The Maze Runner Imagines

Minho [34]

 Since arriving at the Right Arm, the Gladers had been kept too busy to rest. Mary, the doctor at the Right Arm, saw it best that the Gladers not be given any downtime too soon. She knew in full confidence that the second those kids were allowed to rest and reflect on the past, how much they'd lost, a wave of guilt would wash over the group that wouldn't be mendable. Right now, with everything still being so unstable, it was best to keep them busy to prevent a mass collapse.

Y/N was given the job of making rounds and checking in on everyone. Back in the Glade, she'd been a Medjack. And, as Mary picked up on, Y/N was good at simply listening and being there for others. She cared a lot. That was all she needed to see in order to give Y/N the job. A kind heart and open mind was what was needed around at the moment.

So, now, Y/N was on her way to the next tent after having visited with Thomas and Newt. They both seemed to be doing alight in the grand scheme of things. Aside from a couple of scratches here and there, she was able to patch them up in a couple of minutes and move on to the next person. Leaving them to talk with one another seemed like the next best thing she could do.

Next said person was Minho. The girl approached the tent he was in a tapped lightly on the canvas door. It didn't make much of a noise, but if anyone was inside, they should have heard it.

"Minho...?" Y/N whispered gently as she lift up the door to the tent and peered inside.

Immediately, Minho's body tensed. He'd only half heard whoever it was tap at his tent. He figured if he ignored it, they would go away. But when he heard her voice, he knew there was no way she was going away.

"Uh—" Minho threw himself forward and onto the floor, attempting to hide behind his cot. It was a miserable attempt at an escape seeing as how Y/N had a clear view at everything that was going on. Those cots were thin mattresses held up on small metal sticks, they weren't hiding anything. Cursing himself, Minho still sat on the floor trying to hide behind the cot but peered over to look at the girl "Uh, Y/N."

"Minho..." The girl stepped inside the tent with a sheepish smile. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Minho swallowed hard and turned his head in the other direction, searching the floor for his shirt. It was nowhere to be found. He cursed himself again. "All good."

"It doesn't look like it." Y/N picked up the wet cloth that Minho had discarded on the cot and she placed it into the bucket of water from which it probably came. "What's going on?"

When those carefully placed words settled into his mind, he tried so hard to hold himself together. No, he wasn't okay. Nothing was okay. Everything else aside that had to do with leaving the Glade, he was still adjusting to the fact that by some odd chance he'd cheat death.

"Nothing. Just tired." Minho bit the inside of his cheek. He wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them to his chest.

It wasn't like Minho to be so reserved. So upset about something that he refused to be vocal about it. For him to reach around his legs and hold himself so tightly was no indicator of anything good. Carefully, Y/N climbed onto the cot and sat above Minho. For a moment, she sat quietly, not wanting to pry at Minho. But then that was when something caught her eye.

Down below her, Minho's right shoulder was exposed. On it, darker lines of skin that snaked around his shoulder and down his arm. No, it wasn't the flare. He wasn't turning into a crank. It...it was a scar.

"Minho..." Y/N whispered sadly. She reached out and brushed her fingers over his shoulder. He briefly tensed and tried to pull away. But he stayed. There was a comfort and coolness in her touch that no cold water could bring. "...you never told me?"

The runner closed his eyes and flinched as it felt like the whole world was flying at him a full force. "I didn't even really know it was there." He muttered. "Besides, we haven't exactly had any time between when it happened to when--"

"Yeah." Y/N lift her hand away. "The world implode?"

Minho forced a small laugh. "To when we got so busy that me almost dying seemed like an afterthought."

Y/N caught the horror in that statement. Minho had always been one to joke about the things that bothered him, his deepest wounds. But this one was different. "Hey, come here." Y/N tapped at him and motioned for him to sit with her on the bed.

Part of him didn't want to leave the ground. Maybe, if he stayed here long enough, his roots would settle into the earth and he could exist without worry. Another part of him refused that thought and got up as quickly as he could to sit with Y/N.

The girl rung out the cloth and put it over his shoulder where the scar looked the most painful. "You haven't had a chance to process it, have you?"

"I don't even know what there is to process." Minho shook his head a little, almost as if he were in disbelief, as he caught the girls eyes. "I just doesn't sit well."

Y/N pursed her lips and raised a brow. "I'm not sure that nearly losing your life, everything that could have happened if you didn't make it, is something that will ever sit well." She reached out to move the cloth. "It might keep you up, nightmares, leave you constantly wondering..."

The girl trailed off as she felt Minho's other hand softly grab her arm and slowly move to rest his head on her arm. He seemed so exhausted. Knowing it wasn't words Minho needed right now, Y/N relaxed and let her head settle on his.

How long they would stay sitting like this, she wasn't sure. But, it didn't matter. He needed someone. If they sat like this until he fell asleep, that was all she could ask for the world to grant in this moment. If he could just sleep knowing someone was there with him, maybe things tomorrow would be a little better.