I Know Places [Thomas The Maze Runner] (ongoing)

[47: The Last City]

When Elle regained consciousness in the infirmary, she blinked disorientedly as the image of Thomas and one of the Right Arm doctors came into focus. Her head hurt, and the doctor had removed her trousers to treat the wound on her upper thigh, leaving her in soft black cotton shorts with gauze wrapped around her right thigh.

Thomas smiled when he noticed her stirring. "Hey there," he greeted softly. Thomas scooted closer and squeezed Elle's hand, their telltale sign of comfort. "Thanks for playing the damsel in distress so I can be the knight in shining armour this time," he teased, referencing the joke she made when he woke up at Marcus's.

Elle struggled to move; her limbs felt like they were made of heavy stone. She chuckled. "Did I pass out again?" she asked. Her words slurred sluggishly as her tongue was still waking up.

"You sure did," Eliza, one of the Right Arm doctors whom Elle worked with, confirmed. "You lost a lot of blood today, Elle. I stabilised your condition and replenished your lost blood volume, but you should have come to the infirmary right when you got back."

Thomas smirked triumphantly at Elle, a silent I told you so. "Thanks Eliza," Elle acknowledged her efforts.

"Luckily it was a shallow abrasion," the doctor admitted. At this, Elle mirrored Thomas's smug expression, another silent I told you so. This had been her diagnosis right after it happened. Thomas scoffed, rolling his eyes at his girlfriend's headstrong attitude. "I cleaned the wound and applied antibiotic ointment, but I'm going to need to change the gauze and monitor you for signs of infection." Eliza passed Thomas a pill bottle. "Ibuprofen. Dosage is on the bottle, make sure she takes it. It'll help with the pain," she instructed.

"Got it." Thomas nodded. "Thanks, doc."

"Sure thing." Eliza smiled at the brunette in the hospital cot. "Take care of yourself, Elle. Nothing crazy for the next few days, okay? You should be good to reunite with your friends but I really want you to take it easy."

"Absolutely," Elle agreed. When Eliza excused herself to help one of the kids they just rescued from WICKED, Thomas helped Elle sit up. "Minho wasn't there, was he?" she recalled glumly, placing her feet on the ground and gazing up at Thomas with sad green eyes. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "I was hoping I'd just dreamt that part," Elle said sadly.

"Hey, we're going to find him," Thomas assured her, crouching in front of her bed. He placed his hands on her knees – careful to avoid her gauze – and smiled. "We've all been working hard to save Minho and we're not going to give up on him now." Elle nodded reluctantly, lips pursed as she tried not to cry. Thomas helped Elle put her socks and boots back on before leading her to another room where their friends were waiting to speak with Aris and Sonya.

"You look lovely, pale and clammy really suits you," Newt greeted Elle when she sat beside him. He laughed when she scoffed, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her temple. "I'm glad you're alright." Newt always spoke to Elle with a brotherly affection that she found comforting; she didn't know what it was like to have an older brother – since almost all of her memories of Luke were gone – but imagined it was similar to her friendship with Newt.

"Here, drink this," Harriet told her friends from the Maze, passing Aris and Sonya mugs of water. Sonya put her cup down, too busy fixating on Aris to care for herself, and he took a sip.

He chuckled. "Took you guys long enough to rescue us," Aris joked.

"It's good to see you, too, bud," Thomas replied. The pair laughed. "So what happened?" He motioned to the bruises and cuts on Aris's face.

"I fought back," Aris explained, stifling a laugh. "Tried to, anyway."

Sonya's expression darkened. "You're lucky you found us at all. They had us on the move a lot," she admitted. "It felt like something big was happening."