Hi Guys,

Thank you everyone who left me a review! It means a lot to me.

Disneyfan259: Thank you! All I can say right now is that Nina would want to have children with Eric in the future, Eric is a different story though. This accident changed his view on their future.
ShyNiks: She'll be in and out of it for a while. It will take her months to recover though. Nina won't be too happy about Eric keeping it a secret from her.

Chapter twenty-five – Nina's Patient File

Eric brushed his fingers over the back of Nina's hand, she had woken up two days after the accident, but fell in and out of conscious. Mostly because she was in pain. The medicine helped, but it kept her drowsy and tired. So he couldn't actually talk to her and question how she felt and if she remembered what happened. It physically pained him to see her like this. It had been a week and even though he wanted to be with her the whole time he couldn't. Dauntless needed him. He wanted to move her to the med unit in Dauntless, but Erudite pressed the fact that it wouldn't be possible to move her. It would only hurt her more.

"I need to leave." He whispered to her, feeling her fingers twitch in response, "I'll be back soon, okay?"

She grabbed onto his finger which made his heart squeeze painfully. She mumbled something, but he couldn't understand it. Instead he leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her hair.

"Tris will be here soon." He trailed his finger over her cheek, "I love you."

He stood by her side for a minute longer before he actually moved. His mind told him to move, yet his body wouldn't. He kept repeating that she wouldn't be alone. Tris, Four and Tori would keep her company when he couldn't. Sometimes Peter would stay with her and her friends always pressed to show up, but Erudite wouldn't let them all in. So they came in pairs. He was glad she had people around her who cared. William showed up as much as he could. Their grudge forgotten because they both cared about that fragile girl who was in so much pain she mostly stayed unconscious.
When he left the room he almost bumped into Peter, it was his turn today to keep Nina company. He saw them interact together last time and he knew even though Nina wasn't that responsive, she enjoyed his company. The light in her eyes was what he wanted to see.

"Is she awake?"

Eric shook his head, "No, she went back to sleep. The meds make her drowsy."

"Have they given you a date for when we can move her back to Dauntless?"

Eric leaned against the wall next to the door, occasionally glancing inside to make sure Nina was still fine. He knew she wasn't going anywhere, but her being in that hospital bed made him anxious. He needed to know her condition, not knowing drove him insane.

"It's too early, they can't estimate her recovery process so the answer is no for now. Cara made sure the chief of medicine watches her recovery closely, so at least the best people are on top of this."

Peter stepped past him, hesitating in the doorway to glance over at him, "I'm here for you man, if you need someone to talk to. I know you and Four are like dating now…but don't forget that I was your first."

Eric gave Peter a shove, moving him into the private room which belonged to Nina and stalked to the exit. He knew Peter would keep a close eye on her. So at least he could go do his job without worrying too much about Nina, the anxiousness would only fade the moment he was back beside her though.

Nina opened her eyes, glancing around the room. She had fallen asleep again, missing Eric once again. Peter shifted in his chair, surprise glowing in his eyes.

"Thought you'd be sleeping all day."

"I feel like I haven't rested at all." She glanced up at the ceiling, "I missed him again." She hated that she couldn't stay awake when Eric was around, "How is he doing?"

She heard the chair Peter was sitting in creaking, "He is doing fine, don't worry about him. You're the one who is stuck in this bed for months. Worry about yourself."

She turned her head to face Peter, "You know what's funny, I joked about dying that day." She glanced around the room, "Look at me now."

"Are you saying it's karma for joking around about that?" Peter asked, "Because I'm pretty sure it was because you were hanging out the door and suddenly decided to turn around and have a conversation with Tris. If anything this happened because you were being an idiot."

"You've seen it?" She asked confused.

"Eric asked Four to pull the footage up during a meeting. We all watched you fall out of the train, it looked pretty…horrible."

She clenched her eyes shut when she tried adjusting in her bed, feeling like someone just pierced a knife through her back. She felt Peter gripping her hand in his, trying to support her in his own way. He called out for a doctor.

"I'm fine, I keep forgetting not to move too much."

"So you're stuck here for a while."

She opened her eyes, glancing at Peter who still held her hand pretty tightly in his, "Why do you sound so disappointed? It's pretty obvious I'm stuck in this bed for a while, right?"

"Eric wanted to move you to Dauntless. It would make it easier for him to spend time with you." Peter pulled his hand away, looking kind of awkward for holding her hand in the first place, "But since you're like this he has to wait for a few months."

"Can't they sedate me and move me to Dauntless?"

"It looks like just touching you will hurt you so moving you is definitely not an option."

She wanted to go back to Dauntless, even though she wasn't awake the whole time, Dauntless was her home. Being back at the base would make her feel more comfortable. They were right about her condition though, moving her right now would only worsen her state.

