Chapter 97: Lexa

After turning off the phone, I look at my little ragtag group and say, "Grab anything from the vehicles or the dead that is useful. We have at least a twenty-mile hike to get to the nearest village for evac. The plan is to cross the bridge and follow parallel to the road to the coordinates that Ash sent. The village is not far off of the highway. Once we get there, I will call Ash, and she will send a helicopter for us."

Once we have scavenged the vehicles and bodies, everyone grabs whatever they can carry, and we head out. Zaria had scouted the river and found a shallow area for us to cross. The water came up to about my waist and was cold but refreshing. After only an hour of walking, I needed a break.

Samiya looks at me and asks, "How are you feeling? You look pale."

"I'll be fine. I'm only tired, and I have a massive headache. Just give me a few minutes, and then we can continue." I lay back on the ground and close my eyes for a few minutes. When I open them again, it's dark.

I look around frantically, calling out for Clarke, but I can't find her. Instead, I see Samiya walking over to me and Dakota sitting next to me. Dakota puts her hand on my shoulder, making me lay back down. Samiya says, "Calm down, Lexa. Do you remember where you are?"

It takes a minute to clear my head, but then I remember, "Yes, how long was I out? Why didn't you wake me? We need to get moving."

"Slow down. We tried to wake you but couldn't. Are you sure that you are alright? You could have some internal bleeding that we don't know about. Here eat this and drink some water, and then we will start walking again."

She hands me some sort of stew and bottled water. "What is this?"

Zaria answers, "Rabbit stew."

After I eat, I start to feel a little better. We decide to continue on our path through the night and agree to stop again when the sun comes up. As we walk, we continue to see the scout vehicles drive by, shining spotlights into the woods. We have to venture further into the forest to avoid being detected.

Right about dusk, we come to an abandoned, burned house. We decide to hide here for a few hours to rest. I take the first watch since I took a nap earlier and switch out every hour until around four in the afternoon. We are able to heat up the left-over stew around noon, which really hits the spot. I'm exhausted, and my ankle is throbbing, and I can feel that my torso is bruised from the explosions.

It is my turn for watch duty, so hobble the perimeter of our little camp. I notice that when I get back, Dakota is sitting right outside the hull of the house, keeping watch as well. So I walk over to her and say, "I've got this. You can rest."

She just looks at me and smiles. I'm not sure what to do, so I just shake my head and say, "If you are going to keep me company, can you at least talk to me? I promise I won't let anyone else know."

She chuckles but shakes her head no. Great, so am I supposed to just sit here in silence while she watches me. What would Abby or Clarke do? I start to hum the song Soul by Lee Brice while thinking about how much I miss and love Clarke. Before I know it, I'm singing. I look at Dakota, and she is smiling and nodding her head to the song's rhythm. "Music has become a big part of my life since escaping from Ahmed's camp in Afghanistan. I have found that it is sometimes easier to say things you wouldn't normally say through the meaning of a song. For example, when I was trying to talk Clarke into giving me a chance to date her, I sang her a song at a club. It talks about how I love everything about her."

Dakota looks at me expectantly. When I don't continue the story, she gives me a hand motion meaning 'continue.' I laugh, "It would be better to have a two-sided conversation, you know, instead of just your hand motions. Anyway, I sang a song about giving me a chance in front of all our friends in a club, and it turns out it worked. After I finished the song, she kissed me, and it was amazing until her ex-boyfriend stepped in…that became one of the best/worst nights of my life."

She gives me a confused look. "Let's just say that the ex-boyfriend didn't like the fact that his girl ditched him for another woman. So he did some awful things to Clarke before I could stop him…but…well, we are making something good out of something bad. So now we are going to get married and have twins."

Suddenly, I think that I hear a vehicle. I look at Dakota, and she nods yes that she hears it also. We both stand up and begin scanning the trees looking for movement. That's when I see the vehicle approaching with a rocket pointed our way.

