A/N: My second Hunger Games story! This ones gonna be longer! Yay! Can't wait to see the movie! I hope you like this story! Please review!
•
|Chapter One|
· Intro ·
:::Katniss:::
I move Peeta into the cave after cleaning what pus I could out of his wound. The cut goes right to the bone. He winces as I put chewed up leaves on his leg.
"Thanks for doing this," he tells me. I nod.
What if I hadn't found him in time? What if Cato had killed him before I even saw him? I begin to shake.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing," I say and then I remember that we're supposed to be in love. That, if we don't act like it, we may not get any sponsors.
"Kiss me," I tell him. He leans over and gives me a long, passionate kiss. I wonder what's going through Gale's mind as he watches me kiss Peeta. But he knows as well as I do we're doing this to survive, putting on an act.
I can only imagine what's going through Haymitch's head now. "Good girl," he'd say. Or, "Nice job acting sweetheart." I hope we don't have to kiss again to receive any more gifts.
I help Peeta into the sleeping bag and pull it to his chin. His fever is still high but he's not as bad a yesterday.
I'm sure there will be no deaths today because no cannon has gone off. Just as I step outside the cave, a parachute falls right in front of me. I catch it just before it hits the ground. I only hope it's medicine for Peeta's wound. If it's not, he'll soon die.
To my disappointment, the box contains three loaves of bread, two lamb chops, a couple apples, and goat cheese.
My eyes fill with tears. I want to scream at Haymitch, ask him why he didn't get better sponsors. But I know I can't act weak in front of the cameras. I bite the inside of my mouth to stop my thoughts and go back into the cave.
We don't even need the food; I'd caught a rabbit, three goslings, and some roots this morning. But then I think he had a reason why he sent us this. Maybe it's going to rain and we won't be able to hunt. As I lay the food out next to the meat from today, I find something stuck in the corner of the box behind the bread.
A piece a coal.
The tears return. District 12, my home, had sent this gift. How could I have been so ungrateful? Mother, Prim, and the others probably scrounged around to find all the money they could get for sending this. I should be thankful.
But I think of Peeta and his infected wound. If we don't get better medicine soon, he'll die.
We take shifts during the night, always on the look out for another tribute or predator.
Sometime when the sky is beginning to turn gray, rain begins to fall. By early afternoon, the stream has swelled to three times its normal size.
We share some food for breakfast and lunch. I can tell Peeta's in a lot of pain. The fever has returned. I know he's dying. The thought terrifies me. I want him with me when I have to face Cato. I can't do it alone.
I lean over a kiss him tenderly on the lips. Then I almost jump back at the burning temperature of his lips.
:::Gale::::
I can see Katniss is struggling to cover her emotions. If I could, I would send her medicine for Peeta. The thought of him makes my stomach turn. I can't bear to watch the TV when he kisses Katniss. My Katniss. But I'd send it for her, to let her know I want her to survive, to come back to me. Without her, I'd die.
I can hear a storm approaching the arena and the camera switches to Cato. He's trying to keep dry under a tree. I just hope he dies soon so Katniss can come home.
Then the camera suddenly switches to Katniss and Peeta. By the look on her face, she seems frightened.
Then I see it: Peeta's cut is badly infected and oozing.
