So part of this does actually belong to Collins, since Katniss' line is one I stole directly from the book, but I have no intention of making profit from it, I only stole it so the beginning of my story made sense! I hope she doesn't mind me borrowing it...
Enjoy!
"The rebels are not your enemy! We all have one enemy, and it's the Capitol! This is our chance to put an end to their power, but we need every district person to do it!"
I watch her as she looks to the screen, an oversized image of herself staring back, waiting for a reaction among the hoards of people clinging to the words leaving her mouth. The only reaction comes from the pop of a gun ripping through the silent air. My body recoils as I watch her fall in an elegant arc towards the ground, taking my heart with her.
Fear chokes me. I can't breathe, can't swallow, can't see past the tears clouding my eyes. I run blindly in her direction and can feel her name leaving my lips as my heart drops down into my stomach. The whole world has tilted on its axis and the line on which I run to reach her is now an uphill battle. She has never been so far away. I'm deaf to the world with only the sound of my racing heart to keep my ears company, blind to only her body on the bed of pavement ahead of me. She's so close now I can see the details of her face, glowing softly in the milky moonlight, peaceful as though she could possibly be sleeping. I throw myself to the ground beside her and touch whatever part of her I can reach.
"Katniss." Her name sounds strangled coming through my clenched teeth. I cup her pale face in the palms of my hands, willing her to wake up as the chaos breaks around us. "Come on, Catnip! Wake up!" I shake her a little, my eyes ravaging her body in search of the wound that is causing her unconsciousness. But I find nothing.
I gently tilt her head to the side, the moonlight casting long spidery shadows from her lashes down her cheeks, and prod the soft skin of her neck with my fingertips. There's a faint thrumming of her heart pulsing through her veins and a wave of relief washes over me. My hands graze the exposed skin of her neck, searching for a wound I'm terrified to find, but the wetness of her blood never touches my hands. The tight black suit that clings to her body makes it hard to see any blood that has tainted its surface so instead I look for a patch of bare skin when the fabric has ripped clean. The only source comes from a small hole over her ribs, singed at the edges as if something very quick grazed by. Yet still her eyes remain stubbornly shut.
Screams and shouts ring out from around me as the rebels move into subdue the last of the wounded from The Nut, occasional gunfire causing my body to react automatically and lay protectively over Katniss, shielding her from any further attacks.
I can hear a faint voice, something otherworldly, coming from somewhere under her motionless body, faintly gurgling like speech underwater. I gently lift her shoulder from the ground and see the source: a knotted ear piece with Haymitch's voice screaming obscenities from it. I lift it from the ground and place it in my own ear.
"Katniss! Katniss answer me!"
"Haymitch!" I call back. "Haymitch she's shot! We need a medic!" The agony in my voice is apparent to even my own ears.
"Already one on the way," he cries back.
"Hurry." The word is a strangled whisper filled with desperation and horror.
I cross my legs and pull her limp body to me, cradling her head in my lap and stroking the dark locks of hair out of her eyes.
"Come on, Catnip," I urge. I have never been one to beg for anything, I have far too much pride for that, but at this moment I would give up every last shred of pride and dignity I have left just to see those grey Seam eyes of hers open again.
Stubborn as ever, they remain closed. My breathing is shallow, coming in short, sharp gasps of cool night air, unsatisfying to my lungs. She is my oxygen and without her I cannot breathe. My desperate hands cradle either side of her face, stroking the smooth skin still warm to touch. I have never wanted anything as badly as I want her to just be okay. Bodies rush in from the side and my first instinct is to push them away until I realize that they're medics and they're here to help.
One on each side, their trained and capable fingers prod her to find something they can fix while I sit protectively at her head.
"What's wrong with her?" I find myself yelling over the overhead thrum of the hovercraft appearing. My question goes unanswered as a body board drops from the sky and lands neatly next to us. The medics usher me out of the way but I don't go far, I only watch as they hoist her onto the board and I take my place at her side, grasping her small hand in mine. A current freezes us all in place and we are hoisted seamlessly into the sky, swallowed up by the mouth of the hovercraft.
There is a flurry of activity inside as more people rush to her side. I am shoved carelessly out of the way and I desperately try to fight my way back over to where she's being wheeled away but a strong pair of arms pushes me against the wall and holds me there.
"You've done everything you can," the voice says. I assume it belongs to a doctor but I can't be bothered to look. My eyes are still trained on the hallway they're leading her down away from me. "Let us take it from here."
The sudden release of pressure alerts me to the fact that I've been released and the empty feeling that follows almost makes me wish for it back.
"Have a seat, boy."
Now this voice I know. I turn to see the face it belongs to and while I'm not surprised to find Haymitch, I am surprised to find him sober. The dead look in his eyes is an obvious giveaway.
"There's nothing you can do. Just sit."
I want to disobey on principle alone but I'm suddenly exhausted.
"She'll be all right, she's a fighter."
I want to agree but it seems like too much of an effort. I just keep repeating what I wish more than anything to be true: She'll be all right. She's a fighter.