After Dr Crawford finished asking Elle questions and completed her thorough medical examinations, she was told that she seemed to be in good health and could join Mr Janson in a separate room to update him on her situation. Elle resisted the urge to roll her eyes and followed another man to an interview room in another hallway. The rest of Dr Crawford's examination went well, but Elle couldn't shake the feeling she got when the doctor insinuated she could be pregnant. It was an invasive question for an adult stranger to ask a teenage girl, which made her weary of Dr Crawford.
When Elle arrived outside the interview room, she saw Mr Janson holding the door open for Thomas. The man had taken off his jacket and behaved more casually than before.
"Elle," Thomas sighed in relief when he spotted her, brushing past Janson and pulling her into a warm hug. She pressed her face against his chest and shut her eyes, inhaling sharply. Gently, Thomas cupped the back of her head with one hand and rubbed circles on her back with the other. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," Elle confirmed, nodding. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Thomas replied. He lowered his voice, whispering in her ear, "They have cameras in there." Elle's blood felt ice cold at the notion that they were still being surveilled after leaving the Maze. She released him, pressing a kiss to his cheek as they parted, letting him know she had heard him.
"Time to go, Thomas," Janson interrupted their sweet moment. "I've got a couple questions for Elle, but you can go ahead without us."
"I want to wait here for her," Thomas declined, meeting Janson's blank stare. The last thing he wanted was to leave Elle in the hands of someone he didn't trust. "I'd feel more comfortable knowing where she is."
"I understand your concern, but Elle has some more testing to do after this," Janson denied. "I'd rather you get some food and meet up with your friends. Elle won't be joining you for a little while."
Elle frowned. "I won't?" she questioned. "But Dr Crawford cleared me, and they have about two litres of my blood to test on."
"It seems that you were particularly dehydrated when you came in, and we wanted to have a Neurologist do a couple tests because of your head wound," Janson explained to her. "Really, I appreciate your concern and desire to stick together but we aren't keeping you apart." He smiled at the two teenagers. "We just want to make sure that Elle is healthy, especially if she has a head injury."
"Okay," Thomas agreed. He could tell it was an uphill battle to fight Janson, and the last thing he wanted was to get on anyone's nerves and make things more difficult for Elle. "I want her to be healthy too."
Janson clapped his hands and nodded. "Wonderful," he exclaimed. "These men will escort you to your friends." He pointed at the men who walked Thomas to the interview room. "Elle, why don't you come inside with me?"
Elle squeezed Thomas's hand before entering the interview room behind Janson. Keeping Thomas's warning in mind, she glanced around the empty room slowly. There was a camera on the wall and what looked like two-way glass. She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, wondering if anyone was watching her.
"Please, have a seat," Janson encouraged her. She did so, feeling the cold of the metal chair through her cotton trousers. "Thank you for coming to speak with me, Elle," Janson acknowledged. He sat opposite her with an easygoing smile. Elle didn't trust him. She studied how his emotionless eyes remained glued on her and shifted uncomfortably. "I'm hoping Dr Crawford took good care of you? She's one of our best." Elle nodded. "Great. Listen, I was just hoping we could get to the bottom of things right away. How does that sound?"
"Fine," Elle agreed. She recalled what Thomas told her in the Pit: I remember meeting you when we were younger. You were strong. You sat straight and spoke your mind, just like now. Straightening her spine, Elle pushed her shoulders back and stared at Janson head-on. Thomas was right. She was strong. "What do you want to know?" she asked.
Janson's friendly smile turned into a smirk. He raised an eyebrow at her defiant posture. "What do you remember about WICKED?" he wondered. Elle mirrored his expression, lifting an eyebrow. "Don't worry, Elle, I'm not trying to get you in trouble. I just want to understand what you went through. Your friend Thomas didn't seem to remember very much and we just want to find out what we can."
"Right," Elle nodded. "Of course, I understand." Even though her body was screaming at her to run away or avert her eyes from Janson's perceptive gaze, Elle stood her ground and kept her stare on him. "I know that I worked for WICKED before they wiped my memories and put me in the Maze with Thomas," she explained. Elle made her voice as neutral as possible, ensuring Janson couldn't get anything from her. "And then all I have left is what happened while I was there. It's all a little jumbled but it sounds like you know most of that already," Elle added.
"Right," Janson agreed. "That's what Thomas said, that he worked for WICKED. Why do you think they sent you into the Maze if you were one of them?"
"That's a good question," Elle commented, nodding. She pretended to think about it, averting her eyes to the ceiling and pursing her lips. "I don't really know. I barely remember a thing. But I wish I knew. I think about it all the time."
