It's wrong. She knows it is wrong with every fiber of her being, yet she keeps her head bowed and remains obedient. Ava was selfish, she wanted to preserve her own life, she was to young to not have a future. Yet the nagging in her gut never ceased, always pulsating within her as she forced smiles during conversations with her family, pounded at her when she would remain silent as she went about her duties in the hospital. When she would see Jeanine, the rare times they were, she could barely contain her disgust, her face struggling to remain passive and not contort into an expression mixed between hatred and anger.
Constantly she fought with herself. Stay and continue on knowing innocent people were being killed, or leave, disappear into the factionless and perhaps become the next casualty of this war. It was one of those times now, Ava realized, as she slowly went through the names posted on her clipboard. Erudite and Dauntless traitors. She doesn't want to treat them, but she stiffly selects a patient by number, retrieves her tablet and enters the information. On a board behind the nurses station her name pixelates next to the pod number her patient waited for her in. Setting the clipboard on the desk Ava makes her way down the pristine white hallways until arriving at her destination.
She doesn't knock, a minor infraction but one she uses as an outlet to curb her need to defy. She enters swiftly the door automatically falling shut behind her. The green of her eyes instantly meet angry blue ones. She glances quickly at her tablet and realized in her random patient selection she had somehow picked one of the worst ones. Dauntless leader, Eric. She fixes her eyes back to his, noting the sneer on his face, "You're supposed to knock." He hisses.
Ava blinks back a look of outrage, lips settling in a firm line. She would not react to him, she would not accidently administer the wrong medications, she will not slip and cut a major artery while extracting a bullet. Mantras she repeated over and over in her head, "Apologies, it will not happen again." Is her curt reply as she advances to the bed he is sat on, legs splayed over the side. That is when she takes the time to observe the blossom of dried blood around the hole in his thigh, "I am sure you already know what to expect next. You should have already removed your clothing, as soon as you are finished I can began treating you."
He doesnt say a word, doesn't even give her time to turn before he is stripping, commanding her gaze with his. Typical Erudite bitch, cold and uncaring, though Eric is surprised when she doesn't turn around, a slow smirk curling his lips when he catches the spark of defiance in the green of her eyes, "Its not everyday you get to see men like me, huh, Erudite?"
At first she says nothing, settleing herself in a low stool by his bed, a silver tray spread beside her. She pulls on a pair of off white gloves and then administers a local anesthetic near the wound, "You are still going to experience pain from this procedure, but it will be dramatically reduced by the serum I gave you. As for your question, as of late, men like you have been a dime a dozen."
Before Eric can respond Ava has already begun the process of removing the bullet, his teeth gritting tightly in anger and pain. She didn't even give the serum time to start working, he realizes, when the extreme pain starts to dull out just as a metallic clang sounds in the metal dish atop the silver tray, "Bitch." He grits out, looking down to meet her eyes. She wants to smile, he can tell, but she doesn't, "How the fuck did you get a nurses position?"
"There was once a time I believed in what I do. Now I do only what is expected of me."
"Abusing your patients, I am sure, is not what is expected of you. I can have you killed for this. I can kill you for this." Eric sneers, his steely gaze watching her darkly as she applies a cold cream to the injury, mumbling something about cutting the healing process in half, and applying a simple bandaging, "Look at me when I speak to you, Erudite."
Her gaze snaps to his, a controlled fire burning in the emerald of her eyes, "You don't have authority over me, and I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything to warrant a death sentence. Stop being a fucking baby." Ava snarls, removing her gloves with a snap, discarding them in a waste basket, "The area probably feels well right now, but the serum will wear off quickly. I'll have Dr. Donnelly get you a prescription for an oral pain reliever and an antibiotic. Refrain from rigorous physical activity for a couple days, stay off it for a bit."
Eric's eyes narrowed on the nurse, his hand snapping around her wrist when she turns to leave, "What makes you think I don't have authority over you? I have a lot more power then you think little girl. You should watch yourself, your attitude is suspicious, maybe I should take you in as a suspected divergent." The tone of his voice dripped of malice and promise.
Ava takes a sharp breath at his words, knowing for her own safety to give in and give to Eric the fear and submission he wanted. His grip, while harsh and violent, goes unnoticed as she stares into his steely eyes, his voice replaying over and over in her head. She knew he could do it, but what terrified her the most was that she knew he would do it, "My apologies for speaking out of turn, sir." She bows her head a bit, but is cruelly jerked forward, upper body colliding with a hard chest and her thighs slamming into the steel frame of the exam table. Her head snapped up, eyes wide, to find Eric's face mere inch's from her own, "Sir?" She swallowed, believing absolutely that her life was on the line.
