"Newt!"
"Stand aside!" A doctor shoved Thomas out of the way, and he tumbled to the floor, being caught off guard. The doctor went in full medical mode, checking Newt's pulse, heartbeat, blood pressure, and probably anything else that could be checked with the doctor's mediocre, portable medical kit. Newt watched the proceedings with an amused, yet tired expression on his face.
"Don't move. We'll be back." The team of doctors stepped outside the hut, speaking in hushed, frantic voices. Thomas was at a loss of what to do next. He just kept his expression of disbelief trained on Newt, who lay still, but kept his eyes slowly roaming around the hut.
"How do you feel?" Thomas finally rasped. Newt settled his eyes on Thomas.
"Absolute, bloody, shucking shit."
"Well, you would."
"What happened?" Newt's voice cracked from exertion as he rested his head back on the pillow.
"You got shot," Thomas said bluntly, focusing on his hands. "Then almost died on the Berg, then had screaming fits, then just woke up when they were about to euthanize you."
Newt let out a long, slow exhale. He closed his eyes, and rested back on the pillow. He looked so peaceful that Thomas was about to become concerned, when he spoke again.
"Thank you Tommy."
"What for?"
Newt opened his eyes again, and slowly rolled his head so he was looking at Thomas. "For saving me. You're an absolute bloody idiot for running into that place, and the shuckiest shank I ever knew. But thank you for giving me another chance."
"You're the one who most deserves it."
Both sets of eyes locked, each one brimming with unshed tears, firm smiles gracing their faces, holding on to the precious moment.
"Excuse me please." A nurse barged into the room, an air of snobbish authority surrounding her, interrupting the moment between the two. "We have to take your vitals. Stand aside." She pushed past Thomas and unhooked a stethoscope from around her neck. "If you wouldn't mind waiting outside." She said it like a command, instead of a request, but still Thomas felt himself unable to fight it, and slouched outside by the door. He could hear muffled conversation, questions and answers, and a few minutes later, she emerged, beelining for another doctor. "Hey!" Thomas stood up and shook her arm. "So?"
The nurse looked flabbergasted, though not paying any attention to the boy's eyes boring into her. "It's uncanny. But his vitals have taken a dramatic upswing. His heartbeat, breathing and blood pressure is all much better, and he's mostly awake and alert."
"And he woke fully?" The other doctor asked, eyes wide.
"Yes. There was no screaming, we were all there. He's looking much better."
"It's like a miracle, how he could take such a spike upwards in that short amount of time."
"He still has a long road of healing ahead of him, but I predict he will make a mostly full recovery."
"So he'll survive?" Thomas butted in, finally annoyed with the hushed conversation between the two medical staff.
The nurse looked offended that he would dare interrupt, but nodded stiffly. "Yes."
Thomas was about to dash into the tent, when he thought better of it, and turned and ran the other direction with a whoop.
"Minho! Minho!"
"What's up?" Minho sat blankly on a log, picking at his lunch with disdain. His voice was exhausted.
"He's gonna live!"
"Wait, what?" Minho stood abruptly, knocking his plate to the sand.
"He woke up! They said he's gonna make it!"
Minho's face cracked into a wide grin, and clapped Thomas on the shoulder, almost bouncing with excitement. "Can we go see him?"
Thomas waved him forwards, and the two ran off, almost with the same enthusiasm as a kid on Christmas morning. The door banged open, almost knocking it off his hinges.
"Newt!"
"Minho." Newt's face was one of utter relief.
The other two Gladers settled down beside the bed, nobody speaking, exchanging smiles and glances, just finally being.
Where they weren't running.
Where they weren't scared.
Or crying.
Or dead.
Finally the silence was broken by Newt shifting under his blankets, laying sideways so he could look at both of them. "So are you going to tell me how you guys pulled that whole stunt off?" he asked with a small smile. Thomas braced his elbows on his knees, and took a deep breath to start the story.
"Well, we went to the Last City, y'know, for supplies. And we found a used serum injector next to where you...almost died. Then Teresa analyzed it, and-"
"Teresa?" Newt interrupted, confused.
"Yeah."
"Huh."
"Anyway, she analyzed it, and found out you weren't dead. So we ended up convincing Jorge to take us to the Last City again, where we found Adris."
"Well actually, Adris found us," Minho corrected.
"You guys rescued her?" Newt asked, a slight look of worry in his eyes. "She's okay?"
"Yeah, Teresa took her back here while me, Brenda, you, Fry, Gally and Jorge got on the Berg to fly to get you." Thomas reassured him.
"Hold on. If you guys took the Berg, then where was it when we were outside? And why did it fly down to get us? And where were Brenda, Jorge and Frypan?" Newt looked utterly baffled, his eyebrows drawn down in his signature way.
"Well, you see-" Thomas started, then hesitated, focusing down on his hands clasped in front of him. "Minho, you want to take over?"
"The Berg kind of...crashed. In the Scorch."
"What?!" Newt tried to sit up, but regretted it instantly as he flopped back down with a groan.
"So, the others were hurt, and we continued." Minho hurriedly kept the story moving, as he didn't want to stay on the subject of the Berg crash any longer than he had to. "We found a car and started driving it, and then-"
"You found a car? Just randomly found a car and started driving it? In the Scorch?" Newt asked incredulously.
"Y'know, we're never going to finish this story if you keep interrupting." Thomas teased.
"Sorry. Continue."
"We found this tiny community, kind of a refugee town, called Herdade. They don't want anyone leaving, so they tried to keep us in there. We stayed with a really nice family, but we didn't want to stick around, so we came up with a plan to escape." Minho continued.
"But then they caught us. And then FEUDING bombed the city, let the Cranks in, and essentially destroyed a whole group of people." Thomas said bluntly. Minho elbowed Thomas in the ribs. "You dumb shank, we said we wouldn't tell him that part!"
"Well, I've been feeling guilty since you got me from that place, so it doesn't make much of a difference." Newt adjusted his position on his bed. "What happened next?"
"We kept going through the Scorch, until we reached the old city. We went through the mall again, got chased by Cranks, and snuck into the FEUDING building."
The only way you could describe the expression on Newt's face was 'why on earth did someone let these guys go off their own?' But he stayed silent, and let Thomas continue.
"We fought a Griever-"
"And I was stung-"
"And then I went to find you…"
"...while Gally and I created a distraction."
"Then you were there for the rest of it."
Newt was chucking, shaking his head slightly. "You guys are crazy." Then his expression grew serious. "But thank you for doing it."
"My patient needs sleep. Both of you get out, visiting hours are over." A nurse with forearms the size of cantaloupes barged in and grabbed Thomas and Minho by the backs of their shirt, and hauled them out the door. Thomas managed to catch a glimpse of Newt sniggering slightly, as he raised his hand in a jaunty wave.
"See you tomorrow!" Thomas called back.
"I'll be here."
And Thomas felt a rush of reassurance, because finally, he knew he would be.