I feel heavier and heavier as I pass each branch. The unpreventable force forcing be down is impossible for me to break. I know I'm going to fall, my feet itch with anticipation. A fall from this high will paralyze me or worse.
My hair falls bashfully around my face, blurring my vison even more.
Suddenly, I don't feel as heavy, my body stops tensing and I can barely breathe. Instead of plummeting onto the soil, I feel strong arms wrapped tightly around me and shaky breaths.
I see his ocean blue eyes and realise its Tobias. He must've caught me, before I hit the ground and somehow managed to balance on the branch. He is so amazing.
One the initial shock is over, my body stings in pain. Especially my right leg. Tobias is in pain too, but he's trying hard to hide it from me. His arms are a bright red from catching me, I must have tripled my weight when I was falling and still he managed to save me. They look like they are already forming fresh bruises.
The pain of my leg increases dramatically and I collapse. Tobias holds me carefully and places me down into a sitting position, I am careful to avoid the sight of my leg. For some reason I just don't want to see it, then it becomes a problem that I will have to solve. I think it is bleeding, but I'm not sure.
"Tobias, are you okay? Your arms are coated with bruises." I ask anxiously.
"I'm fine, you should be worried about." Tobias says fearfully, his eyes widen with concern.
I finally examine my legs. Blood gushes from a large gash on my thigh. When I collided with Tobias I must've knocked it off the branch. It's the same leg that I damaged earlier on the train. Atleast my left is unharmed.
The throbbing gets stronger and less bearable. I have lost a lot of blood. I breathe deeply and try not to panic.
It becomes a challenge to keep my eyelids open.
I can still faintly hear Tobias screeching for help. He stops for a while and softly rocks me in his arms. It must hurt him a lot to cradle me like this, but he doesn't stop, he doesn't want to leave me this vulnerable.
He must see my eyes flutter- keeping them constantly open is no longer possible and he starts pleading with me to stay awake. I try so hard to concentrate on Tobias and keep my eyes open, but I can't. The darkness creeps into my vision and blinds me from my surroundings. My head clears of thoughts.
I must've passed out. I awake in a hospital bed to a machine, which aggressively beeps at me. I am attached to a few unknown tubes.
I hate hospitals. It smells too clean and everyone constantly wears a look of pity on their face.
No one is in my room. I start to panic, where's Tobias? The only thing that stops me from running out and hunting him down is the agony I get when I move my legs. I shuffle slowly forwards at lean towards my feet.
There is bandages around the wound, but they aren't stained with blood like I thought they would be. I want to see what have done to me. I unravel the layers of my bandage.
They have operated on me when I was passed out. My cut has been sewn together. The scar stretches from just above my knee to a few centimetres my hip. It about 15 cm long, but it wasn't cut too deep. My foot looks completely normal, not damaged at all, it makes me doubt if I actually hurt it on the train.
I spot a figure behind the door and hide my unbandaged leg underneath my blanket. I will probably in trouble if the doctor sees that I have been messing around with it.
A nurse walks in. She must be from Amity; she has autumn hair (brown and red) and a matching red uniform. She walks in with a little bounce in her step, like most Amity women do. I expect her to be too caring and childish, but she's the opposite.
She immediately starts speaking. "Tris, your leg was in need of urgent medical attention. Your 'friend' managed to carry you all the way to the hospital, which is remarkable in his condition.
"How is he?" I ask guiltily, it's my fault he's in pain.
"His skin is very bruised, he has been given creams to help his skin recover quicker. He will be back to normal in a few days- don't let him heavy things, it will increase the recovery time and maybe make the damage permanent."
"Okay." That's all I can say. I am so relieved that he will be good as new in 2 days!
I realise that I haven't asked about my own injuries yet.
"So, how are my legs?"
"We operated about 20 minutes after you fell off the tree, it hasn't cause as much damage as it could have done. Also, your foot has been treated with healing creams."
I did actually hurt my foot on the train, I wasn't just imagining it.
"When can I walk again?" I hope it's soon because I'm already bored of lying down.
"You should be able to be able to walk in three days, until then you will have to wear crutches to get around." She replies seriously.
Crutches? In a dauntless compound? It's going to be impossible to balance when I walk to the pit, it's so high up. This is going to be a challenge.
"Thanks for your help." I reply kindly.
She begins to walk towards the door.
"When can I see Four?" I blurt out quickly. I'm surprised she even understood it, but she did and she has paused in the doorway.
"You need your rest." She says plainly.
"I'm not even tired, I need to see him! He saved my life." I shout back.
She thinks for a while then decides.
"Even though its way past visiting hours, I will let you see him for a bit. You must promise me that you will sleep afterwards." She replies, slightly irritated.
"I promise." I say softly and smile at her, if I annoy her to much she might change her mind.
She walks out the room. After several minutes of fidgeting, Tobias appears at the doorway. He gives me a smile as he walk towards me. Both of his arms are bandaged, so I can't see the damage I caused. He sits on a chair next to my bed.
Tobias is the first to talk.
"I'm so glad that you are alive." He blurts out. I'm glad too.
"Thank you for catching me, Tobias."
"I didn't know you could be so heavy." He jokes.
I punch him weakly in his chest.
"If I was so heavy, how did you manage to catch me?" I question.
"I was my incredible strength." He replies.
"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that?" I sarcastically say back.
He climbs on my bed without using his arms and lies next to me. He leaves one hand by his side and the other gently strokes my hair. I love having him this close to me, I always have.
We kiss passionately, both of us are happy to be alive. He accidentally hits my scarred thigh. I yelp in pain and he scoots away to the other side of the bed in shock.
"What happened? Did I touch your legs?" He asks, genuinely concerned.
I nod back and hold my clutch my leg gently in my hands. It does help but I pretend it does.
"Tris, I'm so sorry." He whispers.
I know he didn't do that on purpose, he would never hurt me.
I move closer to him and wrap my arms around him.
"It's okay, it was an accident." I say truthfully and I try to make him feel less guilty.
He seems less tense now that I have forgiven him and my leg doesn't hurt much anymore.
We slowly move together towards the middle of the bed. I move onto my side and lie on my good leg. He does the same, so we both face each other. His begins to stroke my hair again.
"Tobias, I'm going to wear crutches. But only for a couple of days until I can walk again." I say.
"It's okay and it's only for a few days." He replies.
We talk for hours about our injuries and the factions- mostly about how weird it is that the Amity now how to be brave and the Dauntless know how to be peaceful.
I start to feel tired and I soon fall asleep to the sound of Tobias' heartbeat.