3-Tris
Tobias has gone still. I'm not sure if he is breathing. I know he has a disdain for Caleb. Hell, so do I but my curiosity has gotten the best of me and now have to know what happened. I remember bits and piece of a conversation. Something about a serum?
His knuckles have gone white from his grip on the bed rail. "I'm going to go get you some water. I'll be right back." His voice is hard but softens a little, "Don't worry." He releases his grip on the railing and let's his fingertips trail down my arm and across the top of my hand as he walks away. I reach out and grab his hand, trying to pull him back. He pauses for a moment, refusing to turn back towards me. He lightly pulls out of my grasp.
"Tobias!" I try to call him back but my voice has gone hoarse and I can no longer get the words out with any force.
Moments later a nurse walks in. She shines a light in my eyes which makes me head throb. She checks the monitors and the IV's, mutters to herself and leaves room. She returns shortly after with a syringe. "Ok, honey, you'll be feeling better in no time." She says. Immediately, I begin to protest. "No! I'm fine. I don't need anything!" I protest. I'm not about to be drugged up before I know what happened to me. "Ms. Prior, you need to calm down, or we will give you a sedative. You've been hurt quite severely and need to rest!" Her tone is bordering on annoyance which pushes me past my breaking point.
"NO!" I scream. The nurse reaches for my IV, clearly having enough. I move too fast for her though, rolling onto my side and hiding my IV tube under me. Pain slices through me and I cry out. Suddenly, more nurses appear and try to wrestle me off my IV lines. I'm crying in pain at this point and my stomach feels like it's on fire.
"Get off her! What the hell are you doing?" Tobias arrived back to my room with a bottle of water in one hand and his phone in the other. He is wearing his instructor Four face and I can tell he is pissed. The nurses immediately let go of me at the sound of his voice. The one who threatened me with the sedative speaks first. "S-she was refusing pain medication!" she says, "we were trying to-"
"To what?! Scare her half to death? She just woke up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. She's injured, scared and confused. And you think the best way to help her heal is by forcing her to do something she doesn't want to do?" He glowers at them, his gaze going from one nurse to the next. He slams the glass of water down on the table and it sloshes over the side. "She does needs pain medicine but forcing her to take it and injuring herself in the process isn't exactly following the 'do no harm' sentiment, is it?" He's made his way to my bed side where he moved the railing to the bed down and crouches down in front of me with his knees on the floor and his elbows on the bed next to me. Tears are pouring down my face, the pain too intense for me to hide it. I'm embarrassed by actions and it makes me feel even worse.
"Are you hurt, Tris?" He asks. He is still in Four mode, slightly too intense and wearing a steely look on his face. I begin to shake my head automatically but stop myself. "I don't know, everything hurts, Tobias." I'm trying to hold back sobs by now.
His hands cover mine and gently pry them away from stomach where I have them tightly clutched. He keeps one of my hands in his and the other reaches down to raise my hospital gown up, being careful to leave my bottom half covered with a blanket. I blush beet red, suddenly extremely self conscious. I glance up quickly and notice two of the four nurses have left the room. The remaining two are busy filling some out some sort of chart. If Tobias has noticed my shyness, he hasn't let on. He's still Four; focused and intent on his task which seems to be inspecting all my wounds. He sucks in a breath when he sees the bandages. They are soaked red. Blood, I realize. I must be bleeding. Tobias looks up at the nearest nurse. "Get the doctor," he barks. She jumps, startled, and scurries from the room. The last nurse follows, close on her heels.
Tobias stands up abruptly. "Who the hell do they think they are? Do they reall-"
"-Tobias, I-"
"-think they can put their hands-"
"Tobias!"
"On anyone? This is unaccept-"
"FOUR!" I yell, trying to get his attention. Tobias jerks around, spinning on his heel. His eyes are wild. "What?" He replies, voice gruff.
"Could you...could you hand me the water? My throat hurts." As I say it, I realize it's true. My throat feels like I swallowed white hot coals.
He turns and grabs the glass and a chair and pulls it towards my bed. "We need to get you back on your back or sitting up." He reaches for me but hesitates, not sure what to do.
I weigh my options. "Might as well help me up. It's going to hurt either way, right? I try to sound humorous but my voice falls flat. Tobias frowns slightly but helps me up. It's a searing and unforgiving pain. I draw in my breath and hold it. I grit my teeth to keep from crying out and Tobias stops. "No," I gasp, "it's ok. Just..just keep going."
He moves in one quick movement, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. He sinks down into the chair he set by my bed and scoots forward until his chest is inches from my legs. He sets one hand under my leg and one on my lower back, steading me.
"Let me know if you want to lay back down. I'm not sure you should even be up right now." He hands me the water but I have trouble gripping it. Tobias helps it to my lips. The water feels amazing against my raw throat.
I study Tobias over the rim of the cup. He still looks agitated. I don't have the courage to bring up Caleb again and I can tell he isn't ready to talk about it. I hand him the cup back and he sets it back on the table for me. I put my hands on his shoulders, partly to steady myself and partly because I miss the feel of him. I can feel his muscles relax under my touch. I decide to go with an easier question.
"Tobias," I say, giving his shoulders a light squeeze. He gazes up at me. I can tell from his eyes that he is still somewhere between Four and my Tobias. I decide to ask him anyway.
"Where the hell am I, anyway?"
A/N: lots of unanswered questions, but they will all be revealed soon!