"Do you know if she was still taking her Quetiapine?" The nurse asks Tobias. She had been asking him a million questions about Tris, but he was too dazed to answer. His head was spinning, and she speaks again, "This is critical information."
"I don't even know what that is!" Tobias exclaims.
"It's used to treat illnesses such as depression, or bipolar disorder," the nurse sighs.
"Yes, she was on it," Tobias says, "Why are you asking me this?"
The nurse turns and walks away, and Tobias slumped onto a bench. His heart was pounding against his chest, and he barely noticed when Christina rushes in toward him.
"What happened? Is she okay?" Christina asks urgently, "Please tell me she's okay."
"Car accident," Tobias says bluntly, "She's stable at the moment, but they won't let anyone in yet."
Tears fill Christina's eyes, and she collapses into his arms. It felt odd hugging her, but they both needed someone now.
Tobias did not know how long he sat on the bench next to Christina for, but he was dozing off when someone walked up to them.
"Are you here for Beatrice Prior?" A woman asks, and they nod, "It is supposed to be family only, but her parents... She is asking for Tobias."
"That's me," Tobias shoots up, Christina behind him, "She needs to come too."
The doctor looks hesitant, but does not argue. They follow her into a room a few doors away, and he sighs in relief when he sees Tris sitting up in the bed.
"I'm okay," She smiles, "But they have me on some pretty heavy pain meds."
Christina bursts into tears again and kneels next to the bed, and Tris grabs her hand.
"She hit her head pretty hard, and we thought we saw signs of internal bleeding, but she was totally fine," The doctor says to Tobias, "She seemed to be in a lot of pain when she first came in, but her levels are normal now."
Tobias walks up to the bed, and Tris smiles brightly at him, "I missed you!"
"I missed you too," He smiles and sits next to her.
"Have you heard about my parents? I haven't seen them," She sighs, "Caleb was here earlier, he broke his arm. Why am I even here?"
"You were in an accident," Christina says.
"Oh, yeah," Tris shrugs, "I'm fine. I want to leave."
Tris wasn't very aware of her surroundings. Her thoughts were jumbled, and she could barely think straight.
"Where are my parents?" She asks again.
Tobias and Christina stay silent. They did not know how to answer her question, and they didn't want to give her false hope. Her parents were in a critical condition, and Marcus got a hold of aunt and uncle, Nita's parents, and they were on their way already. Of course Tobias was grateful that Tris was okay, but he didn't know if it would be temporary or not.
They sit with Tris for a while, and she slowly gets more and more tired as the medication wears off. She stopped asking about her parents, but she was terrified, despite her silence.
At about two in the afternoon, Nita rushes into the room, her eyes filled with tears. She wasn't crying because Tris was okay, there was something else that had her so upset.
"I... I need to talk to Tris alone," Nita says. She didn't even say hello, or ask how she was. Something was not right, and Tobias felt a pit form in his stomach.
"Whatever you want to say, say it to them too," Tris frowns. She had fear in her eyes, and she was squeezing the bed sheets in her hands.
"Your mom is in surgery, Caleb is fine," Nita stops and wipes her cheek, "But your dad... He didn't make it."
Tris stares at her in disbelief, and laughs, "You're lying."
Nita shakes her head, and Tris feels her stomach drop. Her head starts spinning, and she feels someone's hand grab hers, but she does not notice who. It felt as if the whole world was spinning around her, and she couldn't get a foothold. Tears escape her eyes, and soon enough sobs are racking her body.
Nita sits down in a chair across the room, her head in her hands. Christina cries with Tris, and Tobias stands dumbfounded, a look of disbelief on his face. Everything was falling apart so fast, and there was nothing any of them could do to stop it.
Tris stopped crying eventually, when she ran out of tears, but the empty feeling didn't go away. She didn't want to accept it, she didn't want her father to be gone, especially because the last conversation they had. She was a disappointment to him, and she'd never be able to make things right. Christina stayed with her, and the rest of their friends came to see her, but the nurses forced all of them to leave. Tris asked for Christina and Uriah to be able to stay, and she had no idea where Tobias was. He had stormed out of the room, and Nita went chasing after him, and they had not come back.
Her aunt and uncle had come in with Caleb to comfort her, but she didn't talk. She couldn't get words out, and all she felt was an empty pain growing inside of her.
