The Bucket List
"I'm so sorry." He whispered to his best friend. A tear was rimming in the outer corners of his eyes, threatening to roll down.
Katniss looked at him sympathetically. "Why?" She cried out. "Why are you sorry?" Her voice was clogged with sobs. "You didn't do anything to cause this."
He immediately, without second thought, brought Katniss's head to his shoulder and comforted his friend. "Oh Katniss," He breathed peering over her shoulder. The white hospital walls stared back at him. "I know this is hard for you, but you will make it." Peeta said encouragingly.
She gripped tighter on his hand, his sweat sending shockwaves up to her. Oh my god. Tears graved on her damp cheeks. She hastily rubbed them away. "You've never failed to be a great friend, Peeta Mellark." She stated, attempting to smile for Peeta.
The door cracked open and in came Dr. Snow strolling with his shiny, grey clipboard. "Cancer can be treated." He reminded Katniss, who was constantly losing hope.
"For the very lucky….." Peeta muttered.
Snow ignored Peeta's negative comments. A sensation of courage flickered in Snow's eyes. He turned his attention to the cancer-infected, Katniss Everdeen. "Ms. Everdeen, I don't want you to worry at all." He searched her face for a reaction.
The blood was drained from Katniss's face. Her pupils were dilated from utter shock. She nodded tersely. "Go on." She croaked.
His throat bobbed. He checked his clipboard. "Katniss your first treatment will be this Friday."
"Friday!" Peeta shouts out. "Why Friday?"
"Young man," Snow called out surprised. "This week we have a ton of surgeries needed to be proceeded. She is not the only one diagnosed with Cancer."
He leaned back in his chair. He kept on staring at Dr. Snow that began to back away.
"This is really true, isn't it?" Katniss asked. Her voice was steady and even and it freaked her best friend out.
Peeta's lips parted but no words came out. He was too stunned. This was supposed to be a regular, yearly checkup. This year it was all different. His best friend had cancer and he couldn't do a thing.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
I wonder what I should eat this morning.
Katniss looked into the fridge. She would usually be raving the fridge, desperately searching for some food, but she couldn't put her conscious into it. She was so depressed.
To her dismay, she pulled out a beer and walked around. The metal spine of the lamp stood before her in the living room. She flicked the bottle cap off and took a long drag. Intentionally, she smashed the glass and the green shards fell to the ground with a clink.
There's no purpose anymore.
Everything seemed like it was crumbling at once. Dirt was enveloping her feet. The more aware Katniss would have panicked and escaped her house before anything else.
She blinked.
The dirt, the erupting ground, disappeared.
"Hallucinations." She muttered and grasped her head. She rubbed in sloppy circles. It was supposedly to create a sensation of relief, but all it seemed to do was make it worse.
Her iPhone rang. She groaned. Every ounce of will took her to make it to her phone. She ignored even seeking who was calling and she hit answer.
A breath hitched in her throat. "Hello?" She mustered.
"Katniss?" The voice of course sounded familiar. It was none other than Peeta.
Katniss blinked. "Yes Peeta." She tried to mask her tired, sticky feeling, but presentation was the least of her worries. Her nail traced the engraving of the desk.
Peeta sighed; the muffled sound filtering through her phone. "You sound upset." He assumed. She could almost feel his frown.
Katniss placed a sweaty hand on her forehead. "Well your assumption is correct. Congratulations." She said with an attitude that indicated sarcasm.
"Kat?" Peeta paused and tried to pull some cleaver words together. "I know this is hard on you but on Friday, you will be treated-"
"What does that matter?" She shouted at him. "I'm going to die because no one makes it out alive," Tears were rimming her eyes. "I'm so scared." She confessed and cried.
"Don't," Peeta said encouragingly. "Cancer is common and just because you have it doesn't mean you won't make it out alive."
Katniss sighed and stared at her socks. "I guess you're right."
He smiled. "Of course I am," He said cockily. "I always am." He was intending on joking around and she recognized it easily.
She chuckled. "Bye Peeta."
She was about to disconnect when he stopped her. "Wait!" She clutched the phone to her ear again. "Why don't we make some plans?"
She gulped. "Plans?" She recalled, surprised by his gesture.
"Yes." He said gently. "What would you like to do today?"
Katniss stared blankly at the window lie they do in those teenage movies. Her eyes were filled with hurt, willing heavily to stop the flow of tears.
"Katniss?" He wondered if she disconnected the call. "Are you there?"
A smile crinkled on her face. The only smile that managed to come ever since the shocking depth of the news yesterday, "Let's go sky diving," Her smile faded almost instantly because his response was silence. "Look I know it's insane but please." She begged.
A sigh was valid from the phone speakers. "Katniss you can go but I don't think I would want to sky dive."
No avail. Failure.
Anger seized in Katniss's throat. "You know what Peeta? If you were battling cancer, I would do whatever you wanted to do. Sky dive, jump off of a cliff- Whatever!" She shouted at him. "You said anything I want and now you're being selfish."
He was startled through the phone. The words were clustered into his brain but nothing processed correctly. "Okay." He eased out. His eyes widened in regret. What did I get myself into?
He could feel her smile no doubt; she was doing the very action right now.
"Perfect!" She cheered. "Go shower. I'll reserve our spot and I'll call you when I'm ready. Bye Peeta."
His heart softened a bit. She is going through cancer. This really isn't easy. "Bye Kat."
They drove up to the most famous skydiving center in Brooklyn. Adrenaline was pounding through Peeta's system. Hallucinations. His head throbbed as pain pushed in and out.
"Katniss and Peeta," She recited to the security guard.
He flipped a white sheet and skimmed through the names. "Okay you can go in."
After they both got dressed and set up for the final run, Peeta was certain he was suffering from a panic attack. He couldn't believe Katniss was more excited than he was. Nervousness flooded his system but he fought it.
The climbed the stairs towards the plane with an eerie and settled in.
"One minute left." The instructor announced.
Peeta gulped.
Three…. Two….. one…..
A/N: I am prepared for the crap I am going to get for giving Katniss cancer. But this is basically a story about Katniss wanting to finish everything she always wanted to do... with of course the accommodation of Peeta Mellark. Review please! :)