He isn't gentle with her, intentionally bruising the shape of his fingers into the flesh of her wrist. A growl is low in his throat as he takes in the fear that dulled the fire in her eyes into an indistinguishable glow. He was a little disappointed she hadn't fought him more, but satisfied she acknowledged her place, "Apologies for speaking out of turn," he repeats with mock humor, "Anything else you would like to add to that?"
Ava wants to vomit, snarl, crawl under a rock, and fight all at once. Her anger is great, her fear much greater, and her pride a bitter, jagged rock to swallow, "I am greatly sorry I intentionally caused you pain during treatment." She was stiff, her voice was stiff. She didn't mean it, she feared he could see that, but even if there were a gun to her head she couldn't say it with sincerity.
"You're a shitty liar." His hand had released her wrist but now had a grasp on her shoulder, her white lab coat bunched in his hold. He forces her back slightly, gaze roving over the hospital badge clipped to the pocket over her left breast, then pulls her back with force, "Ava Storm. Johnathan Storm's daughter? Who would have ever guessed his daughter would have grown up to be an idiot?" Then jeer is hurtful and he sees it when she flinches, not at being called an idiot. No. But at the mention of a certain scientist who'd defected factionless several years ago.
"Don't talk about my father." She cannot stop the words from falling from her lips, nor can she stop herself from pulling from his grasp. It only serves to get her jerked painfully forward again and she contemplates digging a finger into the circular injury she had just treated. Only the threat looming over her head giving her the strength to control the desire, a hand palm down on his chest to brace herself, the other balled at her side, hanging just near the aforementioned wound "Release me, Dauntless, there are others who need to be treated."
"Ohhh, hit a nerve have I? Brought the fire right back." He smirks, knowing she can feel his breath on her face, "Maybe you are divergent." Eric says slyly, the glint in his eye clouding the blue in an omnious gray.
"Stop saying that." Ava says lowly,her chin tilted up to meet Eric's gaze. He was taller then her by a great deal and the elevated table did nothing to lessen the height advantage. If she were to stare straight ahead she could intimately study the dark tattoos stained on Eric's neck. She wants to say terrible things to the man who was holding her hostage but she bites her tongue, tasting the metallic tang of blood flood over her taste buds, "Sir I have had a stressful day, the pods have had non stop traffic since I checked in. I am tired and frustrated, and I am afraid I've taken it out on you. I am very sorry and no longer wish to waste your time," she pauses momentarilly, gauging the storm in Eric's eyes, noting it starting to calm. She slowly retracts her hand from his chest, almost afraid of him lashing out at sudden movement, "If you will, sir, please release me and allow me to finish my duties."
He holds her stare, only breaking it to watch the hand that had been burning and trembling against him drop to Ava's side, balling into a fist just like the other one. He found it peculiar, intriguing, suspicious indeed. Dragging his eyes back to hers he slowly lets go of the fabric of her lab coat, his lips curled upwards in a smile that made Ava shudder. Good girl, be afraid, he silently thinks. She doesn't move right away, so he slips his hands under the flaps of the white coat, tugging sharply to pull the bunched cloth at her shoulder back into place, "You can go. But I want you to personally deliver my medication," he regards her with a mocking glare as she takes several steps away from him, "Make it fast."
Her eyes roll when she is turned away from him, she hates that she can feel her body shaking, ashamed she had let him scare her so easily. Divergent. If he knew how right he was she would be dead on the spot. Five years ago when Ava took her aptitude test she had gotten a terrifying result, but one she cleverly kept concealed. There is no better place to hide then in plain sight, and to be frank, before conspiracies came to light, Ava enjoyed what she did. And books were a big thing for her, she loved to read. To leave now, even though the danger had doubled, she would have nothing. She would have no one.
Relief floods over her when the pod door closes behind her and only the echo of her pristine white heels sounded in the bright hallway. Things had considerably slowed down, there were no longer flashes of blue and bodies stained with blood in every direction. Her stop at the nurses station is brief, another girl who had been in her initiation class, and then in her medical practice, was sitting at the desk, looking as exhausted as Ava felt. The sympathy in Ember's eyes doesn't go unnoticed, but Ava disregards it. Someone had to take one for the team, right? "If Lionel asks where I've gone, please tell him I've gone to the pharmacy to fetch our Dauntless guest his medications."
"The order is in the system?" The blonde, blue eyed Erudite nurse asked, at Ava's nod she gave a tired smile, "Dr. Donnelly is in surgery right now, so I will have the file sent to Dr. Jordan, he will approve the prescriptions for you. I'm sure they'll be ready by the time you get there."
"Thank you Ember." Ava returns her smile with one of her own, before making her way to the elevators. The sooner she got those prescriptions, the sooner she could get Eric out of the hospital, and hopefully out of the Erudite district completely. The man was a beast, a wild creature. His reputation certainly preceded him and she never wanted contact with him again. Though she tells herself she wouldn't mind seeing him in terrible pain, at the mercy of another. It would suit him, certainly.