"We better get to work, Tris," Tobias quietly says to me after we finish our breakfast.
"I'm going to check on Daniel's condition then I'll meet you in your office," I say. We tell our friends goodbye and get up from the table. Tobias walks toward his office, and I head to the infirmary. I talk to Daniel's doctor, and he updates me on his condition. He hands me a progress note to add to our file, and he also gives me an updated list of Daniel's visitors. I'm surprised to see Samaire Towne's name on it. I need to show this to Tobias as soon as possible.
"Doctor, can you tell me what relationship Samaire Towne is to the victim?"
"She told the nurse that she's his girlfriend. Is that not accurate?" he says.
"Actually, I can't say if it's accurate information or not. Thanks for the progress note, doctor. All this information is very helpful." I quickly walk to Tobias' office to update him on this new information. When I get to his office I knock once and walk in. He's sitting behind his desk, and Tori is in one of the chairs straight across from him. They're talking about the job openings. I sit in the empty chair next to Tori.
"Hi, Tris. You're just in time to hear the job openings," Tori says. She flips a notebook open and starts reading from a list she compiled the day before. "We have one opening in the control room and two ambassadorships. There are two nursing internships available. They turn into full Dauntless positions after six months of training at the hospital in town. There are part time job openings in the tattoo parlor, boutique, clothing store, and salon. I thought maybe one person could fill all those openings for one full time job. There are two entertainment fighting positions available. Plus there's always guarding the fence."
"I want to talk about initiate training," Tobias says. Tori and I turn our attention to him. "Lauren approached me last night and told me she no longer wants to train initiates. That means one available position; however, I want to add two more instructors, one to the transfers' class and one to the Dauntless-born class. Our initiates are our future, and I think they deserve the best training we can give them."
"Do you still want to train the transfers, Four," I ask him.
"I do, and I would like you to be my partner, Tris," he says staring deeply into my eyes. He finally breaks our eye contact and looks at Tori. "Would you be interested in a training position?"
"Not really, Four," she says. "Training's not for me. I'm happiest in the tattoo parlor."
"Tris?" he looks my way, expectation on his face.
"Yes," I simply say, nodding my head. "So that means we have two Dauntless-born instructors to add to the job openings list." Tori jots that information down in her notebook.
"I'll type up the list and get a copy to each of the initiates at lunch," Tori says.
"Tris and I are going to work on the apartment assignments while you do that," Tobias says. Tori starts to get up when I interrupt.
"Tori, you'll want to stay for this," I say. She sits back down, and they look at me expectantly. "I went to the infirmary this morning to check on Daniel. The doctor is now confident he's going to make it. The swelling on his brain has gone down, and he's no longer concerned about brain damage. Although Daniel has not regained consciousness yet, the doctor believes he'll make a full recovery. He gave me these to add to our file." I stand and give Tobias the progress report and the list of additional visitors. "You'll recognize a name on his visitor's list, Samaire Towne." Tobias and Tori both stare at me. "I asked the doctor if he could tell me what her relationship to Daniel was. She apparently told the nurses she's his girlfriend. Could that be?"
"She witnessed his beating and never said she was his girlfriend when I questioned whether she knew the victim or the assailants," Tobias says. "This situation is getting stranger by the minute."
"Are there cameras in the infirmary?" I ask, my mind going to Tobias' meeting with Zeke last night. I haven't asked him about that yet.
"Not in the rooms but there are some in the hallways. I'll show you where they are the next time we're down there," he says. "I'll have Zeke go back through the past 24 hours of recordings and see if Samaire was with anyone else when she went to see Daniel."
"How did your meeting with Zeke go last night?" I softly ask. Tobias looks at me briefly with regret in his eyes.
"It went well. He got onboard with anything we need after I told him his mother was on the first list. I made the decision to tell him. I hope you two are okay with that." We both acknowledge we're fine with that. "We're going to set up a private office for him soon so he can monitor the cameras privately. The workers might be suspicious at first but this isn't the first time a private office for the control room supervisor has been offered. Max was constantly trying to get me into a private office but I declined because I didn't want to isolate myself from the others. Zeke doesn't care about that, I already asked him."
"Is there keystroke monitoring software on the control room computers?" I ask. Tobias and Tori both give me a strange look. I suddenly wonder if that was too much of an Erudite-like question. "What?"
"Yes, there is but I'm not sure if anyone has ever monitored it," Tobias says with a proud look on his face. "I'll look into that. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. We'll be able to see if there's a spy in the control room. I'll make a note to check for the files."
"I'm going to go back to my office and get the job openings typed up so I can distribute them at lunch," Tori says.
"Don't forget I need a copy for our files. Maybe we can streamline the process and eliminate the paper files when we get a handle on everything that's going on around here," Tobias says. That sounds good to me. I'm tired of looking at paperwork already. It would be a lot easier to open a digital file.
Tori goes to her office leaving Tobias and me alone for the first time in hours. He takes out the apartment assignment book and comes to sit in the chair next to mine but before he sits down he hands me a tablet and pen from his desk. The silence is awkward between us for the first time. He opens the book and studies it for a moment.
