Leah POV
I don't know what happened. Everything was fine until there was a loud noise. I was chatting with Amelia and Mary when the front door of the house slammed open. It was so loud, it could probably be heard all the way in the North Pole.
Everybody who was already in the house which was only Mary, Amelia, and I-rushed to the entry room, shocked and worried from the sudden noise.
When we got there, there stood Romero and Vlado acting as if nothing had happened.
"What happened?!" I asked, feeling my heart slowing down slightly. The two of them looked at me, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean? Everything's fine." Vlado responded. Although his face was blank, his eyes failed him and there was a flash of concern. Not for me, though. My eyes squinted at him slightly, and I think he could tell I didn't believe him because he let out a sigh.
"Clarke got hurt." I let out a gasp and took a quick look at Mary. I knew how close she had gotten to Clarke since we started working here-much closer than I had gotten with her. Mary's mouth was hanging open slightly and her eyebrows were furrowed with concern. I looked back to the men in front of us just in time to see Romero give Vlado a nudge and a look that I couldn't quite place, but it didn't look good.
"Is she ok?" Amelia gasped, looking just as concerned as me. Vlado let out another sigh as he dragged a hand over his face.
"If we can find a doctor that is willing to come this late at night, yes."
"Does anybody staying here have any medical experience?" Mary and I gave each other a quick look when Amelia spoke. I had gotten some medical experience when I was with Lucas. I always had to clean my cuts and stitch myself up because I couldn't go to the hospital. Well, I could, but I couldn't bring myself to tell people.
"We know simple stuff, like cleaning cuts, but nothing this bad. We've bandaged it up, but if we don't fix it soon..." He stopped himself. He didn't need to finish. We all knew what he meant.
"Speaking of which," Romero said to Vlado, nodding his head to the side, "we need to check up on her." Vlado nodded in agreement. They both gave us a wave goodbye before they left the room. The three of us left the entry and headed back to our shared bedroom.
There was a new, tense feeling in the house now. It was a worrying kind of tense, and it didn't help that I felt guilty. I knew that I could help, but I felt like something was stopping me. Like something was pulling me back. Maybe it was that fact that I might have to tell everyone how I know how to stitch a wound. Maybe it was the fact that I was scared that I could mess up and hurt Clarke even more. I don't know.
"I'm gonna take a shower." Amelia broke the silence and headed towards the connected bathroom. I walked towards my bed with my drawing pad while Mary stayed standing by her wardrobe. The only sound that could be heard was the shower in the next room. I glided my pencil across the art paper, and before I could get lost in drawing, I was interrupted.
"Leah." I bit my lip nervously. I had a feeling I knew what she wanted to talk about. I looked over at her, and I was surprised at what I saw.
Mary's eyes were glazed over, and she looked like she was about to burst out crying. I set my drawing pad down on the bedside table and made my way out of bed. I headed over to Mary and grabbed her hands, raising them up halfway between us. I encased her hands in mine and rubbed them gently.
"I know you probably don't want to," she choked, "but I need to ask you to do this for me." A tear fell down her cheek. It pained me to see the one I had relied on for years crying. She was always there for me. She looked down at the floor.
"I know you don't want anyone to know that you know anything about medical stuff, but please." Another tear fell. "They won't be able to find a doctor on time." She looked back up at me. Her eyes were glossy with tears, and there were stains on her cheeks from all the tears that fell.
"I can't lose her." How could I possibly say no to her? She has been with me through thick and thin, and here she was, having to ask me to save Clarke's life.
Why was I being so selfish?
I gently squeezed her hands while looking at her. I gave her a soft smile in an attempt to comfort her.
"You shouldn't even have to ask. You have done so much for me, and if I didn't do something like this for you, I'm as selfish as they come." I pulled her into a hug.
"I'll go there right now," I whispered. Mary laughed in relief and hugged me tighter.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She muttered softly. I pulled away and placed my hands on her shoulders. She gave me a giant smile.
"I better get going then." I gave her a small smile and left the room. As soon as I closed the door, I had a problem.
I didn't know which room Clarke was in.
So with that in mind, I decided to look for Vlado or Romero. I wandered the halls, looking in every room. Well, almost every room. I was walking through another hall when I came across another closed door, but this one was different from the others. It was covered with metal nails, unlike the other doors which were fully made of wood. The metal nails were set inside the door in horizontal lines. It had thick, metal hinges on the right side.
Yeah, that was definitely the room Clarke was in.
Even though I doubted it, I headed towards the door, prepared to open it and for it to be locked. Just as I was about to touch the handle, I was startled.
"What are you doing?" I jumped around to see Vlado standing a few steps away from me. I sighed with relief that it was just him.
"I was looking for you."
He raised an eyebrow. "Any reason why?" I took a breath.
"I can help Clarke."
* * * * *
I slowly and carefully threaded the needle through Clarke's skin, causing her to let out a wince.
"Sorry." I grimaced. She waved me off, giving me an 'it's fine. I focused back on her wound. Her wound was a deep, circle-shaped hole that probably went three or four inches deep into her side. It looked unbelievably similar to the bullet wound, and that's what scared me. What were these guys doing with guns? Were they safe for Mary and me to be around?
If they were involved with something bad, what was Vlado's position in it?
My hand was shaking from those thoughts, so I stood upright with my hands on my lap and took a deep breath. Clarke was sitting on a small bed while I say on a stool set next to her bed. After I told Vlado I could help, he immediately took me to a room close by. When we got there, Theo was in the room with Clarke already, but Vlado kicked him out of there so I could get started.
The whole room was covered in white. White walls, white floors, white ceiling, white bed. Everything.
"Everything alright?" I looked up at Clarke.
I gave her a smile. "Yeah. Just gotta make sure my hands are steady." I raised my hands and did a small jazz hand gesture. I made sure my hands were steady before I leaned in again, carefully threading the needle through.
"So, where'd you learn how to stitch?" I mentally froze, but my hands kept moving.
"I was bored one day and took an online course," I said smoothly. The second half wasn't a lie, but the first half was. I was never bored with Lucas in my life. Clarke nodded and looked off to the side. I could tell that she didn't quite believe me, so I quickly changed the subject.
"Mary was worried." Clarke instantly whipped her head to me.
"She was?" I nodded. I peered up at Clarke's face, and I saw something flash in her eyes. I knew what it was. I saw the exact same thing with Mary. I hid the smile from successfully changing the conversation topic.
I was almost done with stitching when I decided to ask Clarke a question that was on my mind.
"How did this happen?" There was silence. I looked up at her. She was staring off into nowhere, lost in thought. Even though I knew she was trying to get out of answering the question, I let it slide.
"All done." I stood up from the stool and packed away the surgical suture and thread. Clarke looked down at her wound. I'd say that I did a pretty good job with the threading. I saw Clarke's face light up a little bit before she looked at me.
"Thanks, I owe you." I set the equipment in a box, then placed the box in the drawer of the closest cabinet.
"Nah, you don't owe me, but you can promise me one thing." Clarke raised an eyebrow as I headed to the door. I turned halfway on the spot to look at her.
"Take care of Mary." Clarke was a good person. She looked after Mary, and Mary looked after her. I just wanted Mary to be happy. And if Clarke is what makes her happy, then I'm fine with that.
Clarke's face beamed with a smile. "I plan to."
I sent her a smile. "Good."
And with that, I walked out of the room.