Break My Bones

Chapter 15: Goodbye

Water. That was the first coherent thing she was aware of, the first thing to break through the silence in the darkness. She could hear... water. The soft swish and crash as waves rolled onto a sandy beach before being pulled away. She had no idea how she knew the sound of the ocean, but somehow the sound was as familiar to her as it was foreign because she had no memory of the sea. But even without the memory, she felt comforted by the sound. It reminded her of warm arms around her... a time she no longer remembered.

Something dislodged in her still mind at that, and a single thought made itself known.

'Where am I?'

"Hey, I think she's waking up..."

"Rachel? Can you hear me?"

Rachel couldn't understand the voices. Of course she could hear them... why wouldn't she? What was she waking up from? Slowly, feeling like she was emerging from deep beneath the ocean itself, Rachel crawled her way back to consciousness. And just like that, she could remember everything. The Mazes. Janson killing Ava. The Scorch. Janson shooting at her. The Cranks. Thomas weakening from bloodloss. Teresa falling. And Newt lying unmoving in her arms, his body oddly hot and sticky with black blood.

Rachel shuddered and the voices around her seemed to panic.

"Rachel? What's wrong with her?"

"Here, get me some more painkillers! She's going into shock again!"

"Why? I thought she was recovering?"

The voices overlapped, blurring and Rachel continued to tremble. Newt, she wanted to say. Where was he? A chill ran down her spine; what if he was dead? Something touched her face and she realized it was her tears sliding down her cheeks. If Newt were dead...

And then a familiar, hoarse voice rasped in her ear. "Rach, he's okay. Newt's okay. He'll live."

Rachel instantly relaxed; that voice was friendly. That voice would tell her the truth.

"Wake up, Rach."

Rachel shifted.

"C'mon, shank. Open your eyes."

And finally, she did. Her eyelids fluttered and at first, all Rachel could see were blurs of varying shades of brown and black. And then, her eyes focused and she found herself in some kind of wooden hut, staring up at Minho as he leant over her. Behind him stood Harriet, Sonya and Brenda, all of them looking relieved to see her awake.

"Rachel." Sonya took a step forward before bending down next to Minho and the bed Rachel was lying on. "Hey."

Sonya was looking much better than Rachel remembered. She recalled the last time she'd seen the blonde, just after they had rescued her. She'd been sickly pale, too skinny and had dark shadows under her eyes from lack of sleep. The girl beside her now was much healthier. There was a glow to her skin and a slight tan like she'd had in the Maze, although she looked far better washed than Rachel ever remembered her. Or was Rachel just not remembering everything? Rachel stared at her friend, blinking slowly as she tried to focus her hazy mind.

"The medication must still be working through her." Brenda murmured, but Rachel's attention stayed on Sonya as the blonde tentatively took her hand.

"Rach? How are you feeling?"

Rachel cracked open her dry lips but nothing came out. Understanding what she needed, Minho handed her a glass of water while Sonya gently helped her friend sit up enough to take a sip. Rachel grimaced as she felt a throb on her temple but as soon as the cool water slipped down her throat it was like she'd entered heaven. Eagerly, Rachel gulped down the water, feeling her strength returning with every sip.