A/N: Thanks or all the reviews folks! It's greatly appreciated!

I apologize for any typos, I've been under the weather recently and my writing hasn't really been up to scratch because of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.

Chapter Four

Katniss had been working at the Cancer ward for two weeks and she had gotten to know everyone much better.

Before she was diagnosed, Glimmer was a tennis champion who had won numerous medals and awards in the past. Of course, once she became ill, she had to quit, but she still kept one of her gold medals sitting on her bedside table, just for the memories it brought her. Katniss sometimes saw her clutching it in her hands, her green eyes teary, and it made her wonder what it was like to be forced to give something up that you're so passionate about. It must have been heart breaking.

Clove was an avid games enthusist. Most of her time was spent on the gameboy, the only time she'd put the thing down being when Cato visited or they were playing one of the movies Katniss snuck in. She mentioned at one point that she had never been beaten by anyone on multi-player yet and really wished she could find someone who was actually a challenge.

Finch was a genius. She held the world record for most cross words completed in one hour. Of course, she didn't tell Katniss this, Marvel had mentioned it in passing once. It was the same with anything mentioned about Rue. Katniss had began to believe that the girl was in a coma of some sort, but according to the others she slept most of the day and was up at night a lot. Like a nocturnal animal of some description.

Marvel had a rowdy group of friends that visited him every day. They were always loud and told really cheesy jokes that earned more eye rolls than laughs. They were nice people, even if a lot of them kept trying to get Katniss to go out on a date with them and one smacked her backside on a dare. It was okay though, she smacked his face in retaliation.

The one person she never found anything about was Peeta. It wasn't that he was closed off, in fact the time he spent awake was taken up 90% of the time with talking. But it seemed that he could talk a lot without really saying much. Which was a talent that befuddled Katniss. How can someone who talks so much say so little? She wanted to know the little things. What was his life like outside the hospital? What sort of sketches did he create in his pad? But they were standard things.

What worried Katniss was how she'd sometimes wonder what his hair smelled like, what it would feel like to brush all those tangles out with a hairbrush, to be like a personal carer instead of a whole ward carer who got to tend to his every need, what his soft lips would feel like pressing against hers . . .

Katniss had to scold herself everytime she thought like this. It was silly. She was going to be here for two years and Peeta was bound to get better and leave in that time.

After 14 days working at the ward, Katniss built up a tolerance for vomit. She was able to look at it, hold buckets full of it, hold a container of some sort underneath someone's mouth as they hurled it up. She had even began to be able to notice when someone was going to be sick, enabling her to rush across the ward, grab a bucket and be there in time to catch it.

One of her many jobs was to bring them their meals. Effie gave her this trolley-the type that held tea and biscuits at High School gatherings-that carried the plates of food. Katniss couldn't help thinking about how their food looked better than anything she got in the school canteen. Along with their meal, they'd be given a small pot of ice cream and jelly. They even had the option of tea later in the evening, if they wanted it. It was like five star accomedation!

. . .

Sort of.

"Grub's up!"

"What is it this time?" Clove didn't even look up from her game as she asked, the console swerving around in her hands as she played on it vigorously.

"Um," Katniss peered at the plates as she pushed the trolley. "Looks like steak and chips. There's a boat of gravy for anyone who wants it as well." She stamped the brake down on the back wheel to stop the trolley from rolling away and started giving out plates to everyone. "The juice is pink, though, I don't know what flavour that is."

"Grape fruit," Finch mumbled. "Grape fruit juice is pink."

"Oh not that sickly sweet shit again!" Marvel exclaimed.

Katniss laughed. "Effie gave me a juice box for you especially, Marvel," she said, picking up the carton of orange juice and handing it to Marvel. "She said you don't like grapefruit."

"Damn right I don't," Marvel said, grinning at his juice box like a grinning at his juice box like a satisfied child. Katniss continued giving out the plates, reminding herself that Rue ate when she woke up at night. No sooner nor later. It took her a couple of minutes to manage to convince Finch to put the cross word down to eat but the red head eventually gave in.

