A Dying Light

SEVEN

I roll my eyes and expect Tris to be writing again since her bedroom light is on. I think back to when she jumped when I caught her writing the first time. She was starting Rived Groom, a Sequel to her bestseller, which I have yet to read. I've brought the book and noticed the dedication at the front. Her mother, Natalie. She must've passed not long before Tris wrote that. I open the door and see her body hanging from the ceiling. I gasp, and pull her down, checking her pulse. It's faint, and her skin is clammy. I run out into the hallway, and try to find Zeke. He turns out to be in the same hallway. We run into Tris room in unison, and I tell him what I've done.

The ambulances come, and the media follows, and I scream at them to move. They oblige, and Tris gets put into the Ambulance, Zeke stays behind to tell the Media to go away. I cry over Tris' body, as the Paramedics hook machines into her. She hasn't lost any blood, but she hasn't taken a breath in a while. Her body was lukewarm when I found her. The heart monitor beeps, soft slow beeps, and I look at the Medics. They're too concentrated on keeping her here, so I am grateful.

+++

"Tobias?" I hear a soft voice. My eyes meet my mother's, and something inside me breaks. I break down, from grief and anger. She wraps her arms around me and cries with me. "I heard about Tris," she whispers. "I'm so sorry, Tobias," I imagine myself with my mother and her. In another future. But now, as she lay dying by her own will, I wish I could make it real.

+++

I squeeze Tris' hand for the last time. I have to give her back to her mother, as she's in a coma. "I love you," I whisper, but no one hears. We count down from three, and I think back to the letter. I opened it. I can't bring myself not to. Evelyn unplugs the life support.