Chapter 23:

Tris' Perspective

    I wake up in hollow silence. I look beside me to see that Tobias is gone. Then, I look over at the chair Natalie was in, and find that she is also gone. Natalie has gone to turn herself in.

Tobias went after her. I bite my lip and stand up, yanking all of the medical things on me, off. My feet are a little wobbly from being in bed so long. My eyes are filled with tears, and I am ready to cry. I look over at the window, and see that it is open. I run over to it and look down

. There is a huge mud pile at the bottom, and it looks like someone has been playing in it. Or jumped out of a window into it. I step up onto the sill, and look down. It's about a 2 story drop.

My legs feel very wobbly, and I'm slightly tired. I didn't sleep much last night, knowing what Natalie was wanting to do. I figured she'd sneak out, and that Tobias would go after her.

I was too weak to even get up last night. I never even heard them last night. If I had seen or heard them, I would have came along. I close my eyes, and jump. 

     I land hard in the mud, on my back, knocking the breath out of me. I sit up, mud caking my hair. I pinch my nose at the scent of it, and crawl over to the grass. Where could they have gone?

I look into the woods, and get a feeling that they are there. I start towards the woods in my hospital gown. The wind blows up underneath the gown, and my skin tingles from the cold feeling of the wind. I am barefoot, and haven't showered in a long time.

What if Natalie already turned herself in and Tobias never made it there? I feel a pained pang in my chest at the thought. My dress is extremely uncomfortable, and I have no underwear on, or a bra. I am hoping and praying to God, that this doesn't tear. I step on a pine cone, and yell out in pain as it digs deeper into my foot.

    "Dammit...." I mutter under my breath. I lean my shoulder on a tree and lift my foot up. I take it in my hands, and pick out the thick pines wedged in my foot. Gosh, watch where you're walking, you're barefoot for God's sake..... I toss the pine from my hand and continue to run.

    "Tobias!" I shout out, longing for him to be steadying me every step I take from this point on. "Tobias!!!" I scream this time. I feel a tug on the gown, and I hear a ripping noise. Yep, there it goes.....

I stop, and turn around. The tear is huge, and makes my boobs visible. I groan, and look down at the hospital gown. Cheap crap....I feel something wet and warm trickle down my side. I look down to see, where the tear was and see a huge gash on my rib. I didn't even feel it. The blood creeps it's way towards my ankle, and then I realize how much I'm bleeding

. I look down at the bottom of my dress and rip it, and the seams pop as I continue to tear all the way around my gown. I end up with a long rag, and tie it around my self, and bite my lip as I feel the dirty fabric touch my wound. I find myself crying, and long for Tobias to cradle my face in his hands and wipe away my tears. I cry harder, and think of how Natalie was so ready to die. My body wretches itself forward, and I fall onto the ground.

My hands shake, and I remind myself of how fragile I am. Natalie........ I wish Natalie was by my side, leaning on my shoulder stroking my hair and comforting me. My throat tightens, and I choke as tears fall from my face. I scream out her name, and I can't help but scream out both of their names.

I fall over on my side, and think of how pathetic I am for breaking down so easily.  I try to stand back up, but I fall back down. Tears are taking over my eyes, and my throat is choking me. I force myself up, and begin to run forward.

Tears are blinding me, and I can't really see where I'm running. I trip forward, but don't fall onto the ground like I expected. I feel warm hands grip me underneath my arms, and I am looking down to see whoever caught me is wearing Dauntless combat boots. The hands send an electric shock through me, and that heavy weight that has been on me since I got wounded, has been lifted. I scream, because I know exactly who they belong to.

    "Tris." he says. He lifts me up into his arms, and I wrap my arms around his neck. "Tobias." I say into his shoulder. "Where is she?" I almost scream.

I look around cautiously and feel a small, delicate hand fall onto my hand. I look up and see Natalie. I cry harder into his shoulder, and Natalie smiles at me. 

They are alive..... I cry and she takes my hand. "I'm here, Mom." she says. Her hand feels warm, and I squeeze it. My eyes feel very heavy. "Oh my Gosh, Beatrice you're bleeding!" yells a voice that I have not heard in a long time.

    "Dude, get away! Her dress is ripped!" Tobias shouts. Natalie doesn't break eye contact, and I stare into her eyes. "Sorry!" the voice says. I don't know who it is, but the voice is very familiar. I am laid on the ground, and I look up into Tobias' deep blue eyes, and smile.

He looks concerned, and he's observing my gash. My skin tickles under his finger tips. Natalie never let go of my hand, and I keep my stare on Tobias. He removes the cloth, and turns me on my side. I face Caleb, and smile. He bends down and faces me.

    "Hi." he says pushing a strand of hair from my face. I smile and cry, but laugh at the same time. I close my eyes, and feel Tobias wrap something around my side, and I continue to cry as Caleb kisses me on the forehead. I look up, and see Natalie kneeling beside me, still holding my hand.

    "It's okay." she says. I bite my lip to keep from crying out. She's alive.....But I'm dying faster and faster as I start to bleed out......"Tris..." I hear Tobias say as he lifts me into his arms. His bare skin tickles my forehead. Then I realize what he tied around my body was his shirt.

I feel Natalie let go of my hand, and I fall asleep in Tobias' arms.

   My eyes flutter open slightly, and I see Tobias staring down at me, he is holding an oxygen mask on my face, and tears fall from my face when I realize that I am back in the hospital.

