Chapter One

"..and if we burn, you burn with us".

The powerfully inspiring words seemed to echo off the sheen, blindingly white walls of the ward as even the patients fell silent to absorb their meaning. This made a significant change – today she was working in the emergency burns unit of the District 13 hospital, where there was usually a resonate hum of the sounds of being bored of constant pain. Even the morphling drips didn't have quite the same calming effect it did in the other departments – burns as deep as these tended to take not only an excruciating physical toll, but cast a seemingly eternal barrier that separated the devastated ex-citizens of District 12 from the residents of their new home, after their had been reduced to nothing but dust in a panicked heartbeat. Dr. Lockhearst had enough sympathy to cover the ward ten times, but in her lifetime she had never experienced something so direly tragic with her own eyes in order to empathize in the way she wished she could.

The stories she could just about string together from the frantic, pain-muffled mumbles of her patients frequently were cause to keep her awake in the small breaks she was designated for sleep. Recently, as a last resort, she had taken to 'borrowing' a high-concentration sleeping tablet from the medicine vault at the end of most of her shifts, just to be able to fall into a dreamless coma for a few hours before she had to do it all again. But despite the nightmares, this was her place – her spiritual home. Her heart belonged to the ritual of curing people on a daily basis, and the beauty of witnessing someone grow from a shivering mess of raw flesh and nerves to a functioning human being under her care gave her a sense of joy that nothing else had ever given her in her life in District 13.

Despite the fact it had been a while since the populations of 12 and 13 had merged into one, wounds like the ones she tended to every day weren't as easy to fix as a bullet wound – sure, you could graft artificial epidermis layers to patients, but the time needed for bodies to accept foreign matter as their own took time – as did psychological healing, in which Dr. Lockhearst was equally trained. In a district where you officially don't exist, it was important to have trained psychotherapists. Mental illness wasn't rare in such a place.

Nonetheless, District 12's tragedy had brought the good with the bad – the pinnacle of the hope in her eyes was now a trainee doctor with the bravest, but most gentle heart she had ever had the pleasure to have known – Primrose Everdeen. Despite her age, only just 14, she was old and wise beyond her time, a quality that could only blossom in the eyes of tragedy, she assumed. Upon her entry in the District along with her mother, as a doctor, too, Prim had been assigned to Dr. Lockhearst as an apprentice doctor; learning the art of fixing a broken body and mind in such dark, desperate times. Prim had provided a beacon of light in her life – only 4 years older than Prim, being assigned such a responsibility gave Dr. Lockhearst hope that she could change another's future for the better. She was also the only person, outside of her family that referred to her as Jessica when no one was listening, providing warmth in such a clinically cold environment. She provided her with the feeling she assumed was similar to having a sister.

Previously being the youngest doctor in the entire district at only 18, it was nice to talk to someone of something close to her age group.

In vast contract to Prim's caring, nurturing nature was her sister, Katniss Everdeen. Equally as strong and empowering, Jessica had never had the chance to meet someone as close to a celebrity as 'the girl on fire'. She doubted Katniss would have time for a mere doctor in between hunting and filming propaganda shorts, and so Jess' view of her was limited to the seemingly two different people she was described; a clumsy, loving sister, and a martyr rebel leader. Nonetheless, she doubted her opinion would be clarified in the near future, as far as she was aware.

Interrupting her train of thought, the moment of bliss finally arrived – the bell. Usually doctors and nurses alike were expected to eat on shift, so the one-a-week allowance for social purposes of eating with the rest of the district were a blessing.

Skin peeling off like wet tissue paper tended to put her off her food.

"…so then I plugged in an extra morphling drip, I know supplies are limited and I shouldn't have, but he really just needed some restful sleep and… Jess?"

"Hm?" as she snapped back into reality, Jess realized she had been blankly staring at her bowl of unappetizing carrot broth and stale end-piece of bread, completely ignoring her tutee.

"I was asking if you approved of my decision, or…" Prim trailed off, frowning in confusion.

"Uh yeah, you can take the afternoon off if you want," Jess said as she tried to wipe the images of singed flesh and missing children from her mind. She tiredly ran her hand across her face, briefly wondering when the last time was that she'd gotten an actual night's sleep.

"Are you okay?" Prim asked in concern.

"…yeah. I'm sorry – I know I have no right to complain of nightmares during the day compared to what you've been through. It's just this is all so new to me, still." Prim smiled at this.

"You have no need to apologise, J—" she looked around, noticing her elders' presence and dreading the lecture she would receive for allegedly disrespecting her mentor.

"—Dr. Lockhearst. But really, I find the best way to function is to occupy yourself. Mine is our work… but that doesn't seem to work for you," she furrowed her brow. Her face lit up for a moment in enlightenment. "I know! My sister's friend Finnick," she gestured to the table of 'severely damaged' citizens, "was prescribed a rope to tie. You could try something similar," she offered.

