Kingdom of Life - The 100 [4]

Chapter 1

Apollon's POV

Moans of agony and regret filled the room, but none of them reached my ears. Allie was gone, the chip shut down, everything was supposed to be alright now. And yet, it felt like our problems were just beginning.

The top of Venus's pants were stained with blood. I found myself almost wishing that she had been hit with a bullet or knife, or at least punched anywhere else. That we could fix and be done with, but this... Her abdomen had been hit, and moments later blood pouring came out. All I could think about was the baby; was it still alive? Was it dead? Would it be born disfigured? Any damage that would be done was done. There was no reversing it.

Abby came over and knelt down on the other side of Venus, with Kane standing behind her. I looked up at him and my own feelings for him went back and forth. Here was the man who moments before had one hand tight around my throat, and the other driving into my wife's abdomen, possibly killing our baby. I had to remind myself that none of that was him, it was all Allie; but I still felt a tinge of hatred when I looked at him. I diverted my eyes back to Venus.

Abby was examining her quickly, softly touching her abdomen and trying to ask Venus questions. Venus had gone silent, her last words only moments after the fatal punch: 'the baby'. Now she was quiet, her green eyes looking off into space at some distant object, but at the same time appearing to look at nothing in particular. The initial wave of tears had passed, and now only the occasional tear or two escaped over her eyelids and down either side of her face, following the path her previous tears left behind. Her face was still red and swollen from her sorrow, and the look tugged at my heart.

"The bleeding seems to have stopped." Abby spoke her observations out loud.

"The baby, is it...?" I couldn't make myself finish the question, afraid of what the answer might be.

"It's hard to tell. Without the ultrasound or even a stethoscope to listen for a heartbeat, we can't know for sure." Abby looked from Venus to me, and I could see the sorrow in her eyes that you only feel when someone you deeply care about has been so badly hurt. "We need to get her back to Arkadia." I watched as she stood up and spoke to Kane, mentioning the other wounded outside, and telling him to stay up here before she left the room.

I turned back to Venus and took her hand between mine. I watched her eyes, still fixed on that distant object. "Venus." Nothing. I moved closer and took her cheek in the palm of my hand, gently turning her head towards me. "Venus." Her eyes met mine, and the sorrow in them felt like a dagger in my heart. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise." Her eyes shifted and looked right past me, back at that distant object.

It felt like she herself was distant, far away from me. She was somewhere I couldn't reach her and comfort her. And, for once, this may be a problem I won't be able to fix, this may be that one time where everything will not be okay.

I let my hand drop from her cheek and let out a soft sigh. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kane. As I turned my head to look at him, I saw his quickly turn away from me, as if I had just caught him watching us. A few seconds later, he began to head to the door. I looked at Venus quickly before getting up and following him, only making an attempt to stop him once we were out of the throne room and in the halls of the tower.

"Kane!" He turned and faced me. Through his eyes I could sense his guilt. "Abby said for you to stay here."

He shook his head and opened his mouth to say something only to close it quickly while he gathered his words. He tried speaking again after a short pause. "I can't. Not with Venus-"

I stopped him quickly. "That was the chip, not you." Although the words were meant for him, I felt as though I was telling them to myself as well. He shook his head again.