Waiting for Her - A Divergent Alternative Ending

Tobias' POV - Day of Bureau Reset

When we reach the compound, I know that Caleb must have succeeded, because there is no one in sight. We pass the abandoned security checkpoint, and I see Cara waiting for us on the other side.

Where is Tris?   

As we get closer to Cara, I notice a bandage on her head and a bruise that covers half of her face. I approach her expecting her to tell me where Tris is, but she looks down, refusing to meet my eyes. That worries me. I feel a heavy weight sinking into my stomach, dread taking over.

It takes a minute, but I finally manage to ask, "Where is Tris?" 

"I-she" Cara stutters before going silent.

"What happened to-" Christina starts to ask before I interrupt.

"Where. Is. Tris." I growl. Cara stops, taking a breath before finally looking up at me. 

"She...she went to the Weapons Lab instead of Caleb. She managed to survive the death serum, but David was waiting at the other end of the vestibule, and he shot her. Twice. We got to her before she bled out, and they just finished surgery. But she-Tobias wait!"

I ignore her and sprint towards the entrance, then to the infirmary. I search around for any sign of where she is when I see him.

Caleb is standing in front of a door at the end of the hallway. I walk over towards him, and he sees me then his eyes start to dart around, looking for an escape from the inevitable. Too Late. I am in front of him, taking his shirt in my fists and slamming him up against the wall. I can't think of words strong enough to equal my anger, so I punch him. Hard. Square in the nose, fitting for an Erudite. Then I hear the door swing open.

"I already have one patient; I don't want another"

I wouldn't give him another patient, just another body for the morgue. But I don't want to piss off one of the people who are holding my Tris' life in their hands, so I let go of Caleb. He has a bloody nose and a busted lip. I suspect I broke his nose, but it isn't enough. I want to break every bone in his body, but I don't push the issue. 

"I need to speak to her closest kin"

"That would be me" I speak up, shooting Caleb a glare, daring him to argue. He doesnt. 

"Come with me please" he says, opening the door and gesturing me inside. I brace myself and walk through. 

I walk in and my eyes immediately begin searching for her, but the cluster of doctors and nurses block her from view. It is all I can do to hold my composure, to keep from collapsing on myself. I hear beeping I hope is coming from a heart monitor, and tubes leading to the center of the cluster. The doctor walks over and touches the shoulder one of the nurses, murmuring something in her ear. She looks back at me, then nods and grabs another nurse before leaving the room. I get the feeling that this has to do with my interrupted justice but say nothing. A few minutes later the nurse returns, holding a syringe full of liquid I recognize as peace serum. Bad news and they're worried about how I will react. I once again brace myself before the doctor breaks the silence.

"She was shot twice, once in the abdomen and another in her chest, puncturing her lung. We've repaired the tissue successfully and given her blood to replace what she lost. However, between the physical trauma and the death serum, she has fallen into a coma. We're confident that she'll heal physically, we just don't know when-or if -she will wake up." Without another word the doctor leaves the room. The nurse eyes me, I assume to see if the serum is still needed, before putting it in her pocket and walking back over to the bed. She tells the other nurses to finish their tasks and informs me that someone will be by to move her to another room shortly. After is finished she then leaves, taking the others with her. Their departure reveals the bloody and intubated body of my Tris.

She is so small, so pale. The rise and fall of her chest are so faint that if you weren't looking for it you might not even see it. The sheets are soaked red with her blood, and I see a tube coming from her arm connecting to a bag with more red blood. I walk over to her bed and take her small hand in my own shaky one. She will wake up, she has too. Shes too strong not to, strong enough to fight off death serum. She has to be strong enough to fight this and wake up.

If

That word has the power to make the composure I fought so hard to keep crumble, and I crumble to the floor with it. Everything in me starts screaming for her to wake up. Anger follows, anger at Caleb for letting her go, her for going. Then fear wells up behind it, fear that she'll never wake up, of what life would be like without her. I remember all too well my last trip into my fear landscape, how I couldn't help her, but that wasn't real. This is. My worst fear has come, and it lies on a thin mattress in front of me. I feel powerless, a stark contrast to how I felt not even an hour ago. Then I feel the emotions combine to form a monster that writhes its way to my core.