Chapter 8:

Tobias' Perspective

   Natalie's body goes limp, and before I know it, she's gone again. Tris is crying, and some guards take Uriah and Marlene away. Tris remains crying as more guards drag her out of the room. I sit on Natalie's bed and stare at her, everything moving slowly.

I take her hand, and squeeze it hard. She lies once again, hopeless, in bed not knowing why she was knocked out. Guards grab me by the arms and yank me off of the bed.

I keep staring at her, and don't realize that I've been dragged away from her until I'm tossed onto a sofa in a waiting room. Tris lies on another sofa sobbing into the cushions. Uriah and Marlene were kicked out, and I'm splayed across a couch still trying to process what happened.

    "Tris" I say as I walk over to her and grab her by the hips and sit her up straight on the couch. She keeps crying and I crouch down in front of her, and slip my hand on her cheek and rub my thumb over her cheekbone.

    "It's okay." I say. She looks up at me. "No, it's not. They have to give her all these blood tests and we won't be there by her side comforting her through every step of the way. She has no idea what they'll be doing to her now! It breaks my heart that she's going to wake up in pure silence not knowing where we are. We can't see her for the next 2 days!" she says.

She's right. That was the last time I got to see her, and I slept through most of it. I still don't know when she woke up. All I remember is when I woke up the T.V. was blaring loud. They had to perform blood tests on her, and didn't want anybody in there. 

   The two days went by very slowly. Tris and I slept on cots in the waiting room and ate nasty hospital food. We haven't changed clothes since then, and considering how bad I smell from sleeping on used hospital cots, neither of us have showered.

The doctor's say that she had Anemia when she was sick. But, they replenished her blood using a donor's blood and now they say she's been recovering since yesterday, but she's still a little weak. Now, today they're letting us see her. Tris is still sleeping on the cot, so I walk over to the front desk.

    "When will I be able to see my daughter?" I say. The nurse looks up from the computer and says, "Last name?" "Eaton" I reply without looking at her, and I'm staring at Tris sleeping on the cot. "Ah, Natalie." she says. "She's been moved to room 205, sir." she says.

I turn to look at her and nod. "So, can I see her now?" I say. She looks on her computer and says, "Um, yes." I thank her and walk over to Tris.

I stare at her for a second, and she looks worn, but her face is flushed with beauty. She looks too tired to be woken. I sigh, and think to myself how stupid this will look walking down the hall. I slide my hands underneath her legs, and hold her by her back and lift. She buries her face in my chest and I leave the room.

I walk down the hall nodding at people who stare at me, and look for the room number. 197, 198, 199, 200.... I keep walking and finally see my last name on the door. Room 205.

I use Tris' foot to open the door, and walk in. Natalie is sitting up straight in the bed watching a movie, and doesn't hear me walk in. She stares at the screen smiling. I walk forward, and she sees me. She opens her mouth to speak but I say, "Shhhhhh..." and she closes her mouth.

She looks at Tris and nods. She gets up from the bed and walks slowly towards me. I lay Tris down and cover her up with the sheets.

I turn around and see Natalie standing in front of me with the biggest smile on her face. I grab her and lift her into my arms. I hold her tight, and she puts her arms around me, and squeezes gently. I remember when the doctors said she'd be a little weak, and realize why she's not squeezing very hard.

    "I missed you." she whispers in my ear. I smile and say, "I missed you too." I set her down and she stumbles backwards a little bit, and I grab her shoulders before she can trip on the chair behind her. She grabs my arms, and leans on my chest. I feel her chest move up and down against my body and hold her tight.

    "I can't walk very well." she says her voice alive with energy, but her eyes looks so drained. "I know, want to sit?" I say as I pick her up like I did when she was 5 and balance her on my hip. I sit down and set her on my lap. She smiles as she looks at me.

    "They never told me when I was gonna get to see you guys." she says as the smile disappears from her face. Tris was right. She didn't know when she was gonna see us. "I know, what have you been watching?" I say. "They stopped making movies once the factions were made, so the doctors gave me some old movies I like from a while ago." she says as she stares at the screen.

    "Oh, so what movie is this?" I say. I remember when I'd watch little kid shows with her on the weekends when she was 4. "Well, I've actually been watching this show for awhile, and I've gotten really caught up with it." I look at the screen, and see a man shooting another man, but the other man looks like he's been dead for the past two months.

