The last part of chapter fifty-three takes word for word what Roth wrote in chapters fifty-two and fifty-three. Everything else was written by Ruth Reinkymov.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
TOBIAS
I wake in a cold sweat on the floor of the dormitory. I look around at the empty beds I pushed against the wall so I could use it today. Matthew gave me an enhanced fear landscape serum the Bureau developed that hones in on your worst fear. I should have known it would be her, that it would be losing her. After everything, my father's beatings, my mother's abandonment, all the bloodshed, my worst fear is still living in a world without Tris.
I sit up and use my damp shirt to mop the sweat from my face. I don't know why I chose today to go through my new fear landscape, there's enough fear in my life that I didn't really need to. Tris has been in a coma for over a week after David shot her in the head. Just thinking about that man makes my blood boil and my fingers itch to wrap around his neck. He hurt the woman I loved and I want to hurt him. But deep inside, I know that hurting David won't make Tris wake up.
After seeing what Zeke and Hana went through pulling the plug on Uriah last week, I know I can't do the same to Tris. The doctors don't know if it will come to that. Unlike Uriah, Tris still shows normal brain activity. Then why won't she wake up? Even the doctors don't know. They speculate that the death serum may have acted differently on Tris and instead of killing her, just put her in a comatose state. Then again, it could be the gunshot wound that barely missed her brain. There are fewer answers than questions at this point.
But it doesn't matter how I feel about pulling the plug, even though I know I could never do it. The decision is up to Caleb. That slimy coward who betrayed Tris and actually stood watching when Jeannie Matthews was going to have her executed in Erudite headquarters. In my eyes, he did the same thing when he let her take the backpack with the explosives knowing full well what Tris would do with them. My hands start to shake as the hatred I feel towards him courses through my veins.
I need to see Tris.
I push myself up, still unsteady after my experience in my new fear landscape. I can't think about that now, I just need to see her.
I walk down the halls of the Bureau past groups of people who have been reset and who are being re-educated. I don't know all the details, but Nita told me they're being told the reset was an accident and that they were on the verge of petitioning the government for equality of GD's and GP's. Whatever it is, it seems to have made the place better.
As I head towards to hospital, I think about what it would be like to be reset and just forget everything like these people did. When Peter chose to be reset, I couldn't understand why anyone would chose to lose all their memories. Memories, good or bad, are what make you who you are. Now I understand. If my fear landscape came true, if I had to live life without Tris, I would cease to exist. A world without her is nothing to me, nothing. I have to see her.
I break into a steady jog until I come to the hospital doors. I take a deep breath, and walk in.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
TOBIAS
I hate seeing her this way. She looks so fragile lying in bed hooked up to all those machines. I know she's still there, the strong woman I love, but it's hard to see that when I look at her tiny body tucked into a hospital bed.
"You look like hell," Christina says as she stands up from the chair next to the bed.
"Thanks," I reply as I sit down on the edge of the bed and take Tris' hand in mine. "How is she today?"
"Same," she says as she stretches and heads for the door. "The doctors came by to check brain function and stuff and they say it's all fine except for the fact that she's asleep. They said she might be able to hear us and that talking to her might help. I tried, but it's super awkward."
"Yeah," I say rubbing by thumb on the back of Tris'. "Thanks for sitting with her."
"Hey, I liked her first," she says with a wry smile. "I'll see you later."
And we're alone.
I swing my legs up on the bed and lie down facing Tris. I put my head on the pillow next to her ear. Christina said talking would be awkward, I can't even think of what to say. I brush a stray hair off of Tris' face.
"Hi," I finally manage to say. She doesn't respond. I knew she wouldn't, I guess I just hoped she would. Hoped she'd wake up and smile at me. But I look over at her face, unchanged and with that, the floodgates open up and I sob uncontrollably. I can't be without her, I just can't.
When my shoulders stop shaking, I take some deep breaths and try again.
"Hi." Same result, but I'm better prepared for it this time. I put my hand on her face and start to stroke it from temple to chin and back up again. "The doctors say that maybe you can hear me and that talking might help." I listen to the sound of my voice bounce of the walls and when there's no response I almost lose it again, but I keep it together with just tears running down my face.
"You know, when your body first hit the net on Choosing Day, all I registered was a gray blur. When I pulled you across I thought your hand was so small. Small, but warm. Then you stood up and you were so thin and plain. If I'd seen you on the streets I wouldn't have thought much, but you jumped first. I couldn't believe that the Stiff jumped first. Even I didn't jump first. I looked into your eyes and they were so stern, so insistent. Beautiful."
I take a shuddering breath and kiss her lightly on the lips. Our kisses were always explosive, awakening a fire inside me and a need only she could fill. Now they are just a ghost of what they once were.
"When I first saw you, I never would have kissed you. But I guess Choosing Day wasn't the first time I saw you. I saw you in the hallways at school and at Evelyn's fake funeral, and walking the sidewalks in the Abnegation sector. I saw you, but I didn't see you. I don't think anyone really saw you that way until you jumped."
