Hey guys. How are you liking it so far? Let me know in a review ;). No, but seriously. I need to know how you guys are liking it. I'll post chapter 4 after a review or two, but until then you guys are gonna have to wait. (by the way, chapter 4 is the best so far. It's pretty mushy and yeah.) Anyways, here's chapter 3. Enjoy!
Chapter 3
Tris
I have no idea how long I've been swimming up. That's what it feels like, now. Different compared to when I first awoke here. Every movement is like swimming.
I'm beginning to think of giving up. Is there even and end to this place? Tris. Shut up, I think to myself. Tobias is up there. Now quit complaining, and wake up. I stop for a second. I listen, and still hear the drone, although it's fainter than before, which scares me. I try my hardest to tune into it. "Tris, please w... up. I love you. T... ease wake up. I... you." I realize it's Tobias, begging me to wake up. His voice fades in and out, almost like a radio.
With a last burst of effort, I shoot upwards, screaming Tobias' name. And I think that is what gives me the chance to wake up. The fact that he is there, begging me to wake up because he can't bear my death. I scream Tobias' name as I soar upwards, and a pinprick of white appears in what seems to be the centre of this abyss.
As I continue to scream his name, and flyu upwards, the light grows larger and larger. I stop right before it, and look down. I see another light, and I know it's extremely far away. Not today, I think, and I swim through the light above me.
Tobias
"Please wake up, Tris. I love you. Tris, wake up. Please. I love you." I've been repeating it ever since 8:30 AM, and it's now 3:45 PM. I'm slowly moving my thumb in circles around her palm, and I'm just about to give up when her ring finger twitches.
I freeze. "...Tris?" I ask her. I know her finger wouldn't move of it's own accord, which means she's in there. "Tris. Tris. TRIS!" I yell, and I keep saying her name until her eyes flutter open. I stop everything I'm doing and look at her. At first, she doesn't seem to recognize me, but then her eyes find mine and she grips my hand weakly.
"Tobias." she whispers hoarsely. Tears are already falling, but these are tears of joy. "Yes, baby, it's me. I'm here. You're awake." I smile the biggest smile of my life.
"I sure am," she says and grins a bit. Her eyes never leave mine, and it seems like an eternity before I speak again.
"Tris, I need to go get a doctor, okay? They need to know you're awake. You have to stay right here. Don't go anywhere... Promise me." The look in her eyes knows that I'm asking her not to fall back into a coma, and she looks more determined than I've ever seen anybody look before.
"I'm not going anywhere, Tobias." She says, and she attempts to point at the door but she's too weak to move at all. She smiles at me, and I drop to my knees. Ecstasy is flowing through me, a happiness the likes of which I've never felt before. Tears of joy are still streaming, but the flow is starting to die down. "Go." She tells me. I chuckle, my first laugh in over a week. "Still bossy, are we?" I ask her playfully. She doesn't answer, just looks at me with love and compassion in her eyes. Wordlessly, I turn on my heel and sprint out the door. "DOCTOR!" I yell, running around wildly. "DOOOOOCCCTOOOOOR!" Tris's doctor comes skidding around a corner, and stops at the look of pure joy on my face. "She's awake, isn't she?" he asks and smiles. I just nod, my throat too thick with emotion to speak. The doctor passes me, and at the entrance to Tris's room, he beckons to me. "Come on," he says. "You're the one who woke her up. You have absolutely every right to be with her right now." I follow him through the door, and just the sight of Tris fills my chest with warmth. She already looks stronger, but still exhausted. "Hello, Beatrice," says the doctor as he pulls up a chair next to her bed. I stand on the other side, my hand on her shoulder. "My name is Dr. Arnwell. I've been your caretaker for the past week and a bit." So, that's his name. I realize I haven't thought to ask him in the past week, and feel a little shameful.
Tris shifts her eyes, which haven't left mine since I entered the room, to his face. She smiles at him, and she justlooks so fragile that it hurts me a bit,
but I know she'll get better. "Thank you," she says, and I can tell she means it. "Without you, I'd be.. I don't know where I'd be. Gone. You brought me back, doc. I owe you." At this, Dr. Arnwell shake shis head. "No," he says, smiling to himseflf. "I may have taken care of you, but Mr. Eaton here-"
"Tobias," I tell him warmly, and smile.
"Well.. Tobias here, he's the one who brought you back. He sat here for a week straight and coaxed you awake. Thank him, not me." He smiles again, at Tris and I, and stands up to leave. "Well, Tris, all your monitors are reading that you're fine, just extremely tired. I'll leave you two alone for a bit, but you need to get some rest. No funny business, either!" He winks at Tobias, and then exits the room. I sit in the chair Dr. Arnwell just vacated and look into Tris's eyes. Before I can say the three words I've been meaning to say since she woke up, Tris speaks. "I love you, Tobias," she whispers. I realize that it's difficult for her to talk, but I can't bring myself to tell her to stop because I honestly thought I'd never hear her speak again. "I want you to know something.." She looks me directly in the eye, and all I can see there is her love for me, burning brightly. "I came back for you." And in this moment, my heart just bursts with love. "I made the choice to stay alive. I remember it. I don't remember the time of my coma, but I remember right before." She looks at me with her eyebrows furrowed and a slight frown on her face. "Why haven't you said anything yet?"
I snap out of it, realizing I've been staring at her the whole time she's been talking. "Sorry, love. I'm just... Speechless with joy. I thought I was going to lose you. The last week, my life had no meaning. None. I almost ended it, until Dr. Arnwell informed me you were alive." My voice breaks on the last word, and I don't know why I'm crying, but I am. I guess it's just hitting me how close I came to losing her. "Shh, honey.. It's okay. I'm here now, and that's all that matters." She reaches out her arms. "Come here, you blubbering idiot." I oblige, and she pulls my lips to hers, although it takes a lot out of her. The moment we kiss, my heart bursts, and I try to put as much love as I possibly, or even impossibly can into this kiss. I can't believe I almost had to live without this. After we finish the kiss, I say what I meant to say fifteen minutes ago, and it comes out sloppy. "IloveyouTris," I say in one breath, and she just laughs at me. "Well, I guess that's better than nothing," she says and grins at me. I look down at her, and I realize how skinny and fragile she's become in the last week. "I love you too, Tobias." Her eyelids droop, and then snap open again, and I can tell she's fighting to stay awake. "You need to get some rest, darling. I'm gonna go get some supper, and then I'll come back. Okay?" "Okay.. love you.." she says and drifts off. I kiss her forehead, repeat the sentiment back to her, and just marvel at the fact that she's really here. Eventually, I turn and leave the room, letting my angel rest.