Chapter Text
"Ash, standby in the hut. Got you a client on his way," Clint tapped Ash's shoulder as he had just finished freshening up. He gave a thumbs up, wiping his damp face as the Keeper jogged away.
Ash passed some hammocks, trees, and gladers on his way. He tilted his head up and squinted his eyes, "A bit dark today," he tried to predict what procedure he would have to do once he got there. Hopefully they have the supplies ready, otherwise another shank's gonna suffer a full week before the Box comes up.
He walked in to find someone already inside, Ash paused. Gally lay on the cot, eyeing him without turning his head—grouchy as usual but defeated. His mouth was shut, Ash was expecting him to moan about being late or something. Finally, he grabbed a crooked wooden chair and put it near the Gally.
He walked to a box of supplies, "What is it?" "Huh?" Ash did a doubletake at him. "The injury, what happened to you?"
Gally blinked a couple times, "Oh, I fell." he said flatly, eyes on the roof. "Alright... Did you hit your head? Are you feeling dizzy?" The Med-Jack dug more into the wooden crate, stirring the labeled bottles, and tucking what he needed under his arm.
"Yeah," Gally closed his eyes, "How far did you fall?" The Med-Jack continued to keep him up. "Um, about... 2 feet?" Ash furrowed brows, that's not much. He walked back to Gally's side, putting the supplies on the table, and then washed his hands.
"Hold on, I need to check first." Ash pulled the medical gloves over his leather arm guards. The Builder seemed sleepy, could be a concussion. The medic leaned, opening Gally's eyelid with one hand and pointing the flashlight with the other. "Normal," he muttered.
"Gally, Gal!" Ash nudged his arm, the other squinted at him. "The shuck-" "Sit your ass up, I need to check your head." He yanked Gally by the arm, forcing him to sit up. "Come on,"
With a groan, Gally sat up. Ash moved behind Gally, he sat on the cot, brushing through the short light hair to detect any injury. "Am I bleeding?" Gally looked back, Ash forced his head to face straight ahead. "Stay still, klunk-face. No, just a small bump."
The Med-Jack stood up. "That's okay, your head already looked like a potato anyway." "Shuck off," he cut him out with a groan.
He needed an ice pack, but couldn't leave Gally unattended. "Wait here," Ash went out, standing by the doorway, and scanned for anyone.
"Chuck, come here!" The pudgy kid snapped his head up, hopping off the log he was sitting on. "Um yeah?" "I need you, get me a pack of ice from Frypan, okay? Hurry," Ash waved his hand in the direction of the kitchen. "Okay!" He straightened up and started running, Ash watched his back from afar. "Don't run!" The kid turned to jogging in response. Ash sighed, heading back inside.
"Chuck is getting ice," Ash groaned as he sat down on the chair. Gally was staring at the wall, "I would already grow a second head by then," Ash flashed his teeth, leaning back with one hand behind the chair.
"You feel like vomitting?" Ash asked, noticing the Builder spacing out. Gally paused, as if trying to find the nausea inside him. "No, just dizzy." Ash hummed in response.
"Accident from work?" he decided to break the ice, the other nodded in response—not in the mood. Now there's really nothing to talk about. Ash wasn't chatty, but Gally's behavior weirded him out. "Call me if you need anything," He stood up.
"Where are you going?" This time Gally furrowed his brows, shooting up a sharp glance. "I'll be outside, waiting Chuck." "I-" Ash halted, worried Gally might try to cover something crucial—shuck, why did anyone even come to the Med-Jacks? "What? You wanna puke?" He prepared to grab the bucket. "No, I said, just wait here. What if I passed out?"
Ash lifted his brows, "Do you feel like passing out?" He shook his head instead. Weirdo. Ash sat back anyway. Gally went back to staring off somewhere.
Ash scanned him, he could not believe his own eyes: Gally was sulking. Like a sick kid who had lost his appetite. Now it crossed his mind, the Keeper of the Builder rarely got workplace incidents. Could it be…. No—Ash had no reason to meddle. He opened his mouth anyway.
"Look, I'm sorry about Ben. I get it, it's klunk—" he already regretted opening his mouth, the attempt at sincerity sucks butt. "don't let it jack your head. He's gone, you go back to work. Slim it, your sad face freaks me out."
Gally gritted his teeth, his high arched brows looked angrier when furrowed. "You think I don't know that?! I know, it's just-" It went radio silent. Ash let it go, he was not paid nor qualified for this.
"Ash!" A high pitched voice came from a distance. Ash walked out of the shack to find Chuck bent over, holding his knee with one hand and giving the ice pack with the other. "Gee, thanks. Um," he would offer the younger to sit inside, but Gally would appreciate some peace and quiet. "I'll see you at dinner, okay?" Ash grabbed the ice and went inside, sorry Chuck.
"Here, put it on your head." Ash handed the bag. Gally muttered a small thanks before holding the ice against the bump. "That's it? Can I go now?" "No, just sit there. It's better if I keep an eye on you, in case you pass out."
