Katniss ran down the halls and rooms, Haymitch following her, walking fast. She pushed past crowds of doctors and nurses, and she reached the medical room, spotting a familiar face. It was Johanna, her dark spiky hair was shaved and she had crimson scars and bruises lined along her cheeks and arms. Katniss starred at her for a second, shocked. She shook her head slightly as she continued, trying to find Peeta. Katniss couldn't find him, though; she spun scanning the room for Peeta's acquainted blonde hair.

"Haymitch?" Her voice trembled in worry. "Where is he?"

Haymitch could see her trembling and breathing hard, fighting tears. He grabbed her by the shoulders to keep her still and he had opened his mouth to say something, but she froze for a second and thrashed out of his grip, because she had heard Peeta's voice. She called back; her voice was desperate and full of worry. "Peeta…? Peeta!?" And again, Katniss heard his call, and she chased after the voice. There he was, dressed in white hospital clothes. He struggled free of the grasp of a nurse's hands, who were flashing lights in his eyes. He looked extremely weak and it was obvious that he was left without nourishment for days. Katniss let out a shriek, she sprinted towards him. Peeta did the same with tears streaming through the dirt and blood on his battered face. Katniss immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, her body being agonized by sobs and cries of sorrow. Her screams were a mixture of Peeta's name and snivelling. He wrapped his arms around the back of her upper thighs and lifted her up to meet his face. Despite how weak he appeared, he was able to lift her off the ground a few inches and frantically pepper her face and neck with kisses. Katniss kissed him back, their tongues greeting each other. Her hands shook as they ran through Peeta's ashy blonde hair. She brought her legs up around his waist locking behind his back tightly, making him immediately fall to his knees, but not caring. He kissed her neck slowly this time, carefully. He calmly stroke her dark waves. He was trying to keep her calm, trying to tell her that she wasn't dreaming. That he was here.

"Peeta…" she took his face in her hands, feeling his hollow cheeks and starred deep into his eyes which were full of pain.

"It's okay, Katniss. I'm okay, I'll be fine. I'm here," He murmured weakly.

Katniss held her lips against his and the kiss resembled the one they shared on the beach in the clock arena. She stopped every few seconds to gasp for air or to let out another wail.

"What did they do to you…? I thought you were…" She whispered against his lips. They tasted like blood. She ran her fingers through his hair in the opposite direction it was growing.

Peeta gave her a silent "shh". The world around them felt like it had vanished; the only two people in this world were the two of them. Katniss never felt anyone embrace her so tightly. Prim didn't even hug her like this when she said goodbye after the first Reaping. Despite how weak Peeta appeared, he was still closing every gap between them, and sealing them closed.

"Peeta, honey, we need to finish your blood test." A nurse placed her hand on his shoulder. Peeta ignored her for a second while he rested his forehead against Katniss'. He grasped her hands tightly with his and lifted them up to his lips. A grin found its way to Katniss' lips.

"Go do your blood test," She said soothingly.

Katniss sat next to Peeta as the nurses and doctors crowded around them to do several other tests on him. She observed how beaten he looked. There were bags under his tired blue eyes, and a bruise on his left eye. A burn above his right brow which was bearing flecks of blood. Katniss wanted to help him, so eagerly; she picked up a disinfectant patch of cloth. The moment the fabric made contact with Peeta's irritated skin; he flinched and let a grunt of pain.

"Sorry," She apologized. "Does it sting?"

Peeta nodded. He touched the wound with a two fingers and his face contracted. He looked at his fingers which had his blood on them.

"Here," Said a nurse. She had short dark curls and bronze skin, which reminded Katniss of Rue. The nurse placed a wet cloth on Peeta's wound, wiping the blood away gently. Peeta clenched Katniss' hand as the nurse replaced the wet cloth with a dry one and taped it above Peeta's brow with medical tape.

Peeta turned his attention to Katniss as doctors left and finished cleaning his wounds, wrapping him in bandages, and slowly putting in stitches on his cheeks and forearms. He took her face in his hands and examined her loveliness. He had dreamed about her curled next to him since the Capitol had thrown him into his cell. Just looking into Peeta's apprehensive eyes made Katniss want to cry. Peeta could see tears joining hands to become a river, so he pulled her in for a kiss on her forehead and a hug. The tears flowed and she let herself melt into Peeta's embrace. Her gray eyes settled on a bag of blood behind Peeta. She trailed the cord with her eyes, which led her to the back of one of Peeta's elbows. A whimper escaped her lips and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Wonder what they did with all of my blood back in the Capitol, huh?" Peeta attempted to make her feel better with a joke. He was facing her now, tears still flowing down both of their cheeks. As a reply, she smiled sadly. It filled Peeta with more despair.

"I can't believe this," Tears stinging in her eyes. "I thought they would kill you." Katniss recalled the night Gale and the others flew to the Capitol to rescue Peeta, Johanna and Annie. She remembered when she went into a meltdown, thinking Snow was going to kill both Gale and Peeta. That she would lose them both. Thinking of the memory scared her. She tightened her grip on Peeta's white shirt and cried onto his shoulder.

"Well," Peeta retorted. "I didn't tell anyone this," he sounded afraid. "Not even the doctors, who were urging me to tell them everything. I want to tell you mainly." He swallowed hard. "It might scare you." Katniss shook her head. "It won't. Just tell me, it's okay."

Peeta nodded in reply. "After I warned you – about the bombing- you know how… the Peacekeepers pulled me away from the camera?"

"Yes," Katniss whispered. She replayed the image in her head, where she saw Peeta's blood stain the floor, his scream of pain.

"They knocked me out after that. And I woke up in a different room- I was in a room, strapped to a table and I waited for something that felt like an hour. Although I don't really know how long I was in there for. After that, the guards who tortured me came in, and they started to mess around with these substances next to the table that I was strapped to. It smelt strong, like some kind of medicine… then they…" His voice drifted off. Katniss was staring at him with worry and curiosity.

"Then they…? What? Tell me, its ok, I won't tell anyone else." She leaned against his frail body. Peeta swallowed, as he taken aback to the memory. "They started injecting the stuff into me. And it hurt, like when it got into my veins, it stung. Like acid. But the pain… it felt familiar." Katniss ran her hand along his arm, going past a white cotton ball taped to the back of his elbow. It must be covering up the tiny wound that the Capitol gave him. "I started hallucinating, and you were there. Next to me, next to the guards. You stared at me, but you didn't do anything. I thought it was really you, and I shouted at you, trying to make you help me." Katniss' eyes were filled with worry. She wrapped her arms around him and embraced him. She shook her head.

"I would never do that, Peeta. Never. I wouldn't be able to stand someone doing that to you. But now you're safe. With me. That'll never happen again." What they both didn't know, was that it was a failed attempt at Peeta's hijacking.

When night fell, Peeta told Katniss to go back to Prim and her mother for the night – since she only spoken to them about Peeta for about half an hour. So she did. But it wasn't in a matter of minutes that she came running back to him, telling him she had a nightmare. When in reality, she just wanted to be there for him, the way he was always there for her on the train. She just needed to feel his lips on hers, his arms enveloping her.