Emergent (Divergent: Book Four)

Chapter 12-Tobias

All I felt was pain. But all I cared about was Tris. In only about an hour, she had come back to life, been strangled, been stabbed in the arm, and been crushed by the man who killed her in the first place. Who she killed.

Now I was being dragged along, and Tris was limping behind us. Goodness knows what being brought back to life did to her. I was not completely conscious, but I was aware of Caleb constantly checking on her to make sure she was all right. It made me feel better knowing her brother was watching out for her. "Caleb, you have actual bandages at your place, right?" Cara asked. Caleb grunted and nodded.

I tried getting my feet under me; they were obviously struggling to carry me. But Cara shook her head and set her foot down. "Save your strength," was all she said. So I obeyed. I didn't have the strength to argue. But I did manage to wake myself up some more. "Caleb, don't ever shove me down the stairs again," I mumbled, talking about when he pushed me out the door and down the few steps in front of it. Caleb let out a small laugh.

"So your not proud... not even a little?" Without looking up, I smiled, ever so slightly. "Okay, maybe a little." I could tell this made him feel good about himself. Cara rolled her eyes. "Morons," she muttered under her breath. Caleb glanced back again, probably thinking Tris was being too quiet. From my position, I couldn't see her, but from the look on Caleb's face, I could tell she was still with us, though he looked concerned. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but not out loud. I wanted to zap my thoughts into his head. Instead I stayed silent.

So on and on we went. Inch by inch; step by step we walked.

* * * * *

When we finally made it back to Caleb's suprisingly spacious house, we were all exhausted. I was immediately put into a spare bed and Caleb went to get some real bandages. Cara and Tris were standing in my room. My eyes were closed, until I heard Cara. "Tris, you should lay down; you don't look so good." My eyes shot open. I couldn't sit up, but I turned my head to look at her.

Sure enough, her face was white and tinted green, she was leaning against the wall for support. Her hands were trembling, and her knees were starting to buckle. "Tris." I called out to her softly, but she didn't seem to hear me. Her face glistened with sweat. "Tris." I said louder this time. She finally looked at me.

Right then Caleb opened the door, bandages in hand. When he saw Tris, he gave Cara the bandages and walked over to her. He cupped her chin in his hand. He lifted her chin up so that her eyes were level with his. He continued to hold her chin up as he examined her up and down. I payed attention to all this as Cara positioned me and started wrapping the bandage around my abdomen.

When she was done, I tried to get up, to go to her, but Cara pushed me back down. "Rest," she said simply. I ignored her, and called to Caleb. "What's going on?" I asked him. Caleb's theory made the most sense. "No one ever said coming back to life didn't have consequences."

This worried me. "Will she be okay?" I asked warily. Tris was looking more and more sick. Caleb continued looking her up and down, and finally she ran to the bathroom to throw-up. She coughed and hacked, and I looked to Caleb and repeated my question.

Caleb met my eyes confidently. "I think so. She'll just be sick for while." Tris soon came back into the room and told me to go to sleep, that she was in good hands. I believed it, and I soon felt myself drift off, nightmares haunting my sleep.