbs, does it with ease, stumbling occasionally just for the amusement of her sister. When it's Octavia's turn, she holds onto the little girl's hand, making sure she doesn't trip and fall.
They're almost to the park when Octavia says she wants to try and do it on her own like a big girl. Hope obliges, staying close to her sister just in case she falls, but letting her walk on her own. It is when the park is in sight that she slips on the slightly icy floor. Hope quickly latches onto her sister, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her further into the sidewalk, away from oncoming vehicles.
"You ok?" She asks and the little girl just nods before breaking out in a run towards the park. Hope simply shakes her head, amused by her sister's antics.
She sits on a swing, the cold icy wind rushing back and forth and through her hair. She loves the way it stings her cheek, and gives the air a freshness not found elsewhere. As she nears the highest point she can go, she spots a small mop of blonde hair.
Making sure her sister's not looking, because Prime forbid she mimic her movements, she jumps down from the swing. Landing somewhat gracefully in a small snowbank, she goes over to greet Clarke and the pair begin talking. Sure they may be from different grades and schools, but they share lots of similar interests. Hope also likes for once that she can be the younger sister-figure, and Clarke loves being able to help someone younger than her.
They're talking when Octavia comes running up to her, tugging on the edge of her jacket, asking her to come play with her.
"In a minute, Taev." Hope promises. "Let me just say goodbye first." Octavia nods, running back to the other children who look to be gathering snow balls.
"She's adorable." Clarke tells her as they watch her gather her own pile of ammunition. "You're really lucky to have a little sister."
"She's a pain in the butt sometimes, but I love her." Hope agrees, beginning to tell Clarke one of Octavia's more embarrassing childhood stories, including the mud pie incident.
It's in the middle of one of these stories when she realises she forgot to ask the question. "Wait, I forgot to ask. What's her name?"
Hope laughs, embarrassed. "Oops. Her name's-"
The sound of a crash disrupts their conversation, and all is silent for a moment as they watch a body rolling off a car before speeding off.
She catches a glimpse of a purple coat.
"OCTAVIA!!!" She breaks off into a sprint, running to where the little girl lays in a growing puddle of her own blood. "Octavia, wake up!" She moves to shake her awake, only stopping when a gentle hand is placed on her shoulder and Clarke is kneeling by her side.
"She might have broken her collarbone." She tells her softly so as to not scare her. "We shouldn't move her too much."
Clarke turns to the growing crowd. "Someone call an ambulance!" She takes the little girl's hand in her own, checking for a pulse. Thankfully, it's there. "And get the other kids out of here!" She instructs the adults, who immediately leave, ushering the children away and back to their homes.
When it's just them left with the faint sound of sirens in the distance, a small voice breaks through their thoughts. "Octavia?"
Clarke spots Bellamy in a corner, face pale and frozen in place. "Her name's Octavia?"
Clarke stops for a second. Bellamy's baby sister was named Octavia. Does this mean she could be Bellamy's baby sister?
She doesn't get to think for long because an ambulance soon arrives. And so does her own mom, along with presumably Hope and Octavia's.
"Pulse is weak. Blood pressure steadily dropping." Clarke's mom announces as she holds the little girl's wrist, timing the pulses beneath the skin.
Suddenly, the little body jerks and blood starts pooling out of the corner of her mouth.
"At least one broken rib and a punctured lung. If we don't drain the fluid soon, she will die." Abby turns to look at the paramedics, who nod and quickly place her on the stretcher.
"I'll ride with her in the ambulance." Abby says to the terror-stricken mother and daughter. "You take Clarke and Bellamy, and I'll meet you at the hospital. If I'm in the ambulance with her, I'll be able to perform emergency surgery sooner."
Diyoza can only nod, watching as the ambulance doors close with her baby girl behind them. "C'... C'mon Hope. Kids, we've got to go."
Bellamy and Clarke silently nod, the latter helping to hold her friend up as they walk to the car parked up ahead.
"She'll be ok." Clarke whispers, unsure as to who she is reassuring, but tries to sound assuring all the same. "She'll be ok."
"Octavia." Bellamy can't help but mutter. "Octavia, no..." He shakes his head frantically, trying to erase the past few minutes from his mind. "It can't be Octavia. It can't."
Clarke can only hold the boy tightly to her side. She places her arms around him and tucks his head into the crook of her neck, rubbing his arms up and down, trying to soothe him. "She'll be ok."
"I left her." He tells her, resigned, getting out of the embrace. "I left her in a tiny corner of the house, all alone, when she was only three days old." He looks at his hands ashamed, before clenching them into fists.
