Reality
Chapter 7: The morning after
I wake up and realise I am in the infirmary, in Amity. Tobias sleeps in a chair on one side of my bed and my mum sleeps in a chair on the other side. They are both holding my hands. I am wearing a yellow hospital gown and notice that one of the shoulder parts are down on my arm so I can see the bandage that covers my bullet wound. There is a needle in the back of my left hand, the one Tobias is holding, it is giving me blood. There is another needle in my right arm that feeds me something clear, probably some painkillers. The blankets are orange and they cover my legs. The room is a pale yellow colour but all the equipment and furniture is white.
It isn't long before they wake up and notice that I am also awake. They both hug me, still being careful of my shoulder, and I notice that my mum has been crying.
Then I remember what happened to dad.
He's gone.
I feel tears in my eyes and I don't stop them from pouring out.
My mum wraps her arms around me again and Tobias leaves to give us some time. We cry together. Mourning the loss of him. If only Caleb was here now. He's probably still in Erudite with not a clue in the world.
"Have you seen Caleb?" I ask.
"No. He's not here and he didn't come to the safe house."
"Does that mean he's still in Erudite?"
"I don't know sweetie. But I'm not going to leave you. I promise."
"I need dad."
"I know. I need him too, but we'll be alright."
"What are we going to do?"
"Well, we'll stay here until it's okay to go back into the city. But we know they'll come looking for us eventually so we'll have to hide out in the basement, which you can't find the door to unless you really try. When they come we will get in there and stay as quiet as we can."
I just nod into her.
"Is everyone else okay?"
"Yeah, they're fine. Worried about you, but they're good."
"Is Myra okay?"
"Yeah, she's scared, but we'll be here for her. She won't be alone."
I nod again.
Then a doctor comes in and runs some tests on me. He also cleans my wound and re-bandages it.
"Well Miss Prior, you are free to go. I'll give you some painkillers, though. Enough to last a few weeks but the pain should go soon."
"Thank you."
My mum gets me some clothes and helps me get dressed and put my shoes on. They are Amity clothes. Beige trousers and a yellow shirt.
My mum signs me out and leads me to the cafeteria. We grab some food and go to the table our friends are sitting at, all wearing Amity clothes.
As we talk and eat I can't help but think about what would happen if we all transferred to Amity instead of Dauntless, or Abnegation in my mum's case. Life would be so peaceful, and happy, and beautiful. You wouldn't have to worry about war because you won't take any part in it. You're too peaceful to fight.
Life here really is beautiful. The scenery, the way they live life in harmony with one another, the food, the colour. Everything is beautiful.
…
I wake that night with a jolt.
I just had to watch my father die again. But not just him. Everyone else I care about as well. Tobias. My mum. My friends.
I get out of bed and go to the room next door, where Tobias sleeps. He wakes up when I close the door behind me and he looks at me with sad eyes.
"A nightmare?" He asks me.
All I do is nod.
He moves over in the double bed and opens his arms for me to climb into them. And I do. I lay in the bed, next to him, his arms around me, facing each other.
"We're okay, you and me. Nothing else is but we are. And so are our friends."
I smile.
"I love you, Tobias. Just promise me you won't leave me, in any way."
"I promise. I love you, too."
Then we kiss, passionately for a while.
And it turns into more.
…
Today I have to start on chores. Myra and I have to do laundry together. She washes and dries clothes whilst I iron them.
"How's the baby?" I ask her.
"Fine. I went to the infirmary yesterday for a check-up because I haven't had one yet since I found out. The baby is perfectly healthy. They did an ultrasound and I was able to see him or her."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It was amazing. Getting to see my baby like that. It was small but I'm only just over six weeks along so that's to be expected. It was beautiful, though. It was one of my favourite moments of being pregnant because a lot of the other things that I have experienced haven't been fun. But I'm happy to go through it if it means I bring a child into the world."
"It sounds amazing."
She nods. "How are things with you and Tobias?"
"Fine. Amazing. He's the best boyfriend I could ask for. He's kind, caring, funny, strong, brave, supportive, amazing, everything I could ever hope for in a man."
"Is he a good kisser?"
"Yeah."
"Is he good in bed?"
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, don't tell me you two haven't had sex."
I blush.
"You've done it. How good is he?"
"Amazing. Can we stop talking about my sex life now?"
"Fine. Just be careful. Protection doesn't always work, none of it is a hundred percent effective. Hence the reason I'm pregnant right now."
I nod in response.
…
At lunch time the two of us head down to the cafeteria together, grab some food and sit at the same table we did yesterday with everyone else.
I sit in between Tobias and Myra. Tobias kisses my cheek the moment I sit down and I smile at him, kissing his own cheek in return.
We talk about anything that comes to our minds, except the war, even though it's probably on everyone's minds.
After lunch we all go back to work and Myra and I talk about random things as we go to make doing laundry more fun than it is.
We go to dinner, eat, talk, laugh, and then go to our rooms.
I spend the night with Tobias again but we don't go as far as we did last night. He makes me feel safe and secure. He makes me happy even when I'm sad.
He's everything to me. And I can't lose him.
If I lost him I would be lost myself.
I need him.
I love him.
Hey Ravens, how are you?
I will update again when I can.
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