Aberrant

Four: Dex

The moment I regain consciousness, my head is ringing and the room I'm in is so bright that when I open my eyes, I'm forced to close them almost immediately. Groaning, I decide to wink instead so that both my eyes won't have to suffer. Keeping my left eye shut, I force my right one open and give the room I'm in a good glare. 

It's a room I recognise almost immediately. A room with a few beds that acts like a school hospital. I'm usually in here on a weekly basis. 

I blink and try to sit up. It seems to help the ringing but the white-washed walls surrounding me are not helping my eyes. As the ringing subsides, however, my ears pick up a sound I haven't heard before-maniacal laughter. 

I turn my head in the direction of the sound, grimacing at how stiff my neck feels. As my eyes focus, I can make out the figure of a boy that appears to be my brother. He's sitting on a bed near mine hugging his pillow and giggling hysterically. 

I frown. River doesn't usually act like this, not even in dreams. 

"Riv," I try, "What-"

"Hello," a new voice on my other side says, and my fists ball automatically to face this unexpected person. I don't like being caught unawares. I relax somewhat however when I see that it's just an Abnegation man, "You're up I see," he says smiling, "We've administered the peace serum to you. How are you feeling?"

Ah yes. The peace serum. They always give it to me every single time I get into a fight. What they haven't seemed to have worked out though, is that it has no effect on me whatsoever. River noticed after I'd been given it a few times and he advised me to act like I was sedated, even though I really wasn't. 

Usually, he would come and collect me after school and he would put his arm around me as I would pretend to hobble out of the room. It was only when we were clear of the school, however, that the two of us would break into a run and race to the school bus stop. 

I smile but then my smile turns back into it's usual frown as I look at the state my brother is in now. 

"I feel very calm," I literally spit out the lie, "But what have you done to me bro-" I catch the startled look on the Abnegation man's face and remember that I'm supposed to be in a peaceful mood. I take a deep breath, force myself to be calm, and quickly amend my question, "I mean," I say, giving the man a full beam smile which seems to scare him even more, "Why is my brother laughing?"

"Oh," the man flushes, "Well, he's a bit on the small side and we may have given an overdose,"

"You did what ?" I growl, the words coming out before I can stop them. I quickly cough to cover what I've said-another trick taught by River.  

"Sorry?" the man tilts his head as if he misheard me, "I didn't catch that."

I take a deep breath. Forcing myself to stay calm is not easy for me, "I said 'what does it mean if he's had an overdose?'"

The man gives me a confused look as if to tell that that's definitely not what he heard the first time, but then his Abnegation nature wins over and he begins to explain, "Well, a side effect of overdose is euphoria," the man notices my blank stare and explains, "So he feels really happy at the moment,"

"For how long?" I ask, forcing myself to smile as sweetly as I can so I don't grind my teeth in anger. It probably makes me look feral. 

"Uh...for the next few hours," the man admits, "Sorry."

"Great," I snarl. I pull back the covers and get out of the bed, hoping that maybe I can snap River out of this somehow. 

"Wait," the man stops me, "That's not a good idea. You probably feel a bit dizzy from the serum,"