OUT OF MIND² ━━ Bellamy Blake

𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈: No Way Out

At this, Lyra perks up. "Where's Bellamy? And my dad?"

A long breath twists through Clarke's teeth. "They're. . . not here," she admits quietly. "Arkadia is falling apart. And Noah couldn't leave Jasper. He's not. . . he's not doing so well."

Lyra chews on her lip anxiously. "Is he OK?"

"Are any of us?" Clarke retorts and Lyra can feel her shoulders slump. "Bellamy's trying to find Octavia. She sort of just. . . disappeared."

Despite the bolt of fear she feels, Lyra straightens. "She'll be OK. Octavia's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

Even so, she doesn't know who she's trying to convince more. Clarke or herself.

"What about you?" Abby asks Clarke lowly.

Clarke gives her an empty smile. "I just needed to see my mom."

"Don't punish yourself." Abby's eyes flicker across her daughters face as if she already knows everything Clarke does not say out loud. "Going to space was at best a long shot."

"A wish on a star," Lyra adds hollowly. She wishes more than anyone that it had worked.

"It was the only shot we had," says Clarke grimly. Never one to linger on the past, Clarke makes for the brain scans displayed on Abby's half of the monitors. "Is that Raven?"

"It's Lyra, actually."

Lyra winces as Clarke's incredulous stare finds her.

"Guilty," she says with a sheepish smile, even though none of this is amusing. "Raven's sedated in the bio lab. She had another seizure this morning. I haven't had one since last night, which means I'm back on the clock."

"Nobody told me you were sick, too," says Clarke, still looking shocked. "I thought — "

"It's nothing I'm bragging about," cuts in Lyra shortly. "Come on, Clarke. It's the end of the world. Who cares if I'm dying?"

"I can think of a few," retorts Clarke in a clipped tone. Her gaze flits back to the scans as she takes a step closer to observe them. "Is that. . . ?"

"An ischemic stroke," fills in Lyra.

Clarke glances at her mother uncertainly. "Well, that means it can heal, right?"

"Yes." Abby nods, then tosses a disgruntled look in Lyra's direction. "Of course, recovery requires rest."

Lyra pretends not to hear her.

     "And you?" Clarke presses her. "How are you feeling?"

     "I'm fine," the doctor assures her.

     Abby starts for the series of microscopes, Clarke following her briskly. "Mom, I've spoken to Jackson. He doesn't think you're fine. When was the last time you slept?"

     "I'll sleep soon enough, one way or another."

     Lyra could laugh at the morbidity of that statement.