𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 ➂ - The Death Cure, Newt

Chapter 5 - The Flare

With my eyes still watery, I rushed over to my assigned room, just to break down in tears. I sat on my bed with my back leaning against the wall and rolled up my sleeve. I rolled it up for another reason than usual.

Almost afraid to see the horrible sight again, I glanced at my wrist.

I thought I was immune to the Flare, but turned out I wasn't.

There was a nasty infection on my wrist. Of course, the veins around the wound had already turned black and purple. I wondered how I even got it. Maybe in the tunnel? My wrist did hurt for the first time that moment. I had been hiding it for a while.

It was not great to have the Flare, I have to admit, but the fact that I couldn't come close to Newt bothered me the most. It was the worst of it all. He wasn't immune, so he couldn't get near me. That was the exact reason I tried to avoid his touch the past day.

"Nora, please open the door."
I recognized the British accent immediately and straightened my back as I wiped the tears off my cheeks.
"Please, love."

"I can't," I replied, trying not to show the pain in my voice. "You can't come near me, Newt."

"Just let me in, Nora. I don't care that you got angry at me. I just want to talk," Newt explained.

I sighed and thought about it. If I let Newt in, the chance he would get the Flare was big, but eventually I had to tell him about my wrist and of course, apologize for my outburst. I felt so guilty for yelling at him.
"Alright. You can come in." I walked over to the door and opened it for Newt. I didn't make eye contact with him. We both sat down on the bed and I tried to stay as far away from Newt as possible.

"Sorry about earlier," I apologized.

"It's okay," Newt responded, moving closer to me. "What's going on, love?"

I bit my lip and took a deep breath. Nervously I rolled my sleeve up and showed Newt my wrist.
Newt stared at it, not saying anything.
"I have the Flare, Newt." My voice cracked.

The boy still didn't reply. I could only hear his breathing hitch. Quickly I rolled my sleeve back down again.
"Newt?" I carefully asked.

Newt looked up, eyes full of tears. Shocked I stared at him. He let the tears fall. I was surprised by his reaction and especially Newt crying hit me hard. I had never seen him cry before. I didn't know what I expect his reaction to be, but not this. Newt let out some sobs, which made me even sadder.

"Please don't cry." I bit my lip.

Newt's lower lip started to tremble. "How long have you been hiding that from me?" He stammered with a hoarse voice.

My heart broke into pieces when I saw Newt sobbing. "A day or two." I paused and looked at the broken Newt. "You can't come near me," I spoke quietly.

"I won't leave you." Newt was sure of his case.

"You have to. I don't want you to get infected too, Newt. That's the last thing I want to happen before I..." I cut myself off. "I won't survive, Newt."

"Yes, you will. We'll get the serum and everything will be fine." Newt sternly answered.

I sighed lightly. "Don't worry about me, alright? We have to get Minho."

"We save Minho and we get you the serum." Newt decided.

"We'll see," I muttered before looking Newt in the eyes again. "Newt, if I don't make it, I want you to be the one to do it."

"What?" Newt's eyebrows furrowed and his voice cracked.

"I want you to kill me or else I'll do it myself."

Newt seemed taken back for a few seconds. Again, tears formed in his eyes. I hated to see him in this state, but I had to tell him I didn't want to turn into a Crank.
"We'll get you the serum."
With that, Newt got up and rubbed the tears out of his eyes.

Before he could open the door and walk away, I interrupted him. "Please tell the others."

Newt nodded slowly and closed the door behind him. I sighed and started listening to the others.

"And?" I recognized Logan talking. For a few seconds, there was no reply.

"She-" Newt started. "She has the Flare." He spoke so quietly, I could barely hear it.

"What?" Multiple things fell onto the floor, causing loud noises.

"Logan, calm down."

"She has the Flare?"

"Yeah," Newt replied. "I'm going back to her."

"You can't, Newt. You're not immune." Thomas interrupted Newt.

"I'm not leaving her."

"You'll catch the Flare too. We don't want that to happen." Jorge added.

"I don't bloody care if I get the Flare! All right? Don't you get that? I. Don't. Care. I only care about Nora right now!" Newt suddenly raised his voice. Everyone was silent for a few seconds again.

"This is what we're going to do." Thomas broke the hurtful silence. "We save Minho and get Nora the serum. Newt can go close to her, but no touch, all right? If we make sure we get enough serums we can give it to Newt too if he gets infected."

"I like that idea," Gally commented.
Silence again.

"Can I talk to her?" Logan questioned, probably looking at Newt.

Newt didn't reply for a few seconds. "Fine."

~

The door to my room opened and just like I thought, Logan appeared.

"Hey," I greeted, my voice already cracking. Logan gave me a glance before sitting down on the bed.

"Newt told me you-"

"I know," I interrupted.

"Alright." Logan rubbed the back of his head. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but not very fun either.

"If I die-" I started, but this time Logan interrupted me.

"You won't die."

"But if-"

"I won't let you die."

I sighed. "Alright."
Both of us were silent again. Slowly I lay my head down on Logan's shoulder. He tensed up but didn't push me away. The second after I lay down I noticed how tired I actually was. It didn't surprise me, though. The past days had been very busy and tiring. My eyelids started to close already.

"You will be okay, you hear me? You'll make it," Logan sternly said.

I didn't reply and closed my eyes, slowly drifting into unconsciousness.