The hostile words linger in the icy air as the rough voice makes its way to Annie's ears. "Annie, you're in need of mental hospitality again." There's a bitter silence in the plain pallid room. The broad ceiling is seemingly dull to Annie in comparison to the marble tiling. Annie does not like this man, whoever he may be. His voice reminds her of anguish from the Capitol. Annie drifts off into her nightmares and fears. Remembrance of Finnick going out into war panics her as shivers are sent down her spine. Beads of cold sweat roll down her back. Her breaths quicken and are far heavier than they should be. Her vision is blurred and her head pounds from every beat of her heart. Her fast-paced heartbeat rings in her fingernails and vibrates throughout her entire body. She's long gone now, into one of her panic attacks. The nurse is desperately attempting to shake her awake. Her eyebrows arched, she yells Annie's name over and over. Annie should have never been left alone in the white solitary confinement. She's worse than usual when she's drowned in thoughts.
When Annie comes to, she jumps slightly and nervously stares to the figure in front of her. She glances down to her arm, which has a morphine pack in one of her superior veins. She breathes in relief, quickly sinking in a world where there is no wrong. The figure steps out of the shadows, and it's just her nurse, tenderly removing the medical patch from Annie's arm that once soothed her into a deep lullaby. Annie's snapped back into painful reality. Her head flies back, smashing into the cypress chair. Her eyes dart up to the nurse that stands in front of her.
"Misses Odair," she begins, her voice trembling. "Finnick got murdered." A gasp quickly emanates from Annie's lips as her face turns paler than the unadorned ceiling. Annie's saturated eyes quickly dart around the room desperately searching for Finnick, as if her ears are deceiving her. It feels as if Annie's entire world has shattered from those three words. Three simple words. Not too long ago, three effortless words had made her day. Her eyelids shut as tears stream down her face and she bites her lip as she slips into a deep flashback.
The aroma of salt water fills the air, as the crisp voice of the one and only Finnick Odair, the one who gets Annie's heart pound much faster than it should, makes a smile crawl across Annie's face. Finnick's bronze hair flows in the wind as his big sea-green eyes stare into mine thoughfully.
He abruptly bursts out the three special words that seemingly mean the world to her, " I love you."A smile spreads across her face along with her rosy cheeks reddening as they simultaneously lean in for a kiss. Their lips gently touch as Finnick slowly lifts his hand to touch her delicate cheek. They both forget the world and their problems entirely in each other's arms. She's thrown back into reality from the nurse's sympathetic hazel eyes staring into hers. Once the information sinks in, Annie forms a crazed look in her eyes as she quickly throws herself out of the rigid chair. Her blurred world spins as she twists her head to the nurse, then to the wall. She clenches her hand into a fist and slams it through the wall. Segments of the wall soar by Annie's face as the scent of dry paint fills the small space between her and the nurse. She withdraws her bloody knuckles from the destroyed area of the wall.
"How?" Annie croaks through tears and muffled sobs. The nurse warily looks down, mumbling something about stitches. The eerily bitter silence enters the room again. After a long time, she finally opens her shivering mouth, teeth chattering
She says the simple word that makes me cringe, "Mutts." Mutts. Short for mutations, sent from the Capitol. The Mutts loiter in Annie's dreams, and always have. They will scream to her in her dreams. She will see Finnick's beautiful sea jade eyes in the Mutts. The beautiful eyes that Annie and Finnick's baby may have. Annie puts her head in her hands, unable to comprehend this. For now, Finnick's three words will just replay in Annie's head. I love you.