chapter 14 - no time to die

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To Octavia, it seemed like the next few hours moved in nothing but slow motion.

She couldn't make sense of what was wrong with the girl she loved. I mean, it seemed like just a second ago, she was completely fine. Sure, she had a few cuts and bruises here and there, but basically everyone had similar wounds because of the explosion.

Well, at least not Clarke and Lexa...

But how could the girl go from walking around seemingly okay, and the next moment she was coughing up blood and loosing consciousness? It didn't make sense to the brunette. So now, all Octavia could do, was hope and pray, and play her part in the waiting game.

Flashback...

Right after Dakota had collapsed, the others immediately gathered around her in shock. Clarke, being the daughter of a doctor, used her skills to examine the grounder girl and determine what exactly the problem was. Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything wrong with her. She appeared to be stable from the outside appearance, but who knew what could be wrong on the inside.

So, that's what led them to make their next move. Octavia and Lexa quickly picked up the girl by wrapping her arms around their shoulders, before they rushed her back into the gates of Tondc, where Abby was still working on other patients from the missile.

"Mom!" Clarke called out, right away getting her mother's attention. "Something's wrong with Kota! She coughed up blood, before losing consciousness. I-I couldn't find anything wrong with her except for a weak pulse."

Abby quickly stopped what she was doing and ushered them to bring the girl into a nearby medical tent that the helpers from Camp Jaha brought with them. Lincoln, of course, caught sight of the scene and hurried to check on his sister as well.

"Lay her down on the table!" Abby ordered the girls, before telling Jackson to wheel the portable ultrasound to the gurney. "Cut off her shirt, I need to examine her myself." Lexa nodded to Indra, who was standing by, and the warrior didn't hesitate to pull out her dagger and tear open Dakota's shirt.

Immediately, the group gasped at the sight of the grounder girl's chest.

It was completely swollen, and severely bruised into red and purple hues. Abby instantly placed her hands on the girl's abdomen, and felt around for anything alarming. "Her stomach lining is slightly rigid, and high in temperature, but her chest is definitely inflamed. Jackson, I'm gonna need that ultrasound now!"

The younger doctor finally got the machine set up and gently glided the device along the surface of Dakota's skin. He moved upwards toward her chest and Abby quickly told him to pause there, as she looked at the monitor. "Oh god." The chancellor gasped. "There is a major hemothorax in her lower chest cavity." Abby informed them.

"Hemothorax?" Octavia questioned her with worry. "What does that mean?"

"It means she's bleeding internally." Clarke answered for her, as even more guilt settled upon her. "It was most likely from the force of the blast."
She concluded, glancing quickly to see the Commander's emotionless expression.

Of course Lexa was extremely worried for her friend, and she knew it was because of what she did, but the Commander couldn't let her emotions show. At least not now.

"The trauma from the explosion fractured her ribs, and caused severe damage to the suprascapular artery. If we don't go in and embolize it now, she'll go into hemorrhagic shock and bleed out. I need everybody out!"

No one budged, as they were all in shock themselves, and too focused on the helpless young girl laying on the table. All of them had formed some sort of bond or relationship with Dakota, and every single one of them was worried for her fate.

"Now!" Abby nearly screamed. "She's already lost too much blood!"

At that every one left the room at once, except for Octavia, who was too distraught to even move a muscle. She had tears pouring from her eyes as she ran her fingers through Dakota's wavy brown hair, not wanting to leave her side.

"Octavia, go!" The chancellor shouted. "If you want her to have a better chance of survival, then you need to leave!"

Octavia didn't even have time to respond, before Lincoln grabbed her by the waist and dragged her out of the tent, as she fought against him and cried out in the process. The last thing she saw before leaving the tent, was Abby using a small scalpel to cut into Kota's flesh, before a red liquid immediately shot out from the incision...

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Back to present...

