A/N: I am very sorry for the inconvience I have caused with the long waits and not being able to make up my mind about where I want to go with this story. Please, forgive me. =( School has began again for me and already (in just the past month) I have been overloaded with homework, assignments, and projects. With all of this time I have been able to finally make up my mind about this story. Instead of starting right after Catching Fire ended, I will start after the rescue team has returned from the Capitol. So, to clear up any questions... Katniss and Finnick were the only ones captured by the Capitol. Annie is with Peeta, Johanna, and Beetee in District 13, and Peeta already knows about what happened to District 12. So, if you have any questions about something that doesn't make sense to you, please P.M. me. Thank-you, and... ENJOY!
Peeta's POV
Knots... Knots... Knots. That is all I have been doing since the rescue team set out. Haymitch came in about 15 minutes ago, saying that they should be back any minute now, and I am ecstatic(but nervous at the same time). Three months, more than 90 days. That's how long she's been gone. It still hurts to say her name at times. Who knows how bad her condition will be when she gets back? And I am not just talking about physically, but mentally, too.
"They're back." I tilt my head up to see him standing there. The one I made a deal with to save her, not me. I unsteadily rise to my feet and follow Haymitch towards the medical ward, where her sister volunteers at.
-o-
Chaos. That's the first word that comes to mind when we arrive. Doctors pushing stretchers with injured rescue team members on top of them. Nurses following closely behind. Haymitch leads me straight through the chaos and towards the entrance to a seperate room. Inside are many doctors - all moving - standing around a bed, and I know it has to be her bed. I turn to Haymitch, who only gives me an encouraging nod before backing away into the shadows the walls have to offer.
I walk straight through the mess of doctors and towards my love. But when I see her, I understand why so many doctors were surrounding her. Bruises cover her body, those beautiful grey eyes sunken from malnutrition and fear. She's awake, those familiar eyes grazing over every doctor surrounding her frail figure. Her eyes searching through the crowd to find who knows what. Those eyes linger on mine for just a moment, before a nurse sticks an IV into her arm. I take her hand just as she's drifting off into a drug-induced sleep.
"Katniss," I whisper into her ear (the first time I've said her name in months), "it's Peeta."
Before she goes under, she manages to return to me a reassuring squeeze of the hand.