Chapter 10:

(Katniss)

After Mr. Mellark left, she returned to her place at Peeta's head, taking his cold hands in hers. The hours seemed to tick by, the short winter day creeping into night. Peeta would move every few hours, his brows knit together and his breathing shallow. Blood seeped through the rags on his back and more than once and her mother had to change them.

"He should have stopped bleeding by now," she heard her mother mutter.

"Try something else," Katniss demanded hoarsely. "Look in your book, try something else. Mom…"

"I'll try."

Katniss sat on the stool in a daze as her mother's hands worked up another concoction to treat Peeta. Even if they did happen to stop the bleeding, their next worry was infection. Between the two, the latter was the most terrifying threat they had to battle.

Prim wandered back into the kitchen eventually, her eyes red around the rims as if she'd been crying. Katniss looked up at her in question as her little sister stared at Peeta's form.

"Why did you do it?" she finally asked.

"Why did I do what?"

"Let him…" Prim didn't have to finish her sentence. "I'm glad it wasn't you but I just…."

Katniss hung her head and squeezed Peeta's hands again. They were slowly growing clammy, which filled her with dread. She feared he would wake up soon.

"I didn't, Prim. I begged him not to do it. I begged him."

They were silent again, both of them staring at the Peeta's back until she lost track of time.

The bleeding had finally slowed, so Katniss knew he would at least make it. He wasn't going to die from blood loss or trauma, so that meant he might be okay. That is if they were able to keep infection away, she reminded herself. Peeta's road to recovery would certainly be a lengthy one at any rate.

Prim sat in the kitchen with her for several more hours, wordlessly keeping vigil on Peeta's other side. More than once her little sister looked mournfully at Peeta's ripped wool sweater they had tossed onto the floor next to the icebox. When he began to stir around nine, Katniss sent her to fetch their mother. Mrs. Everdeen came rushing into the kitchen, her face ashen and her wiry hands already shaking as she pressed her hands to Peeta's wrist.

"He's waking. His pulse is getting quicker. Prim, mix me up some of that local anesthetic. We can try…"

Jumping to action, Prim went to work quickly chopping what was left of their herbs and setting another pot of water to boil. Her mother went to Peeta's side and arranged the damp rags on his stitches. "Pray that boy don't-"

Peeta cried out suddenly, making all three of them jump. His voice was ragged and throaty and contained so much pain it made Katniss' stomach turn.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Katniss began to shake with dread. If he was awake he could feel pain.

"Peeta? Peeta, it's alright."

His blue eyes flew open and he began to sweat almost immediately as his hands clenched around hers. Katniss looked up at her mother in panic but she wasn't looking; instead, her eyes were focused on the reddening bandages on Peeta's back as they grew damp with fresh blood.

"Peeta! Peeta you have to stop. You can't move!"

He groaned in agony again, twisting his torso against the table in discomfort. "Oh….ah!" he cried as her mother pressed on the cloths. He began panting wildly, his hands still clenching hers.

"What…what…ah!" he groaned. His lip curled over his teeth as he winced in agony. His grip on her hands made several of her joints pop in protest, but she wasn't about to let go.

"He has to stop moving, he's going to rip these clean out!" her mother wailed. Prim rushed over and held Peeta's arms, but he was already thrashing wildly.

"Peeta! Peeta stop!" Katniss cried. "You have to stop!"

The front door slammed suddenly, but none of them noticed. Gale appeared at Katniss' side in an instant, bringing a gust of cold wind in the room with him. He leaned his body on Peeta's arm, shoving a brown paper bag at her mother.

"Here. Use it! Now!" he barked.

Katniss watched her mother's hands jump and shake as the opened the bag. Her eyes lit up with recognition before she darted across the kitchen. Katniss looked up at Gale in question, but he didn't say a word. As Peeta continued to feverishly groan and thrash her mother loaded up a clean syringe with the vial of clear liquid. Gale yanked Peeta's arm out and held it in an iron grip as her mother injected his vein with the medicine. Within seconds Peeta let out a groan of defeat and his head fell back down.

He was still.

Katniss' head jerked up to look at Gale. "Is that what I think it is?"

Gale gave her a stern nod and watched as Prim unwrapped what was in the bag. A plastic holder containing eleven vials of morphling rested on the counter next to the twelfth.

All three of them let out a sigh of relief as Peeta's breathing returned to normal. The rags on his back were growing brighter with fresh blood, but the morphling would help fight the infection they were so terrified of. Her mother sighed and wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead.

"Did you give him enough?" Katniss asked.

"He'll be out til morning," her mother said quietly. She lifted the rags from Peeta's back and dutifully began sewing up what he'd ripped out in his painful fit. Morphling. It was as if their prayers had been answered. Katniss stared at the vials another minute before looking up at Gale.

