Then: December 2, 1998
7:49 a.m.
Clarke was sick. Really sick. It had started out seemingly like the flu but Jake and Abby had brought her to the hospital two days before but her fever and other symptoms only seemed to be getting worse.
Aurora had never felt like she could help her friends the way they helped her over the years but she never felt so helpless as she did at this moment. Looking over at her own little boy sitting at the kitchen table she couldn't imagine what she would do if one of her own children were in Clarke's position.
To make things worse both Octavia and Bellamy had noticed Clarke's sudden absence in their lives and neither of them liked it very much. She wasn't exactly sure how to explain to them the severity of the situation or if she really should.
She sighed as she placed Bellamy's Power Rangers lunch box on the kitchen table in front of him, "Put this in your bag pack bud."
"Mommy when are we gonna see Clarke?" The eight year old looked up at his mother with a pout on his face.
Aurora sighed and bent down next to him as she had every morning since Clarke got sick. "Bellamy I told you Clarke is very sick. She's at the doctors right now, but we can visit her tonight after dinner. For now you have to get to school."
Bellamy looked upset. "Why can't we go now?"
"Bellamy you can't miss school."
"But Clarke did."
"Clarke is sick sweetie."
"But she wants her friends." He argued as he stole a strawberry off Octavia's plate. The five year old glared at him from across the table clearly sick of Bellamy and Clarke taking food off of her plate over the years.
"That's mine," she across the table and grabbed the fruit out of Bellamy's hand. "I wanna see Clarke too Momma!"
"You will." Aurora said packing up the last of Bellamy's things into his matching Power Ranger back pack. "But for now you both have school. Octavia don't forget you have show and tell today."
"Right." Octavia said jumping out of her chair and running towards the room she shared with her mother to grab her toy bunny that she was planning on bringing.
"We should get Clarke a present!" Bellamy said thinking about the stuffed animal Octavia was bringing to school. "Then she will have something with her in the hospital."
Aurora gave him a sad smile. "Sweetie that's a great idea and I wish we could but right now we really don't have the money to buy presents. Now go get your shoes on."
Bellamy grumbled as he followed his mother's orders.
…
"Are we gonna see Clarke today?" Bellamy asked immediately as he jumped into his mother's car after school. Octavia was sitting in the seat next to him and her head perked up at Clarke's name.
It had been three days since they had seen her and at the time the little girl hadn't been doing so well. She was too weak at the time to even speak and Bellamy had done nothing but talk about her worriedly since they got home that night.
Luckily the night before her fever had broken and it looked like the worst was over. Aurora knew how bad things had been looking for a while there and while she hadn't wanted Bellamy to know she knew he could sense that the situation wasn't good.
She smiled looking at him in the rear view mirror happy she finally had some good news to share with him. "Yes she's getting better buddy."
Bellamy's face turned into a bright smile. "Really? Good can we stop at the store on the way?"
"For what?"
Bellamy reached into his backpack and pulled out some cash. "To buy Clarke a present."
"Bellamy Blake where did you get that money!?" Aurora asked louder than she meant to at the shock of seeing Bellamy with cash in his hand.
He scrunched up his face. "It's for Clarke's present."
"Yes I see that but where did you get it?" She asked sternly as she gripped the wheel tightly and silently prayed that she wasn't going to get a call from the school saying her son had stolen cash from a teacher's purse.
"From you," He said stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I want money" Octavia said reaching for it. "Why don't I get money?"
"No it's for Clarke, Tavia. Cuz she's sick."
Aurora took a deep breath trying to concentrate on the road. "Bellamy I did not give you that money, now where did you get it."
"You gave it to me. You give me it every morning." He told her while pulling the money away from Octavia who was still trying to grab it and pouting about how it was unfair that he had it.
"Bellamy that is your lunch money!" Aurora exclaimed exasperated realizing what he meant. "Bellamy Blake please tell me that you have been eating lunch!"
He shrugged from the back seat. "I shared with Nathan. His mommy packs him a lot. Octavia stop."
Aurora took a deep breath feeling embarrassment well up inside her wondering if Mrs. Miller thought she wasn't feeding her son. She would have to give her a call and explain the situation."Bellamy promise me if I let you buy Clarke a small gift you will never do this again? I give you that money for lunch and that's what you need to use it for."
"Yes mommy." He said with another shrug.
They headed to the closest Walmart and Bellamy ran to the toys aisle with Octavia jogging closely behind. The two argued over the stuffed animals but finally agreed on a small white teddy bear with a pink ribbon.
Aurora made Bellamy promise once again to never again pocket his lunch money as they headed to the check out. Normally she wouldn't let him get his way this easily but she knew how worried he had been about Clarke and she also knew what it felt like to feel helpless when your friends need help.
She smiled seeing him hold onto the teddy bear the whole ride to the hospital excited to see Clarke's face when he gave it to her.
They got to the hospital and Aurora reminded both of them that Clarke was still not feeling well and that they needed to be gentle with her. She glanced over at Octavia warning her not to jump onto the bed or Clarke in the excitement of seeing her.
Clarke, to Bellamy's excitement, was awake when they entered the room. Aurora went to give Abby a hug and Octavia, ignoring her mother's words, ran over and practically jumped on the bed shouting Clarke's name forcing Aurora to run over and pull her off.
Bellamy walked over shyly, "Hi Clarke"
"Hi Bellamy" She smiled weakly.
"Are you feeling better?"
"A lil" She said looking at the teddy bear in his hand. "What's that?"
He smiled softly holding it up to her. "It's for you. So you get better and we can play again."
She reached her arms out taking the teddy bear and hugging it tightly. "Thank you Bellamy".
"And me!" Octavia shouted still squirming from her mother's grasp.
"Thanks 'Tavia" Clarke smiled at her smaller friend.
"When you don't feel good you can hold it and then you'll feel better" Bellamy told her proudly.
Clarke smiled and Aurora walked over to him. "Okay sweetie I think we should let Clarke rest some more now."
"Okay feel better Clarke."
She hugged the bear in response with a smile as the three left her to recover. Within a couple of days she was home again but the bear sat safety on her dresser for years to come.