The world seems to freeze for a moment, and that's when I hear Cassandra cry out. She looks down, and I follow her gaze to find a blood stain begin to blossom on her chest. She looks at me, then crumples to the ground. "Cassandra! Cassandra, wake up!" Irene rushes forward to examine her, and I look in the direction where the shot came from.

The guests are running every which way, and in the middle of it all is Eric, a gun in hand. "I told you you'd pay for this! She. Is. Mine!" Anger courses through me, and I run at him, my only plan being to kill him once and for all.

When I reach him, I hit his face over and over again, not stopping even when blood begins to flow down his nose. Through it all he just smiles, a crazed look on his face. "Four, wait!" People are screaming, begging me to stop, but I ignore their pleas. Just as I am starting to aim for his jaw, I feel something sharp strike my skin. And the world goes black.
***
When I wake up, I'm vaguely aware of an aching pain in my head, but otherwise I feel fine. Giddy, even. Sunlight is streaming in through my window. I like it. Smiling, I try to get up, to get nearer to the window, but as soon as I attempt to move, I feel dizzy and fall back on the bed. I giggle.

The sound is foreign, but I like it. "Oops." I sit for a moment and then try to stand again. I take small steps toward the window and look outside. It looks deserted. I gasp. What if aliens came here and took everyone? What a ridiculous theory. I grin at the thought of Cassandra dressed like an alien, five-eyed and with twenty arms.

Cassandra. I wonder where she is. I'm about to leave the room to search for her, but Matthew comes in just then. "Hey, dad. Where's my wife? She hasn't divorced me already, has she?" I laugh, but he doesn't laugh along with me. Maybe he doesn't like jokes, I think.

"They gave you too much," he mutters. "Too much what? Cake?" I like cake. I'm hungry. "No, they... never mind." I frown. "You haven't answered my question. Where is she? Where's Cassandra?" Matthew looks away. "Sit down." I comply. "What's wrong? I want to go see her, you know. We haven't cut the cake yet. I don't think we even finished our dance! She's going to be really mad, and I don't want to argue on our wedding day. Come on, let's go find her."

I start to get up, but Matthew shakes his head. "Wait, son. There's something... something I need to tell you." I sigh. "Okay, but make it quick. I need to get back to Cassandra." Matthew looks away again. Am I really that ugly? Why doesn't he want to look at me? Oh, my God, maybe the aliens turned me into a Martian and I just haven't realized it! I chuckle.

"Cassandra... she..." I frown. "What?" Matthew shakes his head. "She's... she's in a coma." The trance I seem to be in suddenly disappears as the implications of this simple statement sink in. "She's dead?"

Dread threatens to overwhelm me. "No, no, no, no. She's just... asleep. But Irene has no idea when she'll wake up." Tears burn behind my eyes. "What?" I whisper. "There's a chance she will. But no one knows when that will be. I... I don't know what to say, son. I'm sorry." He looks at me with pity in his eyes. "Don't." I hiss. "Don't talk about her as if she was already gone. Don't throw me a pity party. I don't need it."

If I've hurt him, he doesn't let it show. "I apologize." I look away. "Leave me alone. Please." I can tell he wants to protest, but gives in after a minute. I'll be outside if you need anything." I remain silent until I hear the door close behind him... And that's when I break down. I let my tears go. I let go of all the anger that I'd been holding back ever since I found Cassandra in the dorm, being assaulted by Eric.

That's what your name means. God is good. I smirk. Yeah, right. If God is as good as Cassandra made him out to be, why would he allow this to happen? Why would he snatch away the only chance at a moment of true happiness I'd ever had? Maybe Marcus is right. Maybe I am selfish. But is it so bad to want things to go my way once in awhile?

A knock on the door interrupts my thoughts, and I hurry to wipe my tears away. "Four, open up." Liam. "No. I want to be alone." He hits the door again, harder this time. "For the last time, open up or I swear I will beat you up. Come on. This is important."

