Chapter 27

Okay, I lied...this is a new record. What is this? Like my fourth chapter today? It's really REALLY hard to stop writing right now, I'm in a really good place and the ideas just keep flowing! Why would I want to interupt my flow of creativity? I wouldn't, so I won't. But anyways, let's get a move on and not waste anymore time. So without further ado, here is the next chapter :D

Newt POV

The time for the walls to close was coming which meant that the Runners would be back any minute and no one was ready for what was to come. In the three or so hours since Jo had been stung the entire Glade was silent as we listened to her screams echo off the stone walls surrounding us. No one enjoyed hearing someone suffer through the changing, especially not now since most of the Gladers thought of Jo as either a mother figure, an older sister, or a younger sister. It was incredibly difficult to sit here and listen to her scream and thrash when there was nothing anyone could do except make her as comfortable as we can while she goes through this process.

I had just left the Sick Room for what felt like the hundredth time today only to see Minho and Ben return with the other Runners, they had no idea what was going on as they bypassed everyone and went right to the Map Room. He had to tell him and he had to tell him now before he heard her, which would happen eventually, Jo's screams are particularly blood curdling.

I didn't even bother to knock as I pushed the door open and let myself in, "Minho." I spoke up and the room when quiet at the new voice that shouldn't be there. Said Runner looked up from his paper he was mapping out and opened his mouth to probably give me an impertinent response

when we were both silenced by Jo letting out another ear piercing scream. I flinched and looked at Minho to gauge is reaction.

It seemed like it took him a moment to process the sound that was heard all across the Glade, "Minho before you lose your klunk you need to listen to me." I rushed to get out as he was already moving around the table with a deep frown etched across his brow.

Dammit, this was not going to be easy. Before he could make it past me and out the door I grabbed him by the arm and held him there as we held each others gazes. He was going to listen to me whether he liked it or not, "Listen to me Minho, now." My tone held that of authority, I was not messing around.

"You had better let go of me shank or so help me I will make you." He growled and no one are dared to breathe, save for me.

"No Minho, you will listen to what I have to say or I will throw your ass in the slammer and you won't see her at all." My sentence must have confirmed his fears as I felt him tense up under my grip and he did a terrible job of covering up the fear that was in his eyes. He was afraid for Jo and I was keeping him from seeing her, I swear I had a death wish. But whether I wanted to or not I still outranked him in the Glade and he was going to hear me out.

"Well? You better get to talkin' before I tear down anyone that stands in my way from here to the Sick Room. Good that?" He had forced out from between clenched teeth as he yanked his arm out of my grip.

"I know what you're thinking Minho, and this is by no means your fault." I begun and he inhaled sharply as his nostrils flares, he was barely containing his rage and right now I was on the receiving end of all of it. He pulled his gaze from mine back to his Runners as he told them to keep working and he'll be back later. He led us away from the Map Room out into the forest so we could speak in private.

"What do you mean it's not my fault Newt? What the bloody hell happened while I was gone?" He asked and I had a feeling he already knew the answer he just needed to hear it directly to come to terms.

"Jo got stung. She didn't go into the maze or anything, it happened in the open in the middle of the day. No one understands how or why a Griever got that close." Running my fingers through my shaggy hair I sighed in exhaustion. The boy in front of me looked like he was going to fall apart. His shoulders sagged and he had his head down, staring at the ground with his hands balled into tight, white knuckled fists at his side.

"Minho? Alby needs you to know that none of this is your fault, or anyone's for that matter. It's the bloody shucking Creators fault she's like this." I clenched my jaw as I was filled with rage, the stupid shuckfaced Creators are the one's that put them in here in the first place! They're the reason Jo is tied to a bed suffering and now we have to sit back and do nothing but watch, it was infuriating.

"Sure, whatever. It's not my fault. Is that what you slintheads want to hear?" He fixed me with hate filled brown eyes, I knew his hate wasn't directed towards me or anyone in this Glade, it was reserved for the sick people that put us here.

"Don't do this to yourself Minho. She got the serum in time and she's going to be just fine. We both know she's strong and she's not going to just give up. If you doubt her at all she's going to be mad at you you know." I tried to reassure him with words of truth but Minho being Minho has made up is mind on the matter and he can say to our faces what he wants us to hear but that's not how he was feeling inside.

"You're such a stubborn shank, I can see why she likes you so much." I admit to him, only a blind fool wouldn't be able to see how she feels about him and before he flew off the handle I wanted to make sure he knew.

"What?" He looks up at me with a confused frown. Leave it to Minho to have feelings for the only girl in the Glade and not even see the feelings she has for him. God he's so dumb, I couldn't hold back the chuckle which irked him a bit and he glared at me with a frown.

"I told you she likes you. Did you really not notice? She doesn't just like you Minho, Jo is in love with you. Only you wouldn't be able to tell you dumb shank. Everyone knows, how can you like this girl and not notice that she adores you?" After finally telling what neither one of them had to guts to tell each other; or Minho's case had no idea, I watched Minho's face and waited.

I watched as my words processed through his brain and since none of us can remember what it's like to be in love or even have a crush it took him some time before his cheeks turned pink and he looked at me with wide eyes, "Why didn't she tell me this herself?" He threw his hands up in the air flabbergasted.

"Probably because she didn't know how you felt and the idea of being in love in a place that could easily take what you care about the most away from you in the most brutal ways stopped her. Isn't that why you didn't tell her? Come on, she's got a long way to go before she's done with the Changing." Just as said that another scream echoed and bounced off the walls around the Glade. From the corner of my eye I saw Minho flinch and the look of pure anger and rage returned to his eyes.

