undertow | bellamy blake (book one)

15 | all he has

"What the hell happened?" Clarke said as she met Finn in the middle of camp as he carried the injured blonde to the drop ship.

"Blondie thought she could find Murphy," Finn explained, setting Jovie down on the makeshift medical bed.

"Jovie," Clarke said disapprovingly, casting her friend a look as if to ask what the hell she was thinking.

"He's my brother. I had to at least try," Jovie defended herself, wincing as she moved the wrong way and feeling sore from her injuries. Clarke shook her head, clearly not agreeing with Jovie's decision but not wanting to argue with her either. Honestly, they should have expected her to do something like this. Clarke just wished she had told them what she was going to do.

"Why do you look like a Grounder?" Clarke then asked. Jovie stared at them. They were both looking at her, expecting an answer to explain her appearance. She just didn't know how to explain it. Clarke must have figured out she wasn't going to give them an answer because she shook her head. "Finn, clean off her face," Clarke instructed, handing the boy a damp cloth. "I need to work on her leg." Clarke began cutting Jovie's pants, so she could reach the wound on her thigh.

"What even happened?" Finn asked as he began wiping the black off Jovie's face.

"I found a group of Grounders and followed them to see if they had John. They didn't have him as far as I could see, but one of them had his canteen. I tried to get some answers," Jovie explained vaguely. She didn't need to explain the rest. By the way she was injured, they figured it didn't end well.

"You could have gotten yourself killed," Clarke reprimanded her. Jovie knew that. She just didn't really think too hard about it when she acted.

"How'd you get away?" Finn asked, accidentally putting too much pressure on the wound on her cheek. She hissed, swatting away his hand. "Sorry."

"Another Grounder stopped him from killing me," she revealed. The two of them stopped what they were doing and stared at her in confusion.

"Why would he do that?" Clarke asked. Jovie shrugged. She didn't know, but she was thankful that he did. Clarke looked back down at the girl's leg. She was lucky he didn't do more damage than he did. It was a long slice, but it wasn't deep. It just needed to be stitched up and wouldn't take too long to heal. "This will hurt," Clarke told her. Clarke wiped away the blood from her wound, and Jovie bit her lip to try to ignore the pain. She began stitching the wound as best as she could, working as quickly yet carefully as she could. As soon as she was done she bandaged it up and took over Finn's place as she finished cleaning the girl's face.

"Thanks, doc," Jovie joked. Clarke rolled her eyes but a small smile lifted on her face.

"Let me check your ribs," Clarke said, lifting the girl's shirt a bit to see a giant bruise forming on the left side of her stomach. She gently pushed around on her rib cage to check for any broken ribs. "Nothing's broken, but you're gonna be sore for a while." Jovie nodded.

Suddenly, Bellamy came rushing into the drop ship with a scowl on his face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He snapped. "Going after Murphy like that? I banished him for a reason. You want to be next?" Jovie rolled her eyes, pushing herself to sit forward to show she wasn't afraid of him and his threats. He wouldn't actually kick her out of the camp. He was just mad she went against his orders. "You could have gotten yourself killed, but if that's what you want, go ahead."

"Are you done?" Jovie said, her voice unamused and dry. He could yell at her all he wanted, but she didn't regret doing it. She understood why he was mad, but she realized that leaving John like that was not who she was. And no one else was going to help her, so she went on her own.

"I'm not even close to being done," Bellamy said. Clarke suddenly stepped forward.

"Bellamy, we don't have time for this," she said, giving him a look as if to remind him what their other issue was at the current moment. His face dropped, and even though he still looked angry, Jovie noticed he also looked worried.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Octavia's missing," Clarke said when she realized Bellamy wasn't going to. "She wasn't with you, was she?" By the shocked look on Jovie's face, they had already figured out that she wasn't.

"No, I went alone," Jovie said. Bellamy frowned, both because Jovie had thought going by herself was a good idea and also because it meant Octavia was out there alone too. He didn't want to imagine what happened to Jovie happening to Octavia, or worse.

"We'll find her," Finn said, not to anyone specifically, but as if he knew it was what everyone needed to hear.

"I'm coming with you," Jovie said, starting to get off the bed.

"Like hell you are," Bellamy said.

"She's my best friend! And I know the territory," Jovie argued.

"You're staying here. And if I find out you disobeyed my orders, again, then we will have some serious issues," Bellamy demanded, standing tall above her as if to show he was not playing around.

"Bellamy's right, Jo. You can barely walk. You'll just slow us down," Finn said. "No offense." Jovie rolled her eyes. She knew they were right, but she wanted to help find her friend. She would feel powerless being stuck in camp while they were out there.

"Fine," Jovie grumbled. She hated being told what to do and usually she wouldn't listen, but she had barely made it out alive, so going back out there was probably not the best idea.

"Try to take it easy. You don't want those stitches reopening while I'm gone," Clarke said before exiting, Finn hot on her trail. Just before Bellamy could leave, Jovie grabbed his arm. He frowned at her, still frustrated with the girl's impulsive actions.

"What you're doing for Octavia is just what I was doing for John," she pointed out. "The only difference is Octavia actually has people that care about her. I'm all he has." Bellamy stared at her for a few seconds as he took in her words, before he broke eye contact and left without another word.