Fingerprints

Six

Thomas shoved his phone in his back pocket, pushing his back into the door, slipping into the toilet. He hummed softly to himself, mind wrapped up in the little things, when he heard a soft groan. Thomas froze. 'What in the fuck was that? Is someone hooking up in here?' The brunette found all the stall doors empty, peering round into one of them. Minho was curled up on the floor, head hung over the basin. Cold sweat covered his pale skin, hair stuck to his forehead as if it had been soaked in water. Thomas rushed straight to his side.

The two had become quite close friends in the month Thomas had been working at the office. They'd shared stories and jokes, often teasing Newt, and sometimes putting salt in his coffee instead of sugar. The man reminded Thomas of Brenda, and his mischievousness and friendliness rubbed off on Thomas, and apparently everyone else, bringing a certain uplift to the stressed environment they all worked in. Thomas would consider him quite a close friend already, despite their occasional quarrels and their unspoken debate over who made Newt laugh more.

"Minho what the shuck? How long have you been in here?" He pressed a hand to his clammy forehead, sighing in disapproval as it met heated skin.

"Left my..shucking phone at my desk." The asian laughed, clearly tired. He lay his head back against the cubicle door, breathing ragged.

"I think you might have a fever Min'" Thomas frowned, watching his friend intently.

"Oh don't be dramatic. It's pro..probably just a stomach bug." he waved the diagnosis off, leaning over the bowl again. He threw up with a croaked gag. The fact that his throat sounded sore and tired, and the fact that he was only throwing up bile, made Thomas assume he'd been throwing up for a while.

'I'll go get Brenda, get her to take you home." Thomas straightened, quickly being pulled back down again. Minho may have been sick, but his grip had not lessened, and he was still putting his strong muscular build to good use.

"Don't. Not yet. Just..sit with me a while Thomas. Let's hang." he chuckled croakily.

"But Min-"

"Lighten up Thomas, I'm not dying you shank. Just sit down, there's no rush. I'll call Brenda when I feel like I can hold anything in my stomach for more than two seconds." He grumbled, letting go of Thomas as he sat. "So, how are you finding he office?" He asked nonchalantly, as though he didn't have his head in a loo.

"Well..yeah. It's good. I love all you guys already, I honestly think your great. Everyones really sweet, where as in my old job, there were more pricks than actual good people. It kinda sucked. But yeah, you guys are really nice, and good at what you do."

"Newt told me you had your first explosion scare the other day." He glanced up at Thomas, who shrugged.

"I guess. We had others where I used to work, but never one that huge. Honestly I'm glad Newt was there, cuz I totally froze. He saved my sorry ass from a lot of trouble."

"That's our Newtie boy. What do you think of him anyway?"

"Of Newt? I think he's great. He's sharp, that's for sure. And strong, and forgiving." he murmured. Minho grunted in agreement, and went silent, so the brunette spoke again, "Hey Min', Newt told me how he got his limp." Minho raised his head, meeting Thomas's gaze with a look of surprise plastered on his pale face.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I just..I've been thinking about it, and the more I do, the more I realise how hard it must have been for you. i can't imagine finding someone like that. I don't know what I would think."

"Well..what was I supposed to do? I couldn't leave him there. And yeah..it was tough. I went to visit him in hospital, and the guy punched me. Yelled at me and screamed at me, told me I was worthless. It felt horrible, but at the end of the day, I could tell he was lonely. So I kept coming back, every day. Slowly, he forgave me, and we got pretty close. I remember the first day he walked after it." Thomas was staring at him with curiosity written all over his eyes. "Yeah, took him about three days. And then, he got from one nurse to me, and just burst into tears. He was so happy, you have no idea. I don't think I've ever seen a slinthead so relived." he chuckled fondly.