I yell, "Dakota, run. Warn everyone." She starts to move when I hear the sound of the rocket headed our way. It misses but hits a tree near Dakota and explodes. Parts of the tree hit the wall near Dakota, and I can tell that it will crush her. Without thinking, I use my speed and strength to throw her out of the way.

I wake up startled beside Clarke. I sit and stare at her for a moment before leaning in and kissing her shoulder. She mumbles something and then looks at me. I say, "God, you're beautiful! I can't believe you chose me."

"What are you talking about? Of course, I chose you. You are my rock. You are always there for me when I need you, and you always know what I need and what to say to make everything better. And what I need from you right now is for you to come back to me. I need you, and our unborn babies need you. You have to fight and come back to me."

"Baby, what are you talking about? I'm right here! I'm right here with you. I will never leave you. You know that, right?"

"Cielo, I know you would never willingly leave me, but sometimes it isn't up to you. You aren't really here with me. I need you to fight to live so that you can come back to me. Do you understand?"

"Not really, but I will do whatever you say. I promise to fight and never stop fighting to get back to you. I love you, Clarke."

Suddenly, she is gone. I see someone trapped under a bunch of debris from the hull of the house we were resting in. I see Zaria, Nasrin, Elias, and Kalen in the middle of a shootout with some armed men. Dakota, Samiya, and Jasmine are trying to pull the rubble off of someone. I try to yell at her, but she doesn't hear me. I try to go closer, but I can't. Soon Zaria and the rest of the group have taken care of the rest of the men and move to help Dakota, Samiya, and the girl.

I suddenly feel terrible sadness and anger, which I know immediately is coming from Clarke. She needs me. She told me to fight. I have to fight to get to her somehow. I turn my attention back to Samiya and Dakota. They have finally freed the person from the rubble and laid them out on the ground. Holy shit! It's me they have lying on the ground. How can that be? I'm right here? I begin to yell, but they can't hear me. Samiya is checking my pulse and breathing, I can't make out what she is saying, but it can't be good. She begins to pound on my chest, then Zaria begins CPR. I hear a scream that I will never forget coming from Dakota. I think she is screaming 'NO,' but I'm not sure. I can't die! Clarke needs me. I have to fight! Samiya runs to a medkit or something, and she hands Zaria a large needle that she quickly uncaps and plunges into my chest.

Suddenly, I'm back in my body, gasping for air, screaming, "Clarke!" I look around frantically but don't see her. "Where is Clarke? I have to find her. She needs me."

Samiya says, "Lexa, you need to calm down. Take a few slow deep breaths."

"What just happened to me? One minute, I was in bed with Clarke and happy, then she started telling me to fight to get back to her. I didn't understand what she was saying because I was right there with her. Then she told me to wake up and fight. After that, I woke up, and I could see everything that you all were doing, but when I called out, you couldn't hear me."

Zaria says, "Wow, that is amazing! Lexa, you were dead when we finally pulled you from the rubble. We started CPR and gave you a shot of adrenaline to bring you back. Unfortunately, you were stuck under there for at least five minutes before we could free you. I performed CPR on you for fifteen minutes before we found the adrenaline shot, which is what brought you back."

"So, you're saying I was dead for at least twenty minutes!" I look around me and see Dakota sitting on a massive pile of demolished brick and wood. It almost looks like she is crying, but before I can tell, she turns her head. "Dakota…"

She gets up and walks away. Zaria says, "She's the one who dug you out of the wreckage. She was screaming like a freaking banshee until we got you back. I've never seen her show any emotion, ever."

Samiya nods her head, "How do you feel now?"

"Like I've been hit by a truck and now have an elephant sitting on my chest. My head hurts and…Is Kota alright?"

Zaria says, "Huh? Oh, Dakota? I think she will be. We were able to neutralize the attackers before she was able to pull you from the debris. Now that you are back in the land of the living, we need to move before any more sentries come looking for us."

