"He's awake and asking for you." Cara says, after she had thrown open the door and unknowingly interrupted a very uncomfortable conversation.
Six words that completely threw Tris off her already teetering axis.
Three hours earlier
Since arriving several days ago, Tris has alternated between spending time at Eric's bedside, and with the ongoing work involved in tracking Max and Jeanine. Truth be told, she's mostly avoided being with Eric due to the mounting discomfort she has felt due to her own decisions to distance herself from him and the life they had barely began to build together before all hell broke loose.
That's how she finds herself in the early hours of this morning, sitting next to Peter Hayes and in the midst of an already uncomfortable conversation with him when Cara had burst into the room with the news of Eric's awakening.
A scant twelve hours ago there had been an incredible breakthrough, Jeanine was actively being tracked, and it was all due to bravery and ingenious ideas of Cara.
Cara had explained she wasn't even sure if her plan would work, however several days before Jeanine and Max took off Jeanine had tasked Cara with having her watch repaired. It seemed a very innocent gesture – Cara knew the watch had previously belonged to Jeanine's mother, the former Erudite leader Delilah Matthews, and for all intents and purposes it seemed to be nothing more than a cherished family heirloom.
Cara's sister-in-law Milagros was a trusted member of the internal technology team, and while watch repair wasn't exactly a technical challenge, Jeanine had been specific in her instructions to ensure the watch never left Cara's sight even while under repair. Cara had gone to Mila to just get an opinion on who would even be a good candidate to work on the watch, and Mila decided to take on the task herself.
At first, the watch repair was boring and mundane, until Mila realized that the watch wasn't just a pretty antique, instead it was a sophisticated device that allowed for tracking of the former leader who wore it, in case she were to ever go missing. Cara took a risk, and she knew it was one that could cost her everything, but she had Mila restore the watch completely. The tracking capability was made with a technology that was no longer in place, however Mila and she would work tirelessly to restore an application to use the tracker.
It took a few weeks, but they finally had a breakthrough. Not was Jeanine wearing her watch, which was expected since it had been a part of her daily routine since losing her mother, but they were now able to see the movements on a restored computer.
For several hours before Cara's interruption, Peter and Tris had been sitting in relative silence, watching the blip on the screen. In the several days since Four and Tris' arrival, Peter has had many conversations with Four, but very little interaction with Tris, outside of peaceful coexistence. They weren't exactly friends, Peter had tormented Tris throughout their initiation. In his eyes, he believed she was getting preferential treatment from their trainer Four, and he worked tirelessly to prove it. He had done a lot of digging, and had found out that the two were former lovers while in Abnegation. He had taken this newfound knowledge to his friends Molly and Drew, and they ran with it. When Al, Drew and Molly ultimately attacked Tris by trying to push her over the railing, Peter wasn't surprised. Everyone in the transfer class, except for Christina and Will, was gunning for Tris.
Peter was just as surprised as everyone else to learn it wasn't Four but Eric with whom Tris was carrying on a clandestine relationship.
He's just as surprised now at Tris' lack of interest in Eric's recovery ever since her arrival back in Erudite.
"Eric is doing really well." Peter offers. Tris shows no reaction, but he continues, "Fernando and his team started the process to bring him out of the coma."
Tris knows that the coma Eric has remained in was one that was induced under Fernando's care in order to give Eric a chance to fully recover. His refusal to rest was a detriment to his recovery, and once he had perforated the repair on his artery it was obvious that drastic measures needed to be taken to ensure he wouldn't hurt himself again.
Jeanine had noticed that she was no longer able to track Eric, and it took a long conversation with Cara and Fernando before she finally relented and trusted their explanation. They had come up with a story that was close enough to the truth, and something Jeanine would believe as well. Jeanine had seen how sick Eric was during their video call, so when Cara and Fernando had explained that Eric's illness was related to the implant shifting, she believed them. She also believed their explanation that removing the implant was necessary when it partially detonated while in surgery.
Their entire team also realized when Jeanine learned of Eric's condition and didn't make an attempt to return to the Erudite compound herself that their suspicions were valid. Jeanine and Max were truly in hiding, and wherever it was didn't seem to have the technology to have visual confirmation of what was going on inside Erudite. Jeanine and Max seemed to be solely reliant on getting their intel from their onsite informants.
Even in their isolation, they wanted to control Eric, and Cara had received direct orders to get another tracking implant in him as soon as possible.
"Has Jack been brought up to speed on the latest developments with tracking Jeanine?" Tris asks in an effort to change the subject.
Peter stares at Tris and makes no effort to disguise his disgust. "Are you actually asking about Jack when I tell you that Eric might be awake very soon? What is wrong with you?"
"I'm glad to hear that he's doing well." Tris replies flippantly.
Peter scowls at Tris, "You were married to him. You jumped in front of a damn gun for him. You begged for his life when he was sentenced in Candor. You became a fucking war criminal when you broke him out of not only Candor, but the city too. We all risked everything to get you here to him and you've been a fucking ice princess the entire time you're here. I don't understand it." Peter presses.
