CHAPTER 68

TRIS POV

I jolt awake and almost fall off of the chair that Tobias and I are sitting on. He looks away from the tv and gives me a curious look about why I practically jumped in his lap.

"You okay?" He whispers stroking my cheek.

I just nod and break eye contact with him. I'm not okay. The dreams are becoming to vivid for my liking.

"Tris, don't lie to me. You're a pretty bad liar you know that?" He laughs but his eyes are filled with worry.

"I'm not lying," I say trying to keep my voice from wavering.

He gives me one of his looks that he's knows something is wrong, but I refuse. I worry that if Tobias finds out that I have been having lots of nightmares that he will force the doctors to make sure I am okay or give me pills or something drastic. I just want to be treated like I am normal.

"Give my your hands," Tobias says softly.

"What? Why?" I question curiously.

"Just give me your hands Tris," he says exasperated.

I obey and lift my hands up and he takes them in his large ones.

"Why are your hands shaking?" He interrogates.

"They.. They aren't," I stutter.

"Tris.... Did you have another nightmare?" He asks rubbing my hands.

"No Tobias. Why don't you believe me?" I ask slightly annoyed that he's still persisting.

"Tris... I do believe you its just I want to make sure you're okay. Alright? I'm not trying to hurt you..." He trails off.

I sigh. "What time is it?"

"Almost 2 in the morning," he answers.

"Why are you still awake at 2 in the morning?" I question.

"Well you're awake too," he mocks in a girl voice.

"First of all, I don't talk like that. Second of all, you know what I mean. You didn't go to sleep this entire time. Why?"

"Well I was watching a movie and when you fell asleep on me, you looked so peaceful, I didn't want to risk waking you up," Tobias explains.

"Oh," I mumble.

"Cmon lets go to bed," Tobias says and stands up, me bridal style in his arms.

"No!" I say and immediately clamp my hands over my mouth.

Tobias looks at me and I can tell he's studying me. I look down and he carries me into the bathroom. He turns on the very bright light and he places me on the counter.

He doesn't say a word just looks me up and down and examines my face most of all.

"Will you please explain to me why you don't want to go to bed?" He asks.

"I'm just... Not tired since I just slept and I wanted to hang out with you more."

His eyes soften, but as quick as that occurred it's gone and he puts his seriously face back on. He is very good at facial expressions. I wonder if he's ever practiced before.

"Tris.... Why won't you just admit to me that you're having nightmares? I won't be disappointed Tris if that's what you're thinking," Tobias says gently.

"I won't admit to having nightmares if I'm not!" I say my rage increasing.

"Explain the bags under your eyes," Tobias says quietly.

"Everyone gets those!" I argue.

"From lack of sleep. You're not getting enough sleep because you're having nightmares," Tobias says as he fits the puzzle pieces together.

"We're done here," I growl and jump off the counter. I walk out of the bathroom, but his arm snakes around my waist pulling me back.

"I'm not letting you go that easily."

"This is abuse!" I yell without thinking and immediately he backs up and his face shows horror.

"Tris.. I'm so so sorry, I--" I cut him off.

"No I'm sorry! I just- I want to be treated like a normal teenager and normal teenagers don't have nightmares. You're not abusing me, you're trying to help me. But Tobias nightmares can't be prevented!" I burst into tears and he wraps his arms around me, holding me close.

"Trissy, if you're having nightmares... I want to be the one to hold you and comfort you and wipe away your tears. You shouldn't have to handle that on your own. Okay?" He asks.

"Okay," I nod and he picks me up and places me in the bed and pulls the covers up to my chin.

"I'm right here. Anything worries you or scares you or makes you feel uncomfortable and you wake me up. Alright?" Tobias whispers and kisses my forehead.

I nod and close my eyes knowing that at least someone in the world has my back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Beatrice, this is for your own good."

The belt lands on my back and for every ten times Marcus hits me, he rewards himself with a swig of his beer. He's already on his fifth and I don't know how much longer I can take.

"Please stop," I squeak out and for those two words I get punished.

"I told you not to talk to me!" He yells and kicks me in he gut.

I coil up in pain and let a sob escape my lips. Marcus kicks me three more times and the next thing I know his face is inches away from mine and he utters the scariest four words I've heard in a long time: "I'm coming back, Beatrice."

I hear myself crying and a hand on my arm shaking me. I open my eyes to see Tobias staring down at me with big eyes.

"Trissy... Shhhhhhhh..... Shhhhh. It's okay. Let it out... Shhhhhh.." Tobias whispers soothingly to me.

"To-bi-as," I choke out in between sobs.

He climbs into bed and lays next to me rubbing my back.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He whispers into my hair.

I bury my face into his shirt and try to calm down.

"It was Marcus and he.. he... he.."

"It's okay.. take your time Trissy. No rush, okay?" Tobias says and gives my hair a kiss.

"He was hurting me.... And-- he told me that he's coming back. He told me he's coming back. I'm going to get hurt oh my gosh. He coming back for me," I cry.

Tobias lets me cry into his shirt and as I begin to stop he opens his mouth.

"Tris. People can't come back from the dead. Marcus is way past dead. He can't come back and he can't hurt you. Alright?" He asks stroking my hair.

I don't answer just breathe in deeply. Tobias smells like safety. I compose myself and begin to think rationally. Tobias is right. A person can't just wake up from being dead after being gone for months. It's not possible.

I open my eyes and look up at Tobias. His dark blue eyes meet mine and he whispers comforting words to me.

"If you're hungry, I made breakfast," Tobias says hesitantly.

I nod. When am I not hungry. Tobias helps me out of bed and leads me to the kitchen where I see a stack of pancakes sitting on the table.