"You're right. Let's get moving. Grab anything you can." When I stand, I'm dizzy and nauseous. I lean over and put my hands on my knees, taking a few deep breaths. I bet this is how Clarke feels every morning when she wakes up sick. I wish there was something that could be done to help her because, let me tell you, this sucks!

Once I get myself under control, I start to walk. That is when I remember my ankle because I almost fall on my face. Of course, Dakota catches me. I stand up, Dakota moves to my side to help me, and we head out at the quickest pace we can. I'm not sure how far we have made it, but I have to rest by around seven. I sit down while Zaria and Elias go to scout ahead. Nasrin and Kalen watch the perimeter while Samiya and Jasmine pick some nearby berries. Kota stays near me, but far enough away that I can't really talk to her without raising my voice.

I try to get up to move closer to her, but I start to feel dizzy and nauseous again. It becomes extremely hard to breathe, and I start coughing and can't stop. I motion to her, "I can't breathe!" She has me lie down and screams. Zaria, who is just returning to camp, runs over, unbuttoning my shirt and pulling the zipper down on my armor. When she opens it up, both she and Samiya gasp. "What? What's wrong?"

Samiya comes up and looks me in the eyes, "Your chest is black and blue. Can you pull your arms out of your armor so that we can get a better look at your chest and back?"

It's a struggle to get out of the armor even with their help. Finally, Zaria looks at Samiya and says, "I think she may have a collapsed lung. We will need to put in a chest tube to drain the fluid from around the lungs. Is there any kind of tubing in the bag?"

Samiya digs around but doesn't find anything. Zaria looks at Elias, "You were the fastest out of everyone. I saw an abandoned vehicle about a mile north of here while scouting, run and get a hose from the engine. Preferably the one going from the radiator to the overflow tank or the windshield wipers to the cleaner, hurry."

Samiya says, "Can we wait long enough for him to get back?"

Zaria smiles, "Don't worry, he can run a mile in a little over two minutes. He will be back probably before I finish making the incision. Is there anything in there to sterilize the knife with?"

Samiya hands her a bottle of liquid that she pours over the knife. I look at Zaria and say, "What are you doing? Do you know what you are doing?"

She smiles, "In theory, I've never actually done it before, but if I don't, you're going to die. I'm not going to lie; this is going to hurt like a bitch. I will cut your side and then insert the tube between your ribs to act as a drain for the fluid building up around your lungs. Once it is inserted, your lung should reinflate, and you will be able to breathe easier. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'm going to be."

"Alright, here goes nothing…."

I feel her cut into me, and I watch as blood starts to spurt out of my side at an alarming rate. I feel lightheaded and dizzier, so I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths but start coughing instead. When I open them, Elias is back with a tube, and Samiya is washing it first with water and then with the rest of the alcohol. Once she hands it to Zaria, she opens the cut she made in my side with her fingers enough to shove the tube inside. Once it is in place, blood starts to drain from the tube, and I can breathe easier. She uses tape to secure the tube and says, "Can you breathe any better now?"

I try and take a deep breath, and I'm surprised when I actually can. "Yes, much better." I look at the ground beside me and see a pool of blood that has drained from the tube. If I keep bleeding like this, I'm not going to make it. I don't know what else to do, though. Unless I can send someone ahead to try and locate a vehicle. Yep, that's the only way I'm going to make it out of here alive.

I call everyone together. "Look, at the rate, I'm bleeding and my leg, I'm not going to make it at the pace we are going. Zaria, do you think you and Nasrin can run ahead to the village and locate a vehicle? I will give you cash to buy/borrow it."

She replies, "We can try, but most people who live out here don't have cars. Usually, they only have tractors or small farm equipment and horses, and we are still at least ten miles away."

"At this point, a horse-drawn carriage or tractor will be better than nothing. The rest of us will continue walking just inside the tree line off of the road so that we can see you coming. Please be careful."

"Don't worry about us. We have been trained for things like this. If we run through the night, we should make the town by the time the sun comes up."

