All for You.

Chapter 43 - Safe

"Oh gosh," I hear Christina mumble, coming over next to me. "You should've went to the bathroom in my bedroom, it's so much closer."

"Couldn't risk running into you and your man," I joke in between rounds of vomit and Chris scoffs hitting my arm lightly.

"We're all in the kitchen, so you would've been fine," she remarks back and I can hear the eye roll in her tone.

"You good?" She asks as I flush the toilet, leaning back on her sink still sitting on the floor.

"Yeah, it happens all the time, mostly in the morning. I'm saying it's stress, but my mother wants me to get checked out again being back home. She's worried the candor doctors that first saw me might have missed something that the pole hit that could be causing the nausea. I don't know."

"Probably wouldn't hurt," she sits next to me, her knees to her chest.

We sit, enjoying the other's company for a little while before a voice fills the apartment.

"Christina did you get Tris last night or Amar? Or did we strand her in her office because I don't remember seeing who she left with." Shauna yells and I laugh as Chris stands up to find her.

"I thought you had her," Chris jokes. "You know, I bet she went to stay with Lynn. You know just how much Lynn loves having people at her house."

"Don't even get me started."

Using the countertop around the sink, I stand, my leg throbbing terribly and my dizziness making me feel like I may fall.

I can just make it to the toilet and sit until I'm alright.

I look in the mirror and see how bad I look.
I also see that I'm seeing three of me.

"Chris, or someone?" I call, hearing the worry in my voice.

Will is first to make it to the bathroom, and he is quick to hold onto me under my arms and sits me down on the floor.

"Get her some water," I hear Will's voice foggily.

"I'm fine," I say weakly.

He laughs, "No, you clearly aren't."

I feel something cool on my forehead and realize he must have put a cloth on me.

"Tris, did you eat anything yesterday?" I hear Shauna next to me, her face fuzzy.

"Uh," I try to think about it but it makes my head hurt worse. "I, I slept late and then Amar came and," I think about it again. "No," I reply.

"Tris, it's ten thirty in the morning. You said you slept late yesterday too?"

I mumble a yes.

"You literally never sleep, like at all," Chris enters and I see her hand what I assume is water to Shauna.

"Sip it, you don't need to puke again." Shauna says and I wonder how she knew I was puking before she had shown up. It suddenly is clear to me how foul the room smells.

I feel few tears stream down my cheeks as my vision slowly clears. I hear my heart racing in my ears, and I feel myself grow nauseous again.

"Just breathe," Shauna says, her thumb on my cheek, probably wiping away tears. "Shh, breathe Tris."

The next two mornings are easier, for I was able to get into a schedule and actually not forget to eat those two days.

"Everyone's down in the Main Building," Chris basically begs. "Come with me, it'll be good for you to get out. We don't have to do anything else, go anywhere else. Just get up and move around. We can go as slow as you need."

"Come in Tris," Shauna agrees with Chris.

"I don't like it when you guys gang up on me," I sigh, getting to my feet which already have shoes on them. In the minutes earlier, Chris put them on for me when I made the excuse that I didn't want to put shoes on so she did it for me.

I stand and limp over to them, the pain in my leg not getting any better as the days pass. However, the bruising on my ribs has downgraded to a lighter shade of purple and red and I notice the pain it causes me less and less each day.

I shoot a pissed off look at Shauna as I meet her at the door, she exaggeratedly smiles in response and I poke her cheek with my finger.

Every moment that we make our way down to the main building thoughts of doubt fill my stomach and I worry that I will puke again.

I can't go back to face the ambassador hallway.
I can't face those papers in my desk.
I can't face all these injured people, wishing that I could've remembered something before all of this that could have saved them from getting hurt.

I consider turning around, but I know it would be worse if I did.

We were so far from Christina's apartment, and my leg hurt too badly to walk back there before resting.

Plus, I couldn't take the disapproval from her not getting her way of me going to the main building if I turned back.
I couldn't tolerate an argument.

Shauna holds the door to the main building for us and I enter first, physically almost dragging my feet.

Why did Rose get to stay back at the apartment?
If I had to come, why didn't she have to come too?

And then I saw him.
My heart fluttered as I found myself at a sudden lack of all the negativity I had the whole walk down here.

He stood, his arm in a tan sling, a dark bruise over his right eye clearly visible from where I was standing a distance away.

I was probably crying.
I could have been running to him.
I might have said his name.

All I knew for sure was that both my hands were on his cheeks and my lips were against him.

For a couple who never showed much affection in public, I knew the murmurs might have been about us that I heard as the passion of our kids intensified.

But I didn't care.

All that mattered was that he was here and so was I.

We both were okay.
We both were safe.
That was more than I could ever ask for.