Always and Forever》Death Cure (TMR)

Eighteen

When I woke up, I found myself alone on the couch. I stretched my limbs before sitting up to look around the room. Strange, I remember falling asleep on Newt, yet I'm in a completely different room.

"Finally, you're up," I heard Tony. My head snapped to the sound of his voice to see him sitting at the other side of the room with something in his hand.

"How long was I asleep?"

"About ten hours. Give or take."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You needed your rest. We did just escape WICKED. Jorge thought it was best to find a big clearing to park the Berg so we could all rest. He's resting right now before we head to Denver."

"What's in Denver?"

"Brenda knows a doctor there, Hans or something like that. The guy is some sort of genius, her words not mine, and he can get those implants you guys have in your heads out. Or at least disable them."

"Can we trust him though? I mean, how well does she know this guy?"

"Don't know she didn't say much. All she said is that this genius hates WICKED just like the rest of us." Tony opened his mouth to yawn.

"Did you get enough sleep?" I asked.

Tony didn't look at me. "Not tired." His own body betrayed him when he let out another yawn.

"Tony," I started to scold him as I sat up. "You need to sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead."

I shook my head while getting off the couch and making my way over to him. "No, don't you dare say that. Not to me. I already lost our baby brother because of WICKED. There's no way I'm letting them take you away from me either. Not when we just found each other." 

I grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it with me. When I set it down I sat in front of Tony. Now that I'm close, I could see the thing he was holding. He kept his gaze on the photo of us and Chuck. I felt my heart breaking again as the memories of Chuck came through my mind up until the point Gally killed him. My eyes started to water. I wanted to cry so bad but I held them back.

"You would have loved him," I said softly.

"What...What was he like? Our baby brother," Tony wondered.

"Well...Chuck was an adorable kid. I mean, what else do you expect? He loved pulling pranks on the Gladers." I let out a small chuckle. "His best prank was greasing up the floors with the grease we stole from Frypan's kitchen. The Gladers came in for lunch and everyone just started slipping and falling everywhere. It was a complete mess. We had cleanup duty that night but it was worth it." There was a faint smile on Tony's face. "Chuck had the cutest smile with the chubbiest cheeks that you could squeeze for days. He hated it when I would do it because he didn't want me to embarrass him in front of everyone, but when he smiled at me...I knew he didn't mind it."

"How'd you know he was our brother? I thought everyone's memories were wiped before going to the Glades."

"They were, but sometimes I would get memories of life before the Glade. When I used to work with WICKED. I had a memory of Chuck and kinda put the pieces together, I guess. It's been a while so I don't exactly remember."

"What else can you tell me about him?"

"Chuck was funny, quirky...and he was innocent," I trailed off. Tony slowly noddd his head. "I'll never forget the day Chuck arrived at the Glade. He was scared. He was trying to hide himself from the Gladers. Chuck was so terrified that he klunked himself three times. I didn't know it was him at first until he showed me his face. No one knew he was my brother and just assumed because we looked alike." What do you say, Chuck? Would you like to be my brother? "Chuck smiled the first time there after he agreed. I was so happy because he was with me. And...And..."

I was struggling to tell Tony about Chuck's death. My throat was swelling up while my eyes glossed over.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," Tony muttered out.

I shook my head. "No, he was your brother too." I ran my hand through my hair as I took a shaky breath. "Before we escaped one of the Gladers, Gally, was trying to stop us and tried to kill Thomas. He had a knife in his hand and threw it. I thought we all ducked but...it hit Chuck instead. He died in my arms. And when WICKED arrived, they started dragging us away. I didn't want to leave Chuck but they pulled me away from him and just left his body there."

Tony's body shook. I could hear him sniffling while he held his head in one of his hands. "He should have been here," he hoarsed. Tony's chest rose and fell as he tried, and failed, to stop crying. "I should have been there."

"What could you have done, Tony? I didn't even know about you until the Scorch," I reminded him.

"I don't give a flying fuck! I'm the older brother. I'm supposed to be protecting you two!" Tony broke down. He snapped his head up to look at me. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, his eyes were bloodshot from crying. "Our parents are dead and WICKED took you two away from me. I had no one. I was all alone. You were happy when you saw Chuck? Imagine how I felt when I found you. The only difference is that you got to spend time with our little brother. He created new memories with you, not me. He died not even knowing who I am! He'll never know about the older brother who loves him and would sacrifice just about everything if it means you guys survive."

I leaned over and pulled Tony into my arms. It was a hug that we both needed. Tony sobbed into my shoulder and I cried with him.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect either one of you," Tony cried.

"But you're here now. That's all I care about," I said. "And as much as you care about my health and well-being, I care about yours too. I don't want you dying on me because you passed out during a fight." I pulled away. "So, please, take care of your health and sleep. Let me be your guard this time."

Tony nodded before standing up. He put the picture in his pocket while making his way over to the couch. "Fine, but you gotta wake me up if something is going on. No matter how big or small." I smiled at im as he laid down and got into a comfortable position. "And make sure Minho does draw on my face."

I snorted. "Do you really think he's that imma -" Tony gave me a pointed look. Ok, I give up because I know Minho would draw on his face if I left Tony alone. "All right. Get some sleep."

Tony must have been exausted. It wasn't even a minute before I could hear soft snores coming from him.