The brunette currently sat on a rock, close to the fire pit, and stared down at the flames with a frown adorned her face. She tried not to think about what was happening in the tent behind her, or what Bellamy could possibly be doing in Mount Weather right now. But it was definitely easier said, than done. So many things were on her mind, and now she had two people to worry about.

Clarke and Lexa talked privately in one of the other tents, while Lincoln paced back and forth only a few feet away. Indra was no where to be found, as the woman decided she would occupy herself with preparing the other warriors for the war that was scheduled to begin the next day. No matter what the outcome was of the grounder girl, the people of Trikru would mourn, but only after the battle was won. It was how they lived, and their only way of getting both revenge, and justice, for all of the fallen.

Just then, Clarke emerged from the tent with a slight blush rising to her cheeks, yet, she wore a frown as she made her way over to Octavia. Whatever just happened in the Commander's tent must of confused the blonde greatly. However, Octavia didn't question it. She just continued to eye her suspiciously, as the girl sat down across from her.

"I've been going through it over and over in my head," Octavia broke the silence, digging her shoe into the dirt.

Clarke looked at her funny. "I thought I already explained what happened to her? It was the force of the impact that caused Dako—"

"—I'm not talking about Dakota." Octavia gritted through her teeth, before finally meeting Clarke's nervous eyes. "I'm just trying to figure out how you're still alive."

The blonde quickly grew serious, yet she remained poised. "I don't know what you're talking about."
She replied, calm and collectively.

"I saw you in Tondc before the missile hit." The brunette clarified. "I know you, Clarke. Something was wrong. And then you and Lexa disappear and just happen to survive?" Clarke grew quiet at her words, and looked away. "Tell me you didn't know it was coming."

"...Octavia..."

"You let all of those people die." The warrior spat, her green eyes ablaze. She then scoffed angrily, before standing up and marching closer to her. "You were going to let me die!"

"Hey. I did it to save Bellamy." Clarke lowered her voice, while trying to justify her actions. "So that we could win this war. Don't you see that? If we would have evacuated Tondc, Mount Weather would've known that someone tipped us off. They would have found your brother."

"No, Bellamy would've never told you to do that. He would have found another way!"

"Well, I couldn't take that risk." Clarke stated, now standing in front of her.

"Right." Octavia sarcastically replied. "Because you're in charge now, and you decide who's disposable. You know, you would've fit right in on the council." She then brushed by the co-leader, and began to walk away.

"Octavia, wait."

"What?" She groaned, irritably.

The blonde paused for a moment. "...You can't tell anyone. If people found out that we—"

"—The alliance will break. " Octavia instantly cut her off, just as the Commander came into sight as well. "I'm not an idiot Clarke." She then got up into the blonde's face, and gave her a deadly glare. "But so help me god if Dakota dies on that table because of you," She growled, as tears formed in her eyes. "You'll have a lot more to worry about than just the alliance breaking."

"Is that a threat?" Lexa questioned her from behind, however, Octavia barely spared her a glance.

"It's a promise." She spoke boldly, clenching her jaw in order to keep her cool. "I will get justice if anything happens to her. I would think that you'd feel the same, Commander. Since she's your friend. But then I forgot, that you're just as guilty as Clarke, and that means that Kota's death would be on your hands too."

With that, Octavia walked past both of them in order to stand by Lincoln. But just as she reached him, Jackson ran out from the tent.

"She's hemorrhaging!" He informed them in a panic. "She's loosing too much blood as we speak and Abby needs to start a transfusion now but we're short on blood!"

Clarke looked at him with panic in her eyes. "How did you run out!?"

"We used it all up for the others who were injured from the missile." He replied, before turning to Lincoln. "You're her brother, so you should be a match. Can you donate?"

"Jackson, hurry!" Abby shouted from inside the tent. "We're losing her!"

"Of course!" Lincoln replied quickly, yet hesitantly, which was odd. Jackson sighed in relief, and the younger doctor immediately pulled him inside of the tent.

