"So when did you- you know- fall in love with her?" Thomas smirked, knowing he had him right where I wanted him, with his head in Fionaland.
"Woah," Newt defeated with his hands up, "What?"
"I may be slow to getting to know things around here, but...
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Newt stepped in just as he was about to knock me out cold. He swung a shovel and the metal collided with Ben's thick skull with a panging noise. His dead weight to the ground and I jumped away, crawling backward as fast as I could. In seconds, five different boys jumped on Ben, holding him down before he hurt anyone else.
"Calm down, Ben!" Gally ordered, grabbing him by the arms. "What the hell happened?"
I knew Fi couldn't answer as she hadn't been able to get up from the last fall so I answered for the both of us. I knelt down at her side where Newt already was, he put her head in his lap as she winced. She had a cut just above her eyebrow and winced at the sunlight in her eyes. I suddenly felt so guilty seeing that she took most of the damage.
Newt tilted her chin up, using his other hand to carefully wipe the blood off her face, "Hey, hey, Look at me, Love. Tell me what hurts."
"Ben... his shirt... the blood." She choked out swallowing hard.
Alby heard and lifted Ben's shirt himself. A harsh gasp came from the fellow gladers as we all spotted the hole in his chest the size of a quarter that tainted his veins. Blue and black bruising covered the whole side of his chest. I knew Fi and I didn't do that to him, so it had to be something much scarier.
"In the middle of the day?" Gally questioned, as a new grade of shock hit us all. I realized now that whatever that is, it came from the maze. Gally looked up from the wound over to us. "Newt, What's going on with Blue?"
"I don't know!" He answered hoarsely. He looked for any obvious broken bones or large cuts but none were showing. I could tell by the look on his face that he was begging her for answers. She didn't take her eyes off him either. With the adrenaline cooling enough to let me focus, I remember the initial hit Fiona took when her whole body flung at a tree. I was almost sure that knocked her out when I heard her body hit so hard that the tree had a cracking sound. "Her ribs, check her ribs."
Newt rolled up her shirt without question, exposing from the bra line down. The left side of her ribs were red all around and already turning new colors around the center. "Clint!"
The Keeper of the medjacks rushed over, at Newt's order looking at the bruise himself. "She might have hit her head too, I'm not sure."
"We should get her to Medbay quickly," Clint advised and without a second more Newt swooped his arms underneath her. His limp was more perceptible as he carried her but he made no fuss about it as he hurried to get her more help. I ran after them, trying to help in any way I could. "Set her down on the bed."
"How the bloody hell did this happen?" Newt shouted at me.
He turned quickly to shout at me some more but Fi's caught his hand. Making him freeze in his place. He glanced back at her and she shook her head, still unable to speak with the irregularity of her breathing.
Clint knelt down, examining the wound by lightly pressing his fingers into her side. "I don't feel any breaks but I wouldn't cross off the idea of mild fractures of her ribs"
Newt looked down at her with pity in his eyes, he brushed the hair out of her face. Brushing his thumb lightly across her cheek to try and calm her. A wide range of confusion swept across the Clint's face, which made me remember that these two supposedly hated each other.
Clint went to his workstation, looking over medications, "The best thing she can do for herself is relax for a bit and get the most sleep she can. She should sleep on her back for a while. It'll take at least six weeks to heal fully."
Gally came in with a face the same shade as a tomato, already shouting before he kicked open the door. He went to the opposite side of the table. "Stupid shank is gonna pay for this."
"How am I supposed to stay calm when Gally is concocting a murder?" Fiona coughed out, trying to stabilize her lunges with one deep breath but instantly regretted it with a wince.
I walked over, taking a towel off of the tables to drape over her as footsteps came up the hall. She thanked me with her eyes, as Alby burst into the room. All the boys that just dropped Ben off in the slammer.
Alby found me first, "What happened?"
"First of all, unless you're Alby get your kluckface out of here." Gally stopped the crowd of boys loitering to bust in the door. He returned to me, pointing at the towel I covered her with. "You can stay, only because of that and she stands you for some reason." All the other gladers had stood still, not moving their feet but still trying to peak in. "I mean it, beat it!" He pushed the door shut, locking them out.
"I don't know why he attacked us." I told him honestly, "What was wrong with him? Are we all gonna end up like that?"
"It's called the 'Changing'." Fiona answered me when everyone was silent.
Newt shh'd her, not wanting to talk unless she needed to. Gally started explaining instead, "It's a Griever string. They impale you and inject you with some kind of substance. It stabs through your mind and rips it apart. Then you come out like Ben, crazy as a bag of cats. No one survives it."
Newt only now took his focus off Fiona, "Is there anything you can give her for the pain?"
"I can give her some painkillers but it might put her to sleep for a bit," Clint answered, looking between all of us for advice.
"How long is a bit?" Gally questioned, not likely the sound of his friend being put unconscious.
He shrugged, "That depends on how much her body needs sleep."
"Give it to her," Newt ordered.
Fiona only moved her neck, to shake her head, "Don't waste painkillers on me, wait until another slicer loses a finger or something."
"Fiona-" I started but Gally cut me off.
"Slim it, Greenie. She is taking the meds. We'll take shifts watching her, I don't want just any old shank looking after her." Gally mandated.
"I was gonna say that I agree with Newt." I glared at Gally.
"Proceed then." He motioned. Letting me finish.
"Ben's six foot and a hundred and eight pounds of muscle. He threw you around like a ragdoll. That isn't just something you can walk off."
Her stubbornness did not agree as she tried to sit up, "I need to do my part. The maze is-"
"Screw the maze, Ben could have killed you." Newt looked at her like she was crazy. Fi was the only map maker we had, which made her important but by the alarmed look in Newt's eyes. It ran deeper than that.
"We need to make sure you get better first." Alby agreed, "You can take the next few days off. The maze has been there for three years. It isn't going anywhere."
He nodded to Clint, he stepped forward with a set of two pills. She must have given in due to the pain or because she knew we would never win this fight against the four of us. She took the pills, swallowing hard. In a matter of seconds, she had drifted into sleep, her breaths becoming as close as they could to even.
