I don't know how but I manage to get Tobias into a shirt and down the stairs and onto the couch. In record time, Zeke and Will are pounding on our door. I tell them it's open, and they come bursting into the living room.
"I didn't know he was hurt," I practically scream at them. "There's something wrong with him. They hit his head. His eyes have been like that for at least 10 minutes. Take him to the infirmary, please."
"Tris, you're going to have to stay here. You know you aren't supposed to be walking on that ankle. Take care of yourself, please" Zeke says softly.
I get in his face and say, "I'm coming with you. You can't stop me. Take him. I'll follow you."
"Tris. No," he says firmly. "Think of what he'll do if he finds out I let you just follow us downstairs to the infirmary after an attack that could have been meant for you, too."
"You don't understand, Zeke," I say, fire running through my veins. "If something happens ... I need to be there."
"Fine. Get your crutches. I'm texting Shauna and Christina to meet us and walk the rest of the way with you." I go up the stairs and retrieve my crutches and come back down faster than I probably should. I'm half surprised they're still waiting for me. Zeke and Will get Tobias off the couch with some trouble. He's not responding. We leave the apartment and head back down to the Pit. I'm flying behind them on my crutches, barefooted, feeling every little pebble and crack in the stone pathway. Soon Shauna and Christina are with me, and Zeke and Will leave us behind, getting the now unconscious Tobias to the infirmary.
"What happened?" Shauna and Christina ask at the exact same time.
"I really don't know. I finally really looked at him and realized he was hurt. His eyes were all glazed over. I thought it was because of ..." I don't finish the thought.
"Because of what?" Christina prompts.
"Nothing," I say, a blush coloring my cheeks. Damn blush. She's not going to let this go, not even during this crisis. Why can't I control the blushing?
"Tris? Why are you blushing?" Christina asks.
"We had sex, okay. Then I looked at him and realized something wasn't right." Shauna and Christina don't say anything at my admission. They both know not to mess with me right now.
"He's going to be okay," Shauna says, practically running to keep up with me, and her legs are nearly twice as long as mine.
"He better be," I say under my breath. When I come around the corner into the infirmary, no one is at the intake desk, and Zeke and Will are nowhere to be found. I stand in front of the desk waiting impatiently for someone to appear. Finally Zeke and Will come through the double doors.
"Tris, sit down," Will says, tenderness in his voice. "The doctor will let you know when you can see him. Please think of your ankle. If you hurt it worse, Four will kill all of us."
"Okay," I say. "Thanks, Will, Zeke. I mean it. Thank you." I sit in the uncomfortable waiting room chair for more than 20 minutes when the double doors open, and Dr. Parrish comes into the waiting room. I swear he must be the only doctor who works down here.
"Tris, can I see you please. I need to ask you some questions," he says. I jump up and follow him.
"I need to know exactly what happened tonight," he says after he brings me into an examination room and lets me sit on the bed.
"Four was pushing me home from Christmas dinner. I had the flu earlier this week and was feeling a bit under the weather so we left a little early. About half way up the path the lights started going out, and he wheeled me down a pitch black hallway and told me to be quiet. All I can say is what I heard. Lots of punches landing. It sounded like something hard hit the wall. Actually, come to think of it, I heard that twice. The second time, it sounded like someone fell. Then I heard a scream that faded when the other guy went over the edge of the path. Four took me into his old apartment and then left. I don't know what happened then. I don't know how long we had been apart when he came and got me. Then he gave Will and Zeke orders to get the unconscious guy to the infirmary and Tori orders to have someone help her get the dead guy here for an autopsy. Then he took me home. We made love, and that's when I noticed the bruise starting on his jawline and some of his other injuries. Then his eyes looked funny. I thought it was just sex related but now I'm not so sure. Is he going to be okay," I say, barely above a whisper.
"Thank you for being so candid. He's having a brain MRI right now. When the tests are done and have been analyzed, I will come and get you."
"Oh, he did tell me that he hit his head. He has a rather large bump on the back of his head," I add.
"I found that during my initial examination but thank you for letting me know he was aware of it."
"Take care of him, Dr. Parrish. I can't lose him," I say, tears finally spilling. I quickly wipe them away trying to stay brave like Tobias would want me to.
