Dauntless High School

Chapter 28

TRIS

The next day, I drive myself to the hospital, only fudging the doctor's recommendation by a couple of days. It's not like I have parents around to get me where I need to go, and I can get by without the prescription pain medications that could impair my judgment..

I enter Uriah's room in the ICU to see him looking much the same as before. Some of the bruises have begun to fade from the deep blues and purples to greens and browns and yellows, and some of the bandages are missing, showing crusted scabs over black stitches, but in all the important ways, he is unchanged.

With a weight in my stomach, I force on a smile and call out a greeting to the other occupants of the room: Zeke and Shauna are sitting much closer than necessary on the window seat and Hana was zoned out in the chair beside Uriah's bed.

"Hey, Tris," Zeke grimaces as he gets up, and the muscles forcing my mouth into a smile seem to quiver from exertion. It's just too forced.

I walk over to Uriah and touch his hand, muttering a soft "hello" before turning to Hana and taking her hand. "How is he?" I ask. "Weren't they planning to wean him from the sedatives?"

"Honey," Hana says. Her watery eyes and deep, slow, steadying breath tell me it's bad news even before she continues. "They have. They cut them completely last night, but..."

I feel so heavy I could fall right through the floor. "But he― he hasn't woken up." I swallow hard and try to blink back the tears gathering in my eyes. "So, what does that mean? What now?"

Hana squeezes my hand and shakes her head. "We don't know. It's all up to him now. We just have to hope that given some more time, his brain will heal and he will come back to us."

"And," I take a steadying breath, "do they think..."

"They say it's a 50/50 chance," Zeke says, resting his arm gently around my shoulders― why is he comforting me? I should be the one comforting him. This is my fault. I don't dare say that to him, but I think we all know it really is; I was the one driving. I was the one who didn't see the other car coming at us. "But, it's Uriah. He's got way too much left to do, so many pranks left to pull. He'll wake up, Tris."

I force another watery smile and try to make myself believe him.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The dreaded 'girls' night in' is that night. With my recent head injury, alcohol l isn't an option to dull the tedium of the DIY spa night, so I am beyond grateful that Lynn actually showed up this time. Christina, Marlene and Shauna love this kind of shit, but Lynn and I don't, so we silently mock the girly-girls to one another whenever their backs are turned. Shauna catches us once and glares, but we know she doesn't mean it, just like we don't. Mostly.

"So, Tris," Christina says as she paints my toenails blue, "you have yet to really explain. What happened with you and Uriah?"

I tense. "What do you mean?"

"Shauna kept insisting I be patient, but it's been weeks and you haven't told us much about the break-up. Usually you guys make up faster than this. Must have been a big fight this time, what happened?"

"Do you really think she wants to talk about that right now?" Marlene hisses, her eyes closed. Thank God for Marlene.

"He'll wake up soon," Christina retorts.

"We're not making up," I protest. Christina gapes at me. "Seriously, Chris. The rest of it is no one's business but Uriah's and mine. But Uriah and me are over."