New Ending to Allegiant

Tobias

Note: This part of the story begins on page 306.

"Tris went into the Weapons Lab instead of Caleb," Cara says. "She survived the death serum and set off the memory serum, but she. . .she was shot. The doctors aren't sure if she'll make it. I'm so sorry."

"Where is she?" I ask, my voice breaking at the mere thought of her dying. If Tris doesn't survive, I don't think there's any point in me living.

"In the hospital," Cara says with a sad smile. Then I know that she doesn't believe that Tris will survive either.

Before I can say anything, Christina grabs my wrist and we sprint through the compound. When we get to the entrance of the hospital wing, I race through the abandoned security checkpoint and continue, peering through the tiny windows, looking for Tris. At the end of the corridor, I find her.

Her small emaciated body looks like it is swimming in the vast whiteness of the bedsheets. But I hardly notice that. All I see are her eyes, bright and alert, watching the monitors she's hooked up to. That is how I recognize her as my Tris.

I open the door and Christina follows me inside. Tris's head turns at the sound, and her face lights up as her lips form my name. She tries to sit up but winces and falls back against the pillows.

"Hey Tris," Christina says in a falsely cheerful tone.

"Christina! Four!" she says softly, a grin on her face.

"Hey Six!" I say, trying to match Christina's tone, but my voice catches. I kneel by her bedside and try to smile but tears fall down my cheeks instead.

"Tobias, it's okay. I'm fine. Everything's okay. You didn't think I'd leave you again, did you?"

I shake my head and laugh a little.

"You heard I might not make it though, right?"

I nod slowly. "You seem fine though."

"I know. But David shot me in the chest and one of my lungs is badly damaged. My good one is having to work double time with the help of this machine," she says, gesturing to the monitor next to her. " To survive long term, I need new lungs and no one's offering."

"I'll find someone, I swear!" jumping up, ready to conquer the world if that's what would save her.

"Tobias, don't. Please. If I'm meant to live, somehow they'll find me a pair."

"I won't let you leave me! I can't live without you!" I say desperately, my head in my hands.

Before Tris has a chance to reply, a nurse walks in. She stares at us a little. I had forgotten that Christina and I are still in military gear and we probably look like emotional wrecks right now.

"It's okay. They're my friends," Tris says. The nurse just shakes her head at us as she ushers Christina and I out.

That night, I lie in my bed in the dormitory running through a list of people who could donate Tris their lungs. No one comes to mind.

After a few hours of tossing and turning, I fall into a fitful sleep and dream of Tris dying as she screams my name. I awake with a start, my sheets soaked with sweat. I know I won't be able to fall back asleep, so I get out of bed and wander through the halls. Eventually I make my way back to the dormitory but when I turn a corner, I run into Zeke.

"Hey, Four," he says with a small smile.

"Hey." I stand there awkwardly for a moment, looking everywhere but his eyes until I can't avoid it anymore. "Zeke, listen. I know no matter how many times I say it, I can't repay you for your loss, but I am so sorry. You asked me to look after Uriah, and I didn't. I will never be able to forgive myself."

"It's never going to be totally okay, but I appreciate it. I think I understand why you did it. I probably would've tried to help the GDs too."

"I can't imagine - "

"Four, stop. We're good and we'll always be friends. If you don't mind, I don't wanna talk about Uriah right now. Anyways, how's Tris?"

Tears start to form at the mention of her. "Not good. She needs a lung transplant and there aren't any donors. The doctors say she has a few more days, a week tops."

I surprise myself with how calmly I say this. Have I already resigned myself to her fate?

"Man, I'm so sorry."

We both stand there quietly for a minute, me thinking about Tris, and him probably about Uriah. Suddenly he turns and grabs my shoulders.

"Uriah is going to be taken off of life support tomorrow," he says with a catch in his voice, "but his lungs still work fine. They could give them to Tris!"

"Zeke, I can't ask you to do that - "

"You didn't ask me. It's a decision my mom and I would make. I know she would want Tris to live. Most of all, I know Uriah would want it. He'd want to die knowing that he had saved someone else's life. And who better than Tris, one of his best friends?" Zeke says. By the time he finishes, tears are streaming openly down his cheeks.

"You would do that for my girlfriend, after what I did to your brother?"

"Isn't that what a best friend would do?" he asks me. I slowly nod and we embrace each other.

I have taken a priceless gift from him, and he has given me one in return. I do not deserve people like him in my life.

Eventually Zeke and I let go and walk back to the dorms together.

The next morning, a nurse and I lift Tris in a wheelchair and then I push her to the observation window of Uriah's room. Tris is much weaker even after just one day, her skin nearly translucent and her breathing shallow. I rest my hands on her shoulders and she reaches up to squeeze them, comforting me even when she is at her weakest. In that instant I realize she is stronger than I ever thought. She is dying yet she watching out for me.

Note: Read the part about Uriah being taken off of life support directly from the book, keeping in mind that Tris is still alive and she is there watching.