Chapter 10 - Illness

Katniss felt a sharp jab to her groin. The baby's kicks had changed in recent days. It felt like the child was trying to escape her body now. She winced at the sensation.

"Are you all right?" Peeta asked, ignoring his brother and Delly and rushing to his wife's side.

She was sitting on the stool, but she'd bent over and clutched at her belly.

"I'm alright," she muttered after a moment. Dr. Beetee had told her that she might expect some pain as the baby shifted into position.

Rye and Delly stepped forward into the shop, expressions of concern on their faces.

"We heard you were expecting but you're enormous Katniss," Delly exclaimed.

Katniss glared at Delly. She was hot and tired. She was wearing the only dress that she fit now and it needed laundering. A stained apron was tied under her breasts, the narrowest part of her mid-section. The hairpins holding up her thick braid had loosened and her hair was slipping lower onto her neck, making it itch.

Delly, on the other hand, looked fresh and clean. An irrational impulse to slap the woman took hold of Katniss. She bit her lip until it hurt willing herself to stifle the urge.

"Ma ma," Lavinia called, breaking the tension in the room.

Delly stepped forward toward the sound. Lavinia was nested in a large wooden box lined with a blanket and a pillow. She had already started walking so it wasn't safe for Katniss to set her on a blanket on the floor any longer.

"She's so big," Delly said. She squatted down next to the box. "Do you remember me Lavinia?" she asked, her voice rising in pitch.

Inwardly Katniss laughed at Delly's actions. It reminded her of Gale's response when he hadn't seen Lavinia after so long an absence.

"How are you Peeta?" Rye asked.

Katniss turned her head to look at Peeta. She knew he was irritated with his brother for the mess he'd left behind.

"All right," Peeta said wiping his hands clean on nearby towel. He walked around the table and past the wooden counter to face his brother.

"What brings you two back to District 12?" Peeta asked.

"Delly is part of the traveling theater group."

"Yes, but what are you doing here?" Peeta continued. "Are you two married now?"

Delly giggled loudly. "Not yet. She held out her left hand and showed a golden ring with a ruby stone embedded in it."

Katniss' eyes widened at the sight.

Peeta glanced at the ring, and then glared at Rye, whose face had turned a light shade of pink.

He turned to Katniss. "I need to talk to my brother privately. Show Delly how Lavinia can walk now."

"She walks?" Delly trilled.

Katniss nodded, as Peeta and Rye left the bakeshop.

She got off the stool and walked over to Lavinia. Awkwardly she knelt down to pull Lavinia out of the box. As soon as the child's feet hit the ground she took off running to the open door of the bakeshop. Delly quickly caught her, picked her up, and peppered her face with kisses.

"She's so sweet," Delly sighed. "But a handful, I guess."

"She is."

"Can I feed her?"

Katniss laughed at the comment. "She feeds herself now. She doesn't need your help." Katniss walked over to the shelf, which held a plate of biscuits and picked one up. She broke off a piece of it and handed it to the child. Lavinia immediately put it into her mouth and began to chew.

"Landsakes, she has teeth," Delly shouted. She held Lavinia higher and stared at her mouth as the girl chewed.

Katniss had so many things she wanted to say to Delly, to tell her what a burden her disappearance had been to Peeta and herself and the pain it had caused Effie, but she doubted the woman even cared about all that. Instead Katniss asked about the reason she had returned.

"How did you become involved with a traveling theater?"

Delly grinned, shifting Lavinia to rest on her hip. "Rye and I went to some shows in Sacramento City. I told him, `I can do that.' Rye talked to the manager, who gave me an audition. He said I was `just perfect' for the part."

"What part is that?"

"Juliet," Delly said. "You know from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."

"You do the entire play?"

Delly laughed. "No, that would require more actors than we have. We do selected readings. There's another actor who plays Romeo. A third plays the Friar. We've performed in four mining camps already."

"Does Rye travel with you then?"

"He does," Delly said. "We're engaged."

Katniss studied Delly's face carefully. But the woman looked serious. Katniss couldn't decide if she was telling the truth or simply a good actress, but she looked like she whole-heartedly believed her words.

She wondered at the conversation Peeta was having with Rye. Katniss wished they'd return. She was tired of talking to Delly.

"Have you visited your aunt yet?" Katniss asked.

Delly frowned. "No," she muttered. "She doesn't like Rye much." She hugged Lavinia to her side again. "I can't get over how big Lavinia's gotten," she said. "She's so heavy now."

"Give her to me," Katniss said.

Delly kissed the child on the mouth before giving her to Katniss who promptly placed the child back into her nesting box.

"Have your mother and sister arrived yet?" Delly asked.

"No, are they coming here?" Katniss' heart leapt at the news. She hadn't seen her family in nearly a year. It would be such a comfort to see them and have them here when the baby arrived.

"Before I left to tour, your mother was talking about returning with Prim to deliver your baby," Delly volunteered. "I thought they'd be here by now."

Katniss shook her head. This was good news. But she didn't have time to think on it because Peeta walked into the bakeshop. His face was flushed.

"You should go Delly," he said gruffly. "Rye is waiting for you outside."

A look of concern crossed the woman's face. "All right." She looked at Katniss. "I hope you can come to my show," she said before turning and leaving the shop.

"What happened?" Katniss asked as soon as Delly left.

Her husband who had put up with so much already looked like he might explode. He didn't answer right away. Instead he walked over and began punching the dough so hard that his fists made loud thumping sounds into the table.

After a few minutes and a few loud sighs Peeta finally answered.

"My brother is completely broke," he said. "Whatever he won in Sacramento City he lost at the gaming halls in San Francisco."

Katniss let out a gasp.

"There's more," Peeta said. "He asked me to loan him some money so he could get in another card game at the saloon. He also asked if he could sleep on the floor of the bakeshop while he's here."

Katniss groaned. "What did you tell him?"

Peeta looked at Katniss. "I told him `no' to both requests. I'm not giving him any money to gamble and he is not sleeping on the floor of the bakeshop."

"But Rory..." she began.

"That's completely different Katniss. Rory's a kid. Rye is just a fool."

"What will he do?"

"He can go down to the river and pan for gold like everyone else if he needs money," Peeta said. "The weather is warm; he can sleep outside."

"But what about Delly?"

"The touring group lodges at the boarding house."

"Are they really engaged then?"

Peeta snorted. "Rye says it's not real."

"But the ring?"

"He says he bought it to serve as an emergency fund of cash. Rye says all the gamblers do it. It's easier than carrying gold on their persons. They buy jewelry that can be pawned or sold when they're down on their luck."

"Well, now would be a good time to sell it then," Katniss said.

"I told him that, but he says Delly doesn't want him to since she's already told everyone it's an engagement ring."

Katniss shook her head. "What a mess."

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Later that evening, Finnick stopped by the bakeshop to tell them that Rye had paid a visit to Annie's tailoring shop to ask he if could sleep on the floor.

"He said you wouldn't let him stay here."

"I won't," Peeta replied.

"Annie refused, too. She was concerned about what would happen if those gamblers found out Rye was back in town, although now that I think of it, I haven't seen any of those fellows around for while. I think they've moved on."

Peeta nodded. "I thought of that myself. It will be safer for him if he stays away from District 12 and in a mining camp. Too many people in town remember what happened. Those men had friends here."

Katniss completely forgot about her brother-in-law's problems the next morning when she touched Lavinia. The child was burning with fever. Panicked, she wet a cold cloth and held it the girl's forehead.

Lavinia