The Chasm

Chapter Fourty Five (Eric's POV)

My heart rate increases. I can't open my eyes, everything is black, but I can hear the beep beep beep of the heart monitor as it rises up. I can't hear her, I can't hear her, I can't hear-

"Hey shhh, it's okay." Her voice soothes me over, and I can finally relax. "It's okay. I'm here Eric. I'm not gonna let you go."

She strokes my hair so calmly. I didn't know she could be this calm with someone like me.

"I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I love you. I still love you. I will always love you. I don't care about the rest of them. Only you. You didn't die in Candor, and I'm not gonna let you die here, you hear me. Don't die on me."

I love you too. I really do. And I'm not gonna die.

"I'm gonna stay by your side until you wake up. You have to wake up. For me. For everyone that cares about you."

I don't think there's anyone else that cares about me besides you, darlin.

"I also brought you someone else that would like to see you too," she whispers. Her hands disappear and are replaced by more firmer hands grabbing mine. "Hi Eric."

Mom. It's my mom. Hi mom. She went all the way back to Chicago for me.

"I'm surprised to see that you made it this far. Delilah told me about you and all the trouble you went through. I'm so proud of you, so so proud of you." A bit of wetness falls onto my hand, and I can only think of the times that my mother cried in front of me. Not very many.

I'll be okay. Don't worry too much.

"Thank you for letting me see him. I don't know if he can hear me or not, but I really hope so. After the loss of his father I was all alone. He doesn't have any siblings either, so I am glad that you got me here to see him."

My father, dead? That's why I saw him telling me to go back. He was telling me to go back to her. To not leave her alone like he did with my mother.

"You're welcome. I don't have any siblings either, and as a leader, I had many duties and I couldn't take care of my mother. She died jumping because she couldn't handle being alone after my father died."

I'm so glad that she didn't tell her that I killed her parents.

"Oh no, I am so sorry for your loss. I don't think I could survive in dauntless. I don't know how he did."

"It takes something special to make it through to being Dauntless. He certainly had it. Would you like to stay with him for a while? I could bring you something to eat?"

"No, no thank you, I'm all good. But I appreciate it all the same. You go get something to eat."

"Thank you." The room is awfully quiet, now that it's just me and my mother alone together. She continues holding my hand for the longest time and my mind can't help but wander off to a deeper place, to rest.