The first thing I noticed when I regained conscience was an incessant beeping. I slowly opened my eyes and was taken aback by the brightness. I closed my eyelids shut to try and stop them from burning. My head started throbbing and pain hit my temples. Shaking my head slightly I opened my eyes once more.
I struggled to focus on everything that surrounds me, but slowly it all become clear. White walls, a small television hanging from the ceiling, wide windows, a door to the left that was probably a bathroom,five different flowers vases, some balloons, and a teddy bear. I looked around to see if there is anyone nearby, but found only a sterile white room looking back at me.
I felt pain shooting at my temples again, and this time I raised my hands to my head to rub them. It eased out some of the pain but not enough. My mouth felt stale and dry and I tried my best to speak but nothing come out. The pain in my temples got worse and I couldn't control the growl that escaped me. Soon enough I heard footsteps approach.
A petite looking woman entered the room in simple white scrubs that made a contrast with her dark skin. She smiled softly at me and reached behind my head to pull the top of to bed up, making me shift to a siting position.
"Good. You are awake" she said smiling "My name is Rue, and I'm your nurse. How do you feel?"
I coughed trying to clear my throat to speak but it only made it hurt. I tried to make signals with my hands that could somehow indicate that I wanted water.
Understanding my weird gestures, she handed me a cup with a straw from the bedside table I neglected to notice earlier. The cold liquid slid down my throat easing the slight irritation I felt.
"Better?" she asked in a voice you would use to speak to a child.
I cleared my throat one more time and tried to speak. It come out low and weird, making me sound like an old man, but at least it was something.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I think it's better if I call the doctor to explain it to you, okay?"
No. It is not okay. Because if everything was okay there wouldn't be any need to call a doctor. I simply nodded.
"Is there anything else you need?"
"I hav-" my voice cracked and I paused a second to clear my throat once more. "My head hurts."
"Okay." She smiled and pressed a button near the headboard of the bed "This will ease the pain, but you will feel a little drowsy alright?"
I nodded.
I could feel the medicine, or whatever it is she gave me starting to work. The pain temples subsided and my head didn't throb anymore. My vision started to get a little fuzzy and my eyes started to feel heavy.
Rue left me alone, probably going to get the doctor.
I laid back on the headboard of the bed to sit up straighter but I felt a sharp pain in my right leg. I didn't think much of it, mostly because my mind was starting to drift of a little. I closed my eyes and took in the sun light that streamed from the wide windows. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard foot steps approaching, a little louder this time.
Opening my eyes I saw a man entering the room. He greeted me with a warm smile stood at the end of the bed checking some papers. He wore a blue colored scrubs with a white coat on top that went until his knees.
"Hi Peeta, I'm Cinna, your doctor." He stated. "I'm here to put you to part with what's going on. Do you remember what happened?"
I searched in my brain for memories of why I was here and why I felt like crap. It took me a while, mostly because of the medicine Rue gave me, but then it hit me.
"I was doing a rescue, and something fell on my knee and I passed out." Memories of that night come fleeting back to my mind in such a hurry that it made the room spin for a second. I shut my eyes closed and tried to make it stop. After a while my head stopped spinning and I opened my eyes. Cinna was still in the same place, his brown eyes looking warmly at me.
"Yes, that's right." He said using the same tone Rue did "Do you know why you passed out?"
I remember falling down the ladder, the pain in my leg, not being able to breathe. "No." I said.
"You were deoxygenized, which is understandable considering were you were. But you fell on your back, which caused you lungs to stop for a few seconds, and adding that to pain in your leg, your body shut down as a way of handling the situation." He said simply, as if it was no big deal.
I looked down and saw that my right leg had a cast around the knee.
"What happened to my leg?"
"Well, as you stated before something feel on your knee. That something was something very heavy and it caused your patella to fracture. And-"
"My what?" I interrupted him.
"Yes, sorry. The patella is that round bone you have on your knee. And what caused the fracture was the impact that the something that fell on your knee had. You were sleep induced for a few days so we could reduce the swelling and pain you might feel."
"But is my leg gonna be okay?"
"Most likely yes. But I'm not the best person to discuss the subject with you because that is not my speciality. Unfortunately the doctor who is going to treat you is on a lunch break right now. I will tell her to come and see you when she gets back. Now Peeta, is there anything you'd like to ask?"
"No, um, thank you."
"Alright, Rue is right down the hall in nurse's station; if you need her just press that button on the right side of the bed. Try and get some rest."
He left closing the door behind him, walking in the same serene way he did when he come in and I was alone once again. As what Cinna told me slowly started to sink, in I began to freak out.
