Alistair froze in front of me, I think it's safe to say that he knows who was talking to me. I don't know what scared me more.

"Why don't you and your little hero turn around and face me? Oh, wait, I forgot, you're both weak and pathetic." he egged us on.

Alistair took the bait, "Says the one in the hospital bed."

I snickered at the comeback, he wasn't wrong.

"Hey, what are you laughing about? You probably have to spend a month in the room after they fix your arm. I think I snapped it pretty well." the blond-haired guy sneered.

My breathing started to get heavy, but I reminded myself he couldn't hurt me. That was the first time I took in his appearance. His nose appeared to be broken and his left eye was almost swollen shut. I guess Alistair didn't let him off easy, and from the looks of him, he wanted to do it again.

"Actually," I stated my confidence growing, "I'm not going to be punished at all. As for my arm, that should be the least of your problems judging on how your face looks."

Alistair still looked as if he wanted to kill the guy, but chuckled a bit at my comment. I knew I had to get him out of here before he did something he would regret.

"Say whatever you want Evie," he smirked at my look of shock, "But don't worry when your little knight isn't around to save you I will know, and you won't be able to stop me, he chuckled darkly, "It is hard to watch your back when two people are coming for you after all, isn't it."

I gasped wondering how he even knew my name. Alistair, on the other hand, made a reach for his throat.

"Don't Alistair. He is doing this on purpose, and I need to get my arm checked out. Please come with me before you do something you regret." I said grabbing his bicep.

I could see the hesitation in his eyes as he backed away from the guy's bed. I noticed a name tag. Bobby. At least now I know something about him.

As I lead Alistair away from Bobby's bed he called out, "That's what I thought. Coward. Just ask Cade."

It was as if something went off inside of Alistair, ripped out of my grasp and stormed over to Bobby's bed.

"Don't you ever say his name, " he shouted.

Alistair then bent down to Bobby's ear and whispered something that made Bobby go ghost white. He then stood up and grabbed my arm. I winced as he grabbed the hurt one. His eyes widened as he grabbed the other one and lead me to the bed where the nurse was waiting. She didn't look happy.

"Let's go," she snapped, "I don't have forever."

I sat down on the bed as the nurse pulled up my sleeves. She felt my right arm around and asked me where it hurt. Alistair was still silent next to me. I was worried about him. Was he okay?

I was pulled out of my trace when the nurse spoke, "I do not think you have a fracture, but I will need to do an X-ray to be sure. As for the concussion, the doctor will be in to do the protocol and the X-ray."

I nodded aimlessly, not fully hearing what she said. I was happy that she didn't think my arm was broken though. That would surely affect my performance in the physical ability test. I couldn't help but wonder what Alistair had said to Bobby though.

As soon as the nurse was gone I blurted it out, "What did you say to him?"

Alistair gave me a conflicted look. I could tell that he wanted to tell me the truth, but something was keeping him from doing it.

"Nothing," he lamely replied.

I decided it was probably best not to push him. He would tell me if he wanted to. That's one rule that The Town had right, not everything is your business.

We sat in comfortable silence for a bit before Alistair spoke, "he won't be coming after you any time soon."

With a confused look, I nodded. That was the best I was going to get for now.

Changing the subject, I said, "At least they don't think my arm is broken. That would be bad for my tests."

He clenched his jaw, "Yeah, the tests. I don't know about you but I hope I'm chosen. I want to destroy the outside world for what they did to my sister."

I could understand that. Even though I didn't have a family that I cared about. I just pictured Alistair getting killed out there and I understood enough. That would be so painful.

"I want to get chosen too," I said hesitating to tell him why, "I just want a fresh start, you know?"

He nodded in understanding. Too bad I lied and he didn't understand. It wasn't like I hadn't told a lie before. I was a pretty good liar actually. Not good enough though and getting caught was guaranteeing you at least a week in the room. I was no stranger to that.

"I get it," he said, his voice breaking a bit, "after my friend that got kicked out, Cade, was gone and I found out that my sister was gone too it was so hard. I just wanted to be gone too," he looked up at the ceiling to control his tears, "But then I found something to live for. I vowed to get into The Society and to make the outside world pay for everything it took from me."

Cade. That was the name Bobby said earlier. The name that set him off.

"What happened with Cade?" I asked.

"He, um, he" Alistair stuttered, "he killed somebody."

My eyes widened and I could see a few stray tears run down Alistair's cheeks. I suddenly felt terrible for making him tell me this. Especially when I lied to him.

"He killed our other friend Lance. He-he tried to tell me it wasn't on purpose and that Lace started it, but I wasn't there. An-and he had lied before about other things. I just didn't know if I could trust him. He begged me not to tell, but I did, he was the one that got kicked out. He told me it was because of his results. That there was something wrong. That's who I told you about. I don't think you're like him though Eve."

