ONE WAY RIDE | Maze Runner

➭ Chapter 4: Next to me

"Oh, I always let you down
You're shattered on the ground
Still, I find you there
Next to me
And oh, stupid things I do
I'm far from good, it's true
But still, I find you
Next to me"

Next to me – Imagine Dragons

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The moment he knew, was this one. When he was standing on the side of the blond boy's bed, holding the syringe between his shaky hands, knowing that if he stretches his arm a little, he can touch it, feel it, because it is real. He is a real person, and he is alive, despite all this months he spent grieving his dead. That was the moment he knew, he was willed to do anything for Newt, even if it meant he loses his life, because that was what Newt did for him.

The whole situation feels unreal. He feels as if he is going to wake up at any moment, and he will be in the safe haven, Newt without him anymore, just emptiness. Cold, awful emptiness.

Doctor Paige sits on her wheel chair by his side, dressed on one of those green suits he's seen before. She is just giving the final touches to the machines around Newt, checking his levels to get everything prepared for the injection. For WCKD this is historical, everyone is watching from behind the window, they'd never been so close so the cure until now. But Thomas has already been here before, at the Right Arm, in the mountains, before everything became hell.

"It's ready. Whenever you want Thomas" Ava states.

"How do I do this?" Thomas asks, now feeling completely lost, frozen on his feet, dread running through his bones.

"It needs to be injected in a vein, so after I apply the iodine, you need to insert it nice and slowly, and don't plug it out until it beeps"

Thomas nodded and watched Dr. Paige apply the iodine in Newt's inner elbow, angry black veins popping out of the pale skin of his arms, neck and probably the rest of his body.

"Take your time"

He swallowed heavily and breathed in, immediately choosing one of those veins, and without even blinking, he injected the syringe.

Newt stirred and made a couple of discomfort noises despite the heavy drugs he was in, Thomas couldn't believe what he was watching in front of him. A couple of seconds before the syringe beeped, Newt finally seemed to relax and let out a sigh of relief, going back to his previous position and Dr. Paige fixed the cannula under his nose.

Thomas removed the empty needle from Newt's arm and gave it back to Dr. Paige. Feeling satisfied with what he just did. He felt as if a weight was removed from his shoulders.

"Good job, Thomas" Ava placed a gloved hand in his back.

She grabbed a tiny flashlight from the surgical table and shoved it to Newt's eyes, Thomas just stared in awe when the pupils went from bloodshot red to the normal dark brown color Thomas has always loved. It had worked. The people behind that window stared shocked, mouths wide open and hopeful looks on their faces, including Chancellor Spilker.

"Wha-What happens now?" Thomas couldn't contain the stutter.

"Now we wait. You have to understand Thomas, Newt has coexisted with the virus for a long time, and we can't be for sure that there are not going to be any side effects or consequences. Now we wait until he wakes up, to see how he reacts to the cure, but it can be in days or even weeks"

Thomas nodded understanding, all they had to do was wait, she was right. But when it comes to Newt, he would wait a whole life.

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