Chapter Text
Octavia walks into the infirmary, her eyes locking onto Bellamy immediately. A small smile crosses her face upon seeing his peaceful sleeping face. She steps right up to his bed, carefully taking his hand. He doesn’t feel as cold this time, and she wonders if someone turned the heating up. It’s cold out with the snow, and it’s always been chilly in Mount Weather regardless. Bellamy’s fingers twitch in Octavia’s hold, startling her.
It’s not the first time, but she’s always a little shocked by the involuntary movements of coma patients. She used to think that they were always still and quiet. Now she knows there are lots of involuntary movements that the body will sometimes make. She pulls his hand up to her face, pressing it against her cheek. Then his hand moves again, curling around hers. His eyelashes flutter, and Octavia can feel her heart beating out of her chest. Then brown eyes crack open, and meet hers.
“Bell?”
He hums, a low rumble. He’s clearly still out of it, glassy eyes trying and struggling to stay on her face. Octavia reaches for her radio, her eyes never leaving Bellamy’s.
“Get your mom in here. Bellamy just woke up,” she says, immediately letting go of the button when she’s done speaking.
She ignores Clarke’s instant questions, stroking Bellamy’s face. She pushes his hair back, and he smiles. It’s small, and his eyes are still distant, but she’s sure that he recognizes her. It’s not long before Clarke and Abby come in, and Octavia is pulled to the side. He’s not out of her sight, but it still feels wrong to be this far, even though it’s only a few feet. Abby does a few mental tests with him, telling him he’s doing a great job every time.
Clarke holds Octavia’s hand, standing back with her. They’ve bonded over this time, staying with Bellamy together, and finally talking as equals instead of squabbling. Then Abby turns back to them.
“It’s good news. He seems to have all of his cognitive function intact, and he has use of all of his muscles. He’ll need some time to recover, but all of his tests look good. I want to get an MRI for him, but everything looks good for now.”
Octavia turns to Clarke with a huge smile. They throw their arms around each other’s necks, hugging tightly. Tears drip down Octavia’s face, landing in Clarke’s hair. They stay like that for a few minutes before they both sit beside Bellamy, one on either side.
“Hey, Bell,” Octavia whispers.
Bellamy smiles, though it seems to take him a few extra seconds to process what she said. “O, how are you?” he says, his voice raw and gravelly from disuse.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. How are you feeling?”
“Strange. Not bad, but… strange. Clarke…” he trails off, searching her face for something.
“Hi. You’re ok, Bell. You’re ok.” His eyes are beginning to droop, so Clarke rubs his shoulder. “You can get some more rest. You’ve had a hard few weeks.”
Bellamy snorts, his eyes drifting closed. Clarke stands.
“I’m going to call Jasper, and Kane.” Her eyes sparkle with tears, but for the first time in weeks, they were happy tears.
It’s a week later when Miller and Murphy are finally able to head up to see Bellamy. He’s propped against pillows, still looking tired and thin. But all of his tests came back normal, and he’s slowly regaining his strength.
“Hey,” Miller says, trying to smile. What he sees isn’t what’s in front of him, it’s blood, bandages, and a blank, pale face.
Then Bellamy smiles, and something softens in Miller’s chest. Murphy walks over, throwing himself into a chair beside him.
“What’s up, man?” Murphy acts much more casual than he feels, trying to make Bellamy feel more normal.
“Nothing much, sleeping mostly. I’m feeling better every day.”
“That’s good. You’re getting way more sleep than I am. I’m barely getting any though, so I guess I’m not a role model here.”
Miller walks closer, settling in a few feet away from Murphy, closer to the foot of the bed than the head. “Same here. I think I’ve slept a total of six hours in the last week,” he adds, dropping his hands into his lap.
Silence lulls over them for a few minutes before Bellamy says, “You guys do seem exhausted. Are you ok?”
“Fine, worried about you,” Murphy admits, though it sounds forced as if he hates the fact.
Bellamy smirks. “You worried about me? Well that’s something. I’m fine, recovering well. I’m sorry I worried everyone though.”
“Of course you are even though it wasn’t your fault. Did anyone tell you what actually happened?”
“Yeah, and I’m glad that everyone else made a full recovery too. But one thing I forgot to ask was if there any permanent damage from the plants?”
“No, they were just high. No permanent issues, no real damage at all,” Miller says while Murphy clenches his fists, and looks away.
Miller understands his anger, why should any of them care? But he also understands Bellamy, and respects his ability to realize that this wasn’t really those people’s faults. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. They sit talking, the conversation becoming lighter as they settle back into their normal routine of making fun of each other, and relaxing in each other’s presences.
Octavia sits down beside Clarke, leaning against her. Clarke glances at her, but doesn’t say anything.
“I feel like I can’t get out of fight or flight mode. I’ve been with Bell almost all week, and I still can’t settle.”
She sniffles, and Clarke wraps an arm around her shoulder. “It’ll be ok. He’ll get out of here, and we’ll be ok. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“How do you know?”
“Cause I thought we would never recover from coming down here, or from Mount Weather. I thought I would never recover from my dad dying. Now we’re here, working hard to keep moving from something completely different. We’re in a place that we never would have seen ourselves two years ago. So I know that we can move past this, even though all of it will be hard to bounce back from. Not impossible though.”
Octavia leans harder against her, closing her eyes. “Ok, if you’re sure. I believe you. Thank you for taking care of both of us,” she whispers, and Clarke leans her head against her.
“Of course, I’ll be here when you wake up.”