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THE LIGHT OF the medical bay was dim when Taylor opened her eyes, wondering what time it even was. Her throat was dry, but much less painful than it had been the day before.
At first she was panicked, glancing around at everything and half expecting to see a mountain in flames. It had been replaying in her dreams, over and over. Inhaling sharply, she attempted to prop herself up, but the aches in her body prevented her from gaining much mobility.
There was no sight of Leo, Raven, or Sinclair. She couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a very bad thing. And then she remembered Gina. Gina.
Taylor slumped back onto the bed and inhaled a shallow breath. Staring at the ceiling blankly, she shook her head and blinked away the tears. The ones that threatened to spill for everyone who had been in that mountain.
One of the doctors near her approached her bed and looked down at her cautiously.
"How are you feeling?" she asked in a calm tone. It was clear that she was Taylor's age, even a bit younger she would say, so she was clearly in training.
"I've been better, but I'll live," she responded, her voice gravelly at first use. Her hand shot to her throat and she touched the delicate skin where a bruised ring now presumably was.
"No leg problems?" the doctor double checked, writing something down on a piece of paper as she did.
"No, that healed months ago," she confirmed, her voice slightly back to normal now that she had been talking for a minute.
"Okay, just making sure no older injuries were aggravated according to this record," she explained, using her pen to check up and down the paper, very much concerned with all the details being in order. "But other than all that, you seem good to go. Just some shock and smoke inhalation."
Taylor nodded and gave the doctor another once over once she sat up fully and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Thank you. Doctor...?"
"Pike," she responded, glancing down at the floor instead of the chat in front of her. "But please, just call me Rue."
"Thank you, Rue," she said instead, the girl in front of her seeming to exhale in relief at the name. "You know your dad is here, right?" Taylor almost didn't mention it, but if she didn't know, she thought that she should tell her. Rue went a little more pale and shook her head.
"I know," she answered with a slight sigh. "I visited him briefly, but it's been busy here."
It was clear that this was not what she wanted to be talking about.
"Well, it's good to meet you — I'm Taylor," she introduced, despite her already knowing her name from the chart in her hands.
Rue nodded and waved her hand at Taylor. "I remember you from when you and Clarke escaped from Mount Weather all those months ago," she recalled, more certain the longer she spoke. "I was on the rotational team at night. I only remember cause you were in for a couple of days and that boy wouldn't leave your side. He was here the entire night."
She smiled at the thought and shook her head, thinking back to the minute she had woken up and the relief and shock that she had felt seeing his face again.
"Hey, uh, was Leo Vie brought here, by any chance?" Taylor asked, changing the subject slightly, but was suddenly bothered by the fact that no one else was in sight. "The last time I saw him he was unconscious."
"He's in a private area, like you. We're waiting until he's awake, but we think he'll be okay," she informed with a sympathetic nod. Taylor nodded back and stood up, thanking her once again before leaving the medical bay.
She started heading toward the hallways where the housing was located. Despite having just woken up, she knew that some rest was in order. Her body still ached and she was in no way feeling like going to work. Sinclair would understand.
Entering the room that was assigned to Bellamy, she called out, "Bell?" hoping he was actually there. Immediately he rushed over to the door and enveloped her in a hug, a deeply disturbed expression painted on his face.
She pulled away and brushed her hand across the side of his face. "Are you okay?" she questioned, eyes searching his features.
"Just had the memorial for everyone," he answered, looking down toward the floor with the shake of his head. "If I hadn't trusted Echo, then maybe —"
"Then nothing," she interrupted, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it tightly.
Taylor could see that he was off from the way that he sat down. There were little things that changed when he was bothered, and it was written all over him.
"It wasn't your fault," she continued, sitting down next to him on the bed after she closed the door behind them. Bellamy looked like he was about to protest, but she insisted, "It's not."
"You almost died, Taylor," he said quietly, not quite making eye contact with her. "You could have died."
She couldn't argue with that, but it wasn't his fault that she had nearly died. She nearly died every other day but that never made it anyone's fault except for what was trying to kill her.
Not sure what she could say to make that any better, she pulled him into another hug. He stopped for a moment when he noticed the bruises around her neck. His fingers lightly brushed over them and he asked quietly, "What happened?"
"The Grounder that blew up the mountain," Taylor replied, wishing that she could dance around it. "Luckily Raven is a good shot."
Truly, she wanted to laugh at that, but found herself unable. Not when his face looked like that. "Hey, I am just fine and we will get through this. Like always," she told him, trying to keep the shake out of her voice as she did so.
"I'm going to make sure that we do," he replied, his tone more sure than it had been the entire conversation. The words confused her, but she was extremely tired and decided not to dwell. The situation had just been a stressful one and she could only guess that the memorial wasn't easy.
She laid back onto the bed and sighed, rubbing her eyes. Bellamy followed her motion and she could see the ghost of a smile trying to fight past the unmistakable sadness.
Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead. "You should get some rest. I have to go take care of something, but I'll be back soon," he assured, his tone slightly lighter, but she still couldn't quite read below the surface. It was something else.
"Okay," she responded, watching him leave with the slightest bit of unease tinting her words.
