Count On Me ➵ Newt [1]

THREE | newt the patient

▬The next few days were a blur.

Being a Med-jack was surprisingly fun, no matter how gory everyone's injuries were. My first patient was a boy named Isaac, who accidentally twisted his ankle while running in the Maze. The second one was Frypan, who burned his hand while trying to cook noodles for dinner. Alby was my third patient - he tried to break up a fight among the Gladers and got punched in the face in the process, earning him a broken nose and a bruised eye.

Today was no different. I woke up, showered and had breakfast, then went over to the Homestead where Frederick was waiting.

"Early as always, Rosalind," he said with a smile. "Keep it up."

"Sure will, captain," I smirked back.

I went to the back of the building, where the medical supplies were kept, and tidied everything. I didn't really know what to do with my spare time, so I always somehow ended up tidying the rooms in the Homestead or watching the other Gladers perform their job. Two boys came in later that day - one had a broken jaw and the other felt sick. Clint and Jeff took care of them. When it was almost lunchtime, another patient came in.

"Oh, hey, Newt," I greeted him. "What's wrong?"

"I tripped over some stupid vines while runnin' out there in the maze and broke my bloody wrist," he said through gritted teeth. He held up his hand for me to see - it was bent at a wrong angle.

"Oof... well, don't worry, I'll patch it up for you."

I led him to one of the empty rooms and went to grab some bandages. When I returned, Newt was cradling his broken wrist, groaning in pain.

"Hey, stop touching it, you'll hurt it more!"

I gently slapped his other hand away and examined his injury. As I tended to his wrist, I was aware of his gaze on me as I worked, but I didn't dare look up.

"There, done."

I stood up and he did the same, examining his newly bandaged wrist.

"Don't put pressure on it for at least a few weeks," I told him. "And come back here every few days to get new bandages."

"Alright," he said. He looked at me for a while and I shifted uncomfortably in place.

"Ya know," he said suddenly, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Alby and the other Keepers didn't actually know which job to assign you to."

"Oh." Was all I could say.

"Now don't take this the wrong way, but they were all quite unsure about where to put you because-"

"Because I'm a girl, yeah," I interrupted. "I know that. But why are you telling me this?"

Newt grinned.

"Because you surpassed our expectations," he said.

"What?"

"We honestly weren't expecting you to do so bloody well in your job, but you did," he said. "You should be proud of yourself, Rosalind. You're a lot more committed than most of the other Gladers are."

I definitely was not expecting that. I blinked at Newt, not sure if I was hearing him right.

"You're... You're being serious?" I said. He nodded. "Oh. Well... thank you."

"Oh, it was no problem," he said. He held out his uninjured hand. "You wanna join me and my friends for lunch?"

I definitely was not expecting that either.

"Oh, uh... sure?" I stammered.

I accepted his outstretched hand and let him lead me out the Homestead, where a crowd of Gladers were milling around the kitchen. Frypan was busy serving everyone their meals, the other Cooks assisting him. Newt pulled me towards one of the tables where Minho and Alby sat.

"Hey, Newt, hey, Rosalind," Minho greeted. He glanced at Newt's bandaged hand. "How's that wrist holding up?"

"All good, thanks to Rose here," Newt said. "For a newbie Med-jack, she's pretty good."

"Glad to hear that," Alby snorted. "If I have to hear one more time about how badly some shank messed up at their job I'm gonna lose it."

"Rose is gonna sit with us, that okay with you two?" Newt asked, though the look on his face suggested that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

To my surprise, Minho and Alby merely shrugged and said yes. I sat next to Alby with Newt and Minho across the table from me. I felt extremely awkward and out of place so I let the boys handle all the chit-chat.

Frypan came around and handed us bowls of stew, their warm, savoury smell wafting through the air and making my stomach rumble.

"Ay, lookie who finally decided to join us for lunch!" He laughed. "Rosalind, this is the first time I've seen you sit in my kitchen to eat! What made you change your mind?"

"Newt," I said. "He invited me over."

"Aww," Frypan said, wiggling his eyebrows at Newt. "Someone got a crush?"

"What? No, darnnit!" Newt exclaimed. His eyes wide with horror and his cheeks were pink. "I was only bein' friendly!"

"Right, right..." Frypan said. He exchanged glances with Minho and the two started snickering.

I felt my own cheeks heat up. I looked down at my bowl of stew, avoiding everyone's stares. For the millionth time, I wished I wasn't the only girl in the Glade.

"Alright, leave them alone, you two," Alby said finally. "Go back to your job, Frypan. You're a Keeper, remember? You gotta teach the newbie Cooks."

"Okay, okay, yeesh," he said. "See you guys later."

He walked away to the kitchen, where a boy was trying to wash the dishes, not realizing that he mistook a bottle of ketchup for soap.

Minho and Alby picked up the conversation from where they'd left off earlier, while Newt and I stared at anything but each other. The comment Frypan made had turned us both into awkward messes, and though we tried to hide it, I could tell we were still immensely embarrassed.

"Hey, Rosalind!" Minho snapped his fingers in front of my face and I blinked.

"What?" I said.

"I was asking you if you're joining us for dinner tonight," he said. He raised an eyebrow. "You are, right?"

"Y-Yeah," I said. "I mean... if you guys are okay with it."

Minho grinned. "Of course we are, you shuck face. You're welcome to sit with us anytime."

I grinned back. "Thanks."

[ END OF CHAPTER THREE ]

(Sorry for the crappy ending i didnt know how to end it 😅)