'Thank you,' she mouthed to him. He stared at her for a moment before looking back at Peeta.

"He'd better make it."

As the time crawled by, Prim and her mother finally went to bed. Gale stayed with her, silently brooding in the corner as he leaned up against the cabinets. Katniss licked her dry, parched lips and tried to find words to say to her friend that would be fitting. Nothing came to mind. She knew she owed him for helping get Peeta back to her mother's house and for bringing him the morphling that would probably help Peeta survive the horrible wounds he'd suffered. Words seemed to escape her.

"Gale…"

He looked up at her as he pressed his fist into his lips. His eyes were softer than they'd been all day.

"Thank you," she said finally. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?"

"You know. You didn't have to help him and you did. I…I appreciate it. I don't know what I…."

He shrugged. "Don't, okay? Just don't. We don't need to go there. Kid shouldn't suffer because of what we do. That's our business," he said gruffly. "Least I could do was help him out. I'd hope he'd do the same for me."

She nodded, reaching up to brush a strand of sweaty hair away from Peeta's face. "I think he would."

Gale made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat. "His mother was so hot that I had the nerve to come to their front door to tell her that her son had been whipped. You'd better be ready for her in the morning."

"His mother?" Katniss spat. "She doesn't give a shit about him or she would have already come."

"Well she didn't. She about slapped me when I told her what happened and who was involved. I thought she was going to keel over when I told her we took him to your mother."

Katniss sighed, shaking her head. Peeta's mother had always been known for her nasty temper and ability to make people feel about ten inches tall. Anytime she and Prim would pause and look at the cakes in the window of the bakery and Mrs. Mellark was around, she would take the opportunity to put them in their place as she shooed them away. Katniss didn't doubt that Mrs. Mellark's antics were limited for just strangers. In fact, she found herself wondering if she was worse in the privacy of her own home. What hell had Peeta endured at her hand?

"You think she'll come?"

He shrugged. "I don't know if she'd stoop so low as 'ta come to the Seam, but…like I said, she was pretty hot. His pa come by?"

"Yes. He didn't deserve this."

"No, you're certainly right about that," Gale huffed quietly. He looked over at Peeta's limp body and shook his head. "I just happened to hear someone was getting whipped in the square. I wasn't even going to go watch until they said it was some merchant kid. That immediately made me nervous."

"Why?"

"Katniss, he….never mind," he snapped suddenly. "I had to make sure…and then when I saw the rabbit and you crying…well, I knew then what it was."

"I told his father how sorry I am," she said quietly.

"Good. Look," he sighed, "I'd best be getting home. Tomorrow's Sunday, so…I'll be around. But you watch out for his mother, you hear? I don't trust that old wench."

"I will. Gale?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you. For everything. But…mostly for the morphling. I owe you. Where did you-"

Gale's cheeks reddened slightly and he suddenly wouldn't look at her. "Never mind where I got it. Just…never mind. I got it and its fine and you don't owe me anything."

Katniss frowned as Gale slipped into his hunting jacket and gave her one last nod. "Just take care of the kid, alright? You owe him that much."

Without another word, he slipped out the door and was gone. Katniss wasn't sure what that meant. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Gale to be somewhat cryptic but she didn't quite understand the meaning of his words. Oh well, she thought. It was late; probably past midnight, but she didn't feel like sleeping. Staying by Peeta's side seemed like the better option.

Too much had happened that day and she feared for two things: One, that sleep wouldn't come. She would toss and turn and stay awake thinking about the what ifs. Two, she was worried her nightmares would be too much for her to bear.

What if Peeta hadn't been there to rescue her that morning? What if she'd have gotten whipped instead of him? It had occurred to her that someone her size and stature would probably not survive such a vicious beating. Peeta was strong and well fed as many merchant kids were. Would her skinny frame have endured it? The sound of the whip cracking through the air haunted her mind and she was sure it could have cracked her in two. And if she had happened to live through it, what would have become of her? Would anyone in town have cared enough to take her back to the Seam to die? Or would they have left her tied to the whipping post to freeze or bleed to death?

Her throat grew tight again as she stared down at the unconscious baker. Resting her head in her arms near his shoulder, she collapsed into herself and let her tears fall. He'd saved her life and now she owed him everything.

Oh Gale...so I take it you can all guess where loverboy got the morphling, right? hehe...

The next few chapters will be in Katniss' POV. Peeta will be out of it for a bit, but I promise to make up for it when he wakes up. Deal?

Real Life has been crazy these past few days, but I am slowly getting caught up on responding to all of your lovely reviews. Thank you all for reading! *muah*