Count On Me

Like a Bullet Train

A/N:  I started writing this story about six months ago, then in a fit of self-doubt (classic me), I abandoned it and never showed it to anyone.  Everything to this point was written back then and we're just getting into new content, so I just want to warn you, updates will slow down but I'll try to keep them pretty frequent... like weekly, hopefully.  Thank you for reading and I really really love to read your comments!

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2014 | 5:20 PM | BEATRICE

Everything happened so fast. Like a bullet train, in exactly a month, I lost everything. Tobias disappeared, my mom got sick... and now they have just rolled away the lifeless shell of the woman I love with every fiber of my being.

After our long talk on Sunday, Mom went to sleep... and she never woke up. In accordance with her wishes, the doctors did not prolong her life. Thirteen minutes ago, she took her last breath.

Dad was here, but moments after the line on the monitor went flat, he left without a word

Two rooms down the hall, Jacob Pedrad is losing the battle almost as quickly. Uriah is the only person I have left but I can't ask him to be here for me right now. No one knows how many days Jacob has left, how many more times Uriah will be able to speak with his father, but we know it isn't many.

I sit on the window seat, curled in a ball. I kept mostly composed until I finished my short conversation informing Caleb, and then I let go. My shoulders shake with my sobs and I bury my face in my hands. I faintly hear the door open and close, probably another nurse. But then I smell the familiar scent of coconut and a hint of chocolate, and Uriah's familiar arms wrap around me.

I turn in his arms and bury my face in his chest. I know my tears are soaking the front of his shirt but I stay there and cry into his shoulder anyway, and Uriah doesn't protest; he just runs his fingers gently through my hair and makes soft shushing noises.

After a while I mumble into his chest, "Why are you here?"

"What do you mean, why am I here?" he says incredulously. "Beatrice... you're sitting here all alone not even an hour after your mother died. You're my friend. There's no way in hell I'd leave you alone right now."

"But your dad," I protest. "Uri, you won't get this time back. You need to be with him."

"Tris. Stop." He sighs. "I know that. But I need to be with you, too. Will you come back there with me?" He interrupts me before I can protest. "He wants you there with us, too, Tris. A nurse informed us about your mom, that you were in here alone, and Dad is worried about you. Mom, too."

I open my mouth but I can't argue with that. Uriah's parents care more than my own family. I don't want them to worry about me― they have enough worries already. Besides, maybe it's reassuring to Jacob, seeing Uriah be there for me, knowing I'll have to return the favor much too soon.

As we walk the short distance down the hallway to Jacob Pedrad's room, Uriah reassures me, "No faking it, okay? They're going through this shit too, they understand and expect it. You won't make anyone uncomfortable if you cry."

I let out a shaky breath and nod, then Uriah opens the door and ushers me in. Immediately Hana is in front of me, wrapping me in her arms.

"I'm so sorry, honey," Hana says softly in my ear, and I can hear the pain in her voice. Perhaps she and my mother had become closer than I realized, or maybe she is thinking about how this will be Uriah and Zeke in my place in the very near future. Whatever the reason, her words break the dam with a strangled cry from my throat, and salty tears begin to stream down my face. I sob into her shoulder and her hand moves slowly up and down my back. Then another set of arms envelopes us both and Uriah's nose is in my hair. Warm water falls from his eyes and wets the top of my head.

I don't know how long passes before Hana carefully transfers me completely to Uriah's arms. He scoops me up with one hand under my knees and I hold tight around his shoulders, my face pressed to his chest. I am no longer sobbing, but the tears continue to fall endlessly, until I fall asleep curled in his lap in the window seat.