Chapter 8: Cory

I watched my brother flipping through the Sponsors catalog, scribbling numbers and names onto a sheet of paper beside him. Color flushed his cheeks and for once his body looked full. The TV screen showed a tribute searching for food, yet no one was watching it. Soon, the game makers will be bored and we will have something to capture our attention. Yet maybe they would drag it out with only three tributes left. The boys from 1 and 4, and the girl from 6.

"Now, who shall we send a basketball too?" My father was leaning over Cory's shoulder, laughing at the magazine contents.

"If you send anything, it goes to District 4. He could use a basketball if he chucked it at 6's head." I looked up from my book casually, scanning the room past my brother and father. Mother sat in a chair with a glass of wine; reading through the party plans once more. May's attention was in a fashion magazine, marking certain pages for her stylist. They were both so proper, sitting straight and talking in soft voices. Instead, I responded loudly and was sprawled on the couch.

"That would be something we haven't seen before, death by basketball." My father walked towards me, lifting my head and shoulders to take a sit under them. I didn't move my shoulders as they settled in his lap.

"Can I send the girl some of those little bottles like you have in your room, May?"

My sister put down her magazine and joined Cory on the floor. I waited for her to snap at the importance of perfume, but instead her voice was soft. "Sure, Cory. But what does a tribute need perfume for? All it will do is attract the others towards her when they smell it."

"Good, then she can die and the one I'm backing will win." I laughed loudly along with my father as he took a sip of a cocktail on the side table.

"Can I back 4 then, if he's going to win?" Cory smiled lightly, turning his gaze towards the TV and watched the girl from 6 for a moment.

"Of course, Cory. How about tonight I'll give December one of my bottles and she can take it to the center tomorrow. For you, I bet they'll send that exact one." May touched his hand, wrapping it in her own. "Cory, your hands are cold. Do you need another sweater?"

My mother pushed her papers to the side, focusing her attention on the two in the middle of the room before glancing at the clock. "It's late, Cory. You should get to bed if you aren't feeling well." She knelt beside him, pressing her hand on his forehead.

"Mother, he's fine. It's a bit cold in here, that's all." I rubbed my bare arms, pretending that I was shivering as well.

"Coriolanus, call for an Avox to raise the heat in this room." I sat up so my father could move away, and he walked towards the family room door.

"Mama, I am fine. It is just the room, even December said it was cold." I ignored the fact that a thin layer of sweat covered my stomach and pulled a blanket over me.

"Cory, come sit here with me, under the blanket. We can keep each other warm." Cory came over, burrowing under the blanket as May sat on his other side. His hands pressed against my bare arm and I shuddered at the cold touch. My sister and I placed our hands on his, touching each other without thought to the other. Our mind focused only on Cory.

"Can we go to the park tomorrow?" His voice was tiny and he burrowed further under the blanket, trying to hide how cold he truly was. I opened my mouth to speak, but May was faster.

"Not tomorrow, Cory. I have to help mama with planning the end of the games banquet and December has to go to the Training Center to help in the control room because one of the Game makers called her saying he was sick and asked if she could fill in tomorrow. Isn't that right, December?"

I nodded quietly, trying not to look him in the eye. "Right. We can't have the Games ending after mama's party tomorrow night because of a sick game maker, can we?"

Cory shook his head, closing his eyes softly. I hated lying to him; I could barely even stomach it. It wouldn't be hard to take him, I would lose the last day at the training center for him but it wasn't worth getting his hopes up. At this rate, he would barely make it out of bed tomorrow.

"Papa." My voice was harsh as Cory's breathing slowed down. "Papa!"

"What is it? He is having another one?" My mother rushed over from the door where she was waiting for my father to return.

"Nothing, mama. I had just reminded December that we have a fitting in the morning and she was calling for father to find a way out of it." May stood, quickly tucking the blanket around Cory's side. "Speaking of tomorrow, would you mind looking at my shoes before we all go to bed? I think they make my thighs look quite fat though my stylist claims they are fine."

"What about Cory?" My mother tried to get closer to him, but May lightly pushed her back the door.

"He's with December, and when father gets back the two of them will make sure Cory gets to bed alright." My mother continued to protest as May herded her from the room. It was an attack alright, and the last thing Cory needed was my mother shouting at doctors and the rest of us.

I threw the blanket to the side as his body warmed up quickly, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead. "Cory, it's going to be okay, I promise. Just listen to my voice, and everything will be fine." I tried to keep the panic out of the words, speaking calmly into his ear.

My father came back into the room, a doctor and an Avox right behind him. "Is it an attack again?" I only nodded before the doctor went to work checking my brother's pulse and pulling a cloth out of his bag. "Miss. Snow, if you please." He nodded towards my brother's head as the Avox turned him to lie flat on the couch. I kneeled on the ground and continued whispering in his ear about anything that could cross my mind.

Except for my mumblings, the room was silent. I could almost hear my mother's crying from the floor above as she waited in May's room for news of her son. Every single time was the same, she wasn't dumb enough to not realize what was happening.

My brother's breathing was steady, as if he was just asleep on the couch. I wanted to pull the blanket around him and turn of the lights so he could sleep better, but the doctor's presence reminded me how much more this was. In a little bit, he would be fully conscious again as if nothing ever happened, not even remember anything after the first heat flash on the couch. To him, we were all still laughing and talking about the Games and nothing more. And before anyone could say anything, he would try to stand and collapse form dizziness, finally understanding what had happened.

"December, my dear. It might be more helpful if you were talking about something a little more cheerful." My father's voice startled me, making me realize I had begun describing the last exam I had in my studies that was on some famine before the Dark Days.

"You know, Cory, I bet that after all the mentors and this year's victor leaves to go back to the Districts, we can get into the practice room in the training center and play in the camouflage station. I could paint you into a giant bumblebee, and I'd let you make me whatever you want. Then afterwards, we could go over to the stables and give all the horses carrots." I kept blabbering on, my attention only on my brother and his slowly rising and falling chest.

His eyes burst open and the doctor reached for his arms while my father tried to pin down his legs, but as always we were too late. "Where are mama and May?" Cory sat up for a moment, about to swing a leg over the side of the couch before falling back down. "Oh." He said nothing more as he shut his eyes to register what had just happened, and I knew he was trying desperately to pretend it never did.

"I'll take care of him from here. You should get to bed." My father gave me a hand to help me to my feet, yet I never took my eyes from my brother. "You've done very well, my little rose." For a moment, I could hear my mother shouting from upstairs, and I pictured May sitting on the bed, promising her it would all be okay.

"May is the month when roses bloom, papa." I though of my sister lying quickly to make Cory feel healthy, and how quickly she could get my mother from the room when needed.

"But December is when they are a luxury." He kissed my forehead, squeezing a hand on my shoulder before I walked from the room, the smell of his roses implanted in my nose forever.

Sorry for the disjointed chapter- it's finals week but I couldn't bear letting this just wait around for two weeks so I wrote about the first thing on my mind for this story. Hope you enjoyed it anyways!