The meeting
"Dear friends, supporters, and esteemed guests", Dr. Abigail Griffin started her speech by grabbing the attention of the people in the room. "I am honored to stand before you today to speak about an issue that is of the utmost importance to me and, I believe, to all of us: blood diseases."
Lexa stood in the back of the lightly decorated room. Her right, white-gloved hand was wrapped around a champagne glass; the liquid inside remained untouched. Her navy blue service cap was tugged under her left arm, and she listened to the speech while observing the room.
"Blood diseases are a diverse group of conditions that can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. These diseases include anemia, leukemia, hemophilia, and sickle cell disease, among others. They can be chronic or acute, and they can range from mild to life-threatening", Abby continued her speech.
Lexa's eyes wandered from where the Doctor talked to the side of the podium, and she found herself looking at a beautiful blonde woman who listened to every word the Doctor said. From this far, Lexa couldn't make out any other features than her blonde hair and blue eyes. Lexa forced herself to look away in fear of getting caught staring by the woman herself.
"The impact of blood diseases on individuals and families is immeasurable. They can cause pain, fatigue, and organ damage, and they can make it difficult to lead a normal life. They can also be expensive to treat, putting a financial strain on families who are already struggling to cope. That is why I am proud to be here today to raise funds for our hospital's blood disease research and treatment programs. Our hospital has a long and proud history of providing compassionate care to those suffering from blood diseases. We are committed to finding new treatments, improving the quality of life for patients, and ultimately finding a cure. But we cannot do this alone", Dr. Griffin seemingly looked at every person in the room, trying to get as much sympathy from them to fund her program.
"We need your support to continue our important work. Your donations will help us to fund research, purchase state-of-the-art equipment, and provide care and support to those who need it most", her eyes landed on Lexa. Lexa locked eyes with her and gave her a small smile.
"I urge you to give generously today, knowing that your donation will make a real difference in the lives of those who are suffering from blood diseases. Together, we can make a difference and give hope to those who need it most", Dr. Griffin's eyes wandered to the person next to Lexa.
"Thank you for your support and for your commitment to our hospital's mission. Enjoy the evening", Dr. Griffin finished her speech, and she walked off the podium to a round of applause from the guests.
"Fantastic speech, don't you think?" Luna, Lexa's twin sister, asked from her left side.
"Heart warming and inspiring," Lexa answered sarcastically.
Luna snorted and hid her face behind her hand, because the people around them started to give them weird looks. And since they had a reputation to uphold, they had no choice but to retreat from their current position.
"Lexa, could you be a bit more professional? You are in your dress uniform, and you have to present yourself from your best side," Luna scolded her younger sister as she fixed Lexa's tie and her own navy blue coat.
Lexa smirked at her sister and set her glass down on one of the tables. Her sister rolled her eyes at her.
Lexa and Luna never liked official visits at these kinds of events, but since the military funded the programs and both Lexa and Luna were the reason this fundraiser was happening, the military made sure this event was mandatory for the twins to attend.
Anya and Lincoln, their older siblings, had laughed at them and were currently doing a movie marathon with hourly updates on how great it was to be home and not in the tight dress pants of the dress uniforms.
With a vibration, a new message announced itself in their sibling group chat. It showed Anya and Lincoln chilling on Lexa's bed, watching the twins favorite movie in sweatpants and hoodies.
"I'm going to kill them when we get back," Lexa hissed at her sister and put her phone away.
"You already know I'll help you hide the bodies," Luna agreed.
"I certainly hope that you two aren't planning a double murder while attending a hospital fundraiser." Dr. Griffin's voice was heard from behind Luna.
"Of course not, the planning is already done; we're only waiting for the right moment," Lexa answered, unfazed by their interruption.
"Dr. Griffin, what a great event! We loved your speech, and Lexa over there is only kidding", Luna said, turning around and standing next to Lexa.
The doctor smiled at the soldiers. Lexa realized that the blonde woman she had been watching during the speech was right beside the doctor.