Tobias found his way to the parking lot. Everything was going good, and he knew that Tris would not be able to handle the grief. He shoots around when someone taps his shoulder, and Nita looks frightened because of the look on his face.
"She needs you," Nita says sadly.
"I can't," Tobias frowns. His fists were clenched, and his eyebrows were furrowed. He didn't know why he was so angry, but he felt as if he was going to explode.
Nita crosses her arms and looks at him, but he turns his back. She grabs his shoulder and he turns again, but this time she looks angry, "Stop being a little bitch. Your girlfriend just lost her father, and you know as well as I do that she isn't exactly great at coping with her feelings. She'll lose it if she doesn't have you, so get your head out of your ass and get back inside!"
Tobias is shocked by her sudden change in mood, but he nods and follows her back into the building. When they make their way back to her room, no one is there.
"She went to see our mom," Caleb's voice sounds from by the door. Tobias turns and looks at him. He looked pale and exhausted, and his left arm was in a sling.
"Is she awake?" Nita asks. Caleb shakes his head, and she frowns, and walks out of the room. Tobias follows her quickly, but when they reach the room where Natalie was, he doesn't enter. Christina stood outside with Uriah, and they couldn't see inside.
"Why her?" Uriah says, not noticing Tobias behind him. Christina looks at him briefly, the back at Uriah, "What did she do to deserve this? The doctors said her mom isn't going to make it, but I don't have the gut to tell her."
Uriah turns and looks at Tobias, a frowns on his face. Christina runs her hand through her hair, her eyes tired.
"They want her to hear it from one of us," Christina speaks up, "They think she'll be able to handle it better that way. Her mom is in a coma, Four. Tris is going to lose both of her parents."
Tobias walks past them and into the room, and immediately is given dirty looks by Tris's aunt and uncle. Tris sat on a chair next to her mother's limp body, holding her hand.
"She's gonna be okay," Tris says, as if it was a fact.
Nita whispers something to her parents, and they reluctantly leave the room. Tobias crouches down beside Tris, who gives him a forced smile.
"Listen to me," Tobias sighs, "You're strong, and I know you don't want to hear this-"
"Don't," Tris frowns, and a tear falls from her eye, "I can't be an orphan. I can't lose them both. She's going to wake up soon, and it's going to be okay."
Tobias feels his heart break a little with every word she says, and the sadness in her eyes hurts him. She releases her mother's hand, and turns her body to Tobias. She had stitches under her eye, and there was a large bruise on her arm and near her tattoo. Her hair was still straight from the night before, and her makeup was smudged under her eyes.
"She isn't going to live, Beatrice," Caleb says. Tobias turns to him. He stood by the door, his words emotionless, "She is brain dead."
Tris doesn't move, and she doesn't cry. She looks at her mother, and then back at the two boys, and she stays silent.
They released the two that day, but they didn't want to go home to an empty house. There was a bunch of paperwork that needed to be filled out, but Tris had not a clue as to what to write. Her mind was empty, and she didn't know what was next. She and Caleb would be staying at home, and their aunt and uncle would be looking after them until they were both eighteen. Caleb's Birthday was soon, but Tris's wasn't for a while.
Caleb took care of everything, and Tris stood behind him in silence. She was lost, and her brain couldn't comprehend the fact that both of her parents were dead.
When their aunt and uncle took them home, Tris dreaded going inside. Tobias had gone home with his father, despite his protests, and Christina and Uriah were going to come back later. Tris stands at the door after everyone walks in, and Nita turns back to her, "You can't stay out there forever."
Tris takes a step inside of the house and closes the door. She never realized how big it was until now, and she felt tiny and weak compared to the rest of the world. She turns her head to her brother, who had collapsed into tears in his aunt's arms, and she walks toward him. He lets go and hugs his sister tightly. Tris never wanted to let go, she wanted to hide from the world with the only family she had left.
They were to bury her parents in a week, and her aunt and uncle were planning the funeral. Tris was too young to see them go. She felt as if yesterday, her life ended. Now she had no one to guide her.
She makes her way to her bedroom and she sits on the bed. She looks at the bottle of pills that the doctor gave her, and she throws them across the room. Tris collapses into a fit of sobs, pulling her legs to her body for comfort. She doesn't look up when the door opens, but she feels two people sit beside her. No one speaks, but the silence is deafening.
"I wish it was me," Tris sniffles and looks at Uriah and Christina. Nita stands by the door, her arms hanging at her side, "It should have been me."
