Peeta.
Alive and well-maybe not well but alive and here. Away from Snow. Safe. Here. With me. In a minute I can touch him. See his smile. Hear his laugh.
Haymitch's grinning at me. "Come on, then." he says.
I'm lightheaded with giddiness. What will I say? Oh, who cares what I say! Peeta will be ecstatic no matter what I do. He'll probably be kissing me anyway. I wonder if it will feel like those last kisses on the beach in the arena, the ones I haven't dared let myself consider until this moment.
Peeta's awake already, sitting on the side of the bed, looking bewildered as a trio of doctors reassure him, flash lights in his eyes, check his pulse. I'm disappointed that mine was not his first face he saw when he woke, but he sees it now. His features register disbelief and something more intense that I can't quite place. Desire? Desperation? Surely both, for he sweeps the doctors aside, leaps to his feet, and moves toward me. I run to meet him, my arms extended to embrace him. His hands are reaching for me, too, to caress my face, I think.
I was right. He starts caressing my face and then puts his forehead on mine and we share a moment. Although it is brief, it is very nice. It's all too soon cut short when the doctors start yelling for him to lie down. Before I even realize it our lips are coming closer and closer together. We are inches apart. No scratch that centimeters apart. Then we kiss.
It's not like any in the past because this one isn't for show. It is a genuine and sincere kiss. Then Peeta's heart monitor starts going off like crazy so we end the kiss. I take him to sit lie down on his bed. I am about to take a seat in the chair which is across the room when he tells me to sit on the edge of his bed. I take a seat and watch his heart monitor making sure it stays in range.
"So what happened over in the Capitol?" I ask.
"Can we not talk about it now? I kinda just want to talk about us. You know what I mean? I really do not want to talk about what happened right now. It's too fresh."
"Ya. I understand. So what do you want to discuss about us?" I ask.
"Katniss. Do you..." he starts.
"What Peeta?"