"Hopefully, someone will be willing to let you use a vehicle. Here take this and offer to whoever is willing to provide any transportation for all of us." I hand her all the money in my pocket, which is about five hundred American dollars. She takes the cash and grabs a bag with some water in it, and they are off.

After they are gone, Samiya and Jasmine gather up the rest of the supplies while Kalen and Elias help me to my feet. Kota takes point, making a point to stay away from me, but I catch her looking at me frequently. We head through the woods until we can see the road, then start walking east in the direction of the village. I can barely walk even with their help. I'm so exhausted that I fade in and out of consciousness. Every time I drift off, I see Clarke's beautiful face. The way the sun reflects on her wavy golden hair, it looks as if she has a halo on her head. I see flashes of our short time together, and then I see her standing between two bassinets in a nursery crying. I try to ask her what is wrong, but the scene fades away. Finally, I come to for a few minutes and find that Kota is now carrying me. As I start to fade out, I think I hear her say, "You can't die because of me. You need to get back to Clarke. Remember to fight."

The next time I wake up, I'm in the back of a horse-drawn wagon, my head is in Kota's lap, and the sun is low in the sky. "Where are we?"

Zaria answers, "We are about ten minutes away from the village. It took a while to find someone with a wagon, but the village people seem friendly. They did mention that some men in uniform came by a few nights ago looking for some runaways, but when I offered them the money to use the horse and wagon, they promised not to say anything. But they might expect more when we return."

"That's fine. Thank you. What time is it? How long was I out this time?"

Samiya says, "It is probably close to six in the evening. You have been in and out of consciousness for 48 hours. Zaria thinks that you may be trying to fight off an infection from one or more of your injuries. That is why you keep losing consciousness. It has been slow going because of all the patrol vehicles, although we haven't seen one since earlier this afternoon."

"Shit! Do you mean it has been over 48 hours since I talked to Clarke and Ash? I have to call them." Kota moves away from me at the mention of Clarke and huddles in the corner of the wagon, staring off into space. I know that look well. It is the look you get when something has triggered a past trauma. I just don't know what it means for her or…why. I need to figure out a way to help her through the pain she is feeling.

I reach for her, "Kota…what's wrong?"

She cocks her head at the nickname, then shakes her head no. I take it to mean nothing is wrong, but I know that is a lie. Looking at her, I say, "I'm calling bullshit on nothing being wrong. Please tell me what is going on." She smiles but still shakes her head no.

Ash

The camp has been completely packed up, and everyone has been loaded onto the boats preparing to head upriver. The river part of the trip will only take about an hour, then we will load up onto a couple of vans for another hour or so to get to the heliport, where Morrigan and Lincoln should be waiting. After that, it will take at least ten trips of the helicopters to transport the forty women and kids to the airport in Minsk, if not more. By the time that is complete, I hope that Lexa is ready to be picked up.

It has been almost 48 hours since I last talked to Lexa. I'm worried that something has happened, but I'm afraid to say anything. Morrigan and Lincoln just left with the last two groups on the choppers. So all that is left now is me, Bellamy, Reed, and Abby. Morrigan will be back for us shortly. I hope by then I will have heard from Lexa. I just hope she can make it to the village. I can't lose her after all we have been through, and Clarke…I don't think she would ever recover if something happened to Lexa.

By the time Morrigan makes it back to pick us up, I still haven't heard anything. I try to call the last number she called from, but it goes straight to voicemail. I guess she still has it turned off. We can't wait here any longer without drawing attention, so we do the only thing we can. We go to the airport in Minsk.

Pav approaches me once I exit the chopper and says, "I just spoke to my office. They said when they cleaned up the facility after our attack. The computers had been erased, and most of the children and the staff were gone. The few guards they found eventually told them that the facility had been evacuated and relocated. When asked about what happened and what kind of facility it was, they said it was a holding site for terrorist interrogations that was breached by an outside force that triggered a lockdown."

I reply, "Did they say if we should expect any further attacks by them?"