"I'll do everything I can, Tris," he says placing his hand on my shoulder, showing a rare moment of comfort. I get off the bed and make my way back to the waiting room. I sit on one of the 3-seater couches with my legs up mainly so no one can sit right next to me and try to comfort me. If anything is seriously wrong with him, it's my fault. He didn't want to have sex tonight, and he let me talk him into it. No one says anything to me, letting me sulk.
"He's having a brain MRI right now. When Dr. Parrish knows something, he'll come and tell me," I finally say to our friends who are just as worried about him as I am right now. Christina ignores my bad mood and sits down next to me putting my feet in her lap. She doesn't say anything, we just sit in silence listening to the irritating, incessant buzz of the fluorescent lights above us.
Almost two hours later a nurse comes out of the double doors and takes me to Tobias. He is sitting up in bed, awake and looking rather grumpy. The bruises are more pronounced now. He has a blackening bruise on his left jawline that looks rather nasty. Bruises are covering his torso. I walk over to him and take his hand in mine.
"Would you please tell me why I'm here? No one is telling me anything," he says sounding more like Four than Tobias.
"What do you remember?" I ask.
"Walking you home, lights going out, and a fight. I have to admit it's all kind of fuzzy," he says, rubbing his head and then wincing.
"You don't remember giving the others orders on what to do with the two men and taking me home. We had sex tonight," I whisper, guilt threatening to crush me. The look on his face tells me he doesn't. "Your eyes looked funny, then you started slurring your words. I called Will to come help us, and he and Zeke came and practically carried you here. You lost consciousness before we made it all the way. God, if anything happens to you." I blink back the new tears forming in my eyes. I have to stay strong for him. He's the injured one now.
"I'm sorry, Tris. I don't remember any of that. My head is killing me," he says lying back on the pillow. I look into his eyes and they're still huge. Just then the doctor comes into the room.
"Four, how are you feeling?" he says. I step out of the way and lower myself into the hard metal folding chair that Tobias sat on the night of my accident.
"My head is killing me, doc," he says, thankfully no longer slurring his words.
"I believe your assailant slammed your head into the stone wall. You have a parietal linear skull fracture, a concussion, and a mild brain contusion. Please don't be alarmed, it's a minor head injury. There is no bleeding and no swelling, which is good news," he says, referring to the chart he's carrying with him. "You also have one broken rib, which hopefully won't give you too much trouble. I didn't feel we needed to wrap you for that. I thought you had a fractured jaw, but it's only bruised. It will definitely get worse before it gets better. You also have a lot of abrasions and contusions all over your body. I have to say to both of you, if he had went to bed without having this treated tonight, he more than likely would have died in his sleep. I don't think I've ever said this, but I think having sex saved your life, Four." My eyes widen at Dr. Parrish's assessment, and I blush but then immediately start to feel like the weight of the world has lifted off my shoulders.
"Is he going to be okay?" I ask, needing to hear the words
"We are going to keep him here overnight for observation. My pesky nurses are going to be waking you up every hour, Four. I think you should be able to go home tomorrow, and I don't foresee any complications from this. I can't say that for the other two."
"How are they?" he asks. Dr. Parrish and I exchange a look.
"He doesn't remember much about this evening. Is that normal? Also is it possible the memories could come back?" Maybe I'm selfish, but making love tonight was wonderful. That sweet memory belongs to him just as much as it belongs to me.
"It's perfectly normal with any kind of head injury. The memories may come back but it's just as probable they won't. There is no way to anticipate either outcome. Do you need some pain medication, Four?"
"If you could give me something for this headache, I would appreciate it," Tobias says. His head must really hurt if he's asking for something to take care of it.
"I will have the nurse come in and administer some pain medications. I will check on you in the morning. Tris, would you like to stay here tonight?" He must know I would pitch a fit if anyone tries to make me leave.
"Yes, I would."
"I'll get Four into a double room, and you can have the other bed. It would probably be best for you to stay off the ankle. Zeke and Will told me you were walking on it."
"It didn't hurt either. I was amazed. But I won't walk on it anymore until my appointment next Thursday. I just had to help Four," I say. He gives me a stern but sympathetic look.