"When we get out of here, if we ever find those shuckfaced Creators I'm going to kill every single one of them for doing this to us and her." He made a bold statement that I knew I would back him up one hundred precent.

It was about an hour after Minho got back from the maze and since I told him what he needed to hear and here we were, in the Sick Room as Minho did everything Clint and Jeff told him to do in order to care for Jo. Not once did he let out a sound of protest as he ran back and forth to the stream outside to get fresh water to try and keep her temperature down.

By now it was dark out and majority of the Glader had settled in for the night, or tried to. Whenever we had someone going through the process of the Changing sleep was a luxury that evaded most of us. I had left Minho with the Med-Jacks and Jo so I could climb into bed, today was exhausting. If we're lucky we had maybe another day or day and a half before Jo would be back in the present and not trapped in her memories, but from where I'm standing, a day and a half seemed like a lifetime.

Jo's POV in Third Person

After meeting with Ava Paige and Mr. Janson, Joan was escorted out of his office and back into the main living and working area for Immunes like herself. She walked up to a boy with messy blonde waves and warm brown eyes, sitting with a pretty girl with hair the color of milk chocolate and eyes like storm clouds.

"Hi Newt, have you seen Minho?" She asked the boy and she had to tap him on the head to pull his attention from his female counterpart, they were always together, Newt and Marie. After finally gaining his attention she had to ask him one more time where her friend was, she hasn't seen him all day and she had a lot to tell him.

"He's with a doctor, they're making him run again. He should be done soon." Joan thanked him and she left them alone and made her way down the same grey painted hallways she's know since she was real young. Taking a left and then a right she stopped in front of the two way viewing window into the gym as she watched her best friend run on a tredmill with a oxygen mask attached to his face. His stamina was nothing to shake a stick at, he could run for days on end, fighting through the muscle fatigue until his legs gave out without his consent before he stopped. He was incredible and strong, she was just smart with a horrible attention span.

The doctor working with Minho had his back to the girl so she jumped up and down flailing her arms like a weirdo to catch his attention and when she finally did she gave him her million watt smile that only he brought out of her. She could tell that behind his breathing mask he was smiling just as wide and he waved at her giving away her location and alerting the doctor to her presence. After the woman reprimanded her with a look she jotted down a few things before telling Minho he was done for the day. Joan watched as the machine came to a gradual stop then a even walk as a cool down before stopping completely.

Minho peeled the mask off his face and took in a big gulp of fresh air that wasn't being pumped into his nose and mouth via machine. His shirt was sticking to his torso due to the sweat as he ran his fingers through his messy, sweaty hair before leaving the room and standing next to her.

"Hey, how'd your meeting with Rat Man and Boss Lady go?" He was the only one who knew of the meeting since we were best friends after all and we told each other everything. But not that he mentioned the meeting, a lump of despair and nerves settled in the pit of her stomach.

"About that, Min, I'm not sure what they want from me but Dr. Paige told me that she wants me ready in two hours. She also told me that I won't really get to see you anymore. What do I do?! I-I can't do any of this without you there." She had begun to panic a little. Minho grabbed her tiny wrist in his hand and he pulled her through the walls to the only room in this building that didn't have surveillance; the bathroom.

He checked to see if anyone saw them or followed them before slipping into the bathroom, he quickly threw the lock so now no one could come in. He turned around and watched as his best friend fell apart in the middle of the room. She wrapped her arms around herself as she took labored breaths before she sunk down into a fetal position and she buried her face in her knees. She couldn't live her life here without Minho around, he was her rock, he kept her sane and happy in this isolated hellhole.

"Jo, breathe. You need to breathe or you're going to pass out. Come on, breathe with me." He took her hand in his and despite being covered in sweat, pressed it to his heart as he took in deep breaths to help her, "Come on Jo, work with me. In and out. Deep breaths, do it. For me." The girl lifted her face out from her knees and through her tears she watched his chest rise and fall as she did her best to mimic his breathing. After a few moments she had finally calmed down, she slowly wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head where her hand was a minute ago.

"How am I supposed to do this Min? It's always been the two of us for as long as I can remember and now...now they want to take me away from you and our friends. How am I supposed to be okay with any of this? I don't even know what they want from me and that scares me. I'm not brave like you." She listened to his heart pound in his chest, is he pressed herself against him hard enough she could feel it beating too, she was going to miss spending time with him.

"Don't worry Jo. You know me, I'll find a way to come see you. I'm not afraid of some rules. Just promise me you won't forget me now that you're part of the special group." He teased and she pulled away from him and playfully smacked his arm.

"Hey! That's not funny, I could never forget you Minho. I love you remember?" She said at the same time her face turned bright red it almost matched her hair.

Minho laughed out loud, and planted a soft kiss to her forehead. For someone with a bad attitude and authority issues Minho was one of the sweetest people she has ever had the luxury of meeting, "I know Red, I love ya too." He replied with a beautiful smile.

Taking Minho away from her was going to be more painful and unbearable than any abuse or torture that she might endure while she's in this special group. She had no idea what she's getting herself into but she did know that she wasn't ready for it.

AWWWWW this chapter is so sappy and emotional and UGH! The feels! At least theres been a little Newt and Minho interaction, which has been fun to write since Newt doesn't take crap from Minho no matter how hard the Runner tries to push his buttons :D Anyways, I might have time to do one more chapter before calling it quits for the day..maybe. I might just bring my laptop to my boyfriends and keep writing there, I'm hooked and obsessed. I love this fic so much, it's my baby! I hope you guys love it as much as I do and I thank you for reading and reviewing my previous chapters. Now, If you liked this chapter as well then, you know the drill :P Thanks guys! xoxo