I smirk in spite of myself and reluctantly get up to let him in. Liam? Beat me up? Yeah, right. But he'll just keep bothering me until I give in. "You have two minutes." Liam frowns. "Nice to see you too. I just wanted to give you something. From Cassandra." What? "I don't... I don't understand."

Liam crosses his arms. "Weeks after she was brought here, she started spending a lot of time with me. I'd hold her hand during treatments. We'd talk." I feel my face turning red. I should have held her hand. We should have talked. But no, I had to waste precious time trying to beat Eric in training.

All that, my rank, skill, even my divergence seemed unimportant now. "She told me about how you saved her, how you helped her cope with initiation and homesickness. She told me about how much she loved you." I shake my head. "I didn't... I don't deserve her." Liam smiles sadly.

"Of course you did. Both of you were and still are the perfect couple. Heck, I'd ask you out if you weren't already married." If he's trying to cheer me up, it doesn't work. "When the treatment's side effects were at their worst, she handed me a folded piece of paper, and said, "Liam, when the time comes, I need you to give this to Four."

And I said, "I'll give it to him the next time he comes." She shook her head and told me. "No. You'll know when the time comes. Promise me." He wipes away a tear, and I notice that his eyes are bloodshot. "I think she knew something was going to happen." He laughs bitterly.

"No wonder her name means prophetess. She was obsessed with names, you know." I glare at him. "Was. Said. Stop talking about her in past tense!" Liam flinches. "You're right. I'm sorry." I sigh. "I should be the one apologizing. None of this is your fault." It's God's. "Well... I think you should read this. I haven't opened it. I promise."

I nod. "Thank you." He pats me on the back and turns to leave. "Wait." He glances back at me. "How long was I out?" Liam rubs his forehead. "A couple hours. Why?" My eyes widen. "No! Eric got away!" Liam sighs. "Relax. They got him. It was pretty easy, actually. After he fired, he just laid there where you left him with blood and a blank look on his face. Everyone knew he was guilty, so they kicked him out of Dauntless. For good." Relief washes over me, then anger. "He's still alive while my wife is in a coma because of him?"

Liam rubs his eyes. "He would've gotten the death penalty, except he didn't actually kill Cassandra. He was just found guilty and condemned to a life in the outskirts of the city with no faction, no identity." I clench my fists. "That's not enough."

Liam looks away. I know it's not. But at least he's gone." I bite my tongue to keep from adding so is Cassandra. But no. She's not gone. She's just asleep. Yes. She's just taking a nap, and she'll wake up any minute now. Everything will be just the way it was.

Why am I lying to myself? Of course nothing would ever be the same. Unless God... No. It had been God who'd cursed my wife with leukemia, God who'd taken her dad away from her, God who'd let those bullets and this coma to overtake her. I'm sure he'd do nothing to heal her.

Liam clears his throat. "I'm afraid my two allotted minutes are gone. Let me know if you need anything." I nod, and, after making sure Liam is gone, open the letter Cassandra left for me so long ago.

My beloved Four.
I don't know where to begin. Honestly, I'd never written a letter before, but I guess there's a first time for everything. I don't know what drove me to dig out a piece of paper and ancient writing utensil, when the Erudite's technology is so much more advanced, but... I don't know. Over the last few weeks, ever since I was once again diagnosed with leukemia, I'd been trying to keep a journal, something we could laugh about when all of this was over... But today, I felt like... Like God was trying to tell me something. Trying to tell me that I'd soon join Dave and my dad. And I need to tell you things, things I'd never had the courage to say in person because I knew you'd change the subject. I just don't know where to begin. Thank you. Thank you for telling me the truth about what happened to my brother. Thank you for standing up for me. Thank you for protecting me. Thank you for every single moment we spent together. Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world. I know it's really selfish of me to make requests at this point, but I don't care. I need you to promise me that you will be happy. If not for your sake, then mine. Believe it or not, I trust God, and he says that he has given us a gift: peace of mind and heart. I want you to accept this gift, but you can only do so if you choose to be happy. Please. Promise me, swear that you'll be happy no matter what. Like it or not, I am not immortal, and I don't want you to drown in grief if something should happen to me. Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all. I need you to make a point of helping Divergents. Help them avoid punishments as terrible as the one my brother went through. Please. This is not a goodbye... More like an "I'll see you later." I will always love you. Forever yours, Cassandra.