"Don't say that," Uriah frowns and hugs her.
Tobias doesn't show up for another few hours, but by the time he does, Christina reluctantly leaves, Nita goes downstairs, and Uriah decides that he needed to leave the two of them alone.
"Where were you?" Tris asks.
"I'm sorry, my father," He frowns. Tobias stands away from the bed, scared that if he gets too close he'll do something to hurt her. She looks up at him, her eyes black from the makeup running, and he sits down next to her. Tobias runs his thumb under her eye, drying her tears and some of the makeup comes off with it. Tris practically throws herself into his arms, and he hugs her tight. Tobias doesn't let her go. He doesn't want her to face this, and he is afraid that if he lets her go something bad will happen. He wished that he could be there to protect her always, but he knew that she was strong enough to look after herself. He told himself that she was, but he did not know what would happen next.
It was not known how Tris walked away from that car crash with only a scratch and a bruise, but everyone was thankful for it. She seemed to be holding it together better than Caleb, who looked as if he hadn't slept in days. It was Tuesday morning, only three days later, and Tris was trying to drag herself out of bed to go to school. Tobias stayed the night, considering he was afraid to leave her alone. She refused to take any of the medication they gave her, despite his arguing and Nita getting into a fight with her about it. Tris was stubborn, and she claimed that she was okay, but no one believed her.
"You can stay home," Tobias says as she gets out of bed, "I'll stay with you."
"I can't hide in my room forever," She smiles weakly, "Besides, I miss Christina and all of our friends."
Tris's uncle, John, did not like Tobias staying over, but he did not make any comments about it.
Tris sits down and starts to put on makeup, but eventually her hand falls and she lets go of the makeup brush, "I don't want to go."
"You don't have to," Tobias responds. Tris frowns and rests her face in her hands, "Hey, why don't we go in late? Come back to bed for a little, then we can go."
"I'm already halfway done," She responds as she points to her face, "I'll be okay. Really, I will be."
It sounded more like she was reassuring herself than Tobias. He gets out of the bed and walks up behind her, leaning over her shoulder with his arms around her. She sinks into his arms and sighs.
Tris barely put on any makeup, and she was too tired to care. She pulls her hair into a pony tail, and finds one of the sweatshirts that she stole from the boys to wear. Today, she was pretty sure it was Tobias's. He sits on her bed, shirtless, leaning into the pillows with his eyes shut. Tris's emotions were all over the place, and at the moment, she wanted to have her way with him, but she walks away before she makes any dumb decisions.
Caleb still didn't want to go to school, which wasn't like him at all. Tris and Tobias left him asleep, though, because he needed it. He had been up late, and Tris was worried about him. Nita would be transferring to their school soon, and would be living with Tris permanently with her parents.
The ride to school was quiet, but not awkward. Tris was constantly looking around, ready for the unexpected. She was dreading the day, mostly because she didn't want to hear a bunch of forced apologies from people that have never even talked to her.
Tobias thought it was slightly insane that she was already trying to go back to school. She looked and acted fine, but there was no way that she was. No one could recover from such a loss so quickly.
When they get to school, she walks in beside him in silence. People stare, but she ignores them. Tobias follows Tris to her locker, and she says, "I don't need a body guard."
"You shouldn't be here," he responds. Tris turns and looks at him, her arms hanging at her sides. She doesn't say anything back, instead she puts her locker combination in and ignores him.
"She's in denial," Uriah frowns. He was standing by his car with Zeke, Shauna, and Lynn. Tris was walking in front of Tobias, her face expressionless. They watch her get into the car, and then leave. The entire day, she acted as if she was not fazed, and Uriah knew that Shauna was right.
Tris barely held it together on the inside throughout the day. As more people said how sorry they were, she began to lose it more. Her head felt heavy, and she barely could hold in the tears as Tobias got into the car beside her.
"I don't want to hear it," She sniffles, "I shouldn't have come."
He doesn't speak, but he grabs her hand. She lets the tears fall as he starts to drive. When he gets back to her house, she doesn't get out of the car.
"Come on," he frowns, "I know it's hard, but please, come inside."
"I can't," She cries, "They're gone. I'm alone."
"You aren't alone," He says sternly, "Tris, you have your brother, and you have your aunt, uncle, and Nita. You have Uriah and Christina, and the rest of your friends. You have me, and I won't leave you. We will never leave you."