"Don't you ever say that again" I snarl at her. She smiles and starts laughing. I hear an Avox run towards us. They grab me and pull me down from her. I spit at her.
"You should start acting like a human before your interview tomorrow night." She says to me as I am being held back by an Avox. I stop resisting. I feel my head drop and the tears come into my eyes. I hear her heals click on the floor. I look up and she is right in front of me. "I mean it." She says as she slaps me across the face. I look at her in disbelief. My mind flashes back to my family. I feel the tears fall like raindrops. "Sweetheart careers don't cry. Just a friendly reminder that might not get you killed." She barks at me. I feel her fist hit me again. She grabs my shirt and throws me across the table. I must have landed on glass or knifes. I don't know but I stumbled to get up. I was covered in blood on my right arm and leg. The pain was unbearable, but I know I couldn't show that. "You're becoming weak Clove. Where is that killer instinct inside of you?" She says with a laugh. I back up slowly as she starts walking towards me. "Let's just do some emotional training now." She says. I feel a wall behind me and I know I can't escape now. I feel her fist hit me again. The taste of blood is in my mouth.
"I don't need this training. I am fine. Please stop." I spit out. I see her smile as she throws me into the wall. I feel her knee go into my side multiple times.
"Prove to me you don't!" she screams at me and she grabs my hair and throws me to the ground. She steps on me a few times. The only way to prove it is to fight back. I grab her leg. I use all the strength I have left and flip her. I then grab a knife on the floor and hold it to her neck.
"I told you to stop" I say. She smiles.
"You proved it to me. I will stop now. You passed." She says. I get off her and help her up. I feel her foot on my back almost instantly. I fall down and she continues to hit me. I can barely see through the blood. She stops hitting me and I hear her say under her breath. "I'll leave you to die." She walks out of the room after whispering to an Avox. I am left to try to get to my room. I muster up the strength to drag myself a few feet. I cry out in pain almost instantly. I hear the elevator ding in the distance. I hear footsteps going up the stairs. It must be Cato. I drag myself to the bottom of the staircase. I look behind me to find a trail of blood. I start crying because I feel like I will die like this. I lie there for a bit before I start the climb up the stairs. After about 20 minutes I am at the top. I start to crawl towards Cato's room. When I get to his door I raise a bloody fist and pound on the door. He answered very quickly. He looked at me and instantly dragged me into his room.
"Cato, please. Listen. I don't know if I will make it past tonight. If I don't I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and I just" He cuts me off mid sentence.
"Clove. You're not going to die, because I'm not letting you die. During training back home I took medical training. You're going to be ok I swear." He says. I start to cry.
"It hurts so badly Cato." I say. He picks me up and puts me on his bed. He rips off my shirt and takes a look at my wounds. He runs quickly to the first aid room. He comes back with bandages and other medical supplies. I turn my head slowly to see what he is doing. He has a tweezers and is pulling glass shards out of my wounds on my arm. I yelp in pain during all of this. He calls an Avox in the hold me down. He continues until I know they are all out. He bandages my arm. He hesitates to cover up my scar on my arm. He doesn't and moves on to my midsection. He takes a moment to assets me.
"You might have broken a few bones Clove. What even happened?" he asks as he pushes softly on my side. He touches a rib and I scream in agonizing pain. He continues to assets me without even stopping. He looks at my leg and just wraps it up. I can't tell him the truth or else he would kill Henna.
"I got in a fight. That's it." I say. He looks at me for a second and continues to wash away the blood from my face. I cringe at his touch.
"With who?" He asks
"Henna. It was more of a training thing then a fight, but it wasn't too bad." I say silently. I make eye contact with him. All I see in his eyes are rage. He calls for a medical Avox to come and take me to the hospital. "Cato don't do anything you'll regret" are the last words I can say before I black out.