I look away, and look at Natalie, who's seems to really like it. "What show is it?" I ask. "The Walking Dead." she says. "What are those....things that guy is shooting?" I say looking at the screen. "Those are Walkers, and the guy shooting them, that's Rick." I nod, and realize Tris is asleep and she won't want Natalie to be watching this.

    "Um, how 'bout we turn it to a different show?" I say. She nods and gets up. She walks to the DVD player, and looks through the cases. She picks one, and takes out the Walking Dead DVD. She walks back over to me and sits on my lap.

We wait for the movie to start, and I see ice and then a saw stabbing through the ice. Then there are men above, also cutting the ice and singing. "What movie is this?" I ask. "Frozen" she says. Why would they need to cut ice? This is weird. But Natalie seems to like it.

I pick her up, and put her in the bed next to Tris. She keeps her eyes glued to the T.V. but I get my phone out, and text Zeke, Marlene, Shauna, Will, Uriah, and Christina that they can come visit her now. I get a text back from Christina saying she'll be here at 8, and what room number. I send everybody the room number we're in, and everybody says they'll be there soon.

I look over at Tris, then at Natalie and Natalie is cuddled all next to her. My back hurts from sleeping on the cot, so I just stretch my arms and watch the movie.

    Natalie fell asleep a little while ago, and I've been watching Frozen. I'm at the part where the girl, Elsa, is singing in her ice castle. I look at the clock, and it's 7:26. I woke up at about 6:40.

I look at the night stand and see all the balloons and flowers and the stuffed bear that Uriah and Marlene brought. I remember when the doctor said, if Natalie would have been on that train any longer, she would have lost all of her blood. Therefore, died. Apparently, she scraped her skull, and it bled a lot.

I push the thought away, and get up from the chair. I leave the room and walk to the cafeteria. I push the door open, and it smells like cleaning chemicals and pancakes. I stand in line, and grab a tray. There are other Dauntless members there, but I don't recognize them.

I look at our choices of food. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and cereal. I grab 6 pancakes, a spoonful of eggs, 6 pieces of bacon, 4 pieces of toast, and 2 cartons of cereal. I grab a packet of shredded cheese for the eggs, 6 cartons of maple syrup, and 2 cartons of milk for the cereal. I come up to the drinks and grab a carton of orange juice. Then I come up to the utensils. I grab 3 forks, spoons, and butter knives. Then I make 2 cups of coffee and leave. I walk back to the room.

I open the door, and Tris and Natalie are still sleeping. I set the food down on the table, and grab my food. I take 2 pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon, and a piece of toast. I sit down and eat. The movie is at the end credits now. I eat my food, and take the DVD out. Tris then wakes up, and I turn around. She looks around where she is,and realizes that Natalie is right next to her.

She looks up at me and gasps. She puts her hand over her mouth and cries. She strokes Natalie's hair and then Natalie wakes up. "Mom!" yells Natalie as she hugs her. Tris cries even louder. I smile and turn the T.V. off.

    "We're gonna go home soon." says Tris through sobs. Natalie nods and clings to her. The doctor walks in and says, "Natalie can go home today, but you don't want her to be doing much. Feed her healthy foods and drink lots of water." I nod, and he leaves.

    "I got you guys breakfast. The eggs are for Natalie." I say. Tris wipes her cheeks, and grabs the tray from the table. "Thank you." says Tris as she holds out her arms. I walk to her, and hug her. But she doesn't let go. I turn my head and kiss her. I feel the wetness on her cheeks from her tears.

She holds me around the back, and I hold her in my arms. I hear Natalie chomping her bacon very loud, clearly wanting us to stop. I pull away and eat a piece of Tris' bacon.

    "Hey!" she says. She reaches over, and tries to grab it but I stuff it in my mouth. "You know I like bacon!" she says as she slaps me on the shoulder. I laugh, and a piece of bacon flies out of my mouth and lands on the floor.

    "Ewww!" says Tris. But Natalie bursts out laughing. I clamp my hand over my mouth, so I don't laugh and spit another piece of bacon out. I hurry up and swallow, then I laugh. I reach for a piece of Natalie's bacon, but she slaps my hand.

    "No!" she says as she stuffs it her in her mouth. I laugh and Tris smirks. I turn to sit down, but Shauna opens the door. "Natalie!" she shouts. Natalie throws her arms open, and Shauna runs over and hugs her. Zeke follows Shauna, and Shane is close behind.

