The next morning started out as a quiet and uneventful one, mainly because almost all the boys were taking advantage of Nick's 'two extra hours of sleep on the morning after Greenie day' rule. When Anne walked around the back of the Homestead and towards the bathroom, she was happy to see that instead of the usual line of boys waiting impatiently for whoever was in the bathroom to be done, there was only one boy. That boy just so happened to be a very impatient Minho who looked like he was going to break down the door any second.
"Quit hogging the bathroom, Ben!" He shouted, slamming his fist on the door. Ben's muffled voice shouted back from the other side of the door. Minho just rolled his eyes.
Right when Ben walked out, Minho pushed past him and rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. He didn't seem to have noticed Anne's presence but Ben did.
"Never come between Minho and the bathroom in the morning," he joked. "I'm not kidding."
"I can see that," Anne replied, still staring at the bathroom door.
"I'm Ben, by the way," Ben said, holding out his hand to her. "Don't think we've met before."
He was right. She hadn't seen him around the Glade before and if she had, she couldn't remember him. But that was probably because Ben was a Runner and was out in the Maze for almost the entire day. Anne looked at his hand hesitantly before taking it. He seemed like a nice person.
They both heard the toilet flush and Ben's eyes went wide. "And he's fast too. I better run."
And then he took off just as Minho exited the bathroom not more than two minutes after he entered, shouting "it was nice meeting you," over his shoulder as he ran. Minho rolled his eyes and ran off as well, leaving the bathroom empty for her. He still hadn't noticed her standing there. Was she that invisible?
Frypan and his Cooks were already in the Kitchen preparing breakfast before the other Gladers woke up. After exiting the bathroom, Anne went to have breakfast and sat at one of the picnic tables that allowed her to watch what the Runners did. She had always been fascinated in them even though she never wanted to be one. The doors opened a few minutes later and the Runners slipped through them right when they opened enough for them to step outside.
Anne could see Nick, Alby, Clint, Gally and a couple more people unloading crates from the Box. Jeff who had also woken up by then told her that those were the supplies the Creators sent up that week. Lincoln was still nowhere to be seen which Anne didn't really find very surprising. He needed his beauty sleep.
"Newt, you should not be running on that leg!" Alby's voice shouted from the Box. Anne and Jeff who were seated on the grass outside the Homestead turned to see Newt slow down when his friend screamed at him.
"They sent a box up for you, Anne," Newt gasped out, coming to a stop in front of her. He bent over, hands on his knees as he breathed in deeply.
"That's why you ran all the way here?" Anne asked in disbelief, grabbing Newt's hand and pulling him down to sit beside her. "That really wasn't necessary."
"Didn't feel like shoutin' across the bloody Glade and wakin' up everyone," Newt muttered. There was a look of pain on his face that was making Anne get more and more worried. Jeff seems to have noticed it as well.
"Newt, we should get your leg checked," Jeff said. "You don't look so good."
"I'm fine," Newt waved a hand at them.
"I swear Newt, I'm gonna get Alby and Nick's help and drag your sorry ass all the way upstairs and stuff that leg into the brace if you don't let me check it," Jeff said.
Newt made a face. The creators had sent a brace up for Newt's leg when he got hurt and Anne remembered the other Med-jack's telling her about how much of a hassle it had been when they had to get the brace on Newt's leg. Newt had been extremely stubborn about it, refusing to wear it for more than three weeks. Anne herself had only seen him wearing it once when she had been waiting outside the Homestead where the Gathering to determine her job had been taking place.
"I promise I'll come if it hurts," Newt said, stressing on the word 'promise.'
Jeff mumbled something incoherent under his breath but nodded nonetheless, getting up to accompany Anne and Newt back to the Box.
"It had your name on it, so we thought it was best to not open it," Nick said grabbing a box. Anne took it with a smile, feeling very excited. She hadn't gotten any supplies of her own for the past month and had been wearing clothes that were too small for the other boys.
"Can't even begin to imagine the horrors in there," Alby said from inside the Box, earning a few laughs from the boys gathered around. "As long as you don't get a gun outta there and start killin' us though, I guess I don't mind."
Anne rolled her eyes, a laugh of her own slipping from her lips. "Wow, Alby. Didn't know you had a sense of humor."
