no regrets | harriet - tmr

chapter ten

Beatrice tilted her head upwards to see Teresa prepping a needle to give her stitches. Her head was killing her and it was proving very difficult to stay awake.

After the group went round in a circle saying how they didn't know how to do stitches everyone's eyes landed on Teresa and the girl admitted to being able to do them. Thomas then offered to carry the girl to a flatter surface to which he then put her down and Teresa got out the mini First Aid kits they had retrieved from the abandoned mall.

Now the rest of the group were sitting a couple metres away on a few boulders resting, drinking water and eating a small snack as nobody had eaten all day. However, Thomas' eyes were trained on the wounded brunette girl. The guilt was eating him up that she risked getting fatally injured just to save him.

Bea's eyes flitted back to Teresa who had just finished prepping the needle.

"I'm just going to clean your wound first so it doesn't get infected," she explained, getting out the wipes and gently dabbing it onto the girls skin. Bea hummed in response, finding the cloth cooling against her burning hot skin. She was feeling even more drowsy from the blood loss and the concussion than before and wanted nothing else but to have a nap but she knew she had to stay awake.

Back in WCKD she was put on medics course which taught her that sleeping when you had a concussion could put you in a coma, inevitably leading you to your death.

At least I learnt something useful back there.

"Okay this is going to hurt," Teresa said, putting away the wipes and picking up the needle, "So I'm just gonna talk to you to distract you from this." Bea squinted her eyes shut, ready for the immense amount of pain but her eyes flew open when all she felt was a prick.

Oh. That was a bit underwhelming.

"Why did you work for WICKED?"

Wow I guess we're cutting straight to real stuff.

"Well - ugh," she groaned, now feeling the needle digging into her skin, "It wasn't exactly a choice Teresa. If I knew what they were doing to you guys I would have left that shithole years ago."

"Did you enjoy working for them?"

"What sort of question is that? Of course I blimmin' didn't but I had to unless I wanted them to chuck me out into the scorch," Bea replied incredulously.

"Oh," Teresa said thoughtfully, finishing the first stich, "Do you think what they are doing is right? I mean they're just trying to find a cure to help and save people."

Bea frowned, confused at the girl's choice of words, "I don't know if it's the fucking concussion that's making you sound weird but no, I don't agree with them. There had to be a more humane way of getting a cure. Not harvesting fucking children."

"Would you ever go back? Do you think we should? They could help us-"

"Help you my ass. If you lot go back there, they won't hesitate to hook you up to them wires. I saw it with my own eyes Teresa. Trust me, we are way better off without them," she cut off her off. "Now enough of this WICKED stuff, please."

"Thank you," Teresa whispered quietly after a few moments, "For saving Thomas."

"No problem," Bea smiled weakly. Even in her current state she could see how much Teresa liked that boy. "You guys seem pretty close, ay?"

"Oh-um, yeah I guess..." Teresa trailed off, her cheeks tinting pink and Bea couldn't help but crack a laugh.

"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me," Bea said watching Teresa's face turn even more red.