A Runner: Chapter 13

 This is longer than I usually do so be grateful! <3 Ilygsm! <3<3

"Get the scalpel."

"Do you have the medication?"

"Grab her ankle."

"Okay, and done."

"Send her back down, the incision will heal in a day or two."

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"Newt, come on, it's been a week."

"Yeah, shank, just accept that the girls dead."

"No, no shes not, she bloody can't be!"

"Minho, how much blood was lost?"

"A lot..."

"Come on, help me pick her up."

Oh no, time to wake up.

Kayla wakes up with a start, sitting straight up with a slight gasp. She can feel covers over her and turns to the right.

The other Gladers in the room stumble back, some giving half a scream.

Newt had hit the wall and by now he was turned to Alby, who was standing next to Minho and Gally. 

"I told you she didn't die."

Kayla's body feels weary, her limbs aching. The only funny thing was that her ankle did not.

Weird...

Newt steps forward and crouches down beside the cot.

"You okay, Kk?"

She gives the slightest smile and nods.

"Yeah, fine, I just-Owwwwww!!!!"

Kayla shoots her legs from the end of the cot up and tucks them against her chest. She grabs her stomach with both hands, but yelps and lets go as pain sears through her. Her belly pounds with pain and she squints her eyes shut.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down."

A hand touches her shoulder.

"Newt, go get her some water. Gally, go get Jeff."

She can hear the pound of the two boys' footsteps against the grass as they run outside.

Kayla opens her eyes to see Alby sitting in a chair next to her bed.

"What.....why....why does it hurt so much...???"

Alby sighs.

"Clint and Jeff gave you stitches, but, it's still gonna hurt."

Newt reappears at the slanted doorway with a jar of water. He hands it to her and backs against the wall, leaning on it. 

She takes the water and sips at it, each swallow making it even more uncomfortable to breath and sit.

Gally shows up just then with another darker skinned boy and Alby gets up from the chair, Jeff apparantly  taking his place. Gally leans on the wall next to Newt, quietly arguing with the taller boy.

Jeff looks at her.

"You okay? Cause' it's gonna hurt I mean you're lucky that blade missed your organs."

She lowers her gaze.

"Yeah."

Jeff turns in his chair to look up at Alby.

"Man, there's nothin' I can do. The pain will go away sooner than later but I can't do anything."

He nods, dismissing the boy. Jeff gets up and walks out of the room sighing, Alby following with a quick wave to Kayla.

Gally leaves with a scowl, and Newt sits in the chair.

"Hey."

"Hey..."

"You hungry?"

She shakes her head.

"Well, too bad cause I already got Chuck comin' over here with a sandwich."

He smiles, a warm smile. It sends butterflies into Kayla's stomach and makes her face flush red.

Newt sits back into his chair, just as Chuck comes running in panting, with a plate in his hand.

"Here....here you go...I c-came.... as fast as I....could."

Newt smiles again, taking the plate.

"Thanks, Chuck."

He nods slightly and turns, walking out the door.

Newt puts the plate on the small table next to her cot.

"Eat up, we've got some things to chat about."

Kayla takes the sandwich and eats it, but it hurts her when it hits her stomach.

"Alright, now listen."

He leans forward and Kayla sits up criss-crossed on her cot, feeling a slight breeze where her tank top had turned into a crop top.

"Now, Minho said that your ankle was holding you back the slightest bit, though you never complained or got tired, and that you would make an excelent runner."

Kayla smiles, though Newt looks at her seriously.

"If that ankle heals, you could be a runnner."

"Really!"

He nods and looks to it on the cot.

"Wanna test it out, shank?"

Her smile fades at his language, but when a slight one comes from him, she nods and gets up.

She places both her feet on the grass and suprisingly, nothing happens.

"It-it doesn't hurt."

"Try walking."

She can sense Newt behind her as she walks with ease towards the door and opens it, then walks out into the Glade.

"Newt, it doesn't hurt!! I don't have a limp!"

He smiles widely and then his eyes sadden, looking as if he had remembered something terrible. Newt shakes his head and looks back to her.

"Great! I can't wait to tell Minho."

Kayla looks down at her right ankle, the one that was injured before.

"Wait...what's this..."

A small scar shows on the side, about an inch in length, white from age.

"Where...where did I get this..."

Newt steps forward and looks down at it as well. He shrugs.

"Probably from the tree."

Kayla nods slowly, and the two start walking again.

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The rest of her day was simple. She tried out a few more jobs, was horrible at Med-jacks, vomited at the Bloodhouse, and killed a plant at the fields.

It was pretty clear what she was going to be.

Kayla had picked up another tank top from the Map Room, her third one, and hoped that it wouldn't get ruined.

A council meeting was held in the evening at the Homestead, all the Gladers were invited. Kayla was headlining.

She was seated in a chair in the middle of the room, facing the standing Gladers, and Newt and Alby were somewhere behind her.

"Alright! Listen up!" Alby shouted.

The murmers died down.

"Our newest Greenie, Kayla, has apparantly overcome her ankle injury, though a griever got to her yesterday. The wound missed her organs, and she will recover. Minho, Newt, and I have talked it over, and starting tomorrow, Kayla is officially a Runner."

Sighs, mumbles, and angry shouts ring out in the room. 

"Aw, come on."

"That didn't leave a limp?"

"Okay, okay.... SHUT UP!" Alby shouts again and the voices cease that time as well.

"Listen, she's very athletic and has a good runner's body."

Kayla lets her hair fall over the side of her face to try and hide her blush.

"Kayla, if you can run by tomorrow, that's when you start."

She nods and Newt pipes in.

"Let's all get some dinner."

Approving conversation erupts and the Gladers jog out of the room, Alby and Gally following last, once again leaving Newt and Kayla.

"Come on, slow poke."

Newt takes her wrist and pulls her through the doorway, letting go as they step outside.

The two of them walk over to the Food Shack as the sky darkens and the air cools down.

Kayla sighs.

They did something to me... I know it.