This left a distraught Octavia to hurry off into the other direction in order to get some air, while Clarke and Lexa stood back with guilt and sadness plastered on their faces. However, Lexa quickly grabbed Clarke by the arm and dragged her back into the Commander's tent.

"Octavia must be taken care of." She instantly stated, once they were alone. "I can't let her inform the others of our knowledge regarding the missile. The alliance will fall, and we'll never get our people back from Mount Weather."

Clarke looked at her like she was crazy. "What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just kill everyone you don't trust!"

"Yes, I can."

"Well, I won't let you.

Lexa sighed, and rolled her eyes at her remark. "You were willing to let her die two days ago. Nothing has changed."

"You're wrong. I have. I can't do this anymore."

"Octavia is a threat. If you weren't so close to her, you'd see that."

"It's because I'm so close to her that I know she's loyal. Her brother is one of the most important people to her. She would never endanger his life."

"And you're willing to risk everything on that?" Lexa asked. "On your feelings?"

"Yes." The blonde seethed. "You say having feelings makes me weak, but you're weak for hiding from them!" Lexa's eyebrows raised at her sudden boldness. "I might be a hypocrite, Lexa, but you're a liar! You felt something for Gustus. You're still haunted by Costia. And your heart is currently aching for betraying your closest friend, and possibly getting her killed. You want everyone to think you're above it all, but I see right through you." At this point, Clarke had somehow managed to move closer and closer towards the Commander, which caused Lexa to press her back up against a piece of furniture.

"Get. Out." The warrior demanded, but Clarke had more to say.

"Two hundred and fifty people died in that village. I now you felt for them. But you let them burn."

"...Not everyone." Lexa gulped, after a moment. "Not you."

Clarke paused, but quickly gathered herself. "Well, if you care about me, then...trust me. Octavia is not a threat."

"...I can't do that."

That instantly made Clarke frown. "Well I can't sacrifice my people anymore." She spoke, seriously. "If you do anything to hurt Octavia, I'll tell everyone that we knew about the missile." With that, she exited the tent, leaving the Commander with nothing but her troubling thoughts.

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After Jackson had drew the blood from Lincoln, ignoring the way the taller man seemed to be growing nervous—almost as if he were hiding something—he then handed the blood off to Abby for the surgery. The older woman quickly inserted the IV line into Dakota's skin, and immediately started the transfusion. However, within a minute, the grounder's heartbeat increased and she started to produce a light rash on the flesh around the needle, causing Abby to curse.

"She's having an acute hemolytic reaction!"

"What? What does that mean?" Lincoln visibly gulped.

"It means that her body is reacting negatively to the blood by attacking the red cells that were transfused." The doctor still noticed the look of obliviousness on the face of her patient's brother, so she further clarified. "It means that your blood types don't match." Lincoln sighed in distress at the fact that his blood didn't work and Abby observed him closely for a moment, before realization dawned on her. "You already knew that...didn't you?"

Lincoln didn't respond as he avoided eye contact, before dropping his head into his hands and nodding his head, shamefully. "I had a feeling it wouldn't." He whispered. "But I still had to try..."

Not having time to put up with any more complications, as the girl was still bleeding out, Abby made Jackson keep Dakota stable before she fully faced Lincoln. "Look," She began. "I don't know what it is that you're not telling us, and I honestly don't care right now, but something tells me that Kota most definitely will. However, she has to be alive, in order for you to tell her. So, if you can't donate blood for her, then find me someone else who can!" She nearly barked, and Lincoln basically dashed out of the tent to find the only other person he could think of that could save his sister's life.

He ran in search of her, nearly colliding with other people on his way, before he finally had found her.

"My blood isn't a match for Dakota!" He quickly informed the green-eyed brunette. "She needs a transfusion right this minute or else she's going to die! Please say you'll help her!"