"Have you had any apartment requests from any of the initiates?" he asks.
"No," I reply.
"We need nine apartments right?" he slowly raises his head and looks at me. "Or have you changed your mind and we need to assign 10 apartments."
"I haven't changed my mind," I say. I look at the clock and see that if we want to get this task done before lunch we need to concentrate but I decide I have time to reassure him of my feelings. "I love you, Tobias Eaton. That hasn't changed." He smiles at my admission and the tension eases.
"I love you, too," he says. "Okay, nine apartments then." We work for the rest of the hour assigning the initiates apartments and getting the welcome packets together. Each welcome packet comes with an identification card that doubles as a payment card, two apartment keys, and a cell phone.
"You have a cell phone?" I ask. I've never seen him with one before.
"I was given one in my welcome packet. I never used it and lost it somewhere," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. I take a cell phone from the box in front of me and toss it to him.
"I think you need one now that you're a leader. You can call me if there's ever another emergency," I say.
"That's a great idea," he says.
"Do you think we should check on Daniel again?"
"Yeah. I want to tell the doctor to contact me immediately when he wakes up." He looks at the cell phone and adds, "Maybe this thing will come in handy." Before we leave, we plug our cellphones into their chargers. We secure the welcome packets in an empty cabinet drawer, lock the door behind us, and leisurely walk to the infirmary.
"I didn't tell you how nice you look today, Tris," he says with a warm smile.
"Thanks," I say, blushing pink. "This is one of the outfits Christina helped me pick out last night. She made me buy practically a whole new wardrobe last night. I can't wait to get into our new place and put my clothes away. I kind of feel homeless at the moment."
"You can take your clothes there and put them away tonight. The furniture was delivered and set up this morning," he says. Excitement and apprehension rush through me. I can't wait to see our furniture in the apartment but last night's events have tainted what should be one of the happiest memories I ever have.
When we approach the infirmary doors, Tobias opens one for me. He motions to the light above the nurse's station with his eyes indicating placement of a hidden camera. I nod slightly to let him know I understand. The doctor informs Tobias that Daniel has woken up, and he leads us to his room.
"Please limit your visit to five minutes. He really needs his rest," the doctor tells us. I walk into the room and immediately stop in my tracks. Tobias runs into me and has to steady me with his hands. An electric jolt rushes to the pit of my stomach when he touches me.
Lying in bed is a badly battered blond-and-green-haired young man. His right eye is swollen shut, and his left is just a slit. There's a gash from the corner of his left eye up into his hair line that has been closed with multiple stitches. Both eyes are black, and there are purple and black bruises covering his face. He is bare-chested except for a wide bandage wrapped around his chest to help heal his broken ribs. The portion of his torso that isn't covered by a detailed black and red dragon tattoo or the bandage is covered with the same purple and black bruises covering his face. His left wrist is in a bright orange cast resting on a pillow.
"Daniel, I'm Four and this is Tris. We're two of your Dauntless leaders. I brought you to the infirmary yesterday morning," Tobias says to him sounding more like himself than Four. "Do you know who did this to you?" Daniel's jaw is wired shut to let it heal so the doctor gave him a tablet and pen to communicate with.
"I don't remember their faces. I've tried, but it's blank," he writes.
"Can you tell us what you do remember?" I ask.
"I was going to my job at the fence. I was running late and had just missed the train so I had to wait for the next one. Then I remember a sharp pain at the base of my skull. Everything after that is pretty fuzzy. I do remember kicks and punches but nothing else. I'm sorry." Our five minutes are almost up so we direct the conversation to Samaire.
"Do you know Shannon Williams, Samaire Towne, or Lex Mullen?" Tobias asks. "They witnessed the attack." Surprise visibly crosses Daniel's face.
"Samaire was there?" he writes. "Is she okay?" So he does know Samaire.
"What's your relationship with Samaire?" I ask.
"She's my girlfriend. IS SHE OKAY?" He's starting to panic.
"Yes, she's fine," I say, reassuring him. I don't tell him she told Tobias she didn't know him. She's going to have to explain herself to us. Just then the door opens, and the doctor tells us our five minutes are up. "Feel better, Daniel. If you remember anything, tell the doctor, and he'll send for us." Tobias and I walk out into the hallway. Before leaving, Tobias and I both give the doctor our cellphone numbers and tell him the same thing we just told Daniel.
Once we get out of the infirmary I ask Tobias, "Why would Samaire say she didn't know Daniel if they've been dating? She had to know we would find out about them if not from Daniel but from friends or acquaintances."
"I'm going to call Samaire, Shannon, and Lex into my office this afternoon and get their written statements. We can talk to Samaire then. I think Shannon and Lex just happened to be walking by when the attack took place and had no part in it, but I don't know what to think about Samaire." We walk to lunch from the infirmary. When we enter the cafeteria there's an eerie silence. In front of the tables is a large circle of Dauntless members. They part when they notice Tobias and me to let us through. In the center Peter and Uriah are staring each other down.