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HE WOKE WITH A POUNDING HEADACHE. He wasn't sure how long he'd slept for, but he knew it couldn't have been for more than a few hours. Samson's eyes fluttered open slowly and he grimaced in pain, hissing at the blinding light of the sun coming in through the window. He felt even worse than he had before, if that was possible. Samson suddenly drew in his breath, blinking back at the faces of Newt, Leo, Thomas, Jeff and Teresa. They stood around his bedside, staring down at him with concerned expressions.
Samson locked eyes with Teresa for a moment, searching for any signs of recognition from her. She was exactly how he'd depicted her to look in his dreams, with her bright blue eyes and knotted raven hair. Teresa turned her gaze over to Thomas, blushing uncomfortably, and Samson took this as a sign to look away as well.
"Hey, Samson. How are you?" Jeff asked, breaking the silence that loomed over the room. Jeff took a cautious step toward the cot, his hands raised in surrender. "I'm just gonna change your bandage," he said.
Slowly, Jeff knelt down next to Samson. But when he began to reach for the bandage on his exposed waist, Samson grabbed Jeff's wrist intuitively. Jeff yelped, looking up at Samson with a panicked expression.
"Sam!" Leo was the first to react, throwing himself forward to intervene.
Leo reached for Samson's hand and tried to pull him off of Jeff's arm, but Samson only tightened his grip. He hurled his hand and Jeff's wrist into Leo's waist, pushing him backward. Thomas and Newt moved forward, Thomas reaching to help Leo off of the ground and Newt going for Samson, shoving him right in his chest and backwards into the bed.
Samson choked at the sudden pressure on his upper body, releasing Jeff's wrist in the process. He rested his hand over the ache in his chest, coughing out a string of apologies to his friends. The rest of the Gladers all stepped back towards the door, breathing heavily. Newt was blinking back at Samson with wide eyes, but Samson couldn't read his mannerisms.
"What's going on?" Samson wheezed out, shutting his eyes for a moment in an attempt to try and calm himself down. "You need to leave. All of you."
When Samson opened his eyes again, all of the Gladers still stood around him wearing the same blank stares. Samson groaned, balling his hands up into fists. "Listen to me," he began through gritted teeth. "I'm...not myself. I'm dangerous. And I don't wanna hurt anyone. Please," his voice faltered on his last words, his eyes falling over each of his friends.
Newt and Thomas exchanged a glance before turning back to Samson. It looked as if Newt was going to speak up, but Thomas beat him to it.
"Teresa brought this up with her," Thomas said. He reached down into his pocket and pulled out a small syringe, the liquid inside a fluorescent blue colour. "We think it'll help you."
