Variant | Newt

1 | the first

She began to push herself up, before realizing she couldn't because of the restraints. Suddenly her calm demeanor completely shifted, anxiety painted on her face. "Oh my god--"

"Hey, hey—!" I neared her bedside quickly, lowering myself so I knelt by her side. "It's okay! You're safe. You're safe here."

Her eyes darted around my face, searching for a reason to trust me. I sent her a small smile, trying to be the least bit of intimidating as possible. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Where am I?"

I didn't answer right away. That question has such a complex answer behind it, and I didn't want to scare her more. "You're in our medical room," I decided to give her the simplest answer I could think of, "I'm Newt. It's a pleasure."

For whatever reason, my statement made her smile a bit. "I like your accent," she replied simply.

I chuckled, taken aback a bit from her random kindness. She continued, "Where are you from?"

My smile disappeared and I answered honestly. "I... don't remember."

Just as my face fell, so did hers. "Oh... I can't--" She glanced at me, her eyes getting bigger. "I can't remember either. Why can't I remember?"

"I know it's a lot to take in," I said to her quickly, hoping to calm her before she freaked out again, "but you'll start remembering things. Like, your name. Do you remember that?"

She dropped eye contact, thinking, before shaking her head sadly.

"That's okay!" I comforted, "You'll remember soon, I bet. We all do."

I felt her squeeze my hand - oh my god, when did I start holding her hand? I didn't even realize I had taken her palm in mine.

A knock at the door caused us both to jump and we pulled our hands apart. Jeff slowly opened the door, the kid's eyes almost popping out of his head when he saw us. "Oh. Hey. You're awake, miss."

The girl's breathing started getting quicker, but she didn't show any fear on her face. Jeff sent her a tight smile. "You're okay. I'm just gonna- I'm gonna get Alby, okay? I'm glad you're up."

He quickly dashed out of the doorway, leaving us alone. The girl glanced back at me. "Alby?"

I nodded, reaching for her hand again. I decided not to take it; now that I wanted to grab it on purpose, I didn't have the nerve. Instead, I rested my hand on her wrist, just above the restraints. "Alby's our leader here. He's a tough one, but he's not gonna hurt you."

"Oh." That's all she said, for a moment. Then she started speaking again, her voice laced with a bit of uncertainty. "What was that...thing?"

"What thing?"

"The thing, in the maze. The big ugly spider."

My heart stopped in my chest. Surely she was speaking about a griever, was she not? "A griever, you mean?"

She bit her lip. "Yeah, I guess. It's slimy, real nasty....has a bunch of legs, roars at you?"

I glanced at her bandaged thigh, a shocking scenario running through my head. "Wait a minute. Did a griever...do this to you?"

She scrunched up her nose. "Ugh, he was about to eat me, I swear. The spider— the griever, I mean— it was disgusting."

I looked at her in awe. This girl survived a griever attack? How?

Before I could ask more, the door opened and Alby came in, shutting the door before Jeff and Clint could join us. Alby usually hides his emotions pretty well, but he couldn't hide his surprise when he saw me. "Newt. You're out of bed."