Thomas awoke, disoriented and sore, only to find himself curled up in a chair beside Newt's bed.
Why the hell did you fall asleep you shank? What if something changed?
He quickly checked on Newt, but there was no change in the blond boy's condition. It was dark out, and the camp quiet, so it must have been late nighttime. Thomas could hear the midnight winds blowing through the compound, and the waves crashing against the beach.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Thomas scrambled upright, fully prepared to throw himself in front of Newt to protect him from the late-night prowler.
"Who's there?" he asked warily.
"Me." A blond girl hesitantly poked her head through the door.
"Sonya?" Thomas asked, confused.
"Hey." she slipped fully inside, before sitting carefully on a stool at the foot of Newt's cot.
"What are you doing here?"
Sonya took a deep breath, her eyes still focused on Newt's sleeping form. "A little while ago...I was told that…" she trailed off, looking suddenly self conscious.
"It's okay. You can tell me." Thomas felt a little uncomfortable at the girl's presence, as he didn't know her very well. And for all he knew, Newt didn't either, so he didn't understand why she was here.
"He's my brother."
"What?!" Thomas felt like the wind was knocked out of him, completely and utterly shocked at the news he just heard.
Sonya let out a humourless laugh. "Yeah. That's how I felt when I first heard. But then I started thinking about it, trying to remember. And I think I do remember...something. A presence, really. Someone I was really close to. I just...don't really remember the person it belonged to."
Thomas looked closer, and he could see a resemblance between the two. Sonya shared Newt's golden blond hair, and the same deep brown eyes. And suddenly Thomas was mentally kicking himself on how he didn't notice it before.
"How did you find out?" Thomas asked quietly, bouncing his leg.
"Teresa told me."
Thomas looked up, shocked. "Teresa? How would she remember? Why didn't she tell anyone earlier?"
Sonya shrugged. "You got me. But she would, I mean, she got her memories back, and she worked for them." She looked back down at her hands. "But I don't want to talk about her."
"What do you want to talk about?" Thomas's voice cracked slightly on the word "talk."
"Him." she nodded down at the sleeping figure. "How did he get like this?"
"Tortured. Then ran on his injuries. Then took a bullet meant for me."
"Jesus." Sonya shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe the first time I'm meeting him as my brother is when he's on the brink of life and death."
"D'you remember anything about him?"
"Only meeting him from the Scorch. I don't know, first impression told me he was a cool guy, wanted to get to know him better. I thought he was really cute too, which is disgusting when I think about it now."
Thomas huffed a small laugh, but let her continue talking.
"But I don't know what he's like. And you're his best friend...so...would you mind?"
"What?"
Sonya looked at him hopefully. "Telling me...what he's like?"
Thomas took a deep breath, switching his gaze constantly from Sonya to Newt. "He's kind. He was always the Glader who was nice to everybody. He's loyal. He was by my side the whole journey it took to get here the first time. He always had words of encouragement. He could always make me laugh. Actually, he could make anyone laugh. He had a smile that could brighten up the whole room. He's brave, and willing to run headlong into danger if it meant saving someone else. He was my best friend." Thomas hadn't realized he had grabbed Newt's hand until he dropped it. "He was one of the best people I have ever known, and did not deserve all the shit things that happened to him."
"Is."
"Huh?" Thomas wiped his leaking eyes, turning his head away so Sonya wouldn't see him crying. Sonya reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Is. Not was. He is one of the best people you have ever known, because he's going to make it through this. I know that. Don't give up hope."
She gave him a half smile and squeezed his hand once, before releasing it and tenderly fixing Newt's blanket. Thomas took one of Newt's hands and Sonya took the other, and the rest of the night was spent in effortless silence, the two hoping to God that their family would awaken.