I don't say anything as we eat, just think. I catch Tobias staring at me a couple of times and watch as he opens his mouth to say something, but shut it either not knowing what to say or re-thinking his approach on words.

"Thank you for breakfast," I say in a small voice and stand up.

"No problem. I know how much can you like pancakes," Tobias answers with a slight smile on his face.

I return with a shy smile and suddenly Tobias' face drops. His smile evaporates and his face becomes hard.

"What is it?" I ask worriedly.

"You're.... Appointment is in a half-hour," Tobias says standing up.

Shoot. I completely forgot about that. I just wanted a relaxing day with Tobias. Not a stressful day with some Doctor guy I don't know.

"Now I know you don't like this - and as a matter of fact, neither do I, but I'm going to be with you the entire time. I'm not leaving your side, okay? And if you feel uncomfortable or worried and definitely scared in any situation just tell me and I'll get you out of it. No worries, right?" Tobias says sympathetically.

"You mean everything to me Tobias. Thank you," I say, my voice muffled by his sweatshirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Beatrice Prior?" The secretary asks. I nervously glance at Tobias and he gives my hand a squeeze and stands up, pulling me up with him.

The lady gives us a nice smile and leads us through a passageway of hallways before finally arriving in a large, comfy space.

"Make yourselves at home. Dr. Cruz should be I'm with you momentarily."

I walk into the room in wonder. No doctors office I had ever been to was ever this nice.

"You must be Beatrice!" I hear someone say in excitement.

I whirl around and see a man about 40 years old standing in the doorway.

"Yeah," I respond and return his smile.

"So beautiful! Colby was bragging about all of your talents but not once did he say how gorgeous you are!" He exclaims.

I laugh uncomfortably and blush, staring down at my shoes.

"I guess we should begin everything. I'm sure you have plans today." He continues and closes the door behind him.

I sit down next to Tobias on the couch and he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

"Okay, so I know that you are seeing me today and Dr. Keeler. I am obviously the physical doctor, checking out injuries, things like that while Dr. Keeler will be your mental health doctor. Do you understand?" He asks and I nod.

"Good. Let's first start out easy. I'm going to weigh you and measure your height. Can you go stand on the scale?"

I walk over to the scale and step on. It reads 97.2. Dr. Cruz records that in his notebook and takes me over to where they measure height. 5"1.

"And you are 16 correct?" He inquires.

"Yep."

"Colby informed me that you recently had a major concussion. Um... So I am assuming you are not using technology of any sorts or straining yourself?"

"Yeah no technology or reading or whatever," I answer.

Dr. Cruz nods and motions for me to follow him. We end up in the back part of the room where there are many doctor supplies. I sit up on the table and Tobias holds on to my hand. Dr. Cruz shines a tiny light into my eyes and I immediately look away.

"Too bright?" He asks.

"Yeah just a bit," I say blinking.

Dr. Cruz stares at me a moment before deciding something and going back to his tools area.

"How long ago did this concussion occur?" He inquires.

I glance at Tobias, not knowing. Since I haven't been in school, I don't keep track of the days.

"Uh.. About 6 days ago," Tobias replies for me.

Dr. Cruz comes back with some machine and he lifts up what looks like a version of some big spoon.

"This is sometimes used for head injuries. I'm going to run this on your skin by your hairline and down to around your chin. It won't hurt okay? It'll probably feel nice and sometimes people tell me it makes them feel sleepy. Just tell me if you need me to stop," He explains gently.

I nod and he starts up the machine. He begins to run the soft rubber material over my skin and he's right, it does feel nice. As he runs the contraption down past my eyelids however, I am hit by a wave of drowsiness. I try to keep my eyes from closing, but to no avail. I'm just so tired.

My body is asleep but my mind isn't. I can hear voices communicating, not clearly but I can makes out parts of the conversation.

"You can let her sleep........"

"The results won't come in for another minute or two......"

"They're in--- wake her up....."

"Trissy...." Tobias purrs quietly in my ear. It takes all my strength to open my eyes and when I do, the room sways.

My head is leaning against Tobias' arm who I suspect jumped up on the table as soon as I "fell asleep."

Tobias rubs my arm and I look up at him, trying to focus in on his face.

"I know that face... What's wrong?" Tobias asks quietly.

"Nothing," I reply.

"Okay so I have a question for you Miss. Prior," Dr. Cruz states running back to the examination table. I stare with wide eyes at him as he appears to have grown another head. I shrink back away from him, trying to make my eyes and brain go back to normal.

Tobias' grip gets tighter on me and Dr. Cruz stops in his tracks.

"Is there something wrong?" He asks worriedly.

"No.. No.. It's just my eyes are playing tricks on me," I whisper.

"What do you mean?" Dr. Cruz asks and grabs his notebook.

"You have t-two heads," I stutter.

"Two heads," Dr. Cruz muses.

"Don't worry he doesn't have that in uhh reality I guess," Tobias whispers to me.

"Oh that's right! If a patient should ever fall asleep while using the machine then you should immediately get them the drink prescribed on the computer," Dr. Cruz states out of memory. He rushes over to a fridge and begins pouring different combinations of liquid into a cup.

Afterwords he tastes it and shrugs.

"Not as bad as I thought it was going to be."

He hands it to me and I look at the discoloration.

"All of it?" I ask weakly.

He nods and I down it. It tastes of expired milk. But worse. I put the glass down and start coughing.

"Wasn't that bad?" I ask annoyed. That was terrible.

"Is everything better now?" He asks ignoring my statement.

I close my eyes for a moment and blink them open again and sigh of relief.

"Yeah back to normal."

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