Imperfect

Tris

Darkness. That's all I'm aware of first. I try to wake up, to jerk myself back into the land of the living. I can't do it. I'm not strong enough.
But I have to wake up, I have to begin again. Tobias, I think. He needs me, right?
"Tris, please wake up. I need you here." A very familiar voice breaks through the haze of pain drugs and exhaustion. Tobias. He sounds tired and weak.
A moan escapes my lips as I force myself to make a sound. It's all I can manage to do, I'm so weak.
"Tris!" Tobias shouts. I feel happiness welling up inside of me. It forces a small smile on my face.
Tobias' fingers graze my cheek softly, a trail of fire following his fingers.
I force my eyes open to the surprised face of my boyfriend. He is pale and haggard looking, with dark half moons under both eyes.
"Tobias. Are you okay? What happened?"
"Shh, shh. Don't overexert yourself. Your very weak, Tris." Tobias presses a finger to my lips.
"What happened?" I look up at him and ask.
"You shut down the serum. You saved countless people, Tris." He says softly. I look at the room I'm in for the first time.
There is a pane of glass and a door at one end. Cheap plastic chairs decorate the hall. There's another bed in my room, but it's empty.
"Who's that for?" I ask and motion towards the empty bed.
"That's where I've been sleeping."
"How long have I been out?" I wonder out loud.
"About nine days." He mutters softly.
"Nine days!" I sit up a throw the blankets aside. Tobias grabs my right arm. I look at his fingers, curling over smooth cool steel.
"What's wrong with my arm?" I sob loudly.
"That's what I wanted to tell you. Tris, when you got shot, the bullets were packed with special explosives. When the bullets exploded, it took your arm and a leg with it. The doctors had to replace those two limbs with bionic parts."
I closely examine my metal hand. It looks like a regular hand, just silver. I stroke the cool metal of my hand. It bends and moves like the real thing.
"So part of me is metal." I sob into my hands. Tobias wraps his hands around my wrists and gently pulls my hands away from my face.
"It will be okay. I'll call the doctor. He'll want to see you." He picks up a control panel beside my bed and presses a button.
What about Dauntless? If the Allegiant have succeeded, we have factions again. Will they even let me in? How can Tobias and I be together when I'm factionless?
Footsteps come from outside my door and I look up from my bionic hand. An older man with thinning grey hair walks in. He looks all doctorly in a white knee length lab coat. A clipboard is in one hand with writing all over a piece of paper.
"Hello, Beatrice. I'm doctor Anderson. How are you doing?" Doctor Anderson glances at his clipboard.
"Actually it's Tris." I do my best smile at him, but it's not there. He did this to me, so I have no reason to be nice to him.
"I bet you have lots of questions and I'm here to help you with them. Let's talk about your arm and leg." He sits down in one of those cheap plastic chairs. Tobias sits on the edge of my bed and holds my metal hand.
"What did you do to me?" I him angrily.
"We did what we had to do. If I'm not mistaken your society revolves around your ability." The doctor says matter-of-factly.
"What do you mean? The factions?" What happened while I was out?
"Tris, the factions have been reinstated." Tobias says calmly. I look up into his deep blue eyes. They dissolve me like blue pools.
"I can't be Dauntless anymore." I say, sobbing into my hands. When I feel the cold steel of my fake hand cupping my face I thrust it away, disgusted. I didn't ask for this.
"Yes you can." Tobias whispers in my ear. I feel his breath tickle my skin. "When I went to the city, Zeke and his mom were talking about how the factions were reformed. They said that a new government was set up. There's a council where each faction sends a representative that is also the head of their faction. The Dauntless chose you to be the leader."
"They want me to be the leader?"
"Yes they do." The doctor interjects. "You will have to leave soon, the first meeting is in a month."
"What am I doing laying around here in some hospital? I need to leave." I sit up and slide off the bed, dispite Tobias' protests.
My bare feet hit the floor hard. A jolt travels up my body from my metal leg. My nerves tingle where they splurge with what I guess is wires.
My new leg topples from underneath me and I fall to the floor. My leg feels like its on fire and I gasp. Tobias is on his feet in seconds and crouching beside me.
He wraps an arm around me gently. The doctor is on my other side, asking me gibberish about my health.
What about Caleb?" I ask randomly. I haven't seen him for nine days.
"Tris, I'm sorry. Your brother Is dead." My whole world spins and twists at those words.
"How?" I look up at Tobias, into his deep blue eyes.
"When he saved you. He couldn't resist the serum and died as he got help for you." A sob runs through my body. He died for me, so I could get out of there alive. He knew I was mad at him but saved me anyway.
"Tris, are you okay?" Tobias wraps his arms around me and pulls me up. I don't resist as he places me on the bed like a China doll.
"He died for me." I choke out as my world spins into darkness.