When she came to Peeta, he was fast asleep. Katniss sighed and put his plate back onto the trolley. Effie told her that, if Peeta was sleeping when she did the dinner run, then the best thing to do was to wake him up because he probably wouldn't wake up until the next morning. And he had to eat, obviously.

Katniss approached his bed carefully, as she didn't want to wake him until the very last second. He looked so peaceful asleep that she hated having the job of disturbing him. She stood by the bed for a moment and just stared at him, unsure about how to go about waking him. "Peeta?" she whispered, hoping that he'd hear her. "Peeta, wake up."

"You're going to have to do better than that," Clove said. "Peeta sleeps like a log."

Katniss sighed and inched forward, reaching out and placing a careful hand on Peeta's arm. "Peeta," she whispered. "Peeta, wake up." She gently shook him, wincing when she did it too hard. She couldn't believe how frail he felt underneath her hand, she could practically feel the bones in his arm. "It's time for dinner."

"Just hit him and he'll wake up," Marvel put forward. "It's how Effie does it."

Katniss looked at Marvel and scowled. "I will not hit him!" she hissed. She looked back down at the sleeping boy, ignoring the way her heart sighed at the serene sight. She shook him again, gentler this time. His hair was was in his eyes and it looked uncomfortable, so she reached out and brushed it away. When her fingertips skimmed his temple, she couldn't help noticing that his skin was burning to touch. "Whoa, he's hot," she said.

"Wow, I didn't think you'd be so open about your attractions, tree hugger," Clove joked.

"I don't mean like that! Does Effie know about his temperature?" Katniss asked.

"Probably does," Glimmer answered. "She's probably put him on anti-biotics or something."

Katniss chewed the inside of her cheek She smoothed out the wrinkles in Peeta's sleep shirt sleeve. The curl fell onto his forehead again and she frowned, brushing it back again. "Peeta," she whispered again. "Come on, wake up." If it wasn't for slow and deep movements of his chest as he breathed, she would have thought he was dead. The thought panicked her. "Peeta, it's Katniss."

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Peeta groaned, as if he didn't want to wake up. As if he was being forced to. Which, he sort of was.

"Peeta, it's time for dinner," Katniss said, liking where her hand was resting on his arm and not wishing to move it.

"Not hungry," he complained

"Nah-uh, that's not going to fly with me Mellark," she replied. "You've barely got anything on you. All skin and bone. You have to eat. Come on."

"Tired, do it later, Effie."

Katniss laughed. "I'm not Effie you plum!" she exclaimed. "Come on, it's just steak and chips." She tugged his duvet down to his waist and went to the trolley to pick up his plate. Peeta groaned but sat up, leaning his back against the wall. Katniss couldn't help noticing how pale he looked as she approached his bed again. "Are you feeling well? You look a bit pale."

Peeta coughed, covering his mouth but his fist, but waved her off. "I'm fine," he replied.

Katniss frowned but didn't argue, handing him his plate and setting his glass of juice onto his bedside table. "Let me see." She leaned forward and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead, something she used to do with her sister all the time. "Shit, man, you're burning up. Are you sure you're okay?"

Peeta narrowed his eyes and batted her hand away. "Yes, I'm fine," he muttered.

"Don't get him angry, Katniss," Marvel warned. "You won't like him when he's angry."

"Shut up Marvel," Peeta said, the order sounding more weak than threatening.

"It's okay, Peeta, just ignore him," Katniss said. "He's being an idiot. If there's anything wrong, remember, I'm here to help, okay?" Peeta stared at her, his gaze burning, and a smile broke out across his face. She smiled back, glad to see she had managed to cheer him up.

"Wow, we never got that reminder," Clove said as Katniss returned to her trolley. "Are you offering some private service to a certain member of the ward, tree hugger?"

"Grow up Clove," Katniss sighed.

