Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 54

I own my ideas, but I don't own the characters. Just in case you weren't sure.

Chapter 54

Natalie and Bud met Brian and Tris at the clinic. When they see their daughter, they are shocked by the drastic change in her. Tris had lost about fifteen to twenty pounds in the past three weeks. Her skin was pasty and she had black rings around her eyes from lack of sleep and she is dehydrated.After the doctor evaluated her, he went to discuss his findings with her parents and Brian."I believe that Tris is suffering from PTSD. She is starting to hallucinate because she refuses to sleep. She told me that she can't sleep because they will come to get her in her sleep. She also told me that Tobias isn't here to protect her anymore. Brian was able to give me the details about her kidnapping and the attack. And I'm guessing that Tobias is her boyfriend?""Yes, he is." Natalie says. "But the kidnapping was almost a year ago and the attack was about six months ago. Why is this happening now.""It is not uncommon for PTSD to manifest after months or years, so the timing is perfectly normal. More than likely, based on the comment about her boyfriend not being there to protect her that could be what triggered it. Now please understand, I'm not saying it is his fault. PTSD would have found a way to manifest no matter what the trigger was.""Well, what can we do for her?" Bud asks. "We have to help her.""We are suggesting that she be admitted to the hospital. First of all we have to get her healthy again. She needs nourishment and liquids. She also needs medicated. We can give her medication to help her sleep so she can get the rest that she needs. We will also be able to monitor her calorie intake and give her IV fluids. Just those small things will help her drastically in the first few days. After she is healthy, we will begin counseling and medicine to help her work through her problems."Natalie is now in tears after hearing about how bad the situation for Tris really is. "How long will she have to be here?""It depends on her, on her willingness to cooperate, to talk to the counselors, and to want to get better. Sometimes the patients are their own worst enemies. They don't realize that there is something wrong with them so they don't try to get better."Natalie and Bud don't say another word. They know that she needs help and they can't provide that help to her. They simply agree and sign Tris into the hospital.Tris spends the next month in the hospital. At first she refuses to cooperate. She won't talk to anyone. When her parents or friends come to visit, she just sits there and stares at the wall. Even when Tobias comes home for a couple days to see her, she won't talk to him or look at him. But the sound of his voice sends her into a fit of shaking and crying hysterically. The doctors told him it is because for the past couple months, she has associated him with safety and security. Now she desperately wants that safety and security back.On his last day in Chicago, he spends the day at the hospital trying to get her to talk to him or even look at him. He talks to her about playing professional baseball and about how badly he misses her and that he can't wait to be able to spend time with her. He spends the entire day talking and just wishing and hoping that at some point she will decide to look at or talk to him.He gets the breakthrough that he hopes for when the nurse enters the room and tells him that visiting hours are over and that he will have to leave. After the nurse leaves the room, he turns his attention back to Tris."Well, I guess I have to leave. I'm going back to Indiana tonight. I have a game tomorrow." He leans close to her and whispers, "I love you so much Tris. Please try to get better. Please try to come back to me. I miss you so much."He kisses her on the cheek and as he turns to walk away, she grabs his hand and holds on to him tightly. She mumbles something that he can't understand.He turns back to her and kneels on the floor in front of her where he can see her eyes.Quietly and gently he tries to get her to talk again."Tris, I couldn't hear you. What did you say?"She stares blankly at the wall. But the grip that she had on his hand remains.He whispers almost inaudibly, "Please talk to me."Slowly she lowers her gaze from the wall to his face. It is the first time in three days that she has looked at him. When her eyes finally meet his, tears start to well up in her eyes.He can see the sadness, confusion, and fear that she is feeling, in her eyes. This is the best he's felt in since he got the call about her being admitted in the hospital. She is looking at him, she sees him."Tris, please come back to me. I need you to find your way back to me."When the nurse comes in to remind him about visiting hours, she immediately sees that she has had some kind of breakthrough. She quickly goes to get Tris' doctor to tell him what is happening.When the doctor arrives, he quietly observes Tobias and Tris. She still hasn't spoken to him again, but she won't let his hand go and she is staring into his eyes."Tris, I heard you say something to me. Please tell me what you said. I would like nothing more than to hear your voice again."She continues to look at him. She slowly opens her mouth to speak. He leans in close to her so that he can hear her this time."Don't go."Those two words are the best words he has ever heard. Four looks over at the doctor who simply nods and walks out the door, closing it behind him.Four continues to kneel in front of her, holding her hands in both of his. "I'm not going anywhere right now. I promise."At those words she completely breaks down in tears. This is the first time she's talked or shown any real emotion for weeks. It is the breakthrough that the doctors have been hoping for.For the next two hours, Four sits with her holding her hands and talking to her. She hasn't said anything else to him. But she has started making eye contact with him when he talks to her and she even smiles at him from time to time.When eleven o'clock rolled around, the nurses came in to change her IV and to give her medication. This medication will make her sleep.After a short time, she starts to get drowsy. Just before she falls asleep, she says one more thing to him. "Win for me," and then she's gone.