Daughter Of The Glade (A TMR Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Showers

Janson led the group through the large metal door, where a long hallway followed. Madeline hadn't even thought about the fact that she and the others smelled. It would make sense. Madeline couldn't remember the last time she took an actual shower.

In the Glade, and in Madeline's little hole in the Maze, the Box would send up large buckets of water and soap every once in a while. And of course.. the water was always freezing. Many of the boys in the Glade didn't even take the "baths". Thinking about this, Madeline knew they all must smell terrible.

The hallway that Janson was leading the Gladers down, was purely white and the lighting was long fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling. The building went from being a factory, to having a lab-like feel in three seconds. As Madeline was deep in thought, Janson suddenly halted, causing Madeline and the boys to stop in their tracks.

"Here are the showers. Take your time, I'll wait out here." He said before turning to Madeline suddenly.

"You probably should take your shower somewhere else, away from the boys." He smirked, making the situation awkward. "Follow me, dear."
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Madeline sighed as the hot water beat against her aching body. The shower felt incredible. She closed her eyes and for one brief moment.. she was content. A feeling she hadn't felt since before Peter died. The moment was short lived and it ended when the sound of a gunshot followed by a piercing squeal, replayed through her troubled head.

She shuddered. What on earth happened out there? It felt weird to Madeline, finally being in the real world. Honestly, so far, the real world didn't seem that great.

Madeline wanted some answers. Why were they put in the maze? Who is Wicked? Why were they shooting at people while the Gladers were being escorted to "safety"? Why did they let so many people die in the Glade?

Madeline's mind raced out of control and she felt an all-too-familiar feeling inside her head.

Insanity.

Everything went into slow motion as hot water dripped off of Madeline's body. She felt the world begin to get dark. It was happening again. This time, when it came, Madeline was too tired to fight it.

Her insanity attacked her with horrid flashbacks and all the gruesome moments of her life. Screaming. Crying. Pain. Anger. Hurt. Love. Hate. Insanity. Madeline felt herself falling over and she hit her head on the concrete floor.

Instantly, a loud ringing was heard inside Madeline's head and pain shot through her body. She lied on the ground, bare and half-unconscious. She could see nothing but shadows and faded colors. But she did see the blood that was obviously coming from her head that was now dripping down into the drain of the shower. Madeline wanted to cry for help as the pain intensified, but all she could manage was a faint groan. Then, the blackness overtook her and the pain drifted away.
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Madeline's eyes opened suddenly and she gasped and jerked, sitting upright. She was... in a bed? Dizziness immediately hit her like a tsunami and she felt herself sink back down into the strange bed. She blinked a few times to push away the vertigo in her head, and she looked around.

She was in a hospital bed, and it looked like she was in a hospital room. Of course, she couldn't remember anything about hospitals, so she had no idea where she was, but her situation seemed familiar. She slowly looked down to see that a small needle was sticking into the top of her hand and it was taped there so it wouldn't move.

A tube was connected to the needle and Madeline followed it all the way to a machine. The tube was filled with red liquid which Madeline identified as her own blood. Who was taking her blood? And why?

The machine in which the tube was connected to, was beeping. And it had a plastic sack connected to it, and Madeline watched as her blood dripped into it. She studied this for a few seconds before gasping when the machine gave a few, loud, rapid beeps. Madeline's bed was surrounded by curtains, which she guessed was for privacy?

As soon as the machine beeped, a woman suddenly appeared, pulling the curtain back. This caused Madeline to gasp once again.

"Oh! Madeline! I didn't know you were awake! Sorry for startling you."

How does she know my name? Madeline thought suspiciously. The woman was in a white lab coat and she had a clipboard in her hand as she approached Madeline's bed.

"Don't be frightened. We just took a few tests to see if you were alright. You had a nasty fall about an hour ago. Busted your head. Fortunately, you didn't need stitches, but we did have to bind your poor head up. You were unconscious for a very long time too. You should be fine, don't worry! Just make sure you take it slow... you should feel dizzy for a while." The dark-skinned woman chattered as she took the needle out of Madeline's hand causing her to flinch at the sting.

She realized there in fact was a white band going across her forehead and around the back of her head. It was like she was wearing a headband... but on her forehead.

"You should be clear to leave. We did all of our tests we needed to do on you while you were in your sleeping beauty coma." The woman laughed and pulled the sheets off of Madeline. She couldn't help but feel confused at what was going on.

"Why did you need to do tests on me?" She asked the woman.

"Well.. you know. Of course we needed to see if your head was alright. But we also needed to do a few other tests..." The woman looked down and paused. After a few seconds she looked back up at Madeline and smiled reassuringly. Yet... Madeline didn't feel reinsured.

"Janson will tell you everything." The woman almost whispered and looked at Madeline with a facial expression... of pity? The woman suddenly cleared her throat and Madeline felt seriously freaked out.

"Well! I guess I'll bring you back to your friends! Follow me please."