𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝟎𝟏𝟕

"𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩
𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜.
𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜?

𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴

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It was an unspoken fact that Eric had become your primary instructor during the first phase of training. That was the only logical reason you could come up with for why he spent so much time fussing around in the infirmary, checking your vitals and stressing over your charts, murmuring about how Amity should really keep better track of their people's medical history.

Apparently, nothing had been sent over since your transfer and he was making it everyone's problem in the medical wing. You've done three blood tests in the last day, not to mention the vaccinations and physicals that you've lost track of. Basically, everything that everyone else got to do in the comfort of their home factions before they left.

The first time Eric visited you after you first woke up, you don't say a word. It was morning and the nurses hadn't even arrived yet. He marched in and set a mug of water on your bedside table with a look on his face that told you he definitely wouldn't have done it if he'd known you were awake to witness it.

You were still embarrassed about letting him down during your sparring match. It sparked something inside of you; an agony that you hadn't known since June defected to Erudite back in May.

The second time he came to visit, it was midday. You could hear your class reviewing firearm training outside—rhythmic gunshots that you counted in your head as you stared up at the white ceiling. Eric was content with the silence, tapping away at the little machine you were hooked up to.

You felt useless and restless—a dangerous combination. Your supervisors in Amity knew better than to let you get bored. They always kept you occupied with work because otherwise, they knew you would become a talkative mess. But Eric didn't know that yet.

"You look like you know what you're doing," you said finally, sitting up and stretching your sore limbs, observing your instructor as he paused with his finger to the screen.

Eric stiffened and glanced up without moving his head. His gaze was no less piercing than it usually was, but something relaxed the moment he realized you were making an effort to speak. Like he'd just been waiting for that invisible cord of silence to snap.

"Yeah, well," he sucked in a quick breath, exhaling as he rolled his shoulders back and tilted his body away so you couldn't see what he was typing. "This isn't exactly my first rodeo here."

You sat up straighter, picking at one of the stiff bandages that had been cemented over your eyebrow. The broken skin underneath was starting to itch and it was slowly but surely driving you insane. "Did you...uhm..."

"What."

You adjusted your weight, considering just pretending to be asleep again. It worked the first few times your friends visited way before you felt like opening your mouth. "I'm not really supposed to talk about the other factions, am I?"

Eric closed out your chart and set the tablet aside. He always kept his hands busy – always fiddling with a knife or tablet. Always needed a distraction. "Spit it out."

You found yourself doing the same, winding a loose thread from the blanket around your finger and pulling it taut. "In Erudite..." you began, waiting for his reaction before daring to tread any further.