    "I got you something!" says Shane. Shauna lets go, and Shane walks over to Natalie, and hands her a bag. "What is it?' she says. "Open it!" says Shane. Natalie opens the bag and gasps. A paintball gun. No, It wasn't just any paintball gun, it was the one Shane was shooting in the video.

    "A paintball gun!" says Natalie. "Thank you!!!" she says as Zeke hugs her, and then Shane hugs her. "Do you like it?" asks Zeke. "I love it! When can I use it?" says Natalie. "It's for Shane's birthday party! All the other cousins already had one, and Shane's birthday party is a capture the flag party! So, we got you one!" says Shauna.

     "Oh my gosh! It even has my name engraved on it!" says Natalie as she hands it to Tris. Tris observes it and says, "Oh wow, that's so cool!". Then she hands it to me. I take the paintball gun and look at the engravement. Natalie B. Eaton. I smile and hand it back to Tris.

Zeke walks over to me and says, "I was recording Shane testing it out, and he fell over. I sent it to you." I nod to him as I watch Natalie aim it at Shane. "No, no! Don't shoot!" he says.

    "I'm not gonna shoot!" Natalie says as she puts it down. Tris is eating her pancakes, and Natalie is observing the gun. I smile and take a sip of Natalie's orange juice without her noticing. Tris takes the gun from Natalie, and tells her to eat breakfast.

Natalie starts on her eggs and says, "Can I have some cheese?". I reach over on the table and grab the cheese and toss it to her. "Thank you!" she says as she catches it. Tris stops eating her pancakes and says, "Well, why don't we continue this party at the apartment?"

    "Yesyesyesyes!!!!!" says Natalie. "Alright, well we'll meet you there!" says Shauna as she leaves and Zeke and Shane follow. "Bye Natalie!" says Shane. "I'm gonna see you at the apartment!" she says. "I know!" he says and shuts the door.

    "I'm gonna text Uriah and Christina to meet us at the apartment." I say and get up. "I'm gonna get your stuff together!" says Tris as she gets up from the bed. "The doctors said I can keep all the movies I've watched!" says Natalie. "Good, but wouldn't you want to have other little kids get to watch those movies?" says Tris.

    "Well, yeah but I never get to see those movies." says Natalie. "We can just buy them." says Tris. "No we can't they stopped making movies once the factions were made." says Natalie. "Well, they put them on T.V. sometimes, so you can just watch them on T.V." says Tris.

    "Fine" says Natalie as she throws her food away. I grab the balloons and stuff and walk to the car. We can now buy cars from the Erudite now that everybody has settled down. I walk through the front doors and find the car. I see the car, and walk faster to it.

But, I see a woman looking in the windows. She is wearing blue, and is observing the car. "Umm, what are you doing?" I say as I walk towards her. "Oh, I'm trying to figure out if this is the Eaton's car. Do you know them?" the woman says as she faces me. She looks familiar.

I cover my face with the stuffed bear. "No, what do you want with them?" I say. "Their daughter possesses a special ability I gave to her about....12 years ago and I would like to see if it has taken affect yet. It's supposed to start around a month after the age of twelve." she says still observing the car.

    "What?" I say. Special ability? What is she talking about? "Could you find her for me? She has bright blue eyes, long brown hair." she says.

    "Um, no I was just about to leave." I say. I definitely have seen her before. "What's your name?" she asks. "My w-girlfriend just text me. I have to go." I say looking at my phone.

    "Who are those flowers for?" she says looking at the card on the flowers. Busted. I'm busted. Who the heck is this lady? "Natalie. Tobias?" she says.

I get a better look at her. I look at her I.D. card. Matthews, Jeanine. Uh-oh. "Uh, no. I'm......tired of lying. What do you want?" I say moving the bear away from my face. Is she alone?

I look around for any guards. I'm not armed, so If she does have guards....the only thing I can do is run. I don't see anybody. I hide my phone behind the flowers, and call Tris.

She answers and I hold the phone near Jeanine. "Where is Natalie?" says Jeanine.

Sorry this chapter took so long! It's really long, and I was running out of ideas for cliffhangers, so I decided to bring in Jeanine again! I'll try and get the next chapter in as soon as possible! Don't forget to vote and comment! :)