What if I can't walk anymore?! What am I going to do with my life? Firefighters need to walk, they need to run and carry heavy things. Hell, they need to carry other people. How can I do that if I can't walk!
My heart started to beat faster and faster in my chest. The beeps the machine made got more frantic. My lungs struggled to get the air that just wasn't enough. I balled the sheets of the bed trying get a hold on reality. Closing my eyes shut I breathed deeply a couple of times but nothing worked. I just panicked more and more.
I heard the door opening and opened my eyes to see Rue rushing in. She looked at me wide eyed as she rushed to my side.
"I… Can't… Breath…" I said in between my desperate gasps for air.
Her scared look quickly turned to one of understanding. She reached in the pockets of her with scrubs for syringe and then to a little glass bottle in the drawer of the bedside table. She quickly pinched the syringe on top of the bottle and filled it with the transparent liquid. She injected whatever that was in my arm.
She made the bed go back to its original position, making me lay flat. I could feel myself start to get calmer, the air filling my lungs more easily, my heart slowing down. I looked up at her as my eyes started to close on their own accord.
"It's alright Peeta, sleep." She said while pushing my hair out of my forehead gently.
It felt good so I close my eyes completely and started to drift of as she gently caressed my head.
"It's going to be alright." Rue whispered.
I rose from my slumber what looked like a few hours later. The sun was just starting to set, leaving the room with an orange glow. I felt better. Nothing hurt, as long as I didn't move my leg. But right now, I really needed to go to bathroom. How I was going to do that,I don't know.
I decided that it would be best if I called Rue. Although I felt slightly ashamed about what happened earlier. But then again she was a nurse, she probably saw way worse. I reached over to press to the button that Cinna pointed to me earlier and waited.
Rue arrived a few minutes later, entering the room so silently I wasn't sure she was actually there or I was just imagining it.
"Hey there. Feeling better?" she asked softly.
"Yeah. Thank you. For, um, what you did earlier. Um, how did you know what I had ?"
"I have seen my fair share of panic attacks." She chuckled "All I did was give you a little something for you to relax. No need to thank me, it's my job." She smiled. "What can I do for you?"
I realized just then that not only was Rue a genuinely nice person, she actually cared for what she did. She liked helping people. I felt like I won the nurse lottery.
"Thank you nonetheless Rue. I, um, need to go to the bathroom… How do I, you know, walk?"
"Right" laughing she reached for something behind the bathroom door and presented to me a pair of crutches "Ta daa!" she said enthusiastically.
"Really?"
"Either this or a wheelchair, your choice."
"All right, all right. Just don't laugh if I fall on my ass, please." I joked
"Promise."
She handed me crutches while I swung my legs over to the side of the bed. My right leg hurt with any slight movement and I tried my best not to let it show. I probably failed miserably though.
With one crutch on either side on me I position them on the floor and stood using only my left leg and my arms. I tried to take a step. Then another. Apart from the slight pain in my right leg everything seemed fine. Well, that was until I accidentally hit my thigh against the side of the bed.
"Shit!" I hissed.
Rue come to stand beside me to try and help but I just shrug her off. If had to walk with these, I had to do it on my own. I clumsily made way to the bathroom door looking over at Rue with prideful expression. She smiled brightly and gave me thumbs up.
I closed the door and made my way to the sink. The face that stared back at me when I looked in the mirror looked nothing like me. I was more pale than I ever remember being, my eyes looked hollow and had bags under them and my hair was huge blond mess over my head. To be honest here, I looked like shit.
I left the crutches standing against the sink and stood only using my left leg. I washed my face with fresh water and ran my hands trough my hair. I then started to hear two different voices outside the door and I hurried up to see who it was.
When I opened the door I saw Rue talking to another woman. She has her back facing me and wore similar clothes to Cinna's.
As I made my way into the room she turned around, her braid whipping her face a little. Her face was clean and young. She looked to be my age. Her skin was tanned, which make a breath taking contrast with her silver eyes. The orange light that come from the window kissed her face making her look even more beautiful than she already was. When she looked at me she gave me an easy smile and my insides turned into knots.
"Hi Peeta" she said "My name is Katniss and will be your physical therapist."
I'd like to thank everyone who read, favorited/followed and left a review. The response to the story so far has been great and I couldn't be happier! I'd like to thank Gabby(peetaseverdeen) for always helping me and having patience with my stupid rants.
Katniss will be pretty present for now on, and there will probably be some chapter from her POV as well.
If you have any doubts or just wanna talk find me on tumblr herfathersbow. Come say hi!
PS:Hi Bia.
