GRIEF OF HIS HEART - A Novella

one

The beeps of a heart monitor are the first thing he hears.

His eyes open with a groan. No time to sleep. He has to escape. She asked him to join. He will.

Vague flashes of the Maze shoot up in his mind. Him running through it hand in hand with her. A Griever in front of him. Thomas with a spear in his hands. Minho telling them not to die. Chuck afraid. Teresa tying her hair up.

He blinks, blinded by the bright lights above him as more flashes hit him.

There was a gun. He heard a cry. A warn. He heard a female voice. Pain in his chest. Yells.

His eyebrows scrunch. He blinks again. Why does he remember that, but nothing clear? Is he predicting the future from under the sheets of Valerie's bed? In her arms? Predicting what would happen once they run into the Maze?

"I see you're finally awake."

He shoots straight up at the sudden calm voice. Panicked, his eyes search around and his fists ball in case he has to defend.

"Calm down. You're not healed yet."

After he gets uses to the bright lights completely, he can see the male in front of him. Hair on his face. Dark hair with some gray spots.

Deep, brown eyes. Wrinkles. Thin lips. Tall and strong. He wears a casual black T-shirt with grey pants. A watch around his wrist.

"Who are you?" Gally stammers, for once not feeling so tough. He has no idea where he is, barely has any memory of the last twenty four hours, and has no idea where the love of his life is. "Where's Valerie?"

"Rick is the name." The man, Rick, says. He sits down on a chair next to the bed Gally is on. "Who exactly is Valerie?"

All the color disappears out of Gally's face. He quickly lies back down again, especially when he feels an uncomfortable pain in his chest. Heartbreak?

"Valerie. Uh, red hair. Short. Talks a lot. Beautiful." He summarizes fast.

"Freckles?"

"Yes. On the nose and cheeks and three on her left hand."

A corner of Rick's mouth moves up. "Paying attention to the details I see?"

He ignores the comment. "Where is she?"

Rick's face darkens. "Red hair and short, you said?"

"Yes."

He is thoughtful. Hums. "She's not here."

Gally tenses up. "Then where is she? Where am I? What-"

"You're with us now." Rick states. He lies his hands on his lap. "The Crank Army."

Gally, who knows the zombies exist but not what they're called, only cares about Val at this point. "Where is she?"

The beeps of the heart monitor is going up.

"Uh-uh, calm your ass down, kid." Rick commands as he trails his eyes over Gally's body. "I'm afraid she's not here."

"How did I get here?" He spits out, the anger now consuming. His knuckles turn white around the sheets. Her laugh echo in his ears. It won't leave him alone. "What the hell happened?"

Rick watches the heart monitor for a little longer as fast beeps only make Gally feel crazier. Then the man turns back to him. "I'm afraid you won't be seeing... Valerie anymore."

"What?" He shoots up. His chest nearly explodes by the action, but all he can feel is his stomach dropping. "What?"

"Unfortunately, she didn't make it out. Out of the Maze, I mean."

A frown forms. "How come I did? She wanted to escape- not me- why did I? Where the hell is she?"

The man clears his throat before he lets go of a breath. "Look, kid. When you kids tried escaping, you got stung. Lawrence knows enough about WCKD to know what it is, and we also saw the infection on your arm."

"I asked about her, not me-"

"I think you managed to get a gun," he continues. "It was in your hand when we found you, along with the spear in your chest."

No wonder his chest hurts.

"What about her? Is she also here?" He urges. The panic makes his chest hurt even more, but he can't stop himself. Anything could happen to anyone, but not to Val.

"I'm afraid you used the gun to shoot her," Rick says casually, as if he didn't just share Gally shot his girl.

"And I missed," Gally says. "Right? I don't know how to use guns. Of course I shuckin' missed."

"The bullet went through her heart," Rick explains... unfortunately.

"And you saved her."

He bites his lip. "She was dead when we showed up. You weren't."

No.

No, no, no-

Minho can go ahead and jump from under his bed and tell him it was a prank now.

Chuck can yell 'got you!' now.

She can show up with that stupid chicken and laugh at his face now.

But that never happens. It's him and Rick, in this white room with the stupid heart monitor.

"You're lying," he says.

"I wish I were."

"No, you don't. You don't even know me or her. You don't give a single shit," Gally snaps. "Where am I and where is the Maze? I'm going there. You didn't check well enough."

"It was three days ago since we brought you here. If anything, her body has been taken away by the Cranks. Trust me, kid, you don't want to go there."

"But-"

"She's dead," Rick says flatly. "And you can't do anything about it. Now get some rest. Lawrence expects you to be ready in a few days. Tomorrow, I'll show you around."

Then he vanishes, and Gally is left, pale as a ghost.

It can't be true. Valerie's strong. Didn't she manage to convince him, even when he was stung, to stop?

How could he have shot her? How could he have allowed himself to do that?

The one person in the Glade who he loved.

Gone.