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moonlight0934 · 3 months ago

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It's For Your Own Good

Bellamy walks into his mother’s office, and he immediately freezes. Octavia is laying on the bed, not moving. He doesn’t even remember the last time that she didn’t run to hug him, or jump onto him when he came back home from school.

“Is she ok?” Bellamy whispers, sounding frantic.

“Not really. She was playing with scissors earlier, and she cut herself. I gave her some stitches, but I’m afraid it’s going to get infected if she doesn’t have it treated properly. I don’t know how to treat it any better than I already have,” Aurora says, grabbing Bellamy’s arm tightly.

“It’s ok, Mom. It’ll be fine. We’ll try to keep it really clean, and if anything happens, I’ll figure something out.”

She lets out a heavy breath, her grip loosening just a bit.

“I promise it’ll be ok.”

Aurora nods, taking a few more deep breaths.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be freaking out so much. It’ll be fine.”

Bellamy nods, then walks over to Octavia. He puts a hand on her arm.

“Hey, O. How’re you feeling?” he asks, keeping his voice low.

“I’m fine. My hand just hurts.”

“Can I see?”

Octavia nods, and holds out her hand. It’s wrapped in cloth, which Bellamy quickly unravels. He grabs the first aid kit out from under the bed, wincing at the jagged stitches.

That’s definitely going to scar.

He braces her, then cleans the wound before wrapping it tightly in fresh white bandages.

“Am I going to be ok?”

“Of course you are, darling. You know that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I love you too much for that.”

He kisses her on the top of the head before pulling her up. He climbs behind her, and lets her rest against him. She falls asleep quickly after that. He stays right where he is for the rest of the night, his cheek pressed against Octavia’s hair. However, no matter how hard he tries to keep the wound clean while he’s there, Octavia starts to develop the symptoms of an infection within three days.

“What are we going to do?” Aurora asks, sounding near tears.

Bellamy pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Where are the scissors that she cut herself on?”

“They’re in the top right hand drawer. The really large ones. Why are you asking though?”

“She’s asleep, right?” Bellamy asks, walking over to the desk.

“Yeah.”

“That was me asking you to make sure.”

Aurora walks over, and checks on Octavia, who is still sleeping fitfully.

“Yeah, she’s still asleep.”

“Ok.”

Bellamy pulls the scissors out of the drawer, then presses the tip gently against his own hand. He takes a steadying breath before pushing down, and dragging the scissors across his palm, and down in arm in almost the exact same spot as Octavia’s. Aurora watches, looking slightly horrified. Bellamy walks over to the open first aid kit. He roughly stitches his own arm, biting down on his lip hard enough for blood to well up there too. Neither of them say anything for a while, then Bellamy cleans the blood off of everything.

“Ok, well, at least we didn’t wake up O.”

“Bellamy,” Aurora whispers.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll go down to medical, and get some antibiotics for Octavia tonight. It’ll be fine.”

Bellamy stays exactly where he’s sitting, his good hand in Octavia’s hair until nine that night. The later it is, the less people are going to be in medical, and the more likely it is that no one is going to ask any questions. As long as the antibiotics work, then he shouldn’t have to go back, and worry about someone questioning how he got cut. It’s actually a pretty simple process. The man who examines his hand is young too.

“Just come straight here next time. These stitches aren’t great, but none of the ones that you do on yourself probably will be. It’ll be better for you to just come straight here, and let a professional deal with that.”

Bellamy nods, and just agrees with everything he says. It’s late by the time he gets back to his mom’s office. He offers her the bottle, then drops into a chair. He falls asleep quickly, exhausted from his long day. Once properly medicated, Octavia does get better. She’s back to bouncing around within a week.

However, Bellamy is starting to feel sick by then, and his arm is taking a lot longer to heal than it should. Aurora has started giving Bellamy worried looks, but Octavia hasn’t even noticed yet. It’s eight days after he cut himself that Bellamy’s walking to class. He’s feeling a little lightheaded, but pushes past it in hopes that it’s nothing. It’s not nothing because he barely makes it into class before he passes out.

Abby walks into their apartment, her shoulders low, and tears streaking her face. Jake is next to her in a second. Luckily, it’s just the two of them in the apartment since Clarke is off with Wells.

“What’s wrong, honey?” Jake asks softly.

“It’s one of my patients.”

“Oh, did someone die?”

“No, but he’s fighting an infection and pneumonia.”

She falls quiet aside from her sobs. Jake continues to rub her back as he pulls her to the couch.

“Do they not think he’s going to make it?” Jake asks, honestly confused on why she’s so upset. He’s never seen her respond this emotionally regarding a patient. Normally she can detach herself at least to some extent.

“I’m not sure. It’s not looking good right now. We just had to put in a chest tube to keep the fluid off of his lungs. It’s just that… he’s only fourteen. He’s only a few years older than Clarke, and-” She sobs for another minute before continuing. “The wound placement, I’m pretty sure he did it to himself. He cut himself, got an infection, and is dying in a hospital bed alone. His mother only came to see him once, and it was at night.”

Self harm, and in someone so young.

Jake feels tears spring into his own eyes.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I can’t leave him. What if he dies alone? No one deserves to die alone, and I know life isn’t fair, but he’s a child. He’s so young, and he should have to be scared and alone. Especially if he felt desperate enough to try to take his own life. I just don’t know what to do. Even if he does get better, I’m going to have to fight to get him seen by a psych team since it’s not a normal self harm wound. I’m sure that he did it to himself though. I’m completely certain of that much.”

She sniffles, desperately wrapping her arms around Jake like he can magically make her feel better.

