When I wake up some hours later, I feel better. Not exactly rested, but better, at any rate. I'm also starving, I quickly realize.

Standing up to stretch, I notice that Tris is now hooked up to the computer next to me. It makes me nauseous, to see her like that again, lying utterly still as though she's dead. I shake my head, smooth my hand over her forehead and kiss her on the lips. Unlike the last time, she's not completely unresponsive, however, and she smiles slightly at the pressure on her lips, her eyes suddenly fluttering open.

"Hey you," she whispers. "You alright?"

"Fine," I say, "I fell asleep."

She smiles at me. "Good. You needed some rest. I'm just going to do this for awhile longer, okay?"

"Sure," I respond, stroking her cheek.

Her eyes close.

"She'll be fine," a voice across the room says. It's Fernando, sitting at one of the computer terminals. I grunt at him.

"Where's Cara?"

"Helping Inez with Jose."

"Okay - I'll be back."

Fernando nods absently, never taking his eyes from the screen.

"She'll be fine," he repeats, and I'm not sure which "she" he is talking about.

I find Laila in the kitchen with a cup of tea, and she is clearly not fine. Her shoulders are hunched up, and all the lines of her face seem to be dragging down - corners of her mouth, eyelids, the creases between her eyebrows. I grab some dried fruit and crackers and sit down next to her.

"What's up?" I ask her, talking with my mouth full.

She looks at me over the rim of her cup and shrugs. I return her gaze without comment. We sit silently for a moment, and I can tell she's blaming herself for what happened to Jose.

"Did you know Jose? I mean before you joined us."

She nods. "He came to visit Inez all the time. He's like a brother to me."

The room seems to swell with her silence.

"I can't believe I left him there. I left him to die."

She's staring into her cup, and I'm not sure if she's really talking to me, or if she's just talking and I happen to be there.

"You didn't leave him to die - you went back for him. And he's safe now."

"Safe," she says derisively. "Won't matter much to Inez that he's supposedly safe if her baby brother never wakes up."

"Like your brother."

Laila's eyes snap up to mine.

"Amar," she says softly. "Of course. I should have known - he told me he was training initiates. No wonder you looked at me like that in Abnegation."

"Like what?" I say defensively.

"Like I was either a ghost or you wanted to jump me."

I feel heat creeping up my neck.

"He was my friend. My mentor," I say quietly. "It was the first time in my life I felt safe, like I had a home and a future."

She looks at me intently. "Well, isn't that ironic?" she says harshly. Then she shakes her head a little, relenting. "Sorry. He was a remarkable human being. About the only mistake he ever made in his life was to stay in Dauntless. He wouldn't listen to me - I told him they would figure out what he was, but he was so sure. He loved Dauntless too much to leave."

I look down at my hands. "I still miss him. All the time."

"Me, too," Laila sighs. "You should have seen him when he was a little boy," she chuckles. "He just about drove my parents crazy - they could not keep track of him. He was always getting into the training rooms, the kitchen, the Pire... They caught him once, walking the rail above the river like it was some kind of tightrope. He almost fell when he heard my mother shriek, and then had the guts to scold her for startling him. And let me tell you, my mother was no slouch!"

I talk to her then about Amar, that he taught me how to throw a knife, how to hold a gun, how to still the noisy thoughts in my head. He taught me who I was, and what I was capable of. We trade stories for some time, then Laila gives me a small half smile, as she stands up.

"Well, I should get back to Inez now, see how Jose is doing,"

"I'll come with you."

"Four," she says tentatively, hesitating, "thank you."

"For what?" I shrug.

"For bringing Amar back to me, even if it was just for a moment." She kisses me on the cheek, and I feel the flush crawling up my neck again. Laila doesn't notice, fortunately, as she has already turned away and is walking out of the kitchen.

I follow her.