"As far as they can tell, everyone is either dead or busy relocating, to where they don't know. They did say that they had initially sent out search parties, but most of them never returned. So, they decided to give up. That is a least a good sign that they are still alive."

"I still don't think it is safe for us to just hang out here on the plane. We are bound to draw attention. Do you have any ideas? I won't leave until I find Lexa, but we all can't stay."

"Let me make a few calls. A little while later, Pav ends a call and says, "You are in luck. I still have friends in the Belarus Air Force. The Machulishchy base is only eight miles south of here. My friend, Abram Rusakov, will keep a medivac chopper ready and fly you wherever you need to go when the time comes. He will also make arrangements for however many people you want to stay, to stay on the base. I suggest sending the rest of your group and the women and children back to America. When you find Lexa, I will arrange to get you a private plane home."

I go aboard the plane and gather the original group together and inform them of the plan. Clarke is a mess and refuses to leave, which I fully expected. I look around the room at all the concerned faces and say, "Bellamy, Jose, Reed, Abby, and Clarke will stay with me. The rest of you will leave in an hour to fly home."

Octavia speaks up, "I'm not leaving!"

Bellamy starts to say something, but I cut him off. "O, I need you to take everyone back and get them set up on the Untouchable until we get back. I've called my mom, Dalia, and Ariel will stay with her while monitoring the women and children. I've also called Captain Miguel, and he has agreed to move the Untouchable from the dock to off the coast of mom's house. Anny and Natalia, you will stay with Callie. The plan is once we get Lexa and her group back, we will fly by private jet to DC to meet with Julian. Morrigan, I will call you when we leave Minsk and try to coordinate a time for you to get us from there."

Natalia says, "Ash, I really need to tie up some loose ends in DC so, is there any way that Anny and I can stay with you."

"Sure, that would probably be best anyway because Clarke may need Anny's expertise with the twins if something comes up. So now everyone that is staying, grab some gear and meet me out in front of the airport. Pav is going to drop us off at the base on his way back to Kyiv."

As we pile out of the van at the Air Force base, I say, "You're a lifesaver, Pav. Remember, anytime you want to visit, our doors are open."

"I may just take you up on that one day."

Once on base, there is nothing to do but wait and pray. It isn't safe for us to go looking for them. The Ukraine military can't look because technically, they are still under the impression that the facility was a black site used by the Americans for terrorists, so they can't act even though they know the truth now.

Abram has us in a house on the base. Clarke has refused to leave her room. She stays curled up in the bed and only eats when forced to. Anny is becoming concerned because she isn't eating enough, and she has started having cramps and some bleeding. Abby and I have tried to talk to her and tell her that Lexa isn't going to be happy that she isn't taking care of herself, but she still only eats the bare minimum. Abby and Anny are forcing all sorts of vitamins down her to try and make up for her not eating. I'm beginning to worry that she may lose the twins if we don't hear something soon.

Two days later, my phone rings. I answer on the first ring, "Lexa?"

"Sorry, but it is Zaria. Lexa told me to call you if she couldn't once we made it to the village."

I begin to panic, "What? Why can't she call me?"

"Um…she's unconscious at the moment."

"Is she…is she alive?"

"Barely, what are we supposed to do?"

"Can you find a safe location to hide out until I can get to you?"

"Yes, we are at the house at the end of the dirt road off of the main road. There's an outbuilding behind the house with a cellar. We are going to hide there. The old lady that owns the house knows you are coming and will show you where we are. Could you maybe…bring her some fresh fruit or food as payment for hiding us?"

"Sure, I'm in Minsk. It will take close to an hour to get to your location. Make sure you turn the phone back off and call me if anything changes in Lexa's condition."

I rush into Clarke's room to find Abby. I burst through the door, startling them both. Abby says, "What the hell, Fletch?"

Clarke says, "What is it, Ash? Did you hear from Lexa?"

"Um, no…not exactly."

Abby says, "What's wrong, Fletch?"