"I was only coming over to introduce you two to my daughter." Griffin introduced her daughter: "She has just become a resident and is working as a trauma surgeon here at the Arkadia Clinic
"Hi, my name is Clarke Griffin," the blonde told the soldiers.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Luna Woods," Luna said, extending her arm and shaking the blonde's hand.
"I'm Lexa Woods; finally we get to meet the woman that Dr. Griffin never seems to stop praising," Lexa introduced herself and shook Clarke's hand.
Clarke blushed at that comment and looked away in embarrassment. Abby laughed and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Well, what can I say? I have a beautiful and talented daughter who also happens to follow in my footsteps. How can I not be proud of that", Abby told them.
Beautiful indeed, Lexa thought as she looked at the blonde. She had a beautiful red dress that reached her knees and hugged her body in all the right places.
"How are you guys doing after your incident?" Abby asked them.
"You know the usual—fighting terrorists and all the other stuff that comes with the job. Only that the working hours have increased and we are never home for longer than a week. Our ma has to work double hours to keep all the plants in our house alive," Luna answered a bit too truthfully for Lexa's liking.
"Yes, it has been a bit busier, but nothing we can't handle. How is the research going?" Lexa stopped Luna from speaking further.
"We recently had a major breakthrough; we were able to recreate your blood cells and keep them alive for almost five minutes. If we keep up the work, we can recreate your blood and don't have to rely on person-to-person blood transfusions," Abby explained.
"Wait, when you said I wanted to introduce you to someone, you meant two of the four people you know that have the black blood?" Clarke asked shocked.
"Yes, honey, Lexa and Luna are the reason I started this program and the people I wanted to introduce you to," Abby answered her daughter.
"We don't want to intrude anymore than we already have; just please do not kill anyone and enjoy the rest of the evening," Abby told them and pulled her daughter behind her, who was still looking at them.
"Well, she was certainly in awe when she found out who we were." Luna concluded by smiling at her sister.
"Seemed like it; what time is it?" Lexa asked.
"20:27, how long do we have to kill our feet in these shoes for?" Luna asked back.
"The fundraiser runs for another hour; we can disappear in about thirty minutes," Lexa answered.
"Then let's enjoy the free appetizers and walk around a bit," Luna suggested.
Lexa nodded, and they spent the next twenty minutes walking around and observing the people around them. All these people had money and were willing to help others with it. As someone who didn't have much money, she always wondered what she would have done with all these possibilities.
She can't remember what her younger self would have done, but she certainly knew what she would do if she had an unimaginable amount of money.
Luna had been talking to her for about five minutes now, but Lexa was too distracted by her own thoughts to notice anything coming out of her sister's mouth.
"Hey, are you even listening?" Luna complained.
"Hm? Sorry what?"
"I was telling you about this idea for our unit."
"Sorry, I'm a bit distracted today," Lexa apologized.
"Does it have anything to do with the hot blonde doctor? You have been checking her out all night." Luna asked.
Lexa's head snapped towards her, and she glared at her sister. "I have been not."
"Sure, little sister, I see everything," Luna said back.
"You're like one minute older; shut up," Lexa told her.
Lexa began walking towards the exit, her sister trailing behind her and making stupid comments about Dr. Griffin. The younger one, the daughter, not her doctor.
It was true; Lexa had been looking at Clarke since the first time she set eyes on her during the speech. She had also been looking for her in the crowd when she and Luna walked around. She couldn't quite grasp what it was, but something about her was just mesmerizing.
They walked back to Lexa's car, a matt black Dodge Challenger, that she got herself after having spent half a year in the hospital. They had this unspoken rule whenever they would go out or have an event. Lexa always drives and Luna always sits in the passenger seat. It doesn't matter which car they take, it always ends up with this constilation. Lincoln and Anya had protested in the beginning but had now accepted it.
Lexa started the car and Luna grabbed her phone to start their family shared car playlist and searched for their favorit song. Soon the song blasted through the car and Lexa's head bobbed up and down to the beat. Luna was full on screaming her lungs out and doing some weird dance while sitting down.