BELLAMY WAS ASLEEP, THE CAMP WAS SOUNDLESS AND I WAS FEELING SNEAKY.
I looked down at my wound and saw that there was a bit of black blood leaking through the gauze. It hurt pretty bad but I needed to be brave and tough and just suck it up. This is the ground, we can't afford to be weak down here.
I carefully slid off of the bed I had been resting on. Bellamy looked absolutely exhausted. He was snoring lightly with his head resting on the side of the table. He had stayed with me all night. I couldn't imagine how he was feeling. I mean, if it were him on that operating table and I was in his position, I would be going insane.
I tip-toed toward the ladder, luckily I wasn't wearing any shoes, it was just my socks, so I wasn't making any noise. I carefully stepped up the ladder, making as little noise as possible as I climbed up each rung.
I made it to the third level, where I heard someone say the Grounder was. I tried being as silent as possible when I opened the hatch. I cringed while it creaked as I opened it, hoping no one heard. Up on the third level, Miller was asleep, sitting against a wall. I liked Miller. He had good intentions.
On the other side of the room, Lincoln was chained up in a standing position, each of his limbs outstretched and tied up. His body was covered in bruises, cuts and dried blood. He was half asleep so he didn't hear me come up.
I knew Miller was a heavy sleeper, seriously, the guy could sleep through a war. I knew it was safe to talk at a normal tone, but I whispered anyway.
"Lincoln, psst." I said quietly as I creeped up to the Grounder. He slowly looked up and met eyes with me. He loosened his tense state as he saw me, he seemed relieved.
"I can't speak English here, it isn't safe. You understand me, right?" Lincoln whispered in his language. I somewhat got it.
"Sort of," I said in a quiet tone.
"Are you okay? What happened to you? Who stabbed you?" He bombarded me with questions.
"Hold on, slow down," I cut him off. "I have no idea what any of that meant, but I'm okay. A man with a tattoo on his eye came searching for you, but when he saw me instead, he threw a knife and ran off.
"Nyko," Lincoln muttered to himself. "Did this man have a beard?" I nodded. "He didn't see your blood?" I shook my head and quickly grabbed a bottle of water that was sitting next to Miller.
I got on my tip toes and put the bottle to Lincoln's lips, allowing him to drink. He looked wrecked. He had one black eye, a busted lip, bruises everywhere and cuts and burns all over his body, it was actually quite disturbing knowing that Bellamy did this.
I tried breaking him free but it was no use, I couldn't do it in my weakened state. "I'm sorry, I would break you out if I could. Maybe I can get Octavia to help me tomorrow," I sighed.
"It's okay, young one. Just take care of yourself," A weak smile played at his lips.
I smiled back and grabbed a small stool, sitting down across from him. "I wanna know more. About my blood and what it has to do with your people."
Lincoln looked hesitant. I gave him my dazzling puppy dog eyes that I knew no one could resist and eventually he gave in after a few seconds of contemplation.
"Young one, your blood is special. It is special to my people." He started. There was no way I was going to fall for this, he was stalling.
"Yeah, I know my blood's special. I wanna know why." I deadpanned.
"Fine," He caved. "Your blood is both a gift and a curse. You share it with the Commanders. The leaders of my people." He explained.
Odd. "So I'm a leader of your people?" I asked, confused.
"No. But you could be. Your blood is very respected."
"Then why should I hide it?" I snapped. "I mean, if it's respected then wouldn't that mean it's a good thing?"
"Calm yourself, young one. Your blood could cause anarchy among my people. If word got out that a Sky Person had the blood, it could cause riots or wars." Lincoln explained, surprisingly calmly.
I didn't even realize the sharp pain in my stomach until I looked down and noticed how much blood was leaking from the gauze. Shoot, I ripped open my stitches. I winced at the sight and quickly put my hand on it to maintain pressure on the wound.
"What's wrong? Are you okay, yongon?" Lincoln panicked.
"I'm fine," I grunted through the pain.
"No, you aren't. Talk to that guard boy, I'll pretend to be asleep. He will get you to your healer," Lincoln planned. I nodded and practically crawled over to Miller.