"Bell, it's not your fault." She gently pries his fingers open, placing her hand in his to prevent him from digging his nails into the soft flesh of his palms. "You did what you had to do. You did what your mom told you to do. You were only six years old, you couldn't have known."
"But because of what I did, look where she is now!" He all but screams. "I promised mom I'd protect her, and I promised her the day she was born that I would never let anything bad happen to her."
"If I could follow what mom told me then, why can't I follow it now?"
"She'll be fine, Bellamy. She'll live." She tries to reassure him.
"You don't know that." He protests, choosing to take his frustrations out on her because he's not exactly sure he can hold it in anymore. The past hour has been a whirlwind, and he can feel his patience wearing thin as anger and frustration builds within him. "You heard Abby. She said she might die." He reminds her.
"Octavia's strong. She won't give up that easily. She'll be ok." She sends him a reassuring smile, but he ignores it.
"Everybody always thinks that. Even I do it, too." He turns to her. "The truth is... You're fine until you're not."
"And mom said she'll help. You know she's one of the best doctors here, so if anyone can save your sister, it's mom."
"But you saw her too, just laying there, not moving. She wasn't even crying. And all that blood, her blood, surrounding her. How much blood can a person lose, Clarke? And she's so tiny..."
"Have some faith." Clarke pulls him in once again, trying to give him as much comfort as possible while his thoughts spiralled. "She'll be ok."
"Thank the Primes you're here." Abby rushes out to greet them as soon as they enter the ER. "We need to perform surgery but we don't have enough of her blood type to perform it."
"What..." Diyoza begins, trying to form the right words. "What's her blood type?" She thinks she knows but she's not exactly sure. What she does remember though, is that Octavia's blood type is extremely rare, not even her or Hope have it.
"O-neg." Abby says quickly. "Bellamy, I know you're too young and all to donate, but this may be a life or death situation. I'm sure your dad would-"
"Take it!" Bellamy shouts urgently. "Take whatever you need. She might be my baby sister." Abby freezes at that, only coming back to the present at his muttering of "My sister, my responsibility."
She nods, leading him to the room where they currently hold the little girl after prepping her for surgery.
As she places the tourniquet around his arm, she can't help but worry if this girl doesn't make it through. If she is Bellamy's sister, the sister he has been searching for for over 7 years, he would be heartbroken if she died.
He would've only been able to see her for a brief moment, wouldn't have been able to talk to her or get to know her, just see her pale and bleeding out, lying on a hospital bed as her life seeped out of her.
She knew at that moment she couldn't fail him, couldn't fail either of them. She would do all it takes to make sure she survives.
"Save her, Abby." Bellamy's eyes are wide and pleading; they remind her so much of the boy Marcus had brought to her all those years ago, so timid and afraid, wary of everything around him. This time, he's afraid of something else.
"I'll do everything I can." She wants to promise him, tell him that she'll save his sister, that everything will be ok, but she can't. The girl has already crashed in the ambulance twice, the extent of her injuries too severe for her young body to cope, and had barely been revived when they first reached the hospital.
She watches as he turns his head towards the ceiling, unable to look as she puts the needle into his arm, before turning towards the little girl. She can't imagine what must be plaguing his thoughts right now and she hurts for the teen.
As Bellamy chances a look at the pale girl in front of him, he immediately knows it's his sister. Her dark hair has grown so much longer but he remembers the exact shade of dark brown fuzz that belonged to his baby sister. Her scrunched up face of discomfort mirrors the baby pink face ingrained into his memory.
He longs to touch her, to let her know he's here even though he'd already broken his promise to her all those years ago. He wants to tell her that he'll never break his promise ever again, that he'll always be there for her here on out. He wants to assure himself that she's still here. That she's still alive.
The accident had unfolded right before his eyes. She had run onto the road to gain some distance from the other children, had raised her arm in preparation to launch one of the many snowballs cradled in her other arm. That's when the car struck.
It had swerved from side to side, as if the driver didn't have control over the vehicle. He, himself, had been coming from the other direction and just so happened to have a clear view of the accident to take place.
He tried to yell at the girl, warn her of the incoming vehicle, but it was too fast. It ran right into her little body, the snowballs dropping onto the windshield right after she smacked into it, and rolled off the top of the car as it sped away. He heard the sickening crack of her skull as she landed on the iced-over asphalt. He saw the blood beginning to pool underneath her head. But he was frozen in place.
Until he heard the scream "OCTAVIA!!!"
That's when everything stopped. The girl's name is Octavia, just like his baby sister. She also looks to be about the same age as his baby sister would be. Could this be his baby sister?
He watched as another girl came to her. He saw Clarke following closely behind. He heard her shout a plethora of instructions but it all just sounded like a bunch of garbled words to his ears.
