❝ It's fine, we're fine.
the kids are alright ❞
Ella was sent up into the maze with nothing but the clothes on her back, a short lived memory of a boy named Thomas, and a necklace. Now, two and half years later, Ella had come to terms with the idea...
That night in the glade was colder than usual, a blanket draped around Ella's shoulder as she leaned against the maze doors, her eyes staring forward, but not looking at anything directly. She refused to leave the doors, she couldn't let herself. She had a terrible migraine, her head throbbing in sync with her heartbeat, and the more she tried to stop it, the worse it got. Newt was sprawled out lazily next to her, snoring lightly. He didn't want to leave her alone.
Nighttime passed slowly, all Ella could do was watch as the darkened glade was gradually lit up by the sun. She sniffled a little as boys began to meet at the doors, waiting for them to open. Waiting to see if, by some miracle, they were still alive. Ella didn't want to get her hopes up, but if she wanted anything in this world, it would be for them to come back. She wanted it more than even getting out of the maze altogether.
Ella grabbed Chuck's hand with her left and Newt's with her right, squeezing them tightly. She didn't want to go through this. Not again. Not so soon. But when the crowd gathered, and the doors opened, and no one was waiting on the other side, Ella's heart broke for a second time. Shaking breaths left her lips as she lowered her head, her hands slipping away from the two boys. As everyone began to disperse into the glade, all Ella could do was simply stand still, her eyes staring into the dry dirt at her feet.
The small mumble of a 'no way' eventually broke her out of her sorrow, Chuck screaming in triumph next to her. Her eyes shifted forward to see Thomas and Minho carrying a limp Alby in their arms. She could tell they were exhausted as they slowly made their way towards the glade, grunts of pain passing their lips as they carried on. Tears clouded her vision as she covered her smiling mouth with her hand, a happy and surprised scoff slipping from her. The closer the trio got to the glade, Ella inched closer ready to attack them in hugs (and a few punches for stupidity). Once Thomas met Ella's eyes he gave her a tired smile, his eyes softening at the state she was in. Everyone could tell she had been crying all night.
Jeff and Clint both came forward, taking Alby from the two and laying him down on the ground. Minho and Thomas collapsed to the ground with the lifted weight. Ella knelled down next to the three, her eyes raking over an unconscious Alby. She took a closer look at Alby's injured head as Chuck spoke, "You guys saw a griever?" Ella paused her work, her head lifting to look at the boys waiting for the answer. Thomas shakily let out an answer, "Yeah, I saw one." Her eyes met Thomas's as he finished his answer, but he quickly looked down fiddling with his hands. "He didn't just see it." Minho spoke, Ella shifted her gaze to him now, curious to what he meant. "He killed it." Her breath hitched, looking back to Thomas as he warily looked around. An unknown silence swept across the glade for a moment, everyone shocked at the news.
Thomas stared holes into the ground, Ella noticing his uneasiness so she quickly went back to Alby. "Alby was stung?" She asked Minho, the boy nodding in response. "And you knocked him unconscious?" The boy nodded again. Ella pursed her lips before standing back up to her feet. "Ok, Clint and Jeff, take Alby to the hut. You know what to do." Said boys nodded their heads as they picked their unconscious leader up from the ground and into their arms. The girl then looked over Minho, "Minho, any injuries?" "No, greenie here did most of the work." The Asian boy nodded his head in the direction of where a slumped Thomas sat, his chest heaving. Ella shifted next to the boy, crouching down and lifting his arm to wrap around her shoulders before lifting him to a standing position. "Alright, someone get Minho to his bed and make sure he sleeps." The gladers around her nodded in agreement and watched as Thomas and herself trudged off to the med-jack hut.
She let out a sigh of relief once she got Thomas onto a bed in a private room. "That heavy, huh?" Thomas spoke quietly, a small, teasing smirk plastered onto his face as he eyed her. A small chuckle passed her lips as she grabbed supplies. She teased back, "Oh, the heaviest." Thomas laughed in reply, but it really came out as a grunt. "Now shush and let me fix you." The boy's eyes drifted closed in exhaustion, slowly falling into a deep sleep as he responded, "Sure thing Ellie." The girl paused at the nickname, not sure how to feel about it. Eventually, a little smile made its way onto her face as she cleaned the boy's cuts.
Thirty minutes later, Ella finally finished addressing Thomas's wounds. She sat on the ground, her back to the wall as she watched as (a now shirtless) Thomas slept peacefully. The bandage that wrapped around his torso lifted and fell with his breathing, calming Ella's racing mind. She let her head fall back to the wall, her arms resting against her propped up knees. She shut her eyes as another sigh of relief slipped past her lips. "Thank you." She whispered to no one specific, maybe a God- if there even is one in a world like this- or maybe just the universe for giving her her boys back.
It continued like this for the next ten minutes, Thomas fast asleep and Ella whispering thanks every now and then. She only noticed that Thomas had woken up when he let out a grunt of pain from trying to sit up. "Hey, hey, hey, its okay, lay back down." She kneeled down next to the bed he laid on, her hand resting on his bare shoulder to gently push him down. She gave him a large smile as he finally gave in to her pushes, "Morning sunshine." She can see a crack of a smile on his lips as he looks at her. "How long was I out for?" She shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe half an hour?" Thomas let a sigh out as he went to rest his arms on his stomach, but was confused when he found a white bandage around it instead of his shirt. "When did this happen?"
A large blush crept up to Ella's face as she stuttered out an explanation. "Oh- um you fell asleep when I was cleaning your cuts and well you had a cut on your stomach and I didn't want it to get infected, but I also didn't want to wake you up- I'm sorry, I totally should've waited until you were consious-" The girl stopped her rambling when Thomas began to laugh before he grabbed her hands. "It's okay El, really. Thank you for taking care of me." Ella bit her lip to suppress the smile she held as she nodded towards Thomas.
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