Convergent

Chapter Eight

Tobias

This isn't a dream, Tris is alive, Tris is alive! I know there's more to the story; the doctors didn't just want to be nice and allow her to stay on the breathing machine, but frankly right now I don't care, I have my Tris back, and at the moment that's all that matters. She is snugly tucked away in my arms, sleeping peacefully; knowing that I am here to protect her. I stroke her hair, and she has a sleepy smile on her face, I don't want to let go of her ever again, I couldn't bear to lose her. She was in a coma for the past two years, and I didn't visit her once, while I was facing my fear in honor of her, she was on deaths door. My heart aches as I picture Tris plugged up with all those wires to the machine. I bury my face into her hair, my tears wetting her scalp, I never thought I would hold her in my arms again, she is the most important thing in my world, and I will never let anything happen to her. She still is too cold; I pull her closer, every time she shivers my heart sinks, she has to be okay, she has to.

"Morning." She says; her words sluggish from sleep.

"How'd you sleep?" She smiles

"Much better now that you're here." I lean over her and kiss her, one finger behind her ear, my thumb skimming her cheek. Her entire body trembles, she isn't well, this is wrong; I shouldn't lye here kissing her, knowing she needs help, but I can't stop, I finally have my Tris back.

"I love you."

"I love you too." I think of something I hadn't before, something that might explain her illness.

"Tris, did the doctors release you?"

"Tobias I-"

"Did the doctors say it was safe for you to leave?" She won't meet my eyes, and I know.

"Tris, you're not well, you haven't fully recovered, we need to take you back to the hospital."

"I wasn't at the hospital." Her voice gets very quiet. "My mother took me-"

"Tris, you're hallucinating, you're ill, you're mother is dead."

"No....she's not, I never actually checked to see if she was dead, I just saw her fall to the ground. She crawled away to Amity, where they were going to remove the bullets,-"Her voice is shaking "Where they found that they weren't in fact bullets, they were long time transmitters... and even the divergent aren't immune. She took me-"She gulps "She took me back to Erudite headquarters." Her own mother took her to the place where she was tortured; her own mother took her to the place where she was supposed to be executed. She looks like a little kid again; quaking with fear, I want to wrap my arms around her, console her, tell her everything's going to be okay, but that would be a lie, of course everything's not going to be okay.

"They experimented on me while I was unconscious, I...I-"She bursts into tears, and I wrap my arms around her, trying to comfort her.

"Shhhh, it's okay. I'm here, I've got you, you're safe." But do I know that? I have no idea what they did to her, they might have a tracker in her, or a camera; hoping to see how the divergent brain works.
"You need help; we need to take you to the hospital." She says weakly

"No. No more tests, no more needles and wires, no more heart monitors. Promise me."

"Okay."

"No, promise me no more tests, needles and wires, promise me."

"Okay, I promise." Her safety is more important than her trust right now, she needs help, and I'm going to get her it.

"Good." She says and settles back into my arms.

"Who else knows your alive?"

"No one, I came here as soon as I woke up, I needed to see you."

"We need to tell everyone."

"I know, but how? I can't exactly just walk up to them and say "Hi, it's me Beatrice! I'm not actually dead!"

"You did with me."

"That was different; you came home and saw I wasn't dead."

"Which by the way is not the greatest reunion." I tease.

"I don't know, I kind of liked the outcome."

"Oh? Remind me again what that was." I say raising my eyebrows, and with a sly grin, she leans over me; fitting her mouth to mine. When we break apart I smile

"That is a nice outcome."

"Now let's get down to business. What have I missed?"

"Cara and Caleb work in the laboratories at the compound, which are now a small segment of the Department of Agriculture and work to make agriculture capable of feeding more people. Christina- who is now one of my best friends, works in an office that relocates people from the fringe who want to move into the city. Zeke and Amar are policemen; George trains the police force, think of them as Dauntless jobs. Matthew used to work in the city, on psychiatric research about memory, to make sure that the people at the Bureau will never get their memories back, but he joined the police force."

"Matthew, as in our Matthew, as in the geeky scientist from the Bureau?"

"Yeah, he's...changed since your "death", he's...not as stable, he doesn't really care about much anymore." She doesn't say anything, just furrows her brow. "It's not your fault Tris, besides now that your back everything will be okay." She still looks distraught.

"I need to see my brother first-"She finally says, breaking the silence "There's so much I need to tell him, and if he's in a lab he might be able to help discover more about the new transmitters."

"There's only one problem with that theory-"I say "We don't have any transmitters to study."

"That's not true-"She says shakily and my feet go cold "There are some in me."

And I can't speak, and I can't breathe, I feel my heart shatter inside of me, I feel like she's dying all over again. I can't protect her from that, she may be slowly dying, from the inside out; in my arms right now, and there is nothing I can do about it.

Authors Note
Ugggh DRAAAMA! Poor Tris, what do you think about the transmitters in her??? What do you think will happen next? Comment, message, and vote!