Divergent UNIVERSITY ✅

chapter 56

Chapter 56

After three days in Chicago, Four returns to Indianapolis determined to get out of his contract. It's a double A team, so he hopes that they won't hold him to it.He walks into the coach's office, ready to make his case."Come in Four, have a seat. What can I do for you?""Well Coach, I really appreciate the opportunity that you have given to me here. This has been my lifelong dream to play professional baseball. But something has come up at home that I'm afraid is more important to me than even baseball could ever be."The coach sits and listens as Four details Tris' PTSD, her slow recovery, and her small breakthroughs when he is able to visit."Coach, she's been in a hospital or the rehab center for three months now and I've only been able to go see her twice. She needs me right now. Is there anything that I can do?""Four, at this level your contract is negotiable. But I must warn you, if you choose to get out of your contract now, you probably will not be invited back to play ball again.""I understand, thank you. But this is what I need to do.""She must be a very special girl for you to give up a career in professional baseball.""She is. Thank you." Four stands and shakes his coach's hand. He knows deep down that this is the right decision for him. It wasn't even hard to make.He goes back to his tiny apartment and lets the landlord know that he will be moving out immediately. He quickly goes up and begins to pack all of his belongings. The only things in this room are his clothes and his pictures. Everything else belongs to the apartment building. He's happy that he doesn't have much here. All of his things are still in storage in Chicago.When he made the drive here for spring training, he had bought a car from the money that he earned at the tattoo parlor and as an assistant to the team doctor at the college. Be loads his things into his car and he begins the drive back to Chicago, back to Tris.On his way he calls Bud and tells him what he did and what his plans are."Four are you sure about this? I mean, this was your dream that you are giving up.""Bud, I was miserable. Yeah, I was playing ball. But I had no friends, a crappy apartment, and I missed her every day. I can't do this anymore. I'm not the gypsy type. I'm not the type of person that can just go from place to place and not have any connections to anyone. And that's the lifestyle of someone who plays minor's baseball.""Just so you're sure. I don't want you to ruin your life. That would ruin her right along with you.""I know. I'm sure. I had a question. Do you think I could stay with you guys just until I find a job and can get an apartment? If not, no worries. I can stay with Zeke and Zia.""You can stay here. That would actually be incredibly helpful to us, since we got a call about an hour ago that Tris is coming home on Friday. We have to set up her appointments with the therapist, and prepare the house for her arrival, but she's coming home."Four can't help the exciting that he feels with those words. "I'll do whatever it takes to help to help you and her. Whatever you need."They hang up the phone and Four couldn't be happier with his decision to go back.~oOo~Tris enters the psychiatrist's office and sits in the chair that she always sits in.It has been three and a half months since her mental break. Since they diagnosed her with PTSD from the trauma that has been her live over the past year. She sits in the chair and looks at the doctor expectantly. Tris never speaks first. It is the one thing that she's refused to do. The doctor says that is her strength and drive shining through and that it was good for Tris to feel in control because that was part of her PTSD. She needed to find control over something."Well Tris, how are you feeling today?""I'm fine.""Well, we've been talking about your friends and family and what has been going on outside of these walls.""I know. They've all graduated. The girls softball team didn't make the playoffs this year. They are going to be getting jobs and lives. I know all of that. I also know that I have to heal.""Tris you understand that everyone's paths are different. And the path that you once thought was yours may no longer be the path that you should take. Only you know what you have been through, no one can judge that. That being said, I think you are doing quite well. What are your feelings about returning home? You will still be required to meet with me twice a week, but you can go home and start sorting out your life and what your next step is going to be.""Are you serious? I get to go home?""You have made some tremendous strides over the past few weeks. I attribute that to that boyfriend of yours and your parents' devotion. But yes, I believe it is time for you to go home. Are you okay with that? Because remember, you don't have to if you feel like you aren't ready to go back out into the world. With PTSD, we don't ever want to make you do something that you know you aren't ready for.""No, I'm ready. I know I'm not completely better, but I want to go home. I think that will help me. Besides, I feel safe at home. I don't feel safe at school.""I'm so proud of you that you can now make that distinction. It wasn't so long ago that anything outside these walls was terrifying to you. You have come such a long way. I think you will be able to continue with your recover better from home.""Thank you doctor, when do I get to leave?""Your parents will be here tomorrow to get you."They spend the rest of the session discussing coping mechanisms that Tris can use when she is starting to feel panic or sad or scared for what seems like no reason. They discuss who she should call and what she should do when she feels anything but normal. Their conversation continues until it is time for Tris to return to her room.When she returns she begins to pack. She gets to go home tomorrow, she can't wait to go home.~oOo~Friday finally arrives, Bud and Natalie go to the rehab facility to bring Tris home. It was decided that Four would stay back at the house to surprise her.Tris is thrilled when she sees her parents. She's sick of being in hospitals, she just wants to go home and try to find some semblance of her life. Lately all of her meetings with the therapist have been discussing how to deal with all of the changes that have gone on in her absence. They have been trying to prepare for the fact that her friends will be graduating in a week, some of them may be moving away, and others may have bigger life altering changes happening.Tris understands that everyone has been living their lives without her, the one that makes her saddest is Four. She knows that he had to go and follow his dream and she doesn't blame him for that. But she misses him horribly. Once she started to open up again and start to feel again, that was the feeling that overwhelmed her the most. The longing and desire for the man that she loves.When they arrive at the beach house, Tris is kind of sad. She had hoped that her friends would be here to greet her or something. She hasn't seen much of them for three months, she would love to know what is going on with them. She hopes that she hasn't missed Zeke and Zia's wedding, and she hopes that Marlene isn't too upset that she missed the softball