Urgent

Chapter 10

'At least you don't have to fight Peter,' says Tris sullenly. 

Pfftt... I'm looking for an excuse to beat up Peter, but Edward? Anytime I see him so much as glance in my direction, I feel like running. Running and hiding. 

When it's finally my turn to fight, I'm on the verge of pissing my pants. I'm crossing my fingers that he will knock me out in the first blow - I doubt he will give me that pleasure though. 

'Tell Willie I love him!' I yell at Christina, and Will who hears my words replies with a middle finger, but he is still smiling. Good to know he feels happy about my coming death. 

I turn to face Edward. 

He's tall. So very tall, and huge. At least compared to my thin frame. 

Edward starts by aiming a kick for my side, but I dodge it. Just barely. Then he punches, and I'm not fast enough to dodge this. I think he broke my nose because the floor's turning red. 

I wipe the blood with my sleeve as Edward approaches me once more. 

Another punch. I dodge. Kick. He misses, but still hits my shin. Punch. Dodge. As he comes closer, I realise he's managed to corner me which must have been his plan the whole time. I am so dead. 

I gulp as he comes closer, before a bright idea visits me. I jerk my knee up, and he falls to his own. I take the situation to my advantage, landing a punch on his face. It only leaves a slight bruise on his otherwise unharmed face. 

To be honest, I feel as if I got more hurt than the punch than he did. I may have broken my knuckles. 

And that's when I realise that I made a mistake. I miscalculated how long he will be staying down - because a second later, his fist makes contact with my jaw, knocking me to the ground. 

He is towering over me, as he stomps over. He's mad. Rightfully, I mean I just did kick him where the sun don't shine. 

Still on the floor, I grab his ankle, separating his legs so I roll underneath them to the other side. It does nothing to stop him - it only delays the inevitable, because when he turns? I know I'm dead. 

One punch and everything goes black. 

...

'You are an idiot,' are the words I wake up to. Spoken by yours truly, William what's-his-last-name or Willie as I playfully refer to him as. Perhaps not the best nickname I have thought up, but it works. 

'Thanks for confirming something that I already know,' I say, sitting up as I rub the back of my head. The light is blinding me, but my eyes adjust after a little white. 

'Where are the others?' I ask. Will shrugs his shoulders, and I frown. Great, nearly all of my friends have ditched me in the infirmary. Just shows how much they care for me - but at least Will's still here. 

'They didn't ditch you,' says Will. Is he a mind-reader? That would be so co - 'You do know you're saying all of this out loud.' Really? 'Yeah.' Damn it. 'I heard that.' I groan in frustration. 'It's the medicine they gave you - it's really strong.' 

I nod stiffly, before reaching to touch my nose. It's broken - but I feel no pain. Exactly how strong is the medicine? 

'You need to have these,' says Will, holding out some pills to me. Painkillers to be exact. I reluctantly swallow them. I don't like the fact that I have bee saying all of my private thoughts out loud. 'I can still you hear.' 

Fu -

'Don't swear,' reprimands Will, before sighing softly. 'The others went because the nurses forced them to go eat dinner - I had to stay to pass on a message.' 

I wait, but Will doesn't speak. I look at him, an eyebrow raised, only to see him staring intensely at my nose. 

'It's bleeding again, isn't it?' Will nods. 'Well, what were you going to say?' Will looks away from my bleeding nose, a sober expression on his face. 

'I just wanted to tell you that you missed Eric's announcement,' he explains. 'We're going on a field trip tomorrow, to the fence, to learn about Dauntless jobs,' he says. 'We have to be on the train by eight fifteen or risk facing Eric's fury.' Will visibly shudders. 

'He's terrifying, isn't he?' Will nods in agreement, before standing. 

'I'm going to get dinner now - try not to die,' says Will. I smile at him - a genuine smile because the pain meds are working and blocking out the pain which has returned. 'And I'll get the nurse. Hopefully she'll fix that,' he says, scrunching up his face in mock-disgust as he gestures to the general area of my nose. 

I pretend to be offended. 

'Hey,' I say, puffing out my chest proudly. 'My nose is beautiful - it's not my fault Edward can't appreciate such wonderful pieces of art.' The tips of Will's lips lift. 

'I'll see you later,' he says, dropping the act and leaving me utterly alone. A feeling which I find myself becoming more accustomed to than I would like. 

I am hopeless.