Nick burst out laughing, almost falling into the Box. "This is why we love havin' you around Anne."
Anne gave a small salute before turning slightly in the direction of the Homestead. She really wanted to open the box and see what was inside. She would kill for a decent hairbrush by now and the one hair tie she had come up in the box with was getting stretched and worn. The boys understood what she was thinking and gestured for her to go. With her box pressed to her chest, Anne took off towards the Homestead, eager to open the box.
She walked into her room and placed the box on her bed and quickly opened it to reveal the contents. She got a couple of shirts and jeans that were actually her size, a hair brush, a couple of hair ties and undergarments.
A knock on her door made her jump in surprise. Anne stuffed everything back into the box and went to get the door. Clint stood on the other side.
"Did you have breakfast?" He asked.
Anne nodded, wondering what was going on. She could see the urgency on Clint's face.
"Good!" Clint said, rushing out before she could react. She could hear him shouting at her to come as he ran up the stairs.
Anne half expected to find a boy lying in a pool of his own blood with how rushed Clint was, but what she found was considerably normal when it came to being a Med-jack. Winston was sitting on a bed with a pretty bad cut on his arm. Lying on the other bed, his face pale was the Greenie, Frank. Jeff was helping the boy up and gave him a bottle of water.
"What happened?" Anne asked as she went to help Clint with Winston's arm.
"We found out Frank's a vegan the hard way," Winston said. "He fainted."
Frank must have started his job rounds today. That would mean that he was working with Winston to see if he was fit to become a Slicer and it didn't seem to have gone very well from the looks of it. The boy looked like he had seen the most horrific thing in the whole world.
"Guess he's not gonna be a Slicer, huh?" Clint said with a laugh.
"No klunk."
Clint allowed Winston to leave once he was patched up and asked Frank to stay for a while. He still seemed a bit unstable. Frank curled up into a ball almost immediately and fell asleep. The boy had his knees tucked into his chest in a fetal position. Anne grabbed a blanket and threw it over his body.
"Where the shuck is Lincoln?" Clint asked, turning to look at Clint and Anne who both shrugged. Anne hadn't seen him yet.
"I'm here," Lincoln called as he walked into the room. He spotted Frank and opened his mouth to ask what had happened, but before he could, a loud shout caused him to jump and turn towards the window.
"Has anyone seen Newt!?"
It was very clearly Alby and his voice sounded frantic. Clint took off downstairs, asking Jeff to stay with Frank. Anne and Lincoln followed behind him, curious to know what was going on. Hadn't Newt been with Alby only about half and hour ago?
"Alby, what's going on?" Clint asked.
Alby was pacing back and forth, eyes searching the Glade for his friend. "I can't find Newt."
"He's probably in the Deadheads or something," Clint tried to reassure him, but Alby wasn't having it. He looked really freaked out.
"Look, you know what happened before," Alby said. "I ain't lettin' that happen again. We gotta find him."
"Okay, okay!" Clint said. "Where's Nick? Maybe you guys can gather some people, have them all search around."
Alby nodded, mumbling something to himself as he walked towards where Anne assumed Nick was. Even Anne was worried. Newt hadn't been feeling well that morning. What if something had happened to him. His leg had definitely been hurting this morning. But where could he have gone.
Anne knew for a fact that Newt liked spending time alone in the Deadheads. It was either that or the rickety old tower. Or what if he had gone into the Maze again? Anne pushed that thought out of her mind and turned towards the tower. It looked even taller than it did before and she dreaded going to the very top.
She almost told Alby and Clint what she was thinking, but snapped her mouth shut at the very last second. Newt ahd told her that the tower was a place he liked to go to be alone with his thoughts. Sending a frantic Alby and the Keeper of the Med-jack's whom Jeff had already told about Newt's leg, was going to end up being absolutely horrible. Newt wouldn't want that.
Sighing, Anne turned to Clint who as scratching the back of his neck, deep in thought. "I'll be right back, okay?"
Clint nodded absentmindedly and walked back into the Homestead with Lincoln behind him and Anne headed towards the tower.
Sure enough, she saw Newt right when she reached the very top. Or well, she saw his legs. Anne's head was spinning from climbing up so high, but she managed to push that thought away as she headed towards where Newt sat.