I'm quiet for a while just listening to the rhythmic sounds of the heart monitor and the other machine's in the room.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
TOBIAS
I awake to the sounds of the machines and a crick in my neck. As I stretch, I notice Caleb sitting quietly in the chair where Christina was when I walked in. When I see him, all I see is the man who may have killed Tris, my Tris. I stand up abruptly and he looks up from the tablet he's holding, startled by my sudden movement.
"Oh, hello," he says a bit shakily. "It's my shift to sit with her and I thought that since you were asleep it would…"
I grab him by the front of his shirt and lift him from the chair. It's the first time I've seen him since the reset and I can't contain my anger.
"You thought, you THOUGHT!" I scream at him. "Did you think when you gave her the backpack so she could give up her life for you! You, a traitorous, cowardly, nothing. She chose to die so that a rat like you could live!" I'm shaking so much I have to put him down.
Caleb pants and rubs his throat with one hand and holds the other out in front of him in a feeble attempt to fend me off. I look at the pathetic worm in front of me and realize he's crying.
"Tears won't save you," I say bitterly.
"I know," he sobs, "I don't want them to. I deserved to die for what I did to her, to my family. I was ready to die, but then Tris pointed the gun at me and grabbed the backpack. There was nothing I could do. I wanted to, oh I wanted to stop her, I wanted to be the one who die. I wanted to stop all of this and maybe make up for a fraction of what I did. I wish it was me in that bed. I wish I was dead!" he shouts and then collapses into the chair again, sobbing.
I feel no compassion for him. He deserves every shred of pain he's feeling now. He deserves it all and more. I give him one last disgusted look and leave.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
TOBIAS
It's been three weeks with no change. The doctors say it's time to consider some other options. I can't. Tris has to wake up. There is no other option.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
TRIS
There's a pounding in my head that intensifies every time that incessant beep goes off. As I open my eyes, the light from the room seems to sear into my brain and I close them. The beeping gets faster. Where is that coming from? I want to smash anything that makes noise right now.
"Tris?" says a quiet voice next to my bed. "Tris, can you hear me?"
"Barely over this racket. Who set off the fire alarm?" I ask. My voice comes out hoarse and raspy. I cough a few times and open my eyes slowly. The light is still painful, but bearable.
"Tris," the voice gets shaky and I move my head to see who it is. Ouch, bad idea. I move my eyes and see Caleb has come over to the bed.
"Here," he says and takes what looks like a grey clothes pin off my index finger. The machine starts to shriek until he presses a couple of buttons. The noise still rings in my ears and clatters around inside my skull.
"Caleb, I…" I start to say.
Doctors burst into the room carrying syringes and one of them is pushing a cart with metal paddles on it. They look back and forth at me and the machine and seem to realize I'm unplugged, but not dead. They quickly usher Caleb out and start shining lights in my eyes and asking me questions. I don't want to answer any questions, I just want to go back to sleep.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
TOBIAS
Caleb comes bursting into the dining hall where I'm eating with Christina. His face is flushed and he's panting when he comes up to us. I instantly stiffen. I don't want to be anywhere near him and after our last encounter he had been steering clear of me, so him being here now is either really good, or really bad.
"She's…" he stutters through gasped breaths, "She's…awake…awake…go!"
As soon as we hear the word "awake," Christina and I jump up from the table and run full speed towards the hospital. I'm faster than she is and quickly pull ahead. When I get there, the door to her room is closed and a nurse is standing guard.
"I'm sorry, sir, no visitors…Hey!" she says as I bowl past her and into the room.
There she is. Tris. My Tris. She's surrounded by doctors and propped up on some pillows. She looks up and as our eyes meet, her face transforms as she reaches out for me. Three strides get me to her beside and she pulls my face to hers. Her lips find mine and it's explosive.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
TRIS
I got released from the hospital a few days after I woke up. The doctors say they still don't know why I was in a coma for so long. I don't care. All I care about is the man walking next to me, holding my hand. He's my family now.
We walk around the compound together every day. My legs are still a little shaky from disuse, but the doctors say that will go away. I already notice that I can go farther than I could before and my body is quickly becoming strong again.
We walk outside into the gardens and sit next to some bushes with bright red flowers on them. I can't remember what they're called, something with honey. I like how they smell and fill the air around them with fragrance.
We sit for a while before Tobias turns to me and clears his throat.
"Um, Tris, I…" he stutters.
I look at him quizzically, it's not like Tobias to be nervous and uncertain about what he has to say.
"I…I love you, Tris," he finally manages to say.
I giggle and kiss him softly, "I love you too, Tobias."
"When I told you I'd be your family, I meant it," he shifts a little and continues, "I want to be your family. I want to be the person you can count on. I want to be the only one sharp enough to sharpen you. I want to be with you forever."
My heart starts to beat faster and I can hear the blood rushing in my ears as he slides off the bench down on one knee. I know what this is.
"I promise to always climb Ferris wheels after you, to listen to what you have to say, and to take care of you. Beatrice Prior, will you marry me?" as he finishes he takes a thin metal band out of his pocket, an Abnegation wedding ring, and looks up at me with hope in his eyes.
"Yes!" I shout and throw my arms around him, pulling my body to his. "Yes," I say again, kissing him. "Yes," I whisper and I have never been so sure about anything in my life.