"I so want to go back to Dauntless and maybe have an actual conversation with Eric."

"He'd love that." Peter answered immediately, "He'll get so jealous when I tell him we've been talking like girlfriends."

She laughed, the pain shot up her spine causing her to clench her jaw and eyes again, but she didn't care. It felt like it had been a long time since she laughed like that.
That night was the first night she had a proper meal and the nurses helped her change into a different set of clothes. A set Eric brought. She felt so bad for being like this, he didn't sign up for babysitting duty. She didn't tell anyone how she felt, because she knew they'd tell her she was being silly. She wasn't though. Taking care of her for months would only slow him down.

When Eric entered Nina's room a month later her condition had improved. The new experimental meds Cara had made actually worked. Peter talked to Nina on one of her good days, after that she didn't start having lively conversations like that again. Until today. She was actually sitting up in bed, greeting him with a broad smile which unintentionally made him smile back.

"Looking good, princess."

"Feeling good too." She leaned back against the pillow, "I mean I'm not jumping around or anything, but I feel less tired and breathing doesn't hurt anymore."

He kissed her head and took a seat in the chair on her right, glancing at the arm which was still in a sling, "How is the back?"

"Can't move that much, but it's something, right?"

It was definitely something, seeing her like this was like one of the dreams he had at night. It felt like he was still dreaming. Any minute now he'd pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"You're sitting on the wrong side." She told him, "I can't reach out to you on this side."

He smirked, brushing his fingers over her cheek, "It's so good to hear you talk, Nina. It feels like I haven't heard your voice in a decade."

She looked away from him when he said that, making all the alarm bells ring. He knew that look he saw in her eyes. She looked at him like that when she freaked out after her first fear simulation. He didn't want to see that look in her eyes ever again.

"No!"

She snapped her head in his direction again, looking confused by his sudden outburst, "No?"

"No." He repeated, "I'm not letting you give up on us. I'm not giving up so neither are you."

She took a minute to respond, but he knew she understood what he meant, "Eric…You didn't sign up for this." A hollow chuckle left her lips, "I don't want to hold you back-"

"You're not." He leaned forward in his chair, keeping in mind that she was still hurting even though it seemed like she was fine, "You're my family, Nina. I don't give up on my family. I'll be here beside you even if it takes years for you to recover. Do you understand?"

She wanted to shift, but he stopped her. He knew she shouldn't move too much because it would interfere with her recovery, instead he carefully took a seat next to her on the bed, making it easier for her to touch him and look at him. Last thing he wanted was to cause her more pain.

"Eric, I know you are already sacrificing a lot for me. I don't like the idea of me being the reason why you're taking a step back." She covered his mouth with her hand when he wanted to speak, "Don't deny it, I know you're already moving a lot of things around just for me. I also remember the conversation we had a few weeks ago. You want to focus on your career and you can't do that when you're always worrying about me."

He grabbed onto her wrist, pulling it away from his face and kissed her pulse. He felt her heartbeat picking up just by that simple gesture. She didn't mean anything she just said, but he knew she was afraid this would strain their relationship. He didn't once think about it that way though. He didn't understand why she couldn't see it.

"I love you." He told her firmly, "There is no way I'm giving you up. So stop trying to break-up with me, because that is not happening. You're stuck with me for the rest of your life."

He hated seeing her cry, especially when he couldn't hold her the way he always did. They'd always lie under the covers with her curled up into his side while he tightly held her in his grip. All he could do now was kiss her and tell her it would be okay. He hated it.

"I'm so glad I met you that day."

She was referring to their first meeting. Her big mouth was what intrigued him, the spark in her eyes made him like her right away. He had known since that first day that she belonged in Dauntless.

"You didn't hold back, I liked that."

"Four agreed with me." She smiled, pulling her hand away from his grip to wipe the tears away.

"Four would agree to anything you say."

She laughed, he could tell that it made her feel uncomfortable. At least she wasn't hurting as much as before. They already made so much progress since the last time he saw her she was pretty much unconscious the whole time he stayed with her.

"That's not true, that day I lost my virginity he was the one who pushed me to see you." She smirked, "He respects you and I know it's the other way around too."

Eric leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, "Nina, promise me you won't ever talk about this break-up shit again."

She leaned her head against his shoulder, "I promise."

Three months later Cara and the chief of medicine agreed with Eric to move Nina to Dauntless. She loved the idea of being back home, even though she was well taken care off at the Erudite hospital she missed the comfortableness of being in the place which she belonged. The doctor in charge at the med unit even approved of her staying at their apartment. She knew Eric had something to do with it. He probably more or less ordered one of the doctors at Dauntless to do the check-ups at their apartment.

