Learning to Trust

Chapter 59 - Blinking

Chapter 59 - Blinking

Tobias

"Hey, Tris." I stroke her hair as I see her start to come around.

I came over to Erudite around nine this morning when visiting hours started. Dr. Scott called me early this morning, around like two, and told me the surgery went well, but she doesn't know how long it will last. She said stitching muscle to muscle can not always heal, and even if it does heal, chances are it doesn't heal correctly.

My thoughts turn back to Tris. Before she even is very awake, she rips the oxygen mask off of her face.

I wonder what causes her to hate those so much...

"Shh... it's alright." I say, stroking her hair.

She blinks feverishly, then eventually stops and looks in my general direction.

The eye drops must have not worked; unless she's choosing to not look me in the eye.

Tris moves her lips, but only raspy, strained breaths exit her mouth. Tears start falling from her eyes, and I try not to panic.

What can I do? What can I do? My brain says over and over.

There's a small knock on the door, and Dr. Scott walks in.

Tris moves her arm in my direction, feeling around to find me. I take her frail hand in mine, and she calms down a little, but still tears come from her face and her lips move with raspy breaths.

"Tris? What's wrong? Does something hurt?" Dr. Scott asks.

She tries to speak, but she just gets those raspy breaths again. Suddenly, she struggles a not so quiet whine from her mouth.

"Alright, alright. I'll up your pain meds a little bit. You have to relax though, hun. Being tense isn't going to help your leg at all."

I don't know why, but anger just builds inside of me.

I don't know what she's saying. I don't know what she's trying to say. I can't help her. She can't see or speak to let me help her. I don't want to be mad at her. I know she can't help it. I'm just so frustrated!

"Four?" Dr. Scott asks. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry."

Tris whines a little louder, looking over in my direction.

"Tris, I don't know what you're trying to say." I say.

"It's good though." Dr. Scott chimes in just as I end my sentence. "It's getting your vocal cords moving, so keep it up! The next step from there will be actually talking, so just keep those cords moving and warming up."

I want to think that she's right, but I'm just so full of negativity.

It's been so long. I just want Tris to be better. I'm getting sick of the trips back and forth to the hospital, just to sit here and watch her stare into darkness and be petrified without me able to help.

I want to slap myself for thinking this.

I love her, I really really do.

I just wish she could live her life like the rest of the people that came from the building. She just doesn't have that option.

And with the way West has been acting... it seems like she wont have the ability to just live her life after she's free from this hospital.

"Hey, Tris. Can I see your hand for a minute?" Dr. Scott says, lightly taking Tris's left wrist and flipping it over.

She whines again as Dr. Scott intently looks at her hand.

"See this symbol branded on her? I sent a picture of it to the forensic science department a few buildings over, just to see if they knew or could find out what it meant. A girl from the department came over and looked at it on her personally when she was unconscious. They think they've traced it back to this old destroyed city called New York."

"New York? I've never heard of it."

"I had only ever learned about it once when I was very young. It had been destroyed years ago. There was a huge civil war within the city, and it resulted in the entire female population getting extinct from the city. Eventually, the war somewhat stopped and it became a city full of testosterone. It's an animalistic city now. That's the only way to describe it. The men have taken over and it's an eat or be eaten world."

"Why do they have the emblem of that city branded on her hand?"

"And her foot, and the back of her calf before it got all destroyed by bullets and knife wounds." Dr. Scott adds. "They have no idea. They're searching the files they found on her like mad, but there's nothing involving New York."

"The Building was in Kentucky." I recall.

"Which is why the emblem makes even less sense to be even on her."

"Do you know why, Tris?" Dr. Scott asks her.

She gives no kind of response.

"Blink one for yes, two for no."

She blinks twice.

"Do you recall getting these burns?"

She blinks twice again.

"Do you know anything about New York other than what I had just said?" 

She blinks once.