"What am I supposed to do here?" Gally sighed. "Just go to sleep," "What?" Gally gawked. "Didn't you say I shouldn't pass out? Which was it, shuck-face?"
Ash nodded. "I meant sudden unconsciousness. You can sleep, I'll wake you up each half an hour to check. Your brain needs to recover. You're still a bit dizzy right?" Gally nodded, so Ash continued. "So go to sleep, today is your day off." He looked outside from the window, a Glader had just tripped and dropped a crate of meat—one guy laughed at him, the other scolded him. "Well, our day off."
———
Ash kept himself busy between Gally's sleep, keeping any noises down. Arranging bottles, checking the surgical instruments, counting the remaining bandages, and writing quantities of their supplies. Then he had nothing left to do, he glanced at the door to find it was raining outside. It was supposed to be afternoon, yet the sky is dull. Ash realised it was time to check Gally, this is going to be the 6th time he woke him up.
He stood by the cot, bending slightly. "Gally," Ash shook his left shoulder twice. "Hm?" Gally stirred awake, eyes quick to focus compared to his previous state. Ash nodded in satisfaction and sat back, watching waterdrops leaked on the roof—dropping on the unused puke bucket.
Gally groaned, the cot creaked as he propped himself with his elbow. "What time is it?" The taller one rubbed his eyes, still hazy. "Afternoon," Ash had his eyes outside, silently watching the rain pour. A second later, Ash broke the silence. "Haven't seen Alby and Minho,"
"What?" Gally turned to him, Ash reciprocated the gaze. "Alby and Minho aren't back yet."
Gally blinked, as if to process the words. Then he scooted off the cot, walking to the archway of the door. He stopped at the water barrier, tall enough to rest both of his hands on the top of the arch made of sticks.
Ash watched his back, as if there was nothing else to entertain him—if you could even call this entertainment. He was curious, Gally had better judgement of things. Well, what would he think of this? He thought.
Ash furrowed his brows, how stupid of him to stir him up like that. He's a medical professional—somewhat—the least he could have done is to keep Gally calm. "Sit back down, Gally."
The other boy did not budge, Ash expected no less. "Rest a bit more, Gal."
The brunette sighed when his attempt failed, he stood up, intended to pull Gally manually. "Gal," from behind Gally, Ash put his hand on his shoulder. His shirt felt gritty and looked paler than the first time they met. Ash darted his gaze to make eye contact. Gally's eyes are focused somewhere.
It was not on the Door. When Ash traced the direction of his gaze, he found Gally staring at Thomas.
Ash sighed, "Slim it, don't start-" "You heard Ben, did you?" The Builder put a pressure on Ben’s name. Gally looked at Ash. "That Newbie stinks,"
"He only did what? 2 offenses?" Ash argued. "It shouldn't count. Thomas didn't know klunk, the kid is just snoopy."
“Snoopy? He has no right to stick his nose everywhere, you're blind.” Gally scoffed and muttered, "What am I even doing? Shouldn't have bothered with pretty boy," “What the shuck did you say?" His hand tightened on Gally's shoulder.
His mouth moved like a fish, regret washing over. "Nothing. I'll sit back." Gally went back to cot while Ash stayed back, folding his arms. "Good that."
Betrayal, thanks to that feeling, his face now had the same permanent scowl as Gally. He can't believe what the Builder had brought up. Gally sat on the cot, this time looking like he was caught red-handed. Ash rubbed his face, as if it would erase his irritation.
"I can't- out of everyone, no, with EVERYONE, you kept accusing things." Gally gasped, his palms open up defensively. "I'm not accusing- you kept defending him. I wouldn’t know what what's inside of your head,"
"Excuse me? Me defending a Greenie made you think that? Huh, so what?! Shuck, Gally, that doesn't mean klunk! You're the one acting crazy. I know you Builders are a pack of alpha males or whatever, but you don't have to act like a-" "Fine! Okay! I'm sorry!" The desperation in his voice caught him off guard, Gally had his mouth shut and stretched. Still, Ash was pissed.
He groaned, talking to Gally feels like talking to a moody teen. "Don't you shucking dare cut me off," he kneeled over to the crate full of supplies instead, even if there was nothing left to organize.
Ash kept kneeling over the box, till his legs were actually getting tired. Gally somehow had the guts to open his flap. "I..." The Med-Jack kept his back on him. "At least, now I know you still have taste. He's as bland as a chicken breast."
The dry humor crept on him, it was too late to hold his scoff escape. "He does," But Ash didn't face him, no way in hell he was going to let that happen. Their heads turned immediately when the sound of rain abruptly stopped.
They looked at each other, wasting no time to rush to the exit. A crowd already started forming in front of the Maze's entrance, boys making a beeline from every direction with various urgency. They shared a quiet look before jogging over to join the Gladers.
