THE HEARTS » TMR [1]

13. The Changing

"Stay with me," Margaret had said to Thomas before being gently dragged away by Newt. His body was already resembling Alby's, with the distorted purple veins on his chest and bloodshot eyes. Minho was on him in a flash, followed by Chuck, Frypan, and a slew of others.

     Minho grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up, gripping him under both arms. "Get his legs!" he yelled. Minho's order had been followed, and one of the Gladers had tightly gripped both of Thomas' legs. "We need to take him back to the Homestead! The other syringe should still be in there! Med-Jacks, follow me!" 

     "It's okay, Margaret," the blonde boy said softly, helping her to her feet. "He's gonna be okay." He smiled reassuringly at her, a small gesture that concealed his heartbreak.

     Margaret noticed and shook her head, refusing to reciprocate the gesture. She'd always feared that a Griever would sting Thomas. She never imagined he'd be the one to do it to himself.

     She, Newt, and Teresa then followed Minho and the others across the courtyard, through the broken front door of the Homestead, down the shattered hall, and into a room where Thomas's body was placed on a couch.

     "What the hell is wrong with you, man!" Minho yelled in Thomas's face. "You've really done it this time, shank!"

     Margaret could see a sliver of a smile on Thomas's lips. How could he be smiling in this situation?

     "Don't worry," he tried to say. "It's okay. . ."

     "No, Thomas, it's not okay!" Minho yelled, rolling up his T-shirt. Margaret noticed a mingling of purple and blue on his chest.

     "Oh, God," she gasped. The veins on his chest were becoming even worse than before. . .

     Teresa then intervened, saying, "No, he stung himself in his right leg!"

     Minho examined the veins closely, noticing that almost all of them came from Thomas's right leg. When he rolled up his pants, he saw all the blood. "Okay, Chuck, get the other syringe!"

     The Med-Jacks stormed into the room with the first-aid kit, seizing all the bandages they could find. Clint wrapped a large strip of leather around Thomas's leg and tied it tightly to stop the bleeding. Chuck reappeared, clutching a slender metallic cylinder and yelling, "I got the syringe, Minho!"

     Relieved, Minho took the syringe and plunged it into Thomas's chest with all the strength he could muster; the boy didn't even flinch or hesitate. Minho pushed down on the plunger until all of the fluid was gone. Thomas became instantly at ease. Minho then dropped the cylinder on the ground and took a few steps back, as did everyone else, to give Thomas some breathing room.

     Thomas slept peacefully, and the Homestead was deafeningly quiet until someone burst through the door, face flushed and brows arched.

     And that someone was Gally.

«❦»

Thomas had no concept of time as he went through the Changing.

     It started much like his first memory of being in the Box—dark and cold. He was doing nothing but staring at a large, wide monitor—a screen. It was like watching a movie where you couldn't help but stare at the screen, taking in all the images that passed by. In Thomas's case, it was his memories that were passing by, one by one. There was a lot to go through, but one memory in particular stood out to him. This was the first memory that came to mind before seeing the others.

     He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, directly across from a certain strawberry-blonde.

     Margaret.