I am being rolled on a gurney, and the doctors are yelling things, but I can't hear it. He is sweating, and I can't look away from his deep, blue eyes.

Everything else is too blurry to see, my eye lids are beginning to close, and I am fighting the urge to close them but I black out again.

    I wake up in the arms of Tobias, and Natalie sleeping at the foot of the hospital bed, her legs hanging off the edge. Caleb is sleeping in a chair close by.

I feel Tobias' chest move up and down steadily against my arm. There is an IV in my arm, and I am hooked up to an oxygen mask, and I am extremely pale. I try to turn on my side to face Tobias, but that is the side where I'm hurt. I wince in pain as I attempt to lean over.

Tobias wakes up at the sound of my wince. I stare into his eyes, and he takes my face in his hands, and kisses me hard. I feel something wet against my face, and I open my eyes as his lips move against mine. Tears are falling from his face.

I reach my hand up, and wipe them from his cheeks. I feel him smile against my lips, and I take my fingers, and run them through his hair. I feel crusted mud in it, and laugh against his mouth. He pulls away. "What?" he says.

    "You have mud in your hair." I say. His hand reaches up to his head, and pulls out a small chunk of it from his hair, and he rubs it in my face. I scrunch my nose up, and he laughs. I laugh, but then stop because it hurts my side. His hand is still on my face, and I tug it away.

    "That was nasty." I say wiping the crusty dirt off. "Hey, you have even more in your hair." he says chuckling. I already know that I have a boat load of mud in my hair, and I can't imagine how bad I smell. My hair is really long now, but not as long as Natalie's. Her hair goes down just above her butt. I look over at Natalie, and she is fast asleep. Tobias still has my face in his hands, and is focusing his eyes on me, but I'm focusing mine on Natalie. I sniff the air. What is that?

    "What's that smell?" I say.  I sniff the air a few more times, and start to sniff Tobias. Is that gasoline? "Is it just me, or is that some kind of terrible new cologne you got, or is that gasoline?" I say pulling my face from his hands, and plugging my nose with my thumb and forefinger. He puckers his eye brows, and grabs the collar of his t-shirt, and sniffs it.

    "Oh, I think our daughter would like to explain that." he says taking my hand. I realize that his clothes are covered in ash. I sigh, and feel somebody kicking me on my leg. "Stop." I say to Tobias. "Stop what?" he says. "Kicking me." I say aggravated. "I'm not kicking you." he says. He kicks me harder this time.

    "OW! Stop! That wasn't funny!" I say. He glares at me, and lifts both of his legs in the air, and smirks at me. The kicking continues. I hear a bloodcurdling scream, and look down at Natalie who is clawing into the air, and continues to kick me.

She screams again, and I try to sit up, but the pain in my side tells me not to. She's having a nightmare. But what could be so terrible, to the point where it has made its way into her dreams? Tobias sits up, and grabs Natalie.

    "Natalie wake up!" he yells as he cradles her in his big, muscular arms. She screams again, louder this time tears falling from her face. Caleb wakes up, and runs over to the bedside. "Why is she screaming?" he says. I don't answer, but I reach my hand out for her, and it pains me that I can't get to her and comfort her. All I can do is sit there and stare at her. Tobias shakes her shoulders, and she kicks around in his arms. He struggles to get a grip on her as she flails around in his arms.

    "Natalie!" I scream. Tobias bites his lip, and he uses his forearm to hold down her arms as she claws at the air. He uses his other arm to hold down her legs, but her legs are extremely powerful and escape from his grasp and he stands up and holds her.

I scream out her name again, and he lays her down where he was laying and he screams her name out. He pins her arms down, and sits on her legs. Tobias bounces up and down as she continues to kick around under him.

    "Wake up!!!!" he screams. Caleb runs over and shakes Natalie's shoulder. Natalie screams louder. "Get away from me!" she screams. Her hands light on fire, and Tobias jumps up yelling. Caleb backs away. The flames lick my arms, and I scream.

Caleb runs over and picks me up, the IV ripping from my arm. Tobias grabs Natalie underneath her arms and runs her to the bathroom. I hear the water running and Natalie's screams. I hear a huge splash, and Tobias' grunts. I bury my face in Caleb's shoulder, and cry.

My arms burn, and I try to ignore the pain, but it feels like my arms are still on fire. I see steam coming from the bathroom, and hear Tobias coughing and choking. I jump from Caleb's arms, and wince in pain as I run into the bathroom. I feel my side aching in pain.

I steady myself on the door frame as I run inside. The smoke burns my eyes, and I cough and sputter. I fall on the ground, and feel Caleb drag me from the bathroom. I hear doctors run in and yell. Tobias continues to cough and choke on the smoke, and I know he won't survive breathing smoke into his lungs.

"Tobias!" I scream. I can't see through all of the smoke, and I feel somebody pick me up, and I can breathe again. "Tobias!!!" I scream again. I see him run from the room, and fall to the ground. I jump from Caleb's arms onto Tobias' back. He is coughing, and tears are falling from his face.

I cry into his back, and he is soaking wet. He falls onto the ground, and pulls me into his arms.

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile! I wrote it kind of longer to make up for it! I really hope you like this chapter! It has a lot of drama in it! Please don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it so far! I love to hear your amazing comments! Don't forget to vote and comment! :)