Bygones

~{Chapter 27}~

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Beep. Beep. Beep.
I started to regain my conscious and fluttered my eyes open. First thing I saw was Abby sitting next to me, asleep. On my other side the heart monitor was quietly humming. My head was slightly throbbing as I sat up.
"Your awake," she sleepily said, "You blacked out."
"How long?" I closed my eyes.
"Eight hours. You were under too much stress so your body collapsed."
I reopened them, "And the baby? Is he okay?"
"Yes he's fine," she put her hand on mine, "But that was a close one. You've packed on way too much stress since the last check up. The growth rate of your stress in such a short amount of time is unhealthy for your body and dangerous for the baby."
It was silent for a few minutes.
"Are they back yet?"
"No." She looked worried.
"Clarke is smart, she's safe," I squeezed her hand.
"You remind me so much of your mother. She was so protective of everyone she loved and she believed in you and your brother."
"H-how did you know..." I trailed off in befuddlement.
"I helped you come into the world and your brother was the first one to hold you."
A feeling warmth wrapped around my body and memories were flowing back.
She got up and fiddled with the monitor, "I'll leave you to rest. If anything just call, I'll be right outside."
She walked towards the exit and I called after her, "Abby, thank you for not sending my family into space."
She grinned and left. I took a deep breath and sunk back into the stretcher. Bellamy, my family, the baby, and so many other things were running through my mind at once. Stress was something everyone on this Earth had; it's inevitable. My eyes grew heavier and I finally let myself sleep for a little while.

"Sloan," a gentle whisper called my name.
I slightly opened my eyes and groaned.
"It's Abby, Lincoln made this for you."
I sat up and saw the bowl of steaming soup in her hand. I thanked her and drank some. As she left I chugged it down and got dressed. A plan occurred to me before I fell sleep. I then snuck out through the other side and went back to my tent. It was going to be a long walk finding Leyla and going back to the clearing, so I packed a little more than usual. I was tired of letting people get in my way trying to find my daughter. If they had a kid, wouldn't they risk anything for them?
Before I strapped everything on, I stood there and clutched onto my necklace, starring off into space, wondering if Daniel knew where she was.
"Anything. Any signs, please," I wishfully whispered.
I walked out and crept around the edge of the wire fence and climbed out the back.
"Hey!" someone shouted as I got to the edge of the forest.
I started running and hoped that I disappeared fast enough before anyone figured out it was me.

The winter night breeze brushed my face as I got myself comfortable in a tree. I put my loaded gun in my lap and put my head against the trunk. No luck in finding Leyla so far; everywhere I went, I've been there before.
"Please let her at least be warm and safe... I'm coming baby. Don't worry, I'm coming..." I said before I dozed off.

Bird chirps and rustling leaves woke me up right at the peak of dawn. Sitting up, I stretched and rubbed my sore neck.
"I could start back to camp on another route and be back before Bellamy does," I thought to myself as I climbed down.
He'd be upset if he found out.
A few miles away from camp, I spotted something dangling from a tree. Hoping that it was Leyla's necklace, I quickly rushed over to it and snatched it from the branch, ripping a few leaves with it. I couldn't believe what I saw.

Still dazed from my encounter earlier, I stumbled back to camp.
"Open the gate!" a guard shouted.
Abby and two other people with first aid kits were already there waiting for me.
"Sloan! Do I need to keep you in quarantine?!" She took my arm and someone else took my stuff.
I didn't answer. I felt like I was going to hurl.
"Sit," she aided me to the medical, "I have no choice but to ke-"
"I found something," I said, still in awe.
She dropped whatever she was doing, came beside me, and took the necklace.
She hopefully asked, "Is it Leyla's?"
"No," I responded, still not looking at her.
I could feel her face drop a little.
"Then who's is it?"
"Someone's. Someone who could possibly have her or seen her or..." I trailed off. "It's the same one Finn found and it's the same one that man I saw in the woods had."
My face was still emotionless and tired. Once again, a sharp pain jabbed through my stomach. I closed my eyes and gripped the edge of the stretcher, holding every ounce of pain. Showing any of it would've made me lose my privilege in ever leaving this camp. This tent even.
"They're back," Jackson, Abby's apprentice, entered and notified us.
She rushed out and greeted Clarke as I eased my way to the rest.
"Anything?" I asked the first person I saw.
"Yeah. We found this," the girl held up the same necklace I found.
I held up the one I had next to hers.
"Who are you?" I said under my breath, "And what do you want?"

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