𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦, thomas (tmr)

Chapter Thirteen

For the next few days, Clara took her friends' advice.

She spent her time roaming the Glade aimlessly, chatting to other Gladers and being Frypan's number one food taster. She was admittedly ecstatic over the prospect of lazing around for a while, considering that she was the only person in the Glade ever to really take a break.

Gally grumbled about it; of course. He argued that the girl could at least help out with smaller jobs - which she probably could - but Alby and Newt backed her up so much that she decided to just go along with it.

And then, finally, the fun was over. She got her cast taken off, and the spell was broken.

She got the option of trying out a few different jobs, but instead chose to go back to her old job as a Med-jack. She was a little rusty on the more difficult parts of it, but could remember the easier parts of the job fairly well.

When she wandered into the Med-jack room, Jeff and Clint immediately turned to her with smiles on their faces, as if they knew exactly why she was there. She couldn't help but let her face be infected by their smiles, and settled down on one of the patient beds to chat to them for a while.

"Is it weird not running the Maze anymore?" Clint asked, sitting down on the bed in front of her, so they were facing one another. She shrugged, pondering the question and watching Jeff tidy a few supplies away.

"A little. But I am happy to be back here."

Both boys beamed at her then. They exchanged a smile before Jeff looked back at her to say, "If it makes you feel any better, we're glad to have you back."

And it did.

It was a good day to head back to work. There weren't too many injuries to patch up in the morning, so it was easier for Clara to settle back into the usual routine. It also happened to be the day the new Greenie was arriving, so they would be interrupted some time after lunch to check out the fresh meat.

Just before the girl was to go on lunch break, Winston stumbled into the room with a hand dripping with blood and a grimace on his lips. Behind him, out in the Glade, there was an audible commotion.

"What happened?" The girl asked in horror, beckoning him towards one of the beds.

He sat down on the end, wincing as she took his hand to inspect it. Instantly bringing a wet rag to it, she dabbed at the blood to wipe it away, careful to not touch the deep gash directly.

"Builders dropped this big plank right outside the Bloodhouse. Bunch of them got themselves hurt too."

Clint strolled over towards Clara and Winston while Jeff walked to the door, to look at how bad the mess really was. The way his eyes widened told Clara it was actually quite bad.

"He needs stitches." Clint mumbled, dropping Winston's hand carefully and beginning to rifle through the Med-jack supplies.

"Hey, you can handle this, right?" Jeff asked the girl, seeming a little preoccupied with whatever mess the Builders got into.

"Yeah, why?"

The boy didn't reply at first, instead just beckoning Clint towards the door too. When the Keeper's eyes also widened, and he cursed under his breath, Clara guessed it was bad enough that they both needed to go sort it out.

"You handle Winston, we'll deal with these shuck-faces."

Winston snickered under his breath then, severely regretting it when he moved his hand too much and caused pain to rattle up his arm. The girl just nodded, although her mind was frantically trying to remember how to stitch up a wound. She would never tell Winston that that's what she was thinking about.