“Well, how about we leave Clarke with Jaha and Wells tonight, and we can stay with him together? Or I can stay down there with him if you need some time for yourself. That way he won’t be alone, but the burden doesn’t fall solely on your shoulders.”

“I want to go with you. It’s not a burden, he’s not a burden.”

Jake hugs her closer, his heart hurting for his wife, and the child that he doesn’t know and hasn’t met.

“What’s his name?”

“Bellamy Blake. His mother is Aurora Blake. She’s always been known to be a recluse. I asked parents with kids his age, and she’s never been to any of the school events, or taken him to any of his extra stuff. Apparently he’s going to join the guard when he’s older.”

The “if” he gets there stays hanging in the air untouched. They stay there in silence for a few minutes before Jake gets up. He covers Abby with a blanket before wiping his eyes. He walks to the Jaha residence. He lets himself in with his key, and peeks into the kitchen. Jaha is sitting in there while the kids are in the living room.

“Hey.”

Jaha looks up.

“Jake, come in. What’s going on? I thought you weren’t picking Clarke up for another half hour.”

“Actually, can she stay with you two tonight? Abby has a young patient that might not make it, and he’s been alone. She wants to stay with him tonight.”

“Of course. What’s going on with that?”

“I’m not entirely sure. Apparently his mom is always absent. It’s not something that you need to worry about though. We’ve got it covered on that front. I really appreciate you letting Clarke stay here tonight. I’m going to tell her now.”

Jaha nods.

“Of course, anytime.”

Jake walks over to Wells and Clarke, who are discussing their homework.

“Hey, pumpkin.”

“Dad, you’re early.”

“Actually, I came to tell you that something came up for your mom and me. You’re going to be spending the night here.”

“Are you both ok?”

Jake nods.

“Yeah, we’re both fine. I have a pair of your school clothes here for you to change into in the morning. You were dressed casually enough that I didn’t think you’d need anything else.”

“I’m good, thanks. Goodnight, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

“Can you tell Mom the same thing?”

Jake nods, then kisses Clarke on the top of the head. He walks back over to Jaha at that point, thanks him one more time, then heads back to his own apartment. It’s less than thirty minutes later when they walk into the infirmary together. Jake lays eyes on Bellamy, and his chest constricts. He’s underweight, his face sunken, a chest tube through his side. He looks near dead especially with his complexion being as pale and waxy as it is.

He’s so small. Could that have happened in just a few days?

Abby sits down beside Bellamy’s bed. She takes his small hand in hers, stroking the back of his hand. His other hand is heavily bandaged, the white bandages dwarfing his delicate fingers. Jake sits beside Abby, just watching the boy’s face. He stirs a few times, but ultimately stays quiet. That night is one of the longest of Jake’s life. Abby eventually falls asleep, tears in her eyes, still holding Bellamy’s hand.

Jake doesn’t sleep a wink. His eyes keep shifting between his wonderful, empathic wife, and the child in front of him. Everything about this situation makes him want to scream, especially as a parent. He can’t imagine something happening to Clarke, and not being there for her. They go back to their apartment in the morning, and fall asleep in each other’s arms.

It takes a couple more days, but Bellamy does start to improve. Jake and Abby are both there when he wakes up. Jake catches his gaze almost immediately. He has dark brown eyes that are clouded over with confusion. Abby doesn’t notice immediately, but Jake takes a step towards him, resting a hand lightly on Bellamy’s leg underneath the blankets.

“Where-” Bellamy rasps, looking around.

“You’re in the infirmary.”

“Who are you?”

Abby turns around.

“Jake, can you step out? I’m going to do a quick examination. Can you go get-” she trails off, looking him dead in the eyes.

Jake nods, and walks out. He goes to inform the psych team that agreed to meet with Bellamy that he woke up. They say they’ll be down there in a few hours at the very least, so Jake heads back to wait outside. He doesn’t end up having to wait long since Abby was almost done when he got there. A nurse motions him back in.

“I didn’t do anything,” Bellamy says, his eyes wide and scared.

“Look, Bellamy, it’s ok. You can tell me what happened. Did someone else cut your arm, or did you?” Abby asks, still standing close to Bellamy.

“It was an accident. I did, but I just slipped while cutting something. I was using way more force than I should have been.”

“How did you develop an infection then?”

“I was being stupid. I wasn’t taking care of it like I was supposed to.”

“Look, there are too many inconsistencies in your story. We’re going to have to put you on psych watch.”

“I didn’t mean to though.”

“It’s for your own good. If you didn’t do anything on purpose, then the professionals will clear you. You can go back to life and recovery like normal.”

Bellamy looks anxious and unsure. Jake walks over.

“Hi, Bellamy, I’m Jake. It’s ok, you don’t have to be scared. Even if you are hiding something, we can help you. You’re going to be ok.”

Bellamy shakes his head.

“I don’t want anything to do with you. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me.”

“I know, I’m just trying to tell you that we can help if something is going on.”

“There’s nothing for you to help with. What are you not getting? It can’t be that hard to understand. It wasn’t on purpose, and no one hurt me. It was just a stupid accident. I was being careless, and now I’m having to pay for it here.”

Jake nods, taking a step back. Bellamy does end up getting checked out by the psych team. They all got the impression that he was hiding something, but nothing detrimental to his health, so they let it go. Jake doesn’t see him again after that, and if Abby does, she never mentions it. Eventually they have to learn how to let go of the situation, and just hope that he’s alright.

#whumptober2024 #whumptober #no.25 #surgery #stitches #being monitored #it's for your own good #the 100 #pre canon #bellamy blake #octavia blake #jake griffin #abby griffin #self h@rm #child neglect #tw abuse #tw infection #whump writing #writing challenge

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