The Cost of the Cure

Chapter 52

This time, you wake up for real. You groan, your entire body hurting. You're laying on a bed in the middle of a sunlit room.

"Y/n?" Newt says, his voice filled with near disbelief.

You turn your head in his direction.  Every part of you feels heavy. He's sitting on a stool beside you and something tells you he's been there for a long time.

"How long have I been out?" you ask, your voice a hoarse croak. Your throat burns. You start to sit up.

"No! don't do tha--" Newt begins.

You yelp, your side seeming to split apart in burning pain. You fall back down.

"You alright?" Newt asks, his brows furrowed.

You nod. "Kind of forgot about it with the Changing and all. How long have I been passed out?"

"Three days."

"Three days!" you burst, your eyes widening. It couldn't have been that long.

"That's usually about how long it takes. How are you feeling?"

"Good I guess," you say. In truth, you feel terrible, but you're not about to say it. "How long until I can get out of bed?"

He sighs. "Clint and Jeff said about two weeks at first, but some salve came up inn the Box, so only a week if it keeps working. And there is no way you're feeling good. Nobody has ever said that after the Changing."

You look down, suddenly feeling guilty. "You're right. Sorry. But, I do remember some things from the Changing."

"You do?" He leans forwards with his hands clasped in his lap. "What do you remember?"

"You." There's more, but you want to start at the beginning.

He points at himself, his eyes going wide. "Me?"

You nod.

"What did you see?"

"It's getting blurry now, but I think it was right before they sent you into the Maze," you say. "We were talking in this room, I think we were hiding from them. I don't think we even knew about them taking our memories away! We knew about the Maze, but not anything else. And then they found us and took you away."

"Of course they wouldn't tell us," he mutters under his breath, his eyes turning hard. He shakes his head, and the look on his face disappears. "Anything else? No one has ever shared anything about what they saw during the Changing."

"I think I was friends with a boy named Tom and a girl named..." You draw a blank. How did you already forget? Maybe you had only heard the you from before call her by her name once before, but you should still be able to remember. "Sorry, I can't remember. I don't know what, but I think something terrible happened out there. Like outside the Maze. I'm not sure what though, exactly. But that's all I can remember."

He nods, deep in thought.

"Anyways," you say, trying to change the topic. "Um, what have you been doing?"

"Actually, I've just been here making sure you've been fine." He looks down at his lap, avoiding your gaze.

"Thanks, Newt," you say, placing a hand on his knee. Maybe you can't remember him being there, but you're thankful for it nonetheless.

He offers you a small, shy smile. "I'm just glad that you're going to be fine. I was scared that you'd end up like Gally after the Changing. Because when people go through the Changing, they're never the same again."

"I think I'm the same," you say, suddenly unsure. What if you really had changed but just didn't know it? "How's Ben doing?"

"Not so well. For some reason, he's doing worse than anyone else ever has. I have no idea why."