"Eric, I'm fine." She pushed him away when he tried to tuck her in, "You go to your meeting. I'm not alone for long. Peter is going to keep me company."

He still lingered around the bed though, no matter how many times she told him to go to his meeting.

"Do I need to ask Four and Tris to drag you out?"

He rolled his eyes at her, "You're back." His statement confused her, "I just need to convince my mind that I'm not imagining things. So give me a minute, okay?"

She held her arms out to him, needing to hug the air out of him. These last few months she kept thinking what she had done in her life to deserve such a man. Eric hesitated for a minute, she knew he didn't want to wrap his arms around her because he was afraid to hurt her. Her surgery had been successful though and the meds Erudite provided made sure she was recovering fast.

"Fine if you're not going to hug me at least give me a kiss." She pouted her lips, trying to make him come over to kiss those awaiting lips.

Eric however just smiled, shaking his head at her, "If I do that Four and Tris wouldn't be able to drag me away from you by themselves. They'd need an army."

"Thankfully we live in the warrior faction, they can summon an army to take you away."

He chuckled, looking a lot more relaxed than a minute ago. She was glad she was able to make him lighten up a bit before he went to his meeting. Everyone in the faction feared him because of his grumpy mood. This way the meeting would end a lot faster which was beneficial for her. It meant more time to spend with the man she didn't actually want to see leaving their apartment.
After Eric did leave she tried to get more comfortable in her bed, she'd go through some exercises once the doctor arrived which was the only form of activity she got since her accident. The loud knock echoing through the apartment told her it was Peter.

"You know the drill!"

She counted the steps it took for Peter to reach the bedroom, rolling her eyes when he greeted her with that big grin which meant trouble.

"Oh, I missed Eric? Dammit it, I wanted to wish him a good day at work and tell him how much I love him and will miss him while he is like two feet away from me."

She grabbed one of the pillows she didn't actually use and threw it at his head, groaning in frustration when she missed him.

"Thanks for the pillow, now I can get comfortable in here." He sat down right next to her on the bed, staying on the covers while he used the pillow to support his back and glanced at the screen which showed news about the city, "Oh, you're watching boring crap about the city nobody wants to know."

"I really don't understand how you and Eric are friends." She handed him her tablet, "Right now I can totally understand his friendship with Four."

"Don't be like that, you know you love me, princess."

It took a lot of willpower not to smack him across the head, "Don't call me that."

A few minutes later Peter let the doctor in who went through her physical exercises with her. There wasn't much she was allowed to do, but just getting out of bed and stretch a little was enough to make her happy. She wanted to recover even faster so she could go back to her life. It would also make her feel less guilty about making Eric do everything by himself.

"It's going well, Nina, I promise you in a couple of months you're allowed to go back to your job. No jumping out of trains or shooting guns, but I'm sure Eric can arrange something for you."

"Yeah, doc, have you met my boyfriend? I don't think he will let me go back to my job anytime soon. Doctor's approval or not. I mean my clumsy posture made me fall out of a freaking train, I'm sure he doesn't trust me to go do my job on my own."

Not anyone would have noticed, but her Candor upbringing made sure it didn't go past her. The guy suddenly became nervous and started moving through her files with lightning speed. Almost as if he couldn't stand being in one room with her.

"So am I allowed to move around the apartment from now on?"

He glanced up from the files, "Your results are very positive so I can allow that. No heavy lifting, no physical exercise other than the ones I'll go through with you, promise me." He narrowed his eyes on her, "And no sex."

She couldn't help but to burst out in laughter. It was funny considering the fact that Eric wouldn't hug her, kiss her or even slightly touch her for that matter. Like there was a chance the subject of sex would even come up when she wasn't fully recovered.

"Doc, I can assure you no such thing could even happen between us." She watched the guy go through the bag he carried, "And now I hear how sad that even sounds. I'm going to shut up now. I have a bottle of that in the bathroom, so you don't have to prescribe me more."

"Do you know the date? Because Erudite send some new ones over for you."

She shook her head, "No, I don't. I feel bad for asking you to check, let me-"

She rolled her eyes when the pushed her gently back in bed, shaking his head at her, "It's no trouble. I'll be right back."

She watched him enter the bathroom and quickly reached for her file. She knew it wasn't good to snoop, she would probably not even understand all the medical terms, but she needed to know her own progress. Flipping through the papers she frowned noticing the confidential stamp on the last page of her file. Only with permission of leadership you were allowed to view it, it didn't say anything else. That didn't sound sketchy at all. Why would she have to ask Eric or any of the other Dauntless leaders for permission to view her own medical file? She quickly dropped the file back near the bag of the doctor and smiled when he walked back with bottle in hand.

