The One Who's Fallen

Chapter 34

"Welcome back, Heda and Clarke. It is good to see you did not die."

What an amazing way to greet someone. "It's good to see you too, Anya."

Artigas, probably sensing the danger's over, walks up. He's grinning widely and pulls me into a hug. He lets go after a moment, looking nervously over my shoulder toward where Lexa is.

"Congratulations on killing the Pauna. It is good to see that it did not harm you." Artigas says, his smile slightly smaller than it was but still as bright. He's glancing over at Lexa every once in a while. I wonder if she's glaring at him.

"Thanks, Artigas. Lexa and Luna were both slightly hurt, which is why I made them ride the horses."

His smile grows and he lets out a quiet chuckle. "I wondered about that. They are both okay?"

"Yeah, they're going to be fine. I'll be checking on them soon anyways, to make sure."

A hunter I recognize, Shala (she once was teaching kids how to use bows and arrows and was shot in the foot accidentally) comes up to us, smiling wider than I have ever seen her.

"Clarke, Heda. Mochof (thank you) for bringing the Pauna here. It should feed the entire village for a week." Shala says, holding out her arm.

"Pro (you're welcome)." I respond, grasping her forearm. "We tried to minimize its contact with the ground, so hopefully all of the meat is good."

"I will check later, but my first look tells me that almost all of it should be edible. Pardon me, I have a lot of meat to prepare." She nods to me and releases my arm, heading back toward where they took the Pauna.

I turn back to where Lexa and the others are standing. "Luna, Lexa, come with me to my tent. I need to check your injuries."

"I am fine." Luna protests.

"Then I'll check Lexa and then drag you into the Healer's hut. Unless you want to come with us."

Anya's smirking as Luna grumbles under her breath for a moment before speaking clearly. "Alright."

I begin walking back to my tent, listening to the footsteps behind me to make sure they're coming. And apparently Artigas is heading there with us. I hold the flaps open for Lexa and Luna. Artigas gives me a smile and then stands outside my tent to guard us. I close the flaps behind us and face Luna and Lexa.

"Luna, I'm going to check you first. Take off your shoe and roll up your pants."

Luna follows my instructions, sighing heavily like it pains her to do so. She sits on one of the chairs. I kneel before her, picking up her foot and touching it in various places, testing her reactions. When I'm satisfied, I stand back up.

"Is it painful to walk?" I ask.

"No."

"Then you're good to go. Don't lift anything heavy for another few days, but other then that you're fine. You can go if you want."

"You are checking on Lexa next. In order to do so, you have to look at her back. Right?"

"Yes." Where's she going with this.

"So you will need her to take her shirt off?"

Oh. I ignore the blush rising to my cheeks. "Yes."

Luna leans back in the chair, grinning smugly. "Then I will stay here."

I let out a quiet sigh. Float me, I have to see Lexa shirtless again. And now I have an excuse to touch her skin. I am going to die mentally many times over before tomorrow morning.

Lexa's turned away from me and takes off her shirt. I clench my jaw to keep it from dropping. Seriously, she's an unreal level of gorgeous. I mean, I'm not even staring at her front side, so I can't even see her abs and boobs and I'm practically drooling.

"Clarke?" Lexa asks, sounding almost nervous.

The familiar way she says my name snaps me out of my trance. Shoot, I was staring at her for a while, wasn't I?

"Yeah." My voice sounds huskier than normal, so I clear my throat, hoping she didn't notice. Judging by Luna's snickers coming from behind me, she noticed. "Sorry, I got distracted."

I move closer, not letting myself trace the outlines of her back muscles. Or her large, really cool looking tattoo that goes down her spine. There are a few bruises that I gently prod, noting how she flinches. Though when I poke an unbruised part of her back, she still flinches. Maybe it's my touch. Or maybe it's just her back muscles twitching, not flinching.

"Does it hurt when you move?" I ask quietly. She takes in a sharp breath, evidently not expecting me to talk while I'm so close to her.

"No." Oh float me, her voice is raspy again. "Though it does hurt when I move too much."

I nod to myself. "Alright, that's normal. Just try not to do anything that'll irritate your bruises. Like lay off training, except for maybe with Anya since she's experienced enough to not hit your back accidentally."

"I will do that," Lexa says. "On one condition. I can train with you, as well."

I frown. "I'm still new to all of this, I could accidentally hurt you."

"You will not." Lexa says confidently.

"I might."

"You will not." Lexa turns around. Oh float me... "I trust you."

"Lexa." Luna says, clearing her throat but I can hear her amusement. I try to keep my eyes on Lexa's, not letting them wander down. "You forgot something. Again."

Lexa glances down and flushes. She turns around again quickly. "Moba (sorry), Clarke." She picks up her shirt and pulls it on.

"It's alright. And fine, I'll train with you as long as we only use the training sticks."

"Very well. I will go talk to Anya and Indra to see if there is anything they need me to do."

With that Lexa gives me one last apologetic smile and leaves. Luna's still sitting on my chair, grinning at me.

"That was more interesting than I thought it would be."

Just a warning: I know next to nothing about medicine or being a doctor, so this is probably very inaccurate. Ahh, thirsty Clarke. :) Thank you all for reading and stay awesome!