Unbidden tears come to my eyes. Cassandra didn't deserve any of this. Are you talking about her or yourself? I wave the thought away and force myself to stop crying. "Won't change anything," I mutter to myself.

I close my eyes and take a minute to calm down. I fold the letter in half, and flip it to the back, where I discover that Cassandra has left me one last message.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord... ROMANS 12:19. I fight back tears as I open the door to find Matthew standing there. "Are you... alright?"

I bite my tongue to keep from lashing out at him. "No. I'm not. But least Eric is gone, and Cassandra is stable." Matthew looks away. "Yeah."

I sigh. "Where is she?" He hesitates, and I know what he's thinking. "I'm calmer now. I promise." He nods. "Okay." Matthew turns and leads me to Cassandra's room.

When I come inside, I see that Johanna, Lauren, Zeke, and Liam are crowded around her bed, talking quietly. Unsurprisingly, they turn to stare at me the second I walk in. "Four!" Johanna cries out.

Before I know it she's hugging me, crying and screaming into my shirt. "It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay." My voice breaks, but I try not to let it show. I look over her shoulder at Cassandra's bed, where Lauren and Zeke are standing.

Lauren looks downright... broken, attempting to stifle sobs unsuccessfully. Zeke can do nothing but hold her, and he looks like he's in a trance. "I want to... I want to be with my wife. Alone." They all nod simultaneously and head outside before I even finish speaking. I hug Mrs. Reyes, and Lauren surprisingly doesn't resist my attempt to embrace her as well. I pat Zeke on the back, but he doesn't seem to notice. Liam embraces me for a minute, and I try to hide my surprise. "She's going to be alright," he whispers, but his voice wavers. "I know she will be."

Once everyone has left, I walk over to Cassandra's bed and sit on the edge. Her hair is pulled back, and she's no longer wearing her wedding dress. Instead, she's been clothed with an ordinary hospital gown, and she's connected to so many contraptions I can barely see her face. I touch her cheek, hoping that she will magically wake up like in those fairy tales my mom used to tell me about.

But, of course, she doesn't. "Hey, love. I missed you." She looks so peaceful. "I, um, I read your letter. There really was no need for it, though. You'll wake up soon. I know you will." A tear slides down my cheek. "You need to wake up, because we're going to go on our honeymoon. We're going to move in together when initiation ends. We're going to train initiates next year. We're going to start a family. You want that, don't you?"

I know I'm ranting, but I don't care. "You can name all of our kids, and I won't mind if they look like you. You're beautiful, after all." I stifle a sob. "I'll try to be happy. I will. And I'll help Divergents as much as I can. But please... please wake up." The deafening beeps of the machines are my only response.

I reach up to unbutton my shirt, because I feel like it's suffocating me, and I something sharp hits my hand. The glass shard necklace. I slip it off and stare at it. So much has happened since I put this on that I'd forgotten about it. I place it on the small table next to the bed. "This, um... This is for you. You need to wake up so I can help you put it on. Wake up, Cassandra."

My pleas don't seem to be working. Finally, I just give up and stay silent, unable to take my eyes away from her. I take her hand and place it in mine, wordlessly willing her to wake up and look at me. "I love you, Cassandra. And I always will."

I'm about to get up and leave when something catches my eye. A notebook, worn and covered with dust, sticks out of one of the drawers beneath the table. Cassandra's journal!

Of course. Who else would keep such an old writing utensil here? I place it carefully inside my pocket beside the letter, then take Cassandra's hand and kiss it one last time. "I should get going. I know you need your beauty sleep." A few weeks ago, talking like this would've seemed ridiculous, but now... It's like second nature. "I'll be back soon." I vow. "I love you."