Chapter 71

They all rode into the Village slowly. Palla led with Madi on her right and Clarke on her left. Diyoza, Octavia, Elena, and Echo were behind them. They rode to the library and stopped. Raven was sitting there waiting on them. Palla cocked an eyebrow at her, but she waved a tablet comm at her with a smile. Octavia just laughed at the mechanic's antics as she pulled up and dismounted.

"So, what's the news, Little Bird?" Clarke asked with a heavy lilt in her voice.

"Meeka and Sam are waiting for you inside," Raven told them as she stood up.

Clarke watched her as she moved. She was moving better and it had only been a few days since they'd seen each other. She had been reading the reports that Raven had been sending her from Sam, but this was amazing even to her. She admired the brace that surrounded her leg.

"That's new," Echo stated as she watched Raven come to her horse.

"I told you that Meika was making me a new brace, Fos. She did. It supports me better."

"Can you run, Sekkon?"

"Not in this, no, but I am moving faster. I'll get there. That is why they want to do the surgery."

"You didn't need my permission to do it, Raivon. You know this. You are strong enough to make your own decisions."

"She might be, but she asked because you are her Fos, Eko. Plus, she needs the permission of her Heda and Wanheda. She is just following the rules, as we both know," Octavia added.

"That much is true, but Raven knew that I will let her get healed. If she wants it, then I want it for her. Jusgona or not, Eko, she is your charge. You won't deny her this."

"Never, Heda."

"Good, then what else do we need to know, Raivon kom Gryfonkru?"

"So, that's sticking then, huh?" Raven asked as she Madi nodded in response. "Wonkru merged again, Raven. You were part of that merge, too, being part of...what did you all call it, Eko?"

"Spacekru, Heda," Echo replied.

"Sha, so, we are all now Gryfonkru."

"As you wish, Heda," Raven stated.

"Introduce us, Raven," Madi told her as she sat up straighter on the horse.

"Sha, Heda. This is Sam. She is basically their Fisaheda. And, her mate, Meeka, she is an engineer."

"Engineer?"

"Like me, Heda, but more building and no booms," Raven explained.

"And, that is a good thing," Clarke answered with a smirk. "And, seriously Fisaheda? What do you mean?"

"I believe she means like Abby," Echo replied.

"You must be Clarke," Sam stated as she moved down off the porch and towards Clarke.

Echo moved quickly. She pushed her horse next Clarke's and put herself in a position in which to act. Octavia made a similar move to Palla and Madi. Elena moved ahead of them, dismounted and tied off her horse. She smiled at Echo, once again making the woman's skin crawl. Echo's hand dropped to the sword on her side. Clarke turned to Echo, after seeing the small exchange between them.

"Stand easy, Eko," Clarke told her and Palla looked to see her ready to draw.

Placing a hand on Echo's thigh, Clarke gave her a look. Echo didn't move her hand, but she nodded. Echo then leaned forward in the saddle and dismounted. Clarke followed her quickly as soon as Echo had her hands on the reins. Clarke took a few steps towards the building when she heard Octavia drop. She turned back to see Octavia taking the reins from Echo and then Echo move towards her. Clarke wanted to sigh, at Echo's movements, but she knew that it was no worse than when Lexa ordered her guards. Echo was just doing her job as Madi had ordered.

"I am Clarke Griffin," Clarke stated as she raised her hand to shake Sam's.

"Nice to meet you. Your mother must a good doctor and a good teacher," Sam told her.

"Why do you say that?"

"Her notes are very thorough," Sam stated as they walked into the building.

Clarke chuckled as she followed her. Raven, Echo and Meeka followed. Palla, Octavia and Elena were still outside. Palla stepped up and helped Octavia tie off the caballos. She turned and saw Octavia sitting on the right side of the door. Her knife was out and she was cleaning it. She looked amused, but she was being quiet.

"Nothing to say, O?" Palla asked her.

"Not yet," Octavia stated as she looked up with a grin.

"Something to tell me?"

"No, Palla, no."

"You'll say later?" Pall asked.

"If there is something to say, yes, but I think that Wanheda will deal with it on her own, Palla," Octavia replied.

Clarke followed Sam through the corridors to an conference style room. She studied the decorations and the furniture. It was nicely laid out. She saw the large monitors on the wall and noticed that some of them had Raven's medical history and x-rays on them.

"Please, have a seat," Sam bid them as she moved to the monitors.

Meeka sat near her. Raven sat down opposite of Meeka. Clarke, Madi, and Echo sat down on the side with Raven. A few minutes later and Palla joined them sitting down beside Meeka.

"As we all know that the injuries that Raven sustained back on Earth have caused problems with her nerves and her leg, affecting her mobility and the function on her leg," Sam started. "I see that you mother did everything that she could with what she had and considering it wasn't a lot, she did a damn good job. The damage was already done by the time she tried to fix it, however."

"I'm sorry," Clarke said as she hung her head.

"It isn't your fault, Clarke. You did the best you could with what you had. You didn't have what Abby had. You kept me alive. You saved me. Don't doubt that," Raven told her as she reached out and took Clarke's hand.