season.She walks into the house with Bud and Natalie behind her carrying her things. When she enters the foyer, she immediately gets hit with the smell of bacon and eggs. It is the most wonderful smell. The last time she remembers this is when Four cooked for her over Christmas break."Did you cook mom?" Tris asks.She continues to walk through the house, following the smells to the kitchen. When she walk in she sees a tall man with dark brown hair standing with his back to her at the stove. She stops and gasps when she sees him.Four turns when he hears a gasp behind him. He decided that the first thing he was going to do for her was to help her gain her weight back and help her find her physical strength while she was finding her emotional and mental strength again. When he sees her standing there gaping at him, he smiles hugely.He walks up to her and envelops her in a hug. "Welcome home.""What are you doing here? I thought you were in Indiana.""Nope, I'm home for good. I got out of my contract, I'm no longer playing baseball.""What? Four you can't do that. That was your dream.""No Tris, you are my dream. I was miserable there. I hated everything about it. Especially being away from you.""You can't give it up because of me..."He cuts her off, "I didn't do it because of you. Tris, I wasn't happy. All I did was either play ball or sit in my pathetic one room apartment. All of my friends are here. You are here. There was nothing but baseball there for me, and baseball just wasn't enough. I tried to find jobs to fill time, but no one would hire me. All the guys on my team were interested in doing was drinking and picking up the local women. That just wasn't what I wanted."She wraps her arms around him and pulls him tightly to her. She can't believe he's home with her. She can't believe that she actually gets to come home to the man that she loves."So do I smell what I think I smell?" she asks smiling."Yep, bacon and eggs. I figured you would need a good meal when you got home."Natalie and Bud walk into the kitchen. "There better be enough for all of us."Four smiles, "Of course."They all sit down together and eat their meal. Tris hasn't felt this happy for a long time. She almost forgot how good it feels to be happy. All she felt was pain and despair for so long that happiness almost seems like it isn't real. But she knows it's real because she knows the love of the three people around her is real. Even in her darkest moments, that was the one and only thing that she was sure of was the love of her parents and Four.~oOo~The next weeks bring ups and downs for Tris. She is happy for all of her friends, but when Marlene and Uriah pack up their car to leave for Akron so she can go play professional softball, this proves to be a challenging day for Tris. She ends up using one of her emergency calls to her therapist because she is starting to feel some of the sadness seeping back in. This was supposed to be her life. She was supposed to be a professional softball player. Even though she was happy for Marlene, she still felt sadness, jealousy, and anger.On the day Marlene and Uriah left, Tris cried for hours once they pulled away. Four tried desperately to help her, afraid that she would again sink into despair and not be able to find her way out. But his persistence and his presence were all she needed to find the light that she needed to get through. It was the first time that she was ever able to pull herself out of the depression before it got too bad.All of the other news was very exciting for Tris. The news of Christina and Will's baby was thrilling. Christina's baby bump was growing and Tris was able to feel the baby move. Brian and Tori brought little Liam over to see Tris. He's starting to walk around, so it was fun for Tris to chase him around and play with him. Zia and Zeke's wedding was scheduled for the end of September, so Tris, Zia, Zienna, Lynn, and Christina all went shopping for brides maids dresses for Tris and Zie.Tris was slowly reforming her relationships with her friends. She was gaining confidence and was starting to become more contented with the changes in her life. She started working at the tattoo parlor with her parents and Zia again. She and Four had started training again to help her gain her strength back. Brian started teaching her to fight and defend herself again also. Christina and Zia took her shopping and taught her about what looks good on her and what the best clothes were for her to wear. And Lynn and Zienna took her to plays and musicals that they were in so that she could find enjoyment in the arts. Everything that they did was designed for her to find who she was and what she wanted out of life. She could forge a new path for herself or she could fight for what she had, either way, what her friends were doing would help her to be better.It took months, but Tris was working through her problems. She still met with her therapist, but she was feeling pretty good about her coping skills. Finally one day after her session, she decided what she wanted to do with her life. She no longer wanted to play softball. Suddenly spending so much time away from the people who have worked so hard to help her didn't seem like a good idea. She decided that she wanted to go back to school, but she no longer wanted to be a physical therapist. She wants to be a psychologist. She wants to learn to help people like her that suffer from illnesses that no one else can see.She and her parents go to the college and find that she only has to take one additional semester to change her degree and that most of the classes that she needs are online. They decide that she is going to commute every day instead of living on campus. She only has to be on campus for one class for each semester. Other than that her other five classes will be online, allowing her to work from home.Four found a job as a physical therapist in a doctor's office. He couldn't be happier with his job. He works good hours and he is able to be home with Tris to help her with her work. By the end of summer, Four has finally made enough money to buy a small house about ten minutes from Tris' house. He still spent most of his time at Tris' house, but he hoped that one day she will be ready to move in with him and that they will be the ones planning their wedding.Will and Christina had gotten married in a small ceremony. Despite her normally high end taste when it comes to clothes and other things in her life, she got married in a sundress on the beach with no shoes on. The ceremony was beautiful, and after Bud and Natalie had a party for them on the beach outside of their house. Will got a permanent job at the local school district as a gym teacher in an elementary school and Christina continued her job at the retail store that she started working in the summer before. She has already worked her way up to assistant manager and her bosses were offering her opportunities for obtaining her own store following the birth of her baby.Lynn and Zienna were both performing and working and forging their life together. They decided to stay in the Chicago area so they could be close to their families but also because they were happy with their life and their performing. They both also got jobs at a dance studio teaching dance to children.