"These are fine." He placed it on the nightstand beside her, "If you need anything else-"

"No, I'm totally fine, doc, you don't have to bother with me anymore." She glanced at the door, "Peter!" She called, smiling when he entered the bedroom, glancing from her to the doctor, "Can you walk him out, please? Thanks for your time, doc."

He collected his belongings and headed to the door together with Peter who questioned him about her progress. It was nice to know your friends really cared about you. She leaned back against the headboard, trying to come up with a reason why a part of her file was confidential and could only be viewed with permission from leadership. She felt conflicted about that, a part of her wanted to know, but a part of her also warned her that it was better not to know. The accident had been horrible, no one said it out loud but she he had seen it in their behavior. Eric would not treat her like she was made out of glass of it was anything but.

"I hear we have something to celebrate!" Peter bursting through the bedroom door thankfully interrupted her thoughts, "No more bed rest inside this apartment, you must be thrilled about that." He took a seat next to her, pretty much feeling like he was at home, "Apart from the fact that you cannot leave this apartment nor do anything fun with Eric, but yay progress."

Smiling she gave him a slight shove, "Not being confined to this bed anymore is good enough for me. So yes, we do have something to celebrate."

Peter helped her walk to the living room, helping her get comfortable on the couch while he took a list of things they'd need for dinner. She knew Eric wouldn't want a lot of people in their apartment so she'd settle with inviting Four and Tris over. It just bothered her knowing Tris would feel uncomfortable with Peter being in the same room as her. She hoped Tris would still come over, but she knew not to get too excited about it.

"I need to get the stuff." Peter shoved the list into his pocket, "You're going to be alright?"

"I'm fine." She promised him, "I don't need another Eric."

He didn't look that convinced, but she didn't have to push him the way she had to push Eric to leave the apartment. With Peter gone she had time to analyze the situation again. She knew she could ask Eric anything so when they were alone she'd tell him about her patient file. He'd probably tell her what she was already thinking. She was taking this way too damn serious.

After the dinner party which was thankfully quiet enough, Peter was knocked out on their couch while Eric cleaned up and Nina took a shower. By herself, which seemed to make her giggle like a little girl. He knew she was excited to do things on her own again, but he couldn't help but to think that doctor was insane for making the decision to allow her to move around again. Sure a few months flew by and she seemed fine, he didn't want her to overdo it and hurt herself. Once the dishes was done and everything was back in order just the way he liked it he stalked into their bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

"How is Peter doing?"

"He is knocked out on the couch. I can't remember adopting him."

Nina chuckled, "Be nice. He has been good for me these past few months."

"Yeah, that's the only reason why I allow him to stay there." He eyed her suspiciously, "Are you sure you're fine?"

She pulled her hair out of the big bun, and slipped into bed. Gesturing for him to come closer. He took a seat next to her though, he still needed to take a shower but he wanted to talk to her first. He knew she was tired since today had been a bit too excited for her.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He asked, observing her face, "Just be honest with me."

"I'm fine, Eric!" She smiled, "I promise. I'm not in pain, trust me those meds Erudite sends over is like a miracle drug. I feel-"

"Fine?" He rolled his eyes at her.

She leaned in to kiss him, he turned a little to make it easier for her to reach him and kissed her back. Making sure he only held onto her hand because he was still afraid she'd break when he held her too tightly like he was used to.
He pulled away, tossing his jacket on the end of their bed and kicking off his combat boots. He felt her eyes on him the entire time, smirking when he met her gaze. He pulled his t-shirt over his head and threw it at her, chuckling when she gasped and cursed him.

"You're slow, Nina."

"You would be too if you were confined to a bed for months!"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "I wouldn't."

"You would."

"No, I wouldn't." He headed toward the bathroom, but stopped and turned to look at Nina when she called his name, "Yeah?"

"So I saw something interesting today-"

"In this apartment?" He frowned, "What did Peter do?"

She snorted, "Nothing! I mean I saw a glimpse of my patient file and noticed a confident stamp on the last page of my file. Do you know anything about that?"

"You got all that from just a glimpse?" She blushed knowing full well he didn't buy her story, "It's because of the accident, Nina. The sight was not pretty nor was the state you were in."

"I get that." Now she was the one who didn't sound convinced even when he used his serious leader voice and his harsh look, "It just doesn't make sense that it's confident-"

"I'm only allowing people who are on your case to view that information."

"I knew it." She sighed, "You're the one behind it." She looked up meeting his gaze, "Why couldn't you say so in the first place? I was just curious to know why they'd do that."

"I know it's hard for you, but I just want to move forward. To leave the accident in our past, because I don't ever want to go through that again." He leaned against the doorpost, smirking when he noticed her eyes trailing over his body, "So can we just pretend it didn't happen?"

"Sure, just moving forward." He was glad she didn't question him further, because he honestly had no legitimate story for pulling rank on that patient file of hers.