Revelation | ✓

Chapter 37- Ryde

Tris and my parents are the ones that are next to me first. A few doctors, rushing in to save her, pick her up and place her on a makeshift stretcher. They're too late. They're all too late. Vae is dead, and she's not coming back.

I sit outside of the hospital-or-whatever area for a long time, still in the clothes that I was in when I found her.

If only I'd been faster, right? Maybe I could've taken the bullet for her.

Tris has had to keep Four away from David. Despite the fact that he can't remember anything, Four still sees him for exactly what he is- his daughter's killer.

"Mr. Pedrad." A nurse says, beckoning me to follow.

"I've told you to call me Ryder, Becky." She's not much older than Truth, with reddish hair.

Becky ignores me and leads me into a sterile, chemical-scented room. "She's in stable condition, but we have her on a bunch of machines to keep her alive." She tells me. "The doctor said there's a slim possibility of her ever waking up. Two days and we're taking her off, you hear me?"

I nod, stepping into the room. She shuts the door behind me and I sit in the chair next to Vae. She's covered by a white sheet, and her arms rest outside of the covers. The hospital gown they put her in is a little too big for her.

I take her hand, the one with the IV in it, and hold it. Her skin is cold, lifeless, something I never thought it'd be.

A plastic mask for oxygen covers the lower half of her face. Her eyes are shut, her hair fanned out around her head. If I focus hard enough, I can imagine that she's just sleeping.

They say that when they did the surgery to remove the bullets, her heart stopped eighteen times. Eighteen. It's not that difficult to see, really, since she's so pale now. 

I carefully brush back her hair, like I'm afraid to wake her up.

My mom says that when you talk to someone in a coma, they can subconciously hear you. I try that now. "Hey, Vae. You got pretty beat up there, huh?" Wow, I sound like an idiot. I clear my throat. "Anyway. I don't know if your parent's told you, but a lot's going on around here. Everyone forgets everything from when you pushed that button and back. David doesn't know he pretty much killed you.

"Your dad tried to strangle David after he heard that he shot you three times. Sucks that they didn't let him. Your grandparents- well, your grandmother, as far as I know- agreed to release everyone from the Chicago project, and they're redoing it so that it's back to it's former glory. Your parents said that they're going to get an apartment there, and we're getting the one next to you guys."

I stop to take a breath, almost as if she's going to reply.

"Everyone that was in Dauntless went back to say goodbye. They're going to be closing it up altogether. I don't know whether I should be happy about that or not. I think I'm going to miss it more than anything. I skipped out on going, so that I could stay here. Oh, I guess I didn't mention that Shane and Hope got back together, did I? He proposed to her a few days ago. And Jack and Karma are dating. They make a good couple, don't you think?"

I sigh. "The point is, a lot of shit is happening and I kinda need someone to help me through it. Scratch that- I need you to help me through it. Yeah, I know. I could never be a Stiff, right? I'm too selfish. But I guess I kinda have a right to, as long as we're talking about you. Or Dauntless cake, but we all already knew that." I laugh at my own joke. If she were awake, she would be laughing too.

Her sleeping form sucks in a deep breath, and then her eyes snap open. Her voice is quiet when she says one word- "Ryde?"