"You don't need to understand it." Tris replies angrily.
"I actually do. I've risked my own life, several times, in an effort to save his. I'm the one who's been with him through all of this bullshit with Jeanine. I've had his back the same way he's had mine. Every damn thing that man has done has been in an effort to protect YOU. He's been stuck in this hell hole, pretending to be a good little soldier, to keep as much space as possible between Max, Jeanine and YOU." Peter hisses.
"He followed her…"
"He was forced to. Look, I get it Tris, I really do. You watched someone you love become someone you don't even recognize. He was an idiot for ever getting involved in her war, but it's not like he had a choice. He hid shit from you, I get that too, but he did it because he thought he was protecting you."
"He should have told me…"
"He thought he was protecting you! He did what is expected of any Dauntless soldier, but even more so for a Dauntless leader. Was it stupid? Yes. Do you have a reason to be angry at him? Also yes. Should you forgive him? Also fucking yes. If you want to move on with Four, then do it, but you need to at least have an adult conversation with Eric because he deserves it." Peter continues.
"Why do you even care? It's not like you and I are friends." Tris says lamely.
"The fact that you and I aren't friends means I can speak freely when it comes to you. I don't coddle you or kiss your ass like some people in your life…"
"How DARE YOU?" Tris shouts.
Peter continues, "You are a distraction to his cause. He wants this war to end, and he wants Jeanine dead. If you are only here to flaunt your new boyfriend in his face, you need to go back to Portland. Everything that we need you and your group for can be initiated from there." Peter replies.
Tris is shocked at his sudden anger, and her guard drops. "I'm not here to flaunt anything. I'm here for him."
"Then go be with him. They're going to try to wake him up, and there's absolutely no reason for you to be in here. Stop avoiding him. Get out." He hisses.
Tris opens her mouth to argue, but she quickly shuts it. As much as she hates to admit it, Peter is right, she's been avoiding going into Eric's recovery room because she just doesn't know what to say to him. She's being incredibly selfish, and she knows it. He's come close to death, twice now, and yet she's been busying herself with work that others could be handling. She won't deny that she's still holding on to residual anger that stems from his involvement with Max and Jeanine's war, but she also knows he really didn't have much of a choice when it came to following orders.
Cara bursts into the room, exclaiming that Eric was awake and was asking for Tris. Peter and Cara both watch in an almost shock as there is practically no reaction from Tris upon hearing the news.
"My apologies for the interruption, I had assumed you'd want to know." Cara says before turning towards the door.
"Wait." Tris calls out. Cara stills, and turns towards her. "I want to see him."
Cara releases the breath she doesn't even realize she's been holding. She replies with a simple nod of her head and Tris follows her from the room. They don't make it very far before running into Fernando.
"Is something wrong?" Tris asks.
"No, everything is going well." Fernando answers carefully. He glances at his wife, silently asking if he should continue. A smile, and a nod is all the answer he needs to go on, "his neuro functionality is perfect, and he is already answering questions and asking his own applicable questions."
"There were concerns about neuro function?" Tris asks.
"Yes. Eric had flat lined when his aortic repair perforated. He was without oxygen for quite some time until we could get him stabilized through heart massage and shock. His heart was extensively damaged during the extraction, and he will forever live with the results. However, more importantly, he will live, but his quality of life will just be a little different." Fernando explains.
Tris looks back and forth between the couple in front of her with silent tears trailing down her cheeks. She's known this entire time that Eric suffered greatly as a result of this implant, but hearing the details for the first time has shaken her to her core.
"Thank you both. I know you don't have to share anything regarding his recovery with me. I'm grateful for what you have both done to save him." Tris says in a watery voice.
"He wants to see you. You should be with him." Cara says gently. She looks over at her husband, and their unspoken bond is great enough that he knows that his wife wants to talk to Tris alone.
"I do need to finish examining Eric, if you'll excuse me. I will be certain to come find you when he's ready for visitors."
"I don't know what to say to him now that he is awake. I would think that he hates me." Tris says, Cara notices she is staring at Eric through the window.
"Eric could never hate you." Cara replies.
"He'd be one of the few who were incapable." Tris sighs.
Cara frowns, she realized earlier that her own attitude towards Tris has been inappropriate and she began taking steps to undo some of the damage, "I've been in touch with William. I did explain Eric's predicament to him, in detail, so that he would understand why Fernando and I went through such great lengths to protect him."
Tris is surprised, and she makes no effort to hide it. "How did that go over?"
"As difficult as I'm sure you're imagining. My brother is stubborn, but he is also extremely intelligent. It took him a bit to work through his own preconceived notions in his head, however he and Christina seem to finally understand the incredibly difficult situation Eric was put in. Like us, they cannot grasp the concept of following orders from a morals standpoint, yet they do understand that their Dauntless training dictated that orders from a superior officer weren't to be questioned." Cara explains.
"They wouldn't even give me a chance to explain myself." Tris replies with a shake of her head.