Dr. Parrish leaves the room and not two minutes later a nurse comes in and gives Tobias 2 pills and a cup of water. He takes the medicine and leans back on the bed. Then a couple minutes after that they take Tobias, bed and all, into another room and I follow. I pull the chair up by his bed and stare at him. He's going to be okay. I didn't cause any damage to him. I actually saved his life. A tear slides down my face.
"Don't cry. I'm fine," he says. He cups my face with his hand, and I lean into him.
"I should go tell the others they can go home for the night. I'm sure they'll want to see you in the morning though. I'll be right back," I say as I lean up and kiss his forehead. "I love you so much. Don't ever scare me like that again, Tobias Eaton." I make my way into the waiting room, fatigue dragging me down, to talk to Zeke, Shauna, Will, and Christina.
"He's going to be okay," I say. "He has a broken rib, bruised jaw, various contusions and abrasions, a concussion, a brain contusion, and a skull fracture. The doctor says it sounds worse than it is. He also said that if he had went to bed without having his injuries examined tonight, he probably wouldn't have made it. You guys can go on home. He's resting. If you want to see him in the morning, you are more than welcome to come back then. Dr. Parrish is letting me stay with him instead of walking all the way back to the apartment." I turn to go back to Tobias then stop in my tracks. I turn back to my friends who are heading out the door. "Thank you. All of you. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have such good friends." Christina rushes to me and puts her arms around me, crutches and all, giving me a big hug. Then she kisses my forehead.
"Let us know if you need anything or if there's any change and don't forget to take care of yourself. You haven't been feeling well either."
"Thanks, Christina. We'll talk later," I say.
Before she lets me go she whispers in my ear, "Yes, we will. We have a lot to talk about." I just smile shyly at her. I hope she doesn't expect details because I'm not going to give her any. Our lovemaking is exactly that, ours.
I go back to Tobias after leaving our friends. His eyes are closed, and I quietly sit in the chair staring at the bruise on the side of his face. How did I miss that? I have to say, in the moment I was thinking only about what I wanted, what I needed and didn't look to make sure that he was okay. Maybe sex can be selfish after all.
"No one answered me about the two guys that attacked me," he says, not opening his eyes.
"I actually don't know much. One was brought here to be treated for his injuries," I say, stalling. How do I tell him he killed someone tonight when he won't remember? "The other one is dead." His eyes fly open and find mine.
"What?" he says.
"You said it was either you or him. He fell over the side of the path to his death. It's not your fault," I say, taking his hand in mine. I lace my fingers with his and bring our hands up and kiss the back of his hand.
"They didn't hurt you did they? I just can't remember," he groans, "and trying to remember makes my head hurt."
"No they didn't. Don't think, just rest. What's important is you are going to be okay, that I didn't almost kill you tonight. It was horrible. I looked at you, really looked at you and saw that bruise and realized you were hurt. You didn't want to and I talked you into it, and if anything had happened to you because I was being selfish, I would have never forgiven myself."
"Tris, you're babbling and my head is hurting enough that I really don't want to have to figure out what it is you're saying." He scoots over on the bed and pats the lumpy mattress beside him. "Lie here with me. I don't think I can sleep without you beside me." I climb into the narrow hospital bed after leaning my crutches up against the wall out of the way of the machines that are attached to Tobias. I rest my head on his shoulder and my hand on his chest like I've done so many times. He wraps his arm around me and plays with my hair. "Okay. What were you trying to say?"
"You didn't want to have sex tonight. I talked you into it. If anything had happened," I say, burying my head in his chest.
"Believe me, Tris, there's never a time I don't want to have sex with you. That's an absolute impossibility. I do vaguely remember making a deal with you this morning that if you were feeling okay we would make love but you weren't feeling well. I'm sure that's the only reason I would have not wanted to, to protect you. Someone has to, you don't always do a very good job of doing what is best for you. Did I hear someone say you walked on your ankle because of me?"
"I would walk through fire for you," I say, a yawn escaping.
"Go to sleep, my Six," he says, kissing my forehead. "I love you more than life itself. I'll be here when you wake up." Now that I know he's going to be alright, I drift off to sleep in his arms.