Before Her

Newt 18

A/N
Hey guys I hope you all had a safe and happy Christmas!! I can't believe 2015 is almost over, this year has been filled with so many different events, and I've made so many new friends. I hope you all have a safe and happy 2016 😊
P.S, IVE REACHED OVER 800 READS!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU!!!!

Newt
After Jane left, Alby followed not long after. I stayed in bed for a few minutes, thinking about what Jane said. It made sense, it was clear, it was convincing but it still didn't cover the truth. It still felt like my fault. If I hadn't been drunk that night and been hung over the next day, maybe, just maybe, Pete wouldn't have been the one. Maybe.

I knew if I stayed in bed any longer my mind would drive me crazy, and so I decided to get up and do something. "When in pain, distract the brain" not sure who said this, but it's always stuck on me, like glue.

I went down stairs and got assigned to be a builder that day since it was once again, too late to go out into the maze. The builders' keeper, Fussy, and I got along well, but I had never seen him in his natural habitat. He barked orders and demanded work almost as much as Alby did. We ran back and forth, carrying supplies to the builders who did the real building, adding more and more sections to the buildings in the glade, mostly the homestead. Fussy was absolutely ridiculous, he wouldn't let anyone rest for one minute, but in a way, it was a good thing, it kept me distracted.

By the end of the day, when the runners were back and we were sure they were all there, I had sore hands, red fingers and splinters on almost every finger. I sigh as I walk into the infirmary. Most of the med-jacks were packing up, some treating their last patients of the day. I searched the room, looking at the different stations each med-jack had set up at. Each table was extremely messy, bottles put out of place, clean bandages spilling out of the first-aid kit, dirty bandages piled high on most of the tables, all except one. The one table that was actually clean and almost empty, the only thing on it was a neatly packed first-aid kit and a few smaller bottles than the others lined up in front of the kit.

I looked further and found her at the back of the room, pushing an oversized plastic bag into the trash can. She was talking to a skinny, brown haired boy, Jeff his name was I think. I watched her push the bag in more, crushing the bag with her weight and grin as she finally closed the lid properly. She smiles and waves when she sees me. Her face was flushed from the plastic bag and her sleeves were rolled up. Her blonde hair was tied into a bun with a few strands escaping.
'Hey,' she says.
'Hey, how was your day today?'
'It was okay, a few med-jacks weren't here today.' My stomach clenches, med-jacks weren't here today because of Pete. Pete, Pete, Pete. I must have had a painful expression since Jane's face immediately changes from happy and cheery to worry and concern. I smile and try to hide the horrible feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.
'So what did you do today?' she asks.
'Me? I worked with the builders today. They were okay, I guess.' I shrug my shoulders, 'They kept me busy, not as bad as the track-hoes. The only thing that hurts are the hands.' I lift my right hand and wriggle my fingers at her. She gives a small gasp, not exactly the expression I was suspecting. I look at my hands. Red blotches surrounded small thin lines in my fingers. 'It wasn't that bad before.'
'How many of these do you have? You're supposed to get them removed as soon as you get them! I mean, they look harmless but if you leave them in there it could get infected!' She grabbed my hand and pulled it close to her face, examining each individual finger.
She sighs in exasperation, and grabs my wrist, dragging me to the table I had examined before, the only clean one. She sits down, I sit next to her, I watch her eyes full of concentration. Her expression something I didn't know what to make out of. She pulls liquids, bandages, band-aids, a bottle of water and a pair of tweezers, and set them all in front of her. She takes my had and uses the bottle of water to wash my thumb. Then, very gently, she uses the tweezers to pull the splinter out. I felt a tiny prick, a tiny trail of blood spills from my thumb.
'Shuck.' She mumbles. She grabs the water and carefully washes it again before grabbing a band-aid, wrapping it around my thumb. She repeats the with almost all my fingers, though some of them weren't as bad as the others, only half of them needed to be bandaged.
She spent most of that time lecturing me about cuts and bruises and they could easily be infected if they weren't treated. It wasn't my fault, how was I supposed to know? I wasn't a builder, nobody told me (although it explained the builders rushing off and Fussy not screaming at them to get back to their jobs). She's acting like a mother. I wonder what my mother was like, if she would get angry with me the way Jane had. Half an hour later, when the sun was setting and everyone was back. We buried Pete.

The gladers crowded around the deadheads, Alby, the runners, and Pete's closest friends in the centre, crowding around the grave that had been dug earlier that day.
Alby gave his speech.
'This morning, we lost Pete of the runners. He died a noble death, he died trying to find a way out of this place, this prison, the glade. Pete gave his life to us, he knew the consequences of being a runner. Pete, it has been an honour to have known you. We all thank you for what you have done for us.'
My eyes were foggy, everything was unclear. I wiped my eyes with the sleeves of my shirt. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Jane, her tears flowing endlessly, she was standing with the other med-jacks. Andrew reached out and put an arm around her. She leaned heavily on his shoulder. I was glad, glad that she had someone there when I couldn't comfort her.
'Pete was a glader, a runner, a friend, a brother, family.'
At this, the gladers broke out and gave a final cheer for Pete. Med-jacks carried a body covered in white sheets on a stretcher. I walked over and helped them gently take the body and lower it into the grave. We stood around the grave, Ed cried, Jace cried, Alby remained straight faced, but his eyes betrayed him. A tear rolled down his cheek.
The runners slowly moved aside, letting the other gladers see him one last time.

I watched Jane slowly walk to the grave, the boys cleared a path for her. Tears streaked her cheeks, in her hand, she held a flower, a half dry one, the tips were turning purple and brown, but the heart was still bright pink. She closed her eyes and held the flower out between two fingers. Her fingers separated. The flower gently fell down onto his body, right on top of where his heart should be.

Alby reached out and grabbed a handful of dirt off the ground, and threw it into the grave, slowly, one by one, everyone repeated the gesture, until the grave was almost full. Two boys came out with with shovels, and filled the rest of the grave. The gladers dispersed. I walked back to the homestead.