The Weight Of Deafness In Love And Survival

Chapter 10 - Lean on Me

It was late by the time we walked back into the camp with the light of the campfire lighting our way, Wells and Finn carrying Jasper, and Murphy and Bellamy carrying the cat wrapped up in part of the parachute Wells had brought, our source of food for the night, a little bit behind us. It was supposed to be used for Jasper but Bellamy had practically forced it from us in exchange for Wells stealing the gun and making it useless.

"They're back!" Someone calls out when we're noticed causing everyone to come near us as we walked through. "Is he-?" Monty starts to ask when we get close to the dropship but Clarke cuts him off by saying "He's alive. I need boiled water and strips of cloth for bandage." That's when Murphy and Bellamy arrive, place the cat down, and uncover it with Bellamy screaming "Who's hungry?" causing an eruption of cheers from the group, Bellamy getting the credit for feeding everyone when the cat had almost killed us and Wells had been the one to kill it and save us. Bellamy glances in our direction with a prideful look causing Clarke to scoff and head into the dropship after the boys. He then glances at me so I give him a 'really?' look before turning and walking into the dropship to see if I can help Clarke with Jasper. I didn't know as much as her formally but I could at least help a bit with what I know from my observations from my regular checkups and visiting her at the clinic.

But I see Monty pacing back and forth in front of the upper level of the dropship, where Jasper must have been taken. He doesn't notice me so I step forward and place a hand on his shoulder, effectively startling him and causing him to jump back. I quickly raise my hands in surrender, to signal it was just me, and when he does realize it was just me he breathes a sigh of relief and mutters "You scared me." "Sorry." I sign before Finn comes down the ladder causing Monty to immediately ask "How is he?" But Finn just responds with "You should ask Clarke." and heads out of the dropship.

Monty wastes no time in climbing up the ladder then so I follow after him and get to the top as he questions her "How is he?" "He's stable but he'll be in a lot of pain when he starts to wake up." She answers placing the strip of cloth in her hands on a seat, next to what looked like a small metal figure of a two headed dear, and standing up so I sign "Is he going to die?" This causes Clarke to ruffle my hair and sign back "Not if I can help it." With a reassuring smile before she voices "Keep an eye on him?" I nod and assume Monty did too because he didn't say anything and Clarke gave a small nod before heading down the ladder.

"You know, Jasper may not be my real brother but he's always been there for me, you know?" Monty says then softly so I give him a small smile, sit next to him, and nod, knowing it probably wouldn't make him feel better but what else could I do? He returns it before saying "Guess it's the same for you, Clarke, and Wells, right?" so I nod again. He then gives me a conflicting face as he questions "I know I shouldn't ask you this but did you...?" trailing off as he looks back at Jasper so I swallow before looking at the ground nodding, thinking of Jona and feeling the tears start to build in my eyes.

He wraps an arm around me and pulls me into a side hug then as he says "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked. You don't have to tell me." I shake my head and take a deep breath before looking at the ceiling of the dropship and hesitantly saying "E-every memory I have from before there's Jona."

When all he did was gently tighten his grip I continue "We did everything together and had dreamed of us coming here, to Earth, together." A smile creeping on my face before it's gone as I look down at my hands continuing "...Then the outbreak happened...he made me promise that if he died I would live and do everything we planned...Now here I am, on Earth, and living that dream." Before adding an "Even if I had to get arrested to do it." With a soft, short, laugh. This earns one from him as he softly pushes me with a simple "Yeah."

That's when Octavia's voice says "Hey you two." Causing both of us to look in her direction with his arm removing itself to find her holding two sticks with the cat meat on it out to us. "Thanks." Monty says while I nod at her in thanks as we each take one of the sticks from her. "So how is he?" she questions taking a seat next to me so Monty answers her "Clarke said he's stable." Before taking a bite of the meat. "That good." She says in a happy tone as I take a bite of the meat as well. It was tasteless, which I assume I should be grateful for as it could be a lot worse. I mean, it could taste so bad, no matter how hungry I was, I'd not be able to eat it.

We sat in silence then as Monty and I ate the cat meat and we all watched Jasper for any changes. Surprisingly it wasn't an awkward silence or an uncomfortable one. Though it was over as soon as Octavia suddenly asks "I've been meaning to ask. How is your processor powered? Will it run out of charge or something?" I look at my hands then and like they could tell they both question "How long?"

"A-about a day." I whisper after a moment of them just waiting for my response earning an exclaimed "A day?!" from Octavia as she grabs my shoulders. I slowly nod keeping my eyes on my hands before Monty says "Maybe I can do something." Causing me to quickly shake my head and say "Talking to the Ark is more important." "That may be true but won't it be really dangerous for you?" Octavia questions her hands tightening on my shoulders so I stay silent, knowing all too well how right she was.

"But she has us right? And Clarke and Wells won't let anything happen to her either right?" Monty questions breaking the silence causing her grip to loosen as she says "Well yeah but we won't know how to talk with her then." I quickly look up at her to discover she was looking at my hands while Monty says "I didn't think about that." Before quickly asking "But we could ask Clarke and Wells to teach us right?"

"Right!" Octavia exclaims then, looking back up at me, before grabbing my shoulders again while saying "You can count on us too." So I look back down at my hands and nod, feeling a small smile and tears start to form. I knew they had probably accepted me but I didn't think it would be like this.