Rediscovered Love

Chapter 7

  * I'm running out of ideas for pictures and I can't keep track of the ones I've used before o_o"

Karen's POV

Just as the blankness of my cell suffocates me into unconsciousness, the creaking of the metal door in front of me jolts sleep away. A man in a white lab coat enters with a leather suitcase by his side. My factionless mindset makes me automatically try and dictate how much that case would cost. The metals in there could be melted down into anything. They would easily buy me a better blanket. But none of that matters now that I'm here. With escape impossible, there's no point in trying to make imaginary bargains.

I curse to myself, scolding my illogical behavior. Come to think, it was how I coped with inaccuracy as a child. Now I'm doing it again. 

"Why so upset?" The old man spits. He barely has any hair, but those few strands of mousey black spiral out like springs. His eyes are a crystalline blue, faded with years of use. Not as many wrinkles shroud his face, but deep bags hang from his eyes. I recognize him as my dentist before I was exiled from Erudite. Jeanine and I shared him, and he knew about us more than most. Dr. Wright was his name. I'm surprised he isn't already in noticeable mental decline. 

"Do you remember me? Know who I am?" I ask.

"Yes! I know who you are. Jeanine doesn't not tell me who I'm working on!" He seems too annoyed to care about formality. 

I don't say anything else for a few minutes after that as he prepares his instruments. After what feels like forever, I take the gamble."Why are you upset?" I ask. He calms down, shaking his head in silence before turning to his suitcase. 

"Lay down... On the ground." It isn't like he has a reclining chair to put me in, but stooping down reminds me of my vulnerability. Jeanine isn't here, and the man in front of me can do what he wants to with his tools. He can even call in the guards outside my door over the pettiest details. And the guards won't show me the mercy Jeanine has. 

She may be faction leader, and I may have her heart, but to everyone else I'm still a criminal. I'm Divergent, and I somehow deserve to be punished for something I cannot change. But I can see a way past this. 

"If you harm me, I'll tell Jeanine," I say. 

"Well, looking at your teeth, the procedure will hurt. However, I can numb your mouth." He points his faded blue eyes at me. His face is construed into something unreadable. Being within such a desperate situation, I know that internally at least, I'm looking for a reason to trust him and I can't find anything besides the past. Before I can figure out what he reads in me though, Dr. Wright averts his gaze.

~~~~~

"Hey!" I whine, covering my eyes as he flashes a light into them. Hours later and my gums ache with soreness while my teeth feel like jelly.

"Sorry." He moves it and peers into my mouth. "You had a few minor cavities, but overall it isn't as bad as I expected!" He brings the light away from my face and purses his lips into a fine line. "That's it!" He says, packing his things together.

He makes his way to the door as I pick my back off the floor after hours of resting it on the ground. "Can you get Jeanine for me?" I call out as he opens the door. The dentist's piercing blue eyes find mine again, and a small smile spreads.

"I thought you two were over, but if you insist to disrupt our leader, then so be it. But it will be on you not me, got it?"

"Sure." With my word, Dr. Wright shuts the door and heads in the same direction as Jeanine when she last left me. Only minutes go by when I see my familiar love burst through the door. She drops onto the floor next to me, and her blue dress turns into a flowing river that careens itself past her many curvaceous hills. Cold hands wrap my cheeks as I gaze into steely eyes. They aren't cold spears, but a warm melting mold fitting for her iris. 

"Karen," Jeanine breathes out in a shaky whisper. Mint burns my nostrils. Her eyes are wide with both fascination and joy. I bathe myself in her waters as we embrace, and she holds me tight as I'm buried in her. I feel more love from her now than I've felt in the past five years. We stay like that for what feels like forever. 

Finally, she breaks from me and concern hardens the steel in her eyes. "I am so sorry for everything," She gasps, "And I know that no matter how many times I tell you, it won't take away your pain. I will get you out, and us away from this mess and back to the life we lived." A smile breaks out on her face after that last part. I can't keep my own grin from forming. A life with my love again! How could I say 'no' to that? Then, Jeanine becomes serious again, as the tips of her mouth are buried under a sand to form a frown. Jeanine casts her eyes down and shakes her head. "It will not be easy," She warns. "First I have to ask you: Who is the boy you carried? You obviously know him."

Jake. Jeanine's words shake me. "We aren't together, never have been."

"I know..." She drawls out in thought, "I just need to know who he is."

"Why?" 

"Answer my question first." 

A sigh I never realized I was holding escapes me. "We were roommates; just friends. Now answer my question!"

"Who is he? Do you know anything about his past?" Jeanine is pushy, but that's simply a characteristic which makes her Erudite.

"Shouldn't you know this or be able to attain it through research?"

"Personal information isn't always revealed in records Karen! Just tell me!"

"Ok, ok!" I shout at her, never minding my tone. A cold hand is pressed into my mouth, and Jeanine "shh's!" me. Afterwards, she gingerly pulls away.

"He didn't tell me about his past! Why do you need to know?"

"Remember Elizabeth Redd?" I nod. "She asked about him earlier today, and I need to figure out why she is watching him," Jeanine explains. That reminds me of something.

I sigh. "Jeanine, remember when we first kissed?"

Her smile returns. "Yes."

"Redd was watching through the window in the door. She looked upset." Jeanine's smile fades. "I never told you because I didn't want to break us apart." 

That snaps Jeanine into becoming dead serious. I turned a switch in her. "Do you know what will happen if we don't find a way to get rid of her?"

"She will succeed you."

"Karen, she is probably the only one who knows how far our relationship goes. If it weren't for her, I could re-evaluate your case, free you, and no one would bat an eyelash because they wouldn't see the bias." Jeanine turns away and gazes at the wall. Her muse must be performing somersaults. "I have a plan!" She whispers, turning to me. "But it is late, and you should try to fall asleep. We can continue this discussion later." Jeanine leads me to my cot before leaning into me, and presenting our most passionate kiss yet.