I look between Clarke and Abby, "Can we maybe talk somewhere in private?"

Clarke grabs my arm and says, "NO! Tell me what the fuck is going on right now!"

Clarke screams, doubling over in pain, grabbing her stomach. "Clarke, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just a cramp. What is going on?"

Abby goes to Clarke and helps her sit on the bed while taking her blood pressure and pulse. Then Abby nods to me, "I just talked to Zaria. They are in a safe location, and we need to take the chopper and go get them."

Clarke says, "Who is Zaria, and why is she calling instead of Lexa?"

"Well, um…Zaria is one of the girls that Lexa went back for, and…it-it seems that Lexa is unconscious at the moment. But she had told Zaria what to do."

Clarke looks at me and says, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go?"

Abby says, "Clarke, honey, you need to stay here. The space on the chopper is limited, and we know there are at least four of them, maybe more. I'm going with Ash so that I can take care of Lexa when we get there. I need you to stay here and get everything ready."

"No, I'm coming!"

I say, "We don't have time to argue about this. Clarke, you are staying here, and that's final."

As I make the call to Abram, Abby rushes to get her bag full of medical supplies. Once we get out the door, I look at her and say, "Shit! We are supposed to take fresh fruit and vegetables with us as payment for their safekeeping."

"I'll run back and get what we have along with some cash."

It took us about an hour and a half to get to the village by chopper. Abram landed us in a field as close as he could to the house Zaria had described to me on the phone. Abby had managed to get a large bag of fruit and veggies from the base. When we knocked on the door, a lady who had to be in her late 70's answered.

"Hello, I'm Ashley. I understand that you may know where our friends are hiding. We brought you these." I hand her the bag and an envelope with about a thousand dollars in it.

She smiles and starts speaking Belarusian. I don't speak the language, so, "Um…I don't understand." She motions for us to follow her into the house, so we do. We follow her through a small place consisting of a kitchen, dining room, and an open bedroom. She leads us out the back door and to an outbuilding near the woods. She points at it and says, "Tam…Tam." I can only assume she means that they are in there.

I open the door and walk in, but I don't see anyone. I look back to the woman, and she's pointing to the floor where a rug is lying on the ground and says again, "Tam, Tam." I lift up the carpet and find a piece of wood covering a hole with a ladder going down into it.

I call down the opening, "Lexa…Lexa…are you down there?"

I hear someone say, "Yes, she's here with us. But, she needs help, quickly."

Abby rushes past me and climbs down the ladder with her bag, and I follow. Once inside the cellar, we see Lexa lying on a makeshift bed with her head in a young girl's lap. Her skin is a greyish color, and she has a tube coming out of her side that I can tell has recently had blood draining from it. Her left leg is in a splint, and she was barely breathing. I froze. I couldn't believe that the person I was looking at was Lexa.

Abby looked around the room and said, "What happened? What are her injuries?"

Zaria says, "She has a compound fracture of her left tibia. I had to set it as best I could because she didn't have a pulse in her foot or feeling in her toes. That happened on the first day. I closed it the best I could and put a pressure bandage on it and the splint. Later, her lung collapsed, and I had to insert the chest tube. She also had a dislocated ankle that I also set, but it could be broken. I can't be sure without an x-ray. I'm not sure where the blood is coming from internally, though, just that it was a lot initially but has pretty much stopped the last couple of days to what it's doing now. Even though the bleeding has slowed down significantly, she is extremely dehydrated, and now she has a fever. I think she may have some sort of infection from either the break in her leg or the chest tube."

Abby looks surprised but then asks Zaria, "Can you start an IV line while I examine her."

"Yes!"

Abby cuts her shirt off, and the top part of her armor has been tied around her waist. Zaria starts the IV. When Abby opens up her shirt to expose Lexa's chest and stomach, she gasps in shock. I can't stop the tears from running down my cheeks, and I drop to my knees. "Holy hell!"

The girl holding Lexa's head looks at me and says, "Clarke?"

