Chapter Two
Tobias' POV
I sit in the uncomfortable, orange chair next to her bed, holding her hand and willing for her to wake up and realize we are all waiting on her. Waiting on my little fighter.
It's been four months since David shot her and four months since she fell into a coma that she hasn't yet regained consciousness from, and I've barely left her side, only occasionally for the odd nibble of some food and more cups of the hospitals lukewarm coffee, which although smells and tastes like feet, is surprisingly soothing.
Christina comes and visits a lot, especially now that Uriah has been released from hospital. Instead of turning off the machine, the Doctor's decided to try one more operation, and luckily, he pulled through and woke up. It was a miracle they say. This is what I try to remember when I am sat here with Tris, that if Uriah can get through it, so can Tris.
"Hey Four, the Doctor wants a word." Christina says softly, sticking her head round the door, making me jump in surprise.
I nod at her and she leaves. I let go of Tris' soft hand and walk away, whispering that I will be back soon, even though I know it is silly and she probably cannot hear me. I open the door to her private room and follow Christina to Doctor Smith's room, my heart going in flutters, wondering what he want this time.
Christina pauses outside his door and knocks three times, hard.
"Come in." He calls, in his high, pretentious voice.
I can't stand Dr Smith, and he can't stand me. He is so pretentious and high and mighty, and obviously cares way more about his next pay packet than any of his suffering patients. I've mentioned this a few times, when he hasn't properly checked Tris' progress, and now he can't stand me.
I walk in and he is sat as his desk with a grave look on his face. I immediately realize something is seriously wrong and go pale.
"Dr Smith? Is everything okay with Tris?" I ask, fear available in my voice.
"Please take a seat, Mr Eaton."
"No, just tell me."
"We've been examining Miss Prior for a while now, and there have been no noteable changes in her progress since you brought her in, and it looks highly unlikely that there will be any in the near future, so for that reason, we have decided to discharge her of her life support machine, consequently, ending her life. I am so sorry Mr Eaton." He tells me, a grave and sincere look on his face.
I hear Christina burst into hysterical sobs beside me, but I can do nothing but stare at him. He can't be right. They can't turn off her life support. She can't die. She could still recover. She can't leave me. We're fourtris. Unstoppable. Strong. Survivors. Destined to live a long and happy life together.
"No! You can't do that! She can't die, she could still get through it. You can't just leave her to die!" I yell, anger surging through my veins, making me close to exploding.
"Mr Eaton, she is wasting hospital materials. With the amount of money and equipment we are wasting on your girlfriend, who clearly won't be recovering anytime soon, we could treat plenty of patients. She is a waste of good money. Now if you could just sign here-"
All of a sudden I lose it. How dare he call her a waste of money? She is priceless! I storm forward and grab him by the scruff of his scrawny little neck and slam him so hard against the wall his glasses slip down his long, bony nose.
"Now, listen to me you patronizing bastard! My girlfriend is not a waste of fucking money! She is fucking priceless! Quite frankly, I don't care about your other fucking patients, as long as Tris pulls through this, which I know she can, if it wasn't for gold-digging bastards like you. All you care about is your fucking pay packs, not your patients like you claim to! How fucking dare you!" I scream, slamming him repeatedly into the wall, tears pouring down my face.
"Four! Four! Stop it!" Christina screams, grabbing me and dragging me off the Doctor, making him fall the ground, breathing heavily and clutching his neck.
"He can't do it! He can't kill her! I love her, Christina, I love her." I sob.
"I know. I know. And so do I, Four, so do I. But think about it, what else can we do? Leave her there to suffer for another four months and then come back here? Or another four months after that? Or another? No matter what, we're stuck in this vicious, endless circle, which means we will always come back to this! Think about it. Think about Tris. What's best for her?" she protests, looking me in the eye.
"I know." I whisper, almost too ashamed to admit it. "I just can't live without her."
She engulfs me in a hug as I sob, shaking in her strong arms. It's no comfort though, she's not Tris. I should be holding Tris in my arms, not Christina holding me. I need to be the strong one, for Tris. She wouldn't want me moping about, watching her suffer and the blood draining from her face, casually waiting for her life to end. Christina's right, we are stuck in vicious loop, noting will ever get better. I gently pull out of her embrace and turn towards the papers. Silently, I pick up the pen and sign on the dotted lines, signing her death warrant. Setting her soul free to be with her parents.
"You've done the right thing." Dr Smith says, arrogantly flicking his long fringe out of his eyes.
"Shut up you arrogant prick. Call yourself a Doctor." I hiss venomously at him.
He chooses to ignore me and instead walks towards the door.
I follow him down the long, squeaky clean corridor until we reach her room. He goes to step inside, when Christina reaches out a hand and stops him.
"We're saying good bye first." She tells him.
Dr Smith goes to protest but she just turns to me.
"Do you want to go last?" she asks, completely reading my mind.
I nod numbly and watch her go in. I watch her through the window, sitting in my chair and talking to Tris. She is in there for a few minutes, before she runs out in tears. She stops at me and looks at me, tears pouring down her face and opens her mouth, as if to say something, then promptly shuts it.
I squeeze her shoulder reassuringly and walk past her, taking a deep breath before I enter the room. I walk in slowly, and sit on the edge of her bed, just sitting there silently for a moment, watching her chest move up and down, slowly and listening to her life support machine beep irregularly. Then, I open my mouth to speak.
"When your body first hit the net, Tris, all I registered was a grey blur. I pulled you across it and your hand was small, but warm, and then you stood before me, short and thin and plain and in all ways unremarkable – except that you had jumped first. The Stiff had jumped first. Even I didn't jump first. Your eyes were so stern, so insistent. Beautiful. But that wasn't the first time I ever saw you. I saw you in the hallways at school, and at my Mother's false funeral, and walking the sidewalks in the Abnegation sector. I saw you, but I didn't see you; no one really saw you the way you truly are until you jumped. I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last. So please realize when I say this, that I didn't want to leave you. I didn't want to let you go, but I know it is what is best for you. I love you too much to let you suffer like this. I've been selfish enough to let you suffer like this for so long already. So I'm freeing you, letting you go. I understand that this is what has to happen. You've done so much in the short time you've had on this Earth, you've fought for what you believed in, done what millions have feared to do, and put an end to everything, and that just makes me love you even more, if that's even possible. So go, go and be with your parents, and all of our friends we have lost to get to where we are. Don't worry, I will forgive Caleb for betraying you, and I will look after him, as I know it is what you would want. But, I will never forget you Tris Prior. We are Fourtris. Strong. Super couple. And I fucking love you Tris, more than I've ever loved anyone in my whole life. You saved me. You set me free. Now I'm setting you free."
As I finish, sobbing, I lean down and gently kiss her forehead, and then turn around to the window and nod for Christina and Doctor Smith to come in. They enter with a couple of Nurses, who stand around Tris and the life support machine, poised and ready for the Doctor's fatal instructions. I stand next to Christina, clutching her shoulder. He saw the Doctor nod at the nurses, signalling them to turn off the machine, and closed his eyes, waiting for the fatal last beep of her life machine. But it never came…