"I should have been able to do more," Clarke lamented.

"We've been through this, Clarkey. You aren't the one that shot me. Murphy was. We were on the run from Trikru. Anya was beating down on us. It is a miracle that I survived the battle. That I did is because of you. So, don't sit there and tell me that you didn't save me, because you did. You weren't going to let me die. You warned me that I would have problems, but you weren't sure what. And, what was the first thing that you did as soon as we found your Mom and the other survivors at Arkadia?"

"I took you to Mom," Clarke replied.

"Exactly. You took me to your doctor mom. Abby warned me again that things would be bad. She didn't have the scanners that she wanted and she would be going into my back blind. She did the whole thing while I was awake, Clarke. I felt it all. The fact that I can even stand is because of the both of you. The fact that I am still breathing and walking at all is because of you. Abby finished what you started. Mochof, Wanheda," Raven told her.

Echo wanted to stop the conversation there. She didn't want so much of their past in the open, but she could tell that Raven and Clarke were still dealing with it. She knew that they'd talked about it many times, but she didn't know that it was still something that Clarke regretted.

"There was a lot that I couldn't do..." Clarke started.

"That is all for another time, Wanheda," Echo urged and thankfully, Raven and Clarke got the hint.

"Sorry," Clarke stated as she turned to face Sam again. "Please continue."

"Well, yes, the bullet caused some minor damage to the tissues and nerves, here," Sam told them as she pointed to a scan. "Your mother did a very good job of removing and repairing everything in such a primitive setting."

Clarke could feel Echo start to bristle and she reached out again, placing a hand on her leg. Echo made a noise that Clarke took as an acknowledgement and she moved her hand from Echo's leg. Madi just smiled at the exchange. She knew that they were good for each other. They were both proud, but they both knew when to back down and let certain things just go. Right now, Abby's care for Raven and the primitive nature of the clans back on Earth were some of them.

Sam must have sensed the uneasiness among the Earthlings, as she started to back track a little bit. "She did amazing job and I'm glad that she still had the knowledge to do what she did with what she had. A lot of all that has been lost as we, as humans, started to rely on more modern measures. Sometimes the older, tried and true ways of doing things, works better. That being said, I've done everything that I need to do in order to check on Raven's movement and the abilities of her nerves."

"And you think that this surgery will help her?" Clarke asked.

"I think that I can actually help her regenerate some of her nerve issues. The tests that I've done show some slight nicking and misalignment. I am not saying that this is going to fix it completely, but it should give her a better range of motion and let her lose the brace completely. Meeka has already designed and given her a better brace based on my scans. It supports her in different areas than her older model and it is in relation to her usage."

"Explain please," Clarke stated.

"I gave Raven a nerve block in her leg."

"To test the nerves?"

"Yes. Precisely. I needed to know how much feeling she has. But, that wasn't the only reason," Sam answered.

"You thought it was case of 'phantom leg'?" Clarke asked.

"It could be a possiblity, but I knew that it wouldn't explain the feeling suddenly above her knee. It was just a theory and one that I wanted to try to rule it out. Thankfully, I did it before y'all headed for the wall. Raven is an easy patient to work with," Sam stated.

"Are we talking about the same Raven Reyes?" Echo questioned.

"Shut it, woman," Raven stated and received a very scolding look from Echo. "Fine, you can test me later. And, you can punish me. But, I've been a model patient and you know why."

Echo watched as her eyes cut back to Clarke and Madi before nodding up at Sam. Echo gave her a slow nod and then a shit-eating grin. Madi looked between the two of them.

"Be easy on her, Eko. She still needs this surgery. Restraint is called for in this situation, Raivon's Fos."

"Sha, Heda," Echo replied.

"What did the nerve block tell you?"

"She has an amazing amount of feeling in her leg. Her nerves, for the most part, are either repairing themselves very, very, very slowly or your jont here in chryo did. I am not quiet sure on that, but her leg is trying to fix itself. I just want to help her along."

"How?"

"I want to patch up some of the nerves and replace some. I can use her DNA and some tissues to regrow the strands and types of nerves that I need in order to replace them. The only problem is that it'll take time. Taking the time and effort to fix her will be up to her body, the quickness of the surgery and the way she performs during her rehab," Sam explained.

"Meaning that you want to do the surgery as soon as possible."

"Yes," Sam replied.

"When?"

"In a few days, preferrably."

"A few days?"

"I had a feeling by your notes and your willingness to let her see me that you would agree. While Raven was under the nerve block, I took the cells from her leg and other parts of her back to start the regeneration. It will take a few more days for the strands to be at the length that I will feel completely comfortable with in fixing her up," Sam told her.

"Can you show me?"

"Absolutely. We'll have to go to the hospital, but I will show you anything that you would like, Clarke. But, there is one more thing that I would like to ask of you before we do the surgery, if I may?"

"What is that?"

"I want you to scrub in with me," Sam told her and Clarke feel back in her seat.