I tugged on the boy's shirt. "Miller. Miller," I repeated in attempts to wake him up. My wound was hurting so much, and I was losing too much blood. Finally, after too many attempts, Miller woke up groggily.
"What?" He groaned, still half asleep, his eyes weren't even open. "I'm on my break-" He mumbled before finally catching sight of me. "Holy shit." He burst into action.
"I ripped open my stitches," I mumbled, feeling liquid drip down my torso.
I mustn't have been looking good. He scooped me up and struggled to climb down the ladder, holding me with one arm.
It was still dark out and everyone was asleep. Miller spotted Bellamy asleep, leaning on the table and immediately rushed over to him. "Bellamy, man wake up," Miller shook him awake, luckily Bellamy wasn't as heavy of a sleeper as Miller.
I had lost so much blood, I started seeing black spots in my vision. "Shit. Go get Clarke, now," I heard Bellamy demand. "Lia, you gotta stay awake. C'mon, kid, keep your eyes open."
I did everything I could to stay awake. After what felt like forever, but was only a few minutes, Clarke and Miller came into the drop ship.
"She's lost too much blood. Get my mother on the radio, now." I heard Clarke panic. My eyes were barely open. I could see Miller fiddling with the radio, his shirt was drenched in my black blood.
"Clarke? Clarke, honey, is everything okay?" I could hear Dr. Griffin on the radio.
"Mom, Tahlia's stitches ripped open and she's lost too much blood. What do I do?" Clarke informed her mother.
"Okay, you remember how to do a transfusion, right?" Dr. Griffin said over the radio.
"Mom, we can't do a transfusion. Her blood, remember?" Clarke started panicking.
I started to drift out of consciousness but did my best to stay awake. They couldn't do the blood transfusion because no one had blood like mine. Maybe my blood was a curse.
"Right. Jackson, I need you over here, now," Said Dr. Griffin. "Stitch her up and we'll see what we can do."
"Alright, Tahlia, this is gonna hurt." Clarke cautioned. I gripped Bellamy's hand tightly, preparing myself for the pain.
I was so weak, I didn't even think I could scream anymore, but tears streamed down my face like a waterfall.
Wow, I'm so weak. I cried this much just getting stitches.
Damn, where did that mindset come from?
Something in my mind was just telling me I had to be a warrior. I'm not sure why but I believed it - I obeyed it. I stopped crying.
"All done," The pain finally stopped.
"Tahlia, honey, how you holding up?" Dr. Griffin's muffled voice asked.
"I think I'm fine, Doc," I slurred, I was really drowsy from the blood loss. I was actually starting to wonder if I would make it.
At some point in the night, I passed out. I woke up and was surprisingly not dead. If only I had a dime for every time I almost died on Earth. Well, I don't really need a dime, it's just an old expression I heard once. If it was supposed to be literal, it would say 'if only I had a ration card'.
I woke up to the sounds of the Blake siblings arguing.
"I'm not moving until you let me up there to see him," Octavia declared, crossing her arms. She was sitting next to the ladder, probably wanting to see Lincoln. I bet she has a crush on him.
"Get comfortable," Bellamy retorted before walking off. He stopped at the door of the drop ship and turned back to his sister. "I let him live, isn't that enough?"
"He saved my life. And yours," Octavia snapped.
"I know you see it that way, but-" Octavia cut him off.
"That's the way it is."
"He's still dangerous," Bellamy responded. What a load of crap. Lincoln wouldn't hurt anyone, he's different to his people.
"Only because of what you did," Said Octavia.
"Look, whatever twisted connection you think you have with that animal, forget it. You don't get to see him. End of conversation," The older brother declared and turned back to walk away.
Octavia started talking again but I tuned out, it seemed personal. Then Clarke came into the drop ship, she quickly checked on me, changed my bandages and then recruited Bellamy to go on some assignment from the Ark.
With Bellamy gone, I had an opportunity to go talk to Lincoln.
short chapter sorry kiddos love ya