When she exited the ward, pushing the trolley in front of her, Effie stopped her in the corridor. "Katniss!" she said. "I'm glad I found you. I want you to take the night shift tonight."

"Night . . . shift?"

"Yes. I must warn you though, some of them have pretty rough nights. But I think you can handle it," the nurse explained "You're a tough enough girl. Plus, from what your mother has told me, I think you are pretty capable of looking after people when they can't sleep."

Katniss frowned. "They always seem pretty exhausted every night," she said. "Why would they have touble sleeping?"

Effie shrugged and smiled knowingly. "You'll see," she answered, her voice grave.

~xXx~

She did see.

Katniss had been at the end of the corridor when the screaming started at around three in the morning. It was like a knife had been dug into her chest, trying to hack out her heart. It had startled her, but no one else seemed to flinch at the sound. She wondered why no one was rushing to help, why no one was worried about whoever was screaming or their welfare.

Since no one else was going to bother, Katniss took it upon herself to check up on the screamer and see if they were okay. It didn't surprised her that it came from the Cancer ward. Effie had said that they had rough nights. She just began to wonder who was making the noise that was devastating her ears and making her heart break

When she turned into the ward, everyone was awake. Clove was lying on her stomach in her bed, her pillow pulled over her head. "Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!" she yelled into her mattress. Marvel was sitting in the middle of his bed, his hands over his ears to block out the sound. Glimmer was standing up, rubbing her eye sleepily and taking a sip of her bedtime water. Rue was underneath her covers, the tufts of her hair peeking out from the top. Finch was lying upside down, her eyes closed as she muttered something to herself like a mantra.

And . . . Peeta was in bed. Screaming like a banshee. He was having a nightmare. Katniss recognized it instantly.

"Everybody, calm down," she said, deciding to take the matter into her own hands. "I've got this." She immediately went to Peeta's bed and took his wrists, pinning them to the mattress to stop him from hurting himself or others. She couldn't sit on him-like she'd do with Prim to wake her up from her nightmares-because she didn't know if he'd be able to bear her weight. "Peeta, listen to me, it's Katniss!" she said as loud as she could. His eyes were squeezed shut and Katniss wondered if his throat was going to kill him from how hard he was screaming right now.

"Shut him up Katniss or I'm going to strangle him!" Clove yelled.

"Calm down Clove!" Katniss barked back. Directing her attention back to Peeta, she let go of one of his wrists to brush the hair back from his face. "Sssh, it's okay, you're okay. Everything's all right. You're safe and sound here with me." The reason he finally stopped freaking out in his sleep was more because his voice ran thin and he couldn't scream anymore. Katniss didn't leave him, even though he wasn't distressed anymore. Instead she stuck by his side, stroking the side of his face with her knuckles affectionately.

"Thank god, it's stopped!" Marvel exclaimed. He fell back into his bed and almost instantly fell asleep.

"You must be a witch, Everdeen," Clove decided. "Because no one can get Mellark to calm down when the screaming starts. So you must have used witch craft."

"I'm not a witch," Katniss assured her. "He's just scared. Yelling for it to stop isn't going to make him any less scared even you must know that."

"We're all scared Everdeen but I don't keep us up all night," Clove snapped.

"Just go to bed," Katniss replied. She wasn't sure why she was so defensive over one boy but she didn't like them getting angry at Peeta over something he couldn't control. Over the nightmares and the fear and the terror of feeling like you'd never wake up. She knew what it felt like to suffer nightmares and it hurt. It was painful and sometimes you'd wake up feeling crippled by it. Like a piece of you had been chipped away and thrown to the monsters in your mind.

"Just keep him quiet, alright? I'm exhausted," Clove said irritabley.

"It's okay," Katniss said quietly. She threaded her fingers through Peeta's hair and brushed the offending curl away again with her thumb. He was sleeping peacefully again, like he had never been screaming at all. "I'm not going anywhere."

A/N: Please R&R with your thoughts! Reviews are like fuel to my writing engine ^_^