Tobias's POV
I was so dumb.
And she was so reckless.
As I stared down at her body, my mind overplayed an unbearable question; How could she risk her life for someone in such a way? She always wondered why she wasn't selfless, but anyone with any sense of air could just imagine all that she could do. Tris wouldn't let anyone go, even if it meant sacrificing herself. And for that I hated her.
Yet I adored her more than before. I just couldn't conclude myself with acceptance on that.
So instead, my eyes closed, both my hands clasped around her small right hand, and for a second, I tried to breathe everything in. I tried to imagine it was just her and I; just us waking up what seemed like a million mornings ago. She could've come with me....
I knew without any doubt that she would've died if Christina and I hadn't shown up; I wasn't even sure if she would've survived in my hands alone. Too much panic wouldn't have helped anything at all. Too much of my fear would've killed her by then.
Thanks to Christina, we rushed her down to the hospital; luckily the doctors understood, even under the memory serum, and Tris was put into immediate surgeries. It'd been over a week and a half, but she was still here.
"I love you, Tris," I whispered. Under the bright fluorescent lights, my senses dulled and my heart kept beating. I would wait here, stay here as I had for the past ten days she had been checked in.
Christina's POV
All that was left to do was cry. The only difference was who I cried with.
Sometimes it was Tobias. Sometimes Matthew. A few times with Caleb, although his tears flowed the heaviest. I cried a lot with Zeke. I cried over Uriah's limp less body, aching for his voice to revive me with jokes. Sometimes I hoped he would just tell himself to wake up, but he didn't. Not yet at least.
It was two of my friends. They were gone...
I thought of Tris, and I sobbed more.
Matthew's POV
I worked in the laboratory as much as I could. My head wrapped itself around experiments and computers. When I woke in the morning, I didn't eat. When I got up, I was still tired.
Some days, I caught myself starring at an empty screen. Others, I caught myself wishing for Tris to walk in.
I'd never known her that long, but she was one of those people who touched you with their personality, and it was that little breath that made me hold onto hope.
A couple of days, Caleb would come and help me with my work, but too many times he left crying.
Caleb's POV
A pain like this couldn't be overwritten. A pain like this couldn't be forgotten.
A pain like this shot my heart.
I caught myself crying a few times too many...
Tris's POV
When I dreamt, I dreamt of nothing. Nothing but darkness and black voids. Nothing but emptiness. It came to the point of absolute nothingness that I dreamt of waking up. I could now feel myself sleeping, and I wanted to wake, but maybe I wouldn't be able to wake for a while.
Where I stood in my dreams was cold. It was damp and lonely, and if I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything but what I imagined. If I closed my eyes, my imagination could form horrible ideas and thoughts. So instead, I ran.
Something about running clicked in my mind, and as I ran through the dark air, I caught my breath, then began treading on again. The wind brushed my face and my heart clenched to the flow of my blood. It felt refreshing. It felt kind. It felt normal, almost normal.
Then I got tired of being tired, and I forced myself up.
Uriah's POV
In my dreams I saw Tris. I saw her smile and her wave. I watched as the curl of her lip thickened, and a few times I caught her running in her sleep.
A few times I caught myself crying. I felt this demanding feeling of pain cross my heart and drown my lungs, but I refused to give in. Around me, I felt he presence of Tris and Christina and Tobias and Marlene and even Zeke grasp onto my senses. As much as I tired to give up, I couldn't.
And I wouldn't.
So as their faces greeted me in my mind, I reached for Tris's hand and together we walked. Together, we nodded and stepped.
And together we awoke in the lightness.
