Thank you as usual for all of your kind words! Some of you are getting as excited as I am about where this is headed.
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, and enjoy the chapter!
The beeping is what wakes me again. But this time I feel groggy and drugged. The people above me are wearing ugly green hospital masks.
"Just hold on son, you took a nasty fall." The muffled voice of one of them says but I can't make out which one exactly.
I try to lift my head trying to take in more of my surroundings. I am only able to lift it slightly, but my head feels like it weighs a ton. The person closest to my right shoulder places his latex covered hand on my arm, and shakes his head in disapproval. Letting my head fall back against the table I try to take deep breaths but everything inside of me hurts.
As I struggle to breathe I can feel myself slipping back under.
I don't know how much time has passed, but this time when I wake I am in a different room. Everything looks too pristine, even the walls seem to have a shine. The cannula in my nose is cold and tickles me with every breath.
I try to lift my arms to rub away some of the annoyance. I really just want to take the stupid tubes out, but my arms feel like dead weight, and don't move even with my effort. Needing to look around I attempt to lift my head, again to no avail. Looking up I can see metal rods stretching across my forehead and realize that I am in a head brace. My eyes travel as far down my body as possible without movement and I notice casts on both my arms and legs.
"Tobias, you're awake." Christina's voice says from somewhere to my right. Before I can try to strain myself to find her she moves into my eyesight, smiling slightly at me, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes.
"You really gave us a scare there." She tells me, her eyes traveling sadly down my body as she takes in all the damage.
"What happened?" It comes out barely a whisper of breath, but somehow she still hears me.
"You jumped off the Hancock building."
"No." I try to refute, because that isn't what happened.
"What were you thinking?!" She asks me angrily. I can see her knuckles turning white as she grips the bar to the side of my bed.
Her reaction makes me want to tell her to just leave. She is not allowed to be angry at me when I am so angry at her. But the machines are beeping angrily at both of us as my heart rate escalates. A nurse comes in, pushing Christina to the side, and begins to fiddle with the machine.
"Christina," I begin, set on telling her to leave, just as the nurse pushes the button for another dose of morphine and I am again lost to the darkness.
This time when I awake there is no beeping. It is so quiet I hear myself sigh in relief. Looking to my left I see Christina. She is wearing different clothes from before and looks bored. It takes her a moment to realize I am awake.
"Hey, are you hungry or anything?" She asks me. Just her voice seems different to me, but I can't pinpoint exactly why.
"Water," I croak out, my lips cracking from just the effort.
The slow sound of the water pouring from the container into the styrofoam cup is maddening. Holding it to my lips, she nods at me to take a drink. The water is cool and I can feel it as it glides all the way down.
The air between us is thick and awkward.
"Why are you here?" I finally ask, breaking the silence.
"She wanted me here. I don't really understand why, but here I am." She says cryptically.
"My mother?"
The way she eyes me, almost panicked, gives me a sinking feeling in my stomach.
"I think I should just page her now. She'll be mad if she misses you waking up again." She says, walking out of the room.
"Wait," I manage, my arm gripping her wrist loosely.
It is at that moment that the door opens.
Tris is staring at us, her eyes betraying her emotions as she takes in my hand on Christina's arm. This must look horrible, and I feel like I may vomit at any moment.
"I'll just leave you two…" She stammers, turning to walk out of the room.
"Tris." My voice is quiet but reverent as I stare at her like a man lost in a desert who has just found his oasis.
She stops in her tracks, but doesn't turn to face me. I can see her shoulders shaking slightly. Is she crying?
"Please, don't leave me again." I beg, as my own emotions begin to overtake me.
"I'm just going to…" Christina says, pointing her thumb behind her shoulder, but when she realizes that neither of us are paying attention to her she sidesteps around Tris before exiting the room.
Tris still has her back to me, and I desperately need her to turn around. I need to know that I am not losing my mind.
"Tris," I try again, but this time her name comes out as a sob.
Turning to look at me her eyes are brimming with tears. She walks slowly towards me, cocking her head to one side before her hand reaches out to swipe away the tears I didn't know were sliding down my cheeks.
"Please," Is all I can say before she climbs into the tiny bed with me. Her arms wrap around shoulders, her fingers brushing lightly through my hair. Burying my head in her neck it feels like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders as I sob without abandon.
Thus begins the journey between the two worlds. As of this moment, which one do YOU believe to be real? And of course we all know which one we WANT, I mean we are here reading FF right? But which universe seems more real?
See you about the same time next week!