The brunette's eyes grew wide in horror at Lincoln's revelation, before she nodded in worry. "Take me to her." With that, she and Lincoln ran back to the medical tent, hoping and praying that they weren't already too late.

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"Thanks again for doing this." Abby sighed in relief, as she inserted the IV needle into her skin. "I don't know how the poor girl is still even alive with how much blood she's lost."

"It's the least I can do." The brunette replied in a guilty tone, and Abby knew exactly what she meant by that. "There's something you should know about my blood though..." She tried to speak, but the doctor had already gasped at the sight of the dark liquid flowing inside of the tube.

"Lexa...care to explain to me why your blood is black?" The doctor nearly hissed.

"Help Dakota first. That's all you need to worry about right now."

"How do I even know this type of blood won't harm her even more?" Abby questioned her, but the Commander sighed.

"We don't have time to discuss it. Just trust me." With that, she then watched Abby start the new IV on Dakota, before she cautiously stood up herself, and made a move to leave.

"Lexa, I wouldn't advise you to be on your feet just yet." The chancellor warned her. "I just drained over a pint of your blood."

The Commander rolled her eyes as she ripped off her bandage, and pulled down the sleeve of her shirt. "I appreciate the concern, but I have a war to plan, and an army to prepare for it." She then casually walked over to the exit. "Just please make sure that Kota lives to see us win it." And after that, she left Abby to finish the surgery, while she could only hope that Dakota would find a way to forgive her on the future.

But what the Commander failed to understand, was that saving one life from the explosion, still didn't make up for all the hundreds of lives that were lost.
And if she thought that giving Dakota her blood was automatically going to fix everything, she was sadly mistaken.

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Many hours later, Dakota attempted to open her eyes, yet the bright light was forcing her not to. She groaned slightly and tried to move, but immediately felt a warm hand gently lay on her chest.

"Hey, hey you're okay." A soft voice whispered. "Just try not to move or you'll tear your stitches."

Dakota, slowly opened her eyelids, and was immediately met with the sight of the brunette standing over, smiling in relief. "...O-Octavia?" She questioned, her voice dry and hoarse.

"Yeah, it's me." The brunette chuckled with tears in her eyes. "I'm so happy that you're okay."

"What happened? W-Where am I?"

Octavia brought a cup of water to her lips for her to drink, but the grounder girl only managed to take a few small sips.

"We're actually back at camp now. You had fractured some of your ribs from the force of the explosion in Tondc, and as a result you were bleeding internally. But Abby gave you a blood transfusion, courtesy of your brother, and she fixed you all up. You're gonna be good as new."

"...Cool." Dakota grinned lightly, still exhausted and drugged from the morphine. "Thanks, Bro." She spoke to the chair on the opposite side of her, yet there was nobody even sitting in it.

Octavia laughed, and kissed her forehead affectionately. "You're pretty cute when you're drugged up, you know that?"

"Really?" Lincoln cut in, only now entering the room. "Even during the times when she's slobbering like a rabbid animal and trying to kill us all?" He teased, referring to her being a Reaper, of course.

"Too soon." Dakota breathed, in annoyance.

Lincoln laughed and stood over her bed. "I'm only kidding, Sis. But seriously, how are you feeling? You really had us worried."

"I feel a little woozy right now and my stomach hurts, but other than that I'm okay." Dakota assured them, and placed her hand over Octavia's, who instantly intertwined their fingers. "Sorry for scaring you guys."

"The important thing is that you're alive." Abby interrupted the three, as she entered the room as well.

"Barely." Octavia scoffed, jokingly.

Abby smiled at the sight of them, proud of the fact that she was able to save the girl. But then she remembered that Dakota was still her patient, and that meant that she had to speak with her about what exactly happened during her procedure. "Octavia, could you give us a minute?" She kindly requested, making the brunette's smile falter.

She didn't want to have to leave Dakota, especially when she just got her back. But she also saw the urgent look on the chancellor's face, and so she