Everyone looks at the girl, surprised. I say, "No, I'm not Clarke."

Abby says, "How the fuck is she even alive? By the looks of the bruising, she has to have multiple internal injuries. How long has she looked like this?"

Zaria says, "I'm not sure. After Dakota pulled her out from under the rubble of the house, we had to use a shot of adrenaline to bring her back. She never complained, only said that her chest felt bruised and her head hurt. It wasn't until after we had walked about three or four miles before she started complaining of nausea and dizziness. Then she became short of breath, and I realized that something was wrong, and that's when we first saw her chest, but it wasn't this bad before."

"Alright, open the IV up all the way and put this oxygen mask on her. How are we going to get her up the ladder?"

One of the boys spoke, "Elias can go up to the top, and I can climb far enough up with her to hand her to him. Then, we can use the horse wagon to transport her to the chopper."

Again, the dark-skinned girl spoke, "No." She lifted Lexa up and carried her up the ladder by herself, somehow.

I look at Abby, and she nods, "Okay, the rest of you, let's go up and get the wagon ready. But, Abby, is she going to be alright?"

"The fact that she has lived this long is a miracle."

Samiya says, "I think it is her sheer will to get back to Clarke. Every time she passes out, she wakes up calling for Clarke. After we brought her back, she said Clarke told her she had to fight and wake up. Same thing when she passed out from the collapsed lung."

Lexa

I don't remember being loaded into the wagon pulled by the horse. Or much of the ride to the village. Actually, I don't remember much of anything. Every now and then, I would wake up long enough to drink some water, but that was about it. Zaria said that she'd talked to Ash, and she was on the way, but we were safe in a cellar somewhere in the village for now.

I'm not sure how long it has been but…I see Clarke and the sight of her takes my breath away. She's relaxing by the pool and beside her under an umbrella are two beautiful baby girls. I walk over and kiss her cheek before looking in on the twins. One of them is the spitting image of Clarke, except for her eyes. The baby has a tiny head full of blonde hair with Clarke's nose, but she has steel blue eyes like mine. The other one has dark hair like me and green eyes like Clarke. They are both beautiful and the perfect combination of the two of us. Everything is perfect at this moment. I have my beautiful family with me, and everything is excellent. Then I hear someone in the distance calling my name…Lexa…Lexa…you have to wake up now. I start to feel a force pulling me away from my family. I fight it. I don't want to leave them, but the pull is strong. I look up at Clarke, and she says, "Cielo, go! You have to go back. This isn't real. Not yet. I need you to go back, now!"

I feel a shock, pressure pounding on my chest, another shock, then I'm gasping for air. I cough and whisper, "Clarke, where are you? I need you!" I feel a hand on my face and look up to see Abby.

She says, "Take it easy. I've got you."

"Where are we? Where is Clarke? What's happening?"

Ash comes into view and says, "We're in a chopper on the way to Minsk. Clarke is waiting for you. You scared us. You were literally dead for about five minutes."

I hear Zaria say, "It's becoming a habit for her to die and then come back. It happened after the building fell also. Only, I'm fairly sure it was longer because it took us a while to get the area secure and her out from under all the wreckage. But she came back, just like this time."

Abby was standing over me, examining me, "You've lost a lot of blood. You will most likely need a transfusion when we get to the base. I just hope someone matches your blood type. Who put in your chest tube, and how did you even have one?"

I whisper, "Zaria put it in, and I think it is the hose that runs from the radiator to the overflow jug that she sterilized as best she could."

Abby looks at Zaria, "How did you know what to do? You know what, we can talk about that later. Lexa, how do you feel right now?"

"Tired, my chest, head hurt, and I'm cold. I'm going to rest, wake me when…."

Abby yells, "No, you can't go to sleep! You have to stay awake."

"Ash have Abram call the base and have an OR ready and stocked with blood. Hopefully, they will have some of her type, being that it is so rare." Says Abby.