"It's an unfortunate family trait. I too can be very stubborn when expressing my opinions." Cara replies with the slightest trace of a smile. "And with that I believe I owe you an apology."
Tris is once again caught off guard, "Excuse me?" she stammers.
"Eric is my absolute best friend, and I can admit that gives me tunnel vision when it comes to him. I also was raised to believe that Abnegation was our enemy and that divergents were almost an abomination, unfortunately that stacked the entire deck against you, and the final straw is when you divorced him. The truth is your relationship is not my business, and I was wrong to treat you the way I did when you came here. I immediately judged you and I went into ultra protective mode and I was wrong." Cara explains.
"I didn't expect that." Tris says.
"You don't deserve to be mistreated or disrespected due to your relationship with Eric." Cara says. "I am guilty of it because of my friendship with Eric. My brother, his wife, your family...they are guilty because of their hatred of him. Eric is responsible for himself, you shouldn't have to carry his burdens." Cara says.
Tris tries to speak but she is overcome with emotion. Besides Four, this is the first person with any true personal connection to Eric and the war that's shown Tris any empathy. Cara reaches her hands out and grasps Tris' hands in her own.
"Thank you." Tris finally says, clutching onto Cara as if she was her lifeline. "That means so much."
Cara sees her husband approaching and she squeezes Tris' hands.
"He's ready now." Fernando says.
Tris takes a deep breath and follows Cara and Fernando to the secluded room they have Eric recovering in. It feels so much like the walk she had taken through the hidden bowels of the Candor jail when she finally found her husband after his capture and subsequent arrest. She looks back at Cara, and the other woman shakes her head at the unspoken question.
"You two need to talk, alone." Cara says. "You have my support if you need it. We will be right down the hall, in our office.
Tris enters the room, she notices that it's much quieter without the ventilator. Eric's silver eyes meet hers and his lips turn up in the slightest smile.
"Hi." He says in a scratchy voice.
"Hi." She returns. "You look good."
"You look… different." He replies.
Tris runs a hand over her hair, smoothing down any fly aways from her severe platinum blonde ponytail. "I needed to blend in."
Eric studies her briefly before replying, "You were never meant to blend in, you were meant to stand out." He husks. "Sit?" he asks.
Tris takes a seat in the chair next to his bed like she has several times before. She has a hard time meeting his eyes, and instead looks down.
"I've spent a lot of our relationship apologizing for things, and you have every reason to never forgive me. I wish I could go back and change so many things, Tris. I knew I had to follow orders, I knew about the fucking war and her obsession with divergents. I didn't know everything, but what I did know should have kept me away from you. I shouldn't have ever brought you into my life while all of this shit was going on. I love you, but I've ruined everything. You lost our child, and I couldn't even be there to mourn with you. I'm so sorry, for everything." Eric says.
"I've been so angry, Eric. I lost our baby. We had to leave our home. I had no one, and when I found out that once again Max and Jeanine were involved with your disappearance I just kind of fell apart. My parents wouldn't speak to me. We finally make contact with Dauntless just for me to find out that Christina hates me. Then, once I finally get my head on straight and try to be the leader people expect me to be I found out no one would even work with me because I was married to you. Then, once our marriage was over, people see me with Four and suddenly I'm trustworthy again." She says through tears.
"You're with Four?" He states.
"Eric…"
"You divorced me without ever giving me a reason. I heard a lot of conversations that people were having while Fernando had me sedated, so I came to my own conclusions. You and Four."
"Are you actually arrogant enough to think I ended our marriage just to be with him? You can't find any fault in yourself?" Tris asks.
"You tell me." He replies calmly.
"He has been there for me. He has been there through the anger, through the tears. The confusion. The mourning. Everything. I lost everyone because of you Eric. Is that what you want to hear immediately after being brought out of a coma that was induced to save your life? This is ridiculous. You don't need this. You don't need to have a relationship conversation, you need to focus on your recovery. Anger isn't good…"
"Tris, I'm not angry, I'm calm. I know what my limitations are right now. I know exactly what happened to me. I just need to know if we are done." He presses.
"Four and I are not together. I will admit, we purposely have made it appear that we are to make our divorce more believable. My parents disowned me for being married to you. Same with everyone in Dauntless, Candor and Amity, no one would dare even listen to a plan to take Max and Jeanine down while I remained married to what appeared to be their number one soldier. I also couldn't jeopardize telling anyone you weren't working for them willingly. I did what was expected: I divorced you, and I moved on with Four. It was all believable on the surface. Four and I have been playing a part. He's dating someone else, and even if he weren't he and I would never get back together. None of that matters, because the last thing on my mind right now is a relationship."
Eric opens his mouth to speak, but he is cut off by the door to his room swinging open.
"I'm sorry, we have eyes on Jeanine's tracker and it now appears that she's on her way here. We need to secure you." Four says as he looks directly at Tris.
"She knows she's here." Eric states.
"We're afraid so." Four replies, before pulling an obviously shocked Tris towards him.