His thoughts had begun to spiral, wondering what if this wasn't actually his sister and he had simply gotten his hopes up, wondering what if this was his baby sister, wondering what if she was hurt beyond saving, wondering if she'd survive...
He shakes his head, staring again at the tiny girl on the massive surgical table. He watches as her small chest rises with each breath. He traces the tube that transfers his blood to her, follows the red liquid as it flows out from him and into her little body. Usually, he'd be terrified of doing something like this, but now he feels numb. He can't feel anything but the gaping hole in his chest that is being filled with worry over the little girl that he knows is his long lost baby sister.
And then it happens. The heart monitor sounds a long monotone beep and he feels as if his heart has stopped.
All the doctors crowding around her fan out, leaving three right by her side. One holds a pen, angling it for insertion, while another holds a bag thing that must be pumping oxygen into her. A third does chest compressions.
He waits with baited breath, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene before him. He's seen this exact scene play out so many times in those hospital dramas Clarke loves to watch but he never thought he'd see it firsthand. He wants to scream but his throat is raw, and his voice is non-existent.
He doesn't know how long it's been but he suddenly sees the doctors stepping away. For the corner of his eyes, he sees Abby approaching him, a deep sorrow on her face. He barely hears a doctor mumble a time. He only knows Abby's speaking by the movement of her lips.
He rips whatever tubes they have in him and rushes to his baby sister's side before they can pull a sheet over her.
"O..." He shakes his head, running the short distance between his bed and her table. "No!" He screams, refusing to believe that she could be gone. Not now, not when he's just got her back. "No!"
"No. I'm not losing her again." Bellamy holds her, trying to get her to wake up, to start breathing again, to do anything but lay motionless on this bed. He's not ready to give her up, not ready to let her go, not ready to lose her once again. "Come on, Octavia. Come on!"
"Octavia, O, I need you." He cries, softly stroking her cheeks. It worked when she was a baby, so it has to now. He won't give up on her, not now, not ever, and he hopes she'll do the same. "I need you, O. I need my baby sister. Now wake up!"
"Bellamy... She's gone." Abby tries to tell him, tears pooling in her eyes at the sight of her daughter's best friend and the pain etched on his face.
"No, she's not!" He protests, turning to the doctor, but his hands never stop, never lose their rhythm. "Wake up, O. Come on!" He shouts at her.
He cradles her head in his arms, wary of the neck brace holding it in place. He wipes off some blood from the edge of her forehead and places a soft kiss, stroking her blood-matted hair much like he had when she was but a newborn.
"You can't die, Octavia." He cries out. "You can't. I promised mom I'd take care of you. I promised you I won't let anything bad happen to you. Please don't make me break my promise."
Tears are streaming down his face; they drip silently onto the little girl beneath him, but neither care. "I love you, Octavia. Don't go." He shakes with another sob. "Don't go, O."
"I'm not letting you go." He runs his hands down the length of her arm, hoping the motion would trigger her awake. "You're a fighter. Now get up and fight!"
"Come on!" He tries again.
"Get up and fight!" He strokes her cheek once more, placing a butterfly kiss just where the bandage ended.
Octavia wheezes.
He feels her body shake beneath him, her chest slightly rising right before the monitor behind him beeps with life.
"You're ok. Just breathe." He gently rubs her arms as she coughs, trying to catch her breath.
"You're ok. Just breathe." He repeats. "Just breathe."
He watches as her eyes open for a brief second before fluttering close.
"Octavia?" He sighs with relief, before realisation dawns on him.
"They're blue." He tells himself, just like he always knew. His mother told him they'd turn brown soon enough but he knew better.
He feels Abby ushering him off the bed. A nurse comes to him, offering juice and cookies. He's not hungry nor thirsty, but a stern look from Abby has him munching on the cookie and sipping at the juice.
He can't tear his eyes away from her though, afraid that the second he looks away, she will slip from him once again. He sees the way the doctors sigh with relief, continuing with their work, before many leave as one closes her up.
He feels Abby's familiar hands on his back as she nudges him to the door, telling him his dad's waiting for him outside, and so is everyone else.
He's reluctant but Abby promises she'll stay with Octavia and come get him soon. He can't do anything but nod, and soon finds himself blinking at the harsh white lights while in the arms of his best friend.
He hears a gasp as the other girl from earlier pulls at his shirt, but one of the doctors come to tell everyone the good news, taking her attention off his blood soaked shirt. He allows himself to sag into the embrace, feeling more relief than he's ever felt in a long time.
And even though he barely registers his father coming up behind him to put a gentle hand over his shoulder, he can tell that everything will be ok now.
And this has been an AngelFanfics productions.