I relay Abby's request to Abram, and his reply is, "It shouldn't be a problem, ma'am."

I go to Lexa's side and hold her hand. She looks like she is about to go to sleep. "Lex, you can't sleep. You have to stay awake for me, babe." I raise her hand to my lips and kiss it, then lean down and kiss her forehead.

"Ash, I'm so tired. I need to sleep, just for a little bit."

"No! You can't. I guess this is how you felt on the medivac back in Afghanistan when our roles were reversed. I'm so sorry I put you through that."

She starts to chuckle, but it turns into a coughing fit. "Doesn't feel good to be helpless when someone you care about is hurt. Does it? At least you have Abby with you. I had someone treating you that I didn't know or trust." she manages to whisper.

"Not at all. I'm so sorry that I didn't have your six. I should've jumped and swum to shore, and I should've never let you go by yourself. You would've never let me go by myself. I-I just couldn't get Asher's face out of my mind, and when I did, it was too late. I'm sorry, I chose him over you."

"Don't be stupid, Ash! You should always choose your son over me. I forgive you. I'm going to be fine."

"If not, Clarke's going to kill me. She's already so mad at me for leaving you alone. She can't even stand to be in the same room with me. Then I told her she couldn't come to get you. I thought she was going to hit me."

Again, I try to laugh but end up coughing. It hurts my chest and head so badly, but I say, "Thank you. I don't want her to see me like this."

She leans down, kissing my forehead, "Babe, I'm not going to be able to keep her away from you once we get to the base. I can guarantee she'll be waiting when this chopper lands. She's going to see you whether you want her to or not, I'm afraid."

I hear a timid voice say, "Stop kissing her! You're not Clarke!"

When I turn, I see that it's Kota who spoke, which surprises me. I smile at her and say, "So, I have to die again to get you to start talking, Kota? This is Ash, Kota. Ash, this is Dakota. Ash is an incredibly good friend of mine, Kota."

Kota looks at Ash and just nods.

"Where is Abby?"

She comes into view, "I'm right here, sweetie."

"How bad is it? And don't sugar coat it either."

"I don't…I don't know for sure. All I know is that if it were anyone else…I just need you to hang in there for a little bit longer. Once we get to the base, you will need a blood transfusion and surgery to determine where the blood is coming from."

"I don't want Clarke to see me or worry about me. Can you make that happen?"

"Nope, that's not going to happen. She needs to see you, and you need her. So let her be there for you."

"Ok-okay. Abby, something doesn't feel right." I feel my eyes closing, and there's nothing I can do about it. My vision starts to blur, and I know I'm going to pass out. "Tell Clarke I love…." The blackness takes over, and I don't feel any more pain.

What I see next is Clarke's beautiful face. I am standing by the altar, waiting for Nikko to escort Clarke down the aisle. She's wearing a long white dress that fits her beautiful pregnant belly. Her usually curly mussed-up hair is pulled into some fancy updo. She takes my breath away. I am standing wearing a tailored tux that fits me perfectly. The music starts, and soon she stands in front of me. I smile and whisper, "I love you more than anything Clarke Griffin, my baby's mama." She chuckles, and the ceremony begins.

It's then that I notice Ash is the one performing the ceremony. She looks at me and says, "Lex, it's not time for this. You need to fight."

"I don't understand, Ash. This's what I want. I want to marry Clarke and have our twins. My fight is over for now." I turn to look at Clarke, who is now crying.

She says, "Cielo, I love you more than life itself, and this is what I want, but not now. It isn't time. You have to fight to get back to me. If you don't, this will never happen. Do you understand?"

"No! I don't understand. Why won't you marry me? I thought you loved me."

"I do love you, Lexa. That's why you have to fight. Fight for our love, fight for our unborn babies, and fight for me. This isn't real, not yet. Now come back to me. We need you."

I look at Ash, "I love you, Lex. You can't die! Come back to us. We all need you to fight! Never stop fighting, no matter how perfect things look. Fight!"