"Newt?"
All she got as a response was a grunt.
"Newt, are you okay?"
Right when she saw him, she knew something was seriously wrong. His face was pale, just like it had been the day she saw him for the first time. He was clutching his left leg, nails digging into his skin.
"Let me see," Anne said, kneeling down next to him.
Newt hesitated for a second, but removed his hands so she could roll up his pant leg. Anne's mouth dropped open in surprise when she saw just how bad it was. His leg was swollen and covered in bruises. He had to be in a lot of pain.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Anne exclaimed. Newt didn't answer and kept his lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm going to get help."
"Wait."
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. The look on his face broke her heart. He didn't want to burden anyone or look weak and she understood that, but he shouldn't be hurting himself to do that.
"I'm sorry, okay," Newt mumbled. "It wasn't this bad this morning."
"It's okay," she said, patting him on the shoulder and giving him a small smile before getting up again. She searched the place for someone to call, but not many Gladers were around. Only a few were scattered here and there.
Anne spotted Gally close by and quickly called his name. Gally looked up, a bit surprised to find her up there. "Get up here!"
Gally climbed up quickly and took one look at Newt before helping him up. Newt let out a groan of pain as he tried to stand. He put his weight on his right leg and stumbled as Gally lead him towards the stairs. Gally had an arm around the boys shoulder as he helped him down the stairs, but Newt was still in a lot of pain.
Anne was surprised when halfway down the stairs, Newt reached behind him and grabbed her hand, holding onto it tightly. Her face flushed a light red when he didn't let go until they reached the very bottom of the stairs and his feet were safely on flat ground.
Once Newt was safely lying on a bed, Gally told them that he would find Alby and ran off. Anne noticed that Jeff and Lincoln weren't there. "Where are the others?"
"They went to help Alby," Clint said, coming over to her so Newt couldn't hear what he was saying. "He's pretty worried."
Clint dug through he cupboard before pulling out a syringe. He handed it to her and walked out of the room, leaving her very confused. "What is this?"
"Pain meds," Clint called from down the hallway. "I'm gonna try and find that cream thing the creators sent us. Do you have any idea where Lincoln put it?"
"Nope."
When Anne approached Newt with the syringe, he lifted his head, eying the needle in her hand. She could see that he was a bit weary about it.
"What's that?" He asked cautiously.
"Pain meds, apparently," Anne answered, getting ready to inject it, but Newt kept talking.
"I don't need that," he said. "I'm not in that much pain. I'm sure a few pills will be okay."
Anne fought against the smile that was trying to force its way onto her lips. Newt was afraid of needles. "Is that why you could barely walk?"
"No, honestly, I'm fine," Newt said and tried to move his leg. His face twisted into a pained expression and he laid back down.
"I'm convinced," Anne mumbled.
"Look, I really don-"
"Newt?" Anne interrupted.
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
"Okay."
Anne managed to inject the medicine into him without any fuss after that though Newt did wince and wouldn't open his eyes until she said it was done. Clint took over, rubbing some kind of cream on Newt's leg.
"I'm gonna need you to stay here for a couple of days," Clint said. "And then you can go... But only if you wear the brace."
"Bu-"
"No 'but's' Newt," Clint cut him off. "If you don't wear the brace, you're gonna stay stay here until I say otherwise. Your leg needs to heal. Then I won't say anything while you run around the Glade."
"Fine," Newt said after a few seconds of silence. He looked like a little kid being forced to do something he really didn't want to do.
"Good boy," Clint said, handing Newt a chocolate chip cookie he had brought back with him.
"I'm not a little kid," Newt grumbled under his breath.
"Well, if you don't want it..."
It turned out Newt did want it after all because he grabbed the cookie causing both Clint and Anne to laugh. Newt just narrowed his eyes at him as he broke the it into three pieces and gave one piece to each.
×××
Almost 3000 words! I'm really happy about this chapter too. I mean, the previous chapter was absolutely horrible, but Newt's hurt in this one, so sorry about that but...
So, questions!
Have you ever wondered what happens when girls 'time of the month' comes while in the Glade?
Did you like the Newt and Anne moment?
Are you scared of needles?
Is it just me or does finding Newt sound like finding nemo?
Did you like this chapter?