I took in Alistair's story. It was completely awful. And just like Alistair, I didn't know what to think. I knew first-hand how hard it was to control myself. Maybe Cade was the same way, but maybe not. Instead of overthinking it I pulled Alistair into a hug. He gladly accepted.

We both pulled away when we heard a throat clear. I saw the doctor standing there with his arms crossed.

"I'm here to do an X-ray and concussion testing, correct?"

"Uh, yeah," I said nervously.

The doctor nodded and wrote something down on the clipboard I now noticed he was holding.

"We will start with the concussion first," he stated, "How did you hit your head?"

My eyes widened a bit, but I knew I couldn't get in trouble. they had already let me go.

"I got in a fight, so I had to be sedated and I guess I collapsed and hit my head. That's what I was told anyway. I don't remember much after the fight."

Alistair butted in, "Yeah, she fell back and hit her head on the floor. She was bleeding, I'm not sure how that was handled though."

The doctor wrote a few things down before saying, "Okay. I was told that they stopped the bleeding and put healing pasted on the back of your head. As you both know, that doesn't help internal injuries. So I would like to check you balance as that is-"

"The best telling factor for a concussion. We get it. Just do it so we can figure out what to do."

The doctor seemed pretty angry at what Alistair said. He didn't say anything though.

"Stand on one foot and close your eyes." the doctor commanded.

Following his command, I shut my eyes. I then raised one of my feet off the floor. I almost immediately fell to the ground. Alistair sighed and helped me up.

"I would say that you have a moderate concussion," the doctor said, "I'll give you medication to speed up the healing process so that you'll be able to participate in the remaining tests, but I'm going to need you to stay here tonight."

I closed my eyes fighting off tears. I didn't want to remain in the same place as that monster Bobby. Alistair didn't seem that happy either.

"I will be right back," the doctor said scribbling on his clipboard, "I just need to grab the X-ray machine."

The doctor hurried off and I looked worriedly at Alistair.

As if reading my mind he said, "Don't worry, I'll stay with you."

a feeling of relief washed over my body at those words.

"Thank you for everything," I said smiling.

He just nodded his you're welcome as the doctor returned with a holographic-like machine. it looked almost like a smaller version as the console I used for the mental ability test.

"Hold your arm out," the doctor instructed.

I held out my arm and looked away as the doctor ran the machine. I wasn't sure how it worked, but I knew it was a lot more efficient than the way we used to do it. At least that's what I heard the doctor blabbing about to Alistair. Alistair seemed to know a lot about this stuff for some reason. When I returned my gaze to the doctor I saw that he was already done and that he and Alistair we both chuckling. It's not my fault that I didn't know anything about X-rays.

The doctor cleared his throat, "You do not have a broken arm, but it is severely bruised. I will get you some healing paste for the bruises along with the medication for your concussion. Suzy, your nurse will bring everything later on. Until then I want you to rest," he turned to Alistair, "and I'm going to need you to leave so she can do so."

Alistair immediately tensed and his mood changed, "No."

The doctor looked surprised at his non-compliance. That's something we were always taught not to do.

"I can't leave her when the guy that hurt her like this is here," Alistair explained to the doctor, "Please let me stay."

The doctor smirked, "Okay, just make sure you let her rest."

Alistair almost immediately relaxed and pulled a chair over.

"How are you so good at getting whatever you want?" I asked out loud.

He laughed genuinely and so did I. Alistair was certainly not a people person. He wasn't good with words and he was kind of mean to everybody but me. But at the same time, it was like something drew you to him.

"I guess I'm just that great," he said cockily.

That was also something frowned upon by The Town. It was considered vain to talk about yourself like that, but they way Alistair said it made me think it wasn't all that bad. It was like he was everything Town said was wrong. I loved it.

"I guess you are," I said back meaning every word of it.

He looked back at me with a giant smile and a twinkle in his eye, "So are you."

My lips pulled upward at the complement showing off my teeth. At this moment I felt happy and loved. Something I hadn't felt in a long time. But as I thought about the grim ahead my smile disappeared. What if both of us weren't chosen. Then I would never see him again.

He seemed to understand my thoughts as he looked sad too. The lie I told laughed at me in my head. I had to tell him.

"Earlier I lied to you," I stated, " I don't want to be chosen for a fresh start. I want to be chosen because I want to get away from my parents. They don't love me and never have. I want to get chosen so that I can mean something. They always told me I was nothing and I want so badly to prove them wrong."

Alistair looked at me with admiration and not hate.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand what that feels like, but I'm here for you. I think it's amazing that you are so determined to prove them wrong. You can tell me anything, you know? You don't have to lie anymore."

The feeling of happiness I got when he said that was overwhelming. So overwhelming I did something I thought I would regret. I leaned in and pecked Alistair on the cheek.

A smile lit up his face and he smiled the widest I'd ever seen him smile.

I smiled back. I didn't regret what I did at all. Even if rule forty-six said I should.

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