Queen ♔ Flarke ❷ {Wattys2015}

Chapter 1: Clarke

Chapter 1: Clarke

I've missed having my freedom for the past couple of years, but now Harper is older I don't need to worry as much. She never seems to mind that I can sometimes be busy with patients, but then again no one is.

"Mommy," she pesters. "When will you be done?"

"You shouldn't be in here, sweetie, not while I'm working."

"But I want you to play with me."

"Why don't you play with Daddy?" I sigh, trying think of a way to make her go elsewhere.

"He's also busy."

"I can look after Harper for an hour," Bellamy suggests, walking into the drop ship.

"Bellamy!" Harper shouts, running into his arms. He's really seemed to have taken a shine to her.

"That would be great," I say, smiling. "I'll be done soon, anyway."

"Always a pleasure." He smiles, picking up Harper and walking back outside.

I turn back to my patient. "How did this happen?" I ask, pointing to an arrow wound in his leg.

"I was out hunting and it just hit me. I'm not sure where it came from."

"Did you pull it out as soon as you were hit?"

"Yeah... Why?"

"If it came from a grounder then it could have some kind of poison on it."

His face goes pale.

"Are you feeling dizzy at all? Any nausea?" My mind goes back to the time when Finn was stabbed by Lincoln - even though now we're friends - and when I had to operate on him. I did it, but I don't want to go through that again.

"Well, I feel light-headed. And I had trouble breathing... earlier..." He breathes heavily, clutching his neck for breath. His eyes roll back into his head and he falls onto the floor of the drop ship, shaking. But it's not just shaking - he's seizing.

I put my hand over my mouth, trying to react well in the situation. It's just like what happened with Finn, but this time I need to stay calm and deal with it.

"Right, Malcolm." - I think that's his name - "Breathe, keep breathing."

Stupid, stupid advice right now. How can someone even breathe properly with poison inside them and they're seizing simultaneously?

I turn around to the door of the drop ship. "Guys!" I shout. "I need help.

Finn and Jasper burst in through the entrance. "What's up?" Finn asks, Jasper running over to the commotion.

"Malcolm was shot with a grounder arrow."

"And why's he shaking like that?" Jasper questions.

"It was poisoned. Like that knife Finn was stabbed with."

"What can we do?" Finn walks towards us, placing a hand on my back for reassurance.

"Make sure he doesn't hit his head while I find an antidote." I get up and search the drop ship shelves and checking jars of medical appliances. I know Lincoln had a medicine, but I don't know where we left it. "Finn, come and help me find a med. It's a transparent olive-colour in a small bottle."

Finn places Malcolm's head in Jasper's hands, rising to the shelves and picking up each glass container and inspecting their contents. I turn my head back around and continue to look desperately. Then my eye lands on it - the meagre amount of antidote left in a dust-covered beaker.

"I found it!" I exclaim, running to Malcolm.

"Will it be enough?" Jasper asks.

I hold the liquid up to the light. "I hope so." I slowly tip it into his mouth, which is hard as I expected. "Now we wait."

***

Malcolm has been unconscious for at least three hours. I don't know if it was the medicine or if the poison is still in his system. I've been pacing around camp for most of the time, nervous knots twisting in my stomach.

"Clarke, are you okay?" Bellamy asks, Harper distracted behind him.

"No. Malcolm was hit with a grounder arrow; he was in a state like Finn was until I found the antidote. But now he won't wake up and he's either unconscious or in a temporary coma."

"What's a coma?" Harper asks.

"It's when someone is asleep for a long time," I reply.

"Like they're hibernating?"

"Yes, but they can't wake up."

"That would be nice. I could stay in bed all day."

"It's not as nice as that," Bellamy says. "And people would miss you."

"Why would they miss me if I was right there?"

"That's a hard question to answer, Harper." He turns to me. "You probably want your daughter back."

"That would be great. Harper, say good bye to Bellamy for now."

"Do we have to?" she asks exasperatedly.

"Only for a bit. We'll find Daddy and then I have to check on a patient." My smile transforms into a grimace as I think about what lies in store for me. I hold her hand and lead her to our house. My gaze wonders into the trees subconsciously and there's a slight glint that stays wherever I divert my eyes.

But it's an unnatural glint.