Jessica instantly felt challenged by this, but quickly realized her anxious state was making Prim's genuine comment seem a lot more intimidating than was true. She sighed.

"It's hard to diagnose and prescribe for your own problems, Prim. It's different." She took a bite of her bread, grateful for the energy it would provide in her later shifts. She had recently lost a lot of weight, and needed all the carbohydrates she could get. "Besides, I just need to get used to it. I'll be okay."

As she had been talking, Jess noticed Prim's attention divert elsewhere behind her. Intrigued, she turned around to see what the fuss was about.

Walking towards them and parting a path in a sea of distressed citizens was the girl that no body would stop talking about – Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire. Or as Prim more casually referred to her, 'my sister'. Intimidated by her presence, Jessica couldn't find any words to come out of her semi-open mouth. It wasn't that she didn't like her, nor that she was scared – it was of pure shock that she couldn't seem to process any syllables.

"Hi Katniss," Prim grinned, moving up a little on the dull grey, yet perfectly polished bench she was sat on, tapping the newly formed space next to her. Katniss managed a smile, although you could tell she was currently undergoing the same thought process Jessica had suffered just a moment ago, although presumably a million times worse.

The moment she snapped back into the present moment was clearly apparent in her eyes. Assessing others' mental processes was second nature to Jess, and she pitied her – the propos and the speeches gave a very distorted image of Katniss Everdeen, and she wondered how she was coping with her torment behind all the cameras.

In an attempt to make conversation, Katniss asked how Prim's day was.

"It's been good, I've been in the second unit of the burns ward. I got to be left all by myself with my own set of patients today – Dr. Lockhearst signed me off for the day to see how I get on." Prim looked at Jess expectantly, and it took a moment for her to understand it was a cue for her part in the conversation.

"Yes, Prim is progressing fantastically. Your mother would be really, really proud." She smiled, and noticed her hands were shaking under the table since they had given up hope on the lukewarm, watery broth. Jess was terribly nervous around people, and noticing her nerves only made them worse. Surprisingly, Katniss looked up for a moment and made unexpected eye contact.
"Oh, are you Prim's tutor?" she asked Jess, putting down her spoon for a moment, pausing her meal to speak of her own accord.

"Yes, your sister is a great doctor in the making." She looked down at her food before realizing this was another social cue. "My name is Jessica – it's nice to meet you." She held out her hand to Katniss from across the table, who looked confused before semi-reluctantly shaking her hand. She could tell hand-shaking wasn't common practice where these sisters were from.

"Katniss," she reciprocated, smiling. It may have been her imagination, but Jess thought the form of her lips was genuine when she made her introduction.

Suddenly their greeting was cut short – the interesting looking band around Katniss' wrist began to make a noise. Jess watched as Katniss put her finger up to her ear, receiving information from another end of the line.

"Haymitch I told you to stop contacting me through here, I don't want you in my head all the time." She rolled her eyes, and both Prim and Jess laughed. But it wasn't long before her tone changed from mock-distaste to very, very serious.

Katniss frowned in confusion.

"He… no." She stopped to listen. "He's here? He's really… he's really here?" Her face changed into an expression that Jess couldn't read.

"Excuse me," Katniss announced her leave as she abruptly stood and took off across the cafeteria, leaving her food unattended and abandoned – something that was near enough impossible to pull off in their system.

Prim raised her eyebrows, equally uninformed and confused about her sister's sudden absence. Deciding to ignore it for the purpose of finishing her much needed meal, she picked up the bread that Katniss had hardly touched.

"I guess she won't be needing this now, huh?" Prim smiled and took a bite before offering Jess some.

As she laughed and shook her head in politeness, she sensed a presence looming from behind her. Turning her head once more, she saw two concerned-looking bodyguards waiting behind her.

"Dr. Lockhearst?"

"Yes," Jess answered, a terrible feeling in her stomach developing.

"We're going to need you in the ward. Now. We've had an unscheduled arrival."

Semi-relieved, she stood up and brushed her uniform down of stray crumbs and cleared her throat.

"Of course. May I ask the patients reason I'm needed?" she began to walk, smiling apologetically at Prim as she left, feeling bad for leaving her on her own.

"Both psychiatric and physical assessment is required, and President Coin assured us you were the most qualified.

A sudden rush of pride blossomed in her chest for a mere moment, before she returned to the situation and its apparently enormity. "The patient's name and status, please, gentlemen." Speaking so formally was unfamiliar to her, yet she felt the importance of the situation called for it.

"It's a mental hijacking, on the part of the Capitol, Doctor."

"Peeta Mellark, District 12."