Together Forever

Chapter Twenty-Two

Clarke knew that in one semester, you could only have ten absences, of which five had to be cleared by a parent. She explained to Principal Jaha, Miss Greene, and Mr. Roan the situation. She told them she wouldn't be in class for nine days, since she had already missed one day. Understandably, they warned her that she could fail, but they finally agreed to send her the work that she would miss.

Everyday, twelve hours a day, Clarke remained in Bellamy's room. She worked on school work, did her actual job work, and even did Bellamy's work when he was sleeping.

"Clarke, I love you but get the fuck out of my room," Bellamy sighed. "You haven't been to school in almost two weeks," he said.

"Technically, the first three days you were in here were still part of Thanksgiving break, and weekends, so I have four more days that I can and absolutely will miss before disciplinary action is taken," she smiled. "I have only missed five days of school. Today is only Friday. Plus, if I leave, who the hell is going to listen to you bitch about the food?"

"In my defense, the food is very bland here. School food is better," he huffed.

Clarke closed her laptop, meeting his shining eyes. "Raven and Murphy will be by later. Would you like them to bring you something?"

Bellamy crossed his arms. "No," he sighed. "I'm getting out of here tomorrow. I refuse to be woken up by these harsh lights everyday. Your mom told me I could go!"

Clarke smiled, sitting beside him on the bed. "Yes, you could be home right now. And yes, you're going home," she agreed. She kissed his hand. "I'll be home with you the next week, your mom will take Friday since I have school, but then on the weekend you're stuck with me again. And on Monday, I'll be driving you to school."

Bellamy narrowed his eyes. "I will be fully capable of driving myself!"

"Maybe so, but I'm not risking it," Clarke shrugged.

"Love birds," Abby greeted the two of them as she entered the room, with Marcus Kane in tow.

"Clarke," Marcus nodded. "If my logs are correct, in the last week you've put in about three weeks of work. You know you don't get paid over time, right?" He joked.

Clarke laughed, rolling her eyes. "I've had difficulty sleeping," she shrugged. "Don't get excited though, things are going back to normal."

"That's why I'm here," Abby announced. "I need to check your incision, as will Dr. Kane. If you're healing as you should be, you are getting the boot today."

Bellamy's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Can I finally go?"

Marcus and Abby both checked his chart and his stitches, seeming to be satisfied. "We'll have someone bring your discharge papers in," Abby announced. "I've already called Aurora, but you're eighteen, so as soon as you sign them, you're free to go."

Clarke jumped up to hug both of the doctors. She kissed Bellamy deeply on his lips. As the door closed behind Abby and Marcus, Bellamy winked, grinning mischievously. "Well, well, well. Guess who gets to play naughty nurse?" He winked.

Clarke helped Bellamy inside, even though he fought it and promised he didn't need the help. She set his pillows up, bringing him the controller with a smile. "Since you're hurt, you get to play first."

"Playing first is nice, but we both know as soon as I finish one mission as the guy, yoire taking this back to play as the sister," he chuckled.

Clarke shrugged. "Yeah, probably. But, you go ahead. I'm going to call Raven, Murphy, and your mom real quick. Then I'll run you a bath," she winked.

"Don't tease me," he warned, turning the game on.

Clarke left the room, stepping out onto the front porch. She slid down, her knees pressed to her chest. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

"A week," she whispered to herself. "It was a week ago. The surgery went fine. He's fine. He's still alive." After a few moments of repeating herself, Clarke hurried to let everyone know that he was safe and at home, but that he needed a day to relax before he had more visitors.

Walking back inside, Clarke peeked in on him but he didn't notice, his eyes focused on the television. She waited until the bath was full before taking the controller from his hands.

"Hey! I was so close," he objected.

"Oh," she said. "Well, if you'd rather play than get in the tub with me, I understand," she shrugged, standing back up.

"No!" He yelled, laughing. "Oh, no. Bath it is," he smiled. Clarke held his arm, helping him up. He didn't need her help walking, and she gave him a moment to pee, but she entered the bathroom again to help him get his shirt over his head.

She always cringed any time she had to come face to face with his injury, the pain and fear of thinking she was going to lose him still so relevant in her mind. She made sure the bandage was fully covering the stitches before helping him settle into the big tub.

"Don't get your stitches wet, yet," she demanded. "I'll clean them and change your bandages after this."

"Clarke, I've been shot, I've had surgery, and I've been in the hospital for days and days. I know I told you to be my naughty nurse, but I don't mean it now," he laughed. "Right now, I want my girlfriend to strip in front of me and slide into the tub with me."

Clarke blushed. "Alright, alright. You're right," she said, though she wasn't feeling sexy, she was still in nurse mode. But she stripped for him, slowly, before joining him in the water, careful not to touch his chest.

"Hey, I just realized I'm going to have a scar. A gunshot wound. Do you know how badass that sounds?"

Clarke burst out laughing, laughing way too hard and way to loud, but she couldn't help it. "You're so terrible," she laughed. "I cannot believe I love you."

"Your boyfriend is hot," he defended. "And now he's going to tell everyone that you were getting mugged, and he jumped in front of you, taking a bullet for you."

Clarke almost reminded him that he shot himself, but instead she watched him. She saw the relief in his eyes to be home with her instead of in a hospital bed. She saw the happiness to be joking about it, instead of the guilt of scaring her and his mother. So instead, she smiled back at him as he continued his ridiculous story, thankful that she was still able to see his smile.