"I don't blame you," Janson tapped the table twice. "Now, I don't mean to sound harsh when I ask you this, but whose side are you on, Elle? You worked for WICKED and now you're here? What do you make of all this?"
"What do I make of it?" she repeated. "I know that WICKED is the reason my friends are dead. I know that they hurt people and don't care about the consequences. So if there are sides to all of this, then the side I pick is whatever side WICKED isn't on." Elle glared at Janson. "Does that explain what I make of all this?"
"I believe it does," Janson confirmed. His head tilted. "I'm curious. You seem very close with Thomas in particular. He's very... fond of you," Janson noted. "Even just outside he was very concerned for your safety."
"That's Thomas for you," Elle said vaguely. She knew what Janson was getting at and didn't feel like discussing her relationship with Thomas. It was private and absolutely none of Mr Janson's business. "He's the main reason we got out of the Maze in the first place. He just wants to make sure we're safe now that we're out. He'd be just as concerned for anyone else," she told Janson.
"I'm not so sure about that." Janson chuckled. "Thomas is certainly a formidable leader, but he didn't ask about anyone else. He asked about you. Every minute you're not with him."
"Then I guess you'll have to ask him why," Elle insisted on keeping her thoughts to herself.
"Alright then, Elle." Janson stood up, motioning for her to do the same. "Thank you for your time. I appreciate you sharing with me. Why don't you finish up your testing and then you can join the others soon."
"You mean my friends?" Elle wondered, getting up and following Janson through the doorway.
"Them too," Janson assured her. "Once you're done with the last of your testing, you all will be cleared to join the others," he said vaguely. Dr Crawford and two nurses were waiting for Elle to finish the interview. "Take good care of her," Janson encouraged them before looking back at Elle. "I'll see you soon. I hope you feel better and wish you all the best."
"Thank you," Elle said, brows pulled together in confusion at his formality.
"Hello again, Elle," Dr Crawford greeted her warmly. "We'd like for my colleague to get a better look at that head wound. You mentioned hitting your head and fainting recently, and we wanted to make sure you don't have a head injury. Does that sound okay?"
Elle thought it seemed reasonable enough. She wasn't going to correct them and say that WICKED had somehow induced the Changing when she fainted, and she definitely wasn't going to be ungrateful for the medical care they were offering her. "Sure," Elle agreed. "Thank you, that would be great."
"Wonderful. Why don't you follow me this way," Dr Crawford motioned for Elle to follow her down a different corridor. "We're going to take you to our permanent med-wing. That way you can get your own bed and have more privacy than the intake laboratory."
Elle complied, walking behind her. She could feel the two nurses follow her every step and wondered why she had more people watching her than Thomas had when he left his interview. Waving it off for now, Elle trudged down the hall and looked around curiously.
As they turned the corner, Elle stared in disbelief into a row of windows that let her look into a large canteen. It was filled with young people, boys and girls alike. They chatted excitedly amongst themselves, scattered across the room on different tables. The energy was buzzing, and Elle couldn't keep her eyes off the tables filled with girls talking and laughing together. Her jaw dropped slightly. All she could remember was the Glade and being surrounded by boys; she'd never even thought there might be Mazes where there were only girls. Seeing teenage girls chatting like they'd known each other their whole lives made something ache deep in her chest. It was a yearning to know other girls and be close to people who knew what she went through. Elle was so distracted by the hoards of girls that she hadn't noticed the Gladers waving at her through the window, trying to get her attention.
"Elle!" Thomas shouted inside the canteen, racing after her as she listened to Dr Crawford and ignored him. "Hey, Elle!" Aris watched from across the canteen, lowering his hoodie and staring at Thomas in surprise. He'd never seen anyone stand up to the guards or question anything. "Elle!"
"Hey," a guard put his hand on Thomas's chest to stop him from running out the open door. "Hey, hey, hey."
Thomas looked at him in shock, wondering, "Where are they taking her?"
"They just have to run a few more tests. Don't worry, they'll be done with her soon," the guard assured him. He was calm and friendly, and Thomas watched him with cautious eyes.
"Is she okay?" Thomas asked. "I thought she'd be done by now."
"She's fine," the guard told Thomas. Even though he was friendly, he was expressionless, and Thomas wasn't sure if he believed him. Still, he backed down, nodding and returning to his friends.
"Don't worry, you'll be joining them very soon," Dr Crawford promised Elle. "We'd love for you to get to know some of the other girls during your stay."
"That would be amazing," Elle agreed, already looking forward to it.
Dr Crawford chuckled. Elle sheepishly smiled. "Don't worry, I've seen that expression many times before," Dr Crawford said. "What WICKED did to you all is terrible, but some people have made good friends here regardless. There's another girl staying in the med-wing who got here recently. Went through something very similar to you, she was the only girl in a group of boys."
"There's someone just like me?" Elle echoed.
"I'm sure the two of you can chat later," Dr Crawford suggested. "The med-wing is down this way." She swiped her identification card and led Elle through several smaller passageways.
When they arrived at the med-wing, Elle saw that it looked the same as the area where they took her blood, except there wasn't any exercise equipment to test their stamina and heart health. Instead, more rooms were there for people who needed long-term care. The anticipation of meeting more people like her gave Elle clammy hands and a hammering heart. She wasn't sure what she would say to anyone her age other than the Gladers, but she also longed for someone to talk to who knew what it was like to be trapped in the Maze with so many boys.
"Alright Elle, why don't you take a seat here," Dr Crawford suggested, opening the curtain of a vacant room and showing her inside. She took note of the smaller space and got onto the cot with the help of one of the nurses. "The Neurologist will be with you in a moment, she's just checking on another patient," Dr Crawford explained. "Elle, I wanted to apologise again for my first impression," she acknowledged.
"Oh, that's not necessary--" Elle denied.
"No, I think it is," Dr Crawford insisted. She knelt beside Elle's cot and smiled kindly at her. "I see a lot of young girls come in here, all in various levels of health and wellbeing. I wasn't assuming anything about your character by asking you about your private relationship but I needed to rule out pregnancy for medical reasons. Does that make sense?" Elle nodded. "If you were pregnant that would mean you need a different level of care or different medications. And I didn't assume that you would be, it's just that I have to ask as a doctor."
"I understand, really," Elle tried to assure Dr Crawford. "I was just uncomfortable and tired. I know you were just doing your job."
"I'm glad." Dr Crawford patted her knee affectionately and stood. "I'm going to be your primary doctor during your stay, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me. I hope that I haven't done anything to upset you," she added.
"You haven't, Dr Crawford. I appreciate everything you're doing to help me and my friends," Elle said. While she was rightfully sceptical of Janson and his cold eyes, Elle reminded herself that Dr Crawford had been kind to her so far. Even though it was difficult, she had to learn to be more trusting.
"You're very welcome," Dr Crawford replied happily.
"Dr Crawford?" someone on the opposite side of the curtain called out.
"Dr Wilson!" Dr Crawford opened the curtain, revealing a young doctor with long brown hair. "This is Elle, I'd love for you to give her the all-clear. She's had several head injuries and we want to make sure everything's in order."
"Of course, nice to meet you, Elle," Dr Wilson entered with a pleasant grin. She was pretty and seemed young for a doctor. "Let me take a look at you."
Dr Wilson did several tests during her neurological examination, testing Elle's reflexes, coordination, and motor functions by asking her to perform different tasks like tapping her nose with her eyes closed or walking in a straight line.
After examining Elle's eyes and their responses, Dr Wilson turned off her flashlight and looked pleased. "Elle, I'm happy to say you are in great condition," she revealed. "Neurologically, there's nothing wrong with you."
"That's great," Elle replied. "Thank you."
"Of course," Dr Wilson nodded. "I would love for you to stay in the med-wing a little longer for observation, though. You don't seem to have a concussion, but I'd rather air on the side of caution. I'll let Dr Crawford follow up with you. I'm glad you're doing well, Elle." She waved goodbye and left Elle and Dr Crawford to talk.
"I'm glad that we checked on that," Dr Crawford mentioned. "Now we know that you'll be out of here in a couple days without having to worry about your brain health."
Elle blinked. "Did you say a couple days?" she echoed. "Is that really necessary?"
"Unfortunately you are still severely dehydrated, and Dr Wilson prefers to have patients with head injuries be observed longer in case she missed anything," Dr Crawford explained. "Don't worry, time will pass quicker than you think. You'll be checked on every hour, and there are other people in the med-wing who you can talk to. In fact..." Dr Crawford stood from her office chair and stuck her head past the curtain dividing Elle's room to the one next door. "Are you in the mood for a visitor?" Elle heard her ask the person next door. After some whispering, Dr Crawford turned back around and grinned at Elle. "This is who I was telling you about!" she said happily, opening the curtain and revealing the room beside hers.
In the next room, a girl with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes sat in her cot. "Hello," Elle waved, feeling nervous butterflies in her stomach at the idea of meeting someone new.
"This is one of my patients who went through the same thing as you," Dr Crawford explained, motioning to the new girl. "This is Elle," she introduced her.
The pretty girl smiled at Elle, raising her hand and waving back. "Hello, Elle. I'm Teresa."