When the sea brings you home

Waiting room

Tina's POV:

I finally made it to the hospital, breathless.
Seeing all that blood made me dizzy, but the sight of Bea's pale face is what frightened me the most.

Once I arrived to the ER, I asked to see her, but they wouldn't let me. I tried to insist, but apparently basic protocol wouldn't allow it. Which I understand, of course, but that didn't change my level of frustration.

I texted my brother, waiting impatiently for his replies, that were mostly short and concise. Around an hour later, I saw Jake heading towards me.

I rush to meet him.

- Where is she? I ask, frantic.

"Still in there. They're done stitching her up, but apparently there were still a few glass pieces on the surface of her skin. They removed them all. It was bad."

We synchronically make a face, picturing it.

"Anyways... they're cleaning up her leg, but I'm here to get the clothes", he says, running a hand over his face.

- Oh, yeah.

I hand him the grey sweatpants I brought from her closet.

"That's for you" I pointed to the black shirt I had in hand. He simply nods, and I frown. Something was wrong. "Hey, are you okay? Is it Beatrice? Is she alright?"

- Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, Tris is fine. But I'm just a little... shaken up. Did you know that the day her grandpa died she saw her parents? They- They came here. On his last day.

- Wait, what?

"Tris didn't want to come here so bad... She didn't stop crying and saying she didn't want to be here. She finally told me why. It's terrible, Tina. Her parents are terrible. And they don't deserve to share an ounce of her blood."

His anger was palpable. His jaw was clenched and his eyes teary. I could understand him... but I was equally as shocked myself.

- Hey, Jake. I think you should go home.

I take the clothes back from his hands and continue. "I'll stay here with Beatrice till she's done with the paperwork and everything. You take my car, and maybe grab us lunch on the way?"

He didn't argue. I swapped car keys with him and let him go after telling a nurse which room I should go to. I get there and knock on the door before opening it.

- Tina!

Beatrice looked genuinely relieved to see me. She was sitting on the bed while a nurse in scrubs was arranging metal instruments on a close table.

"What happened to you, B?"

She proceeds to tell me about the story of the glass and Four. That little guy! We shared a laugh, even if the mention of her parents still taunted me. But I didn't bring it up, nor ask Jake to tell me more about it. I respect that it's her own story, and no matter how curious I was about it I pushed the thought back into the back of my mind.

Once Beatrice was dressed up and cleaned, the doctor came in to check on her.

- Okay so you will have to come back in two weeks or so to remove your stitches, in the meantime try not to get water on it in the shower, you don't want to increase the chances of infection. You lost a great amount of blood, but not enough for it to be necessary to administrate you more. You'll experience slight dizziness and fatigue, but if it ever gets too extreme or you feel anything out of the ordinary you should immediately come back and get it checked.

Beatrice nods along.

"Okay, thank you so much, Doctor."

- You're welcome, Miss Beatrice. Also, I want to mention that you got really lucky. If these pieces of glass got any deeper it would've caused nerve damage! But thankfully you only got away with a scar that can easily be hidden.

Beatrice's small smile fades. We share an alarmed glance.

"Excuse me, what? A scar? A permanent one?"

The doctor adjusts his glasses before answering.

"Well, determining a period of time would be irrelevant, as I would be making you a promise based on no certainty. But I can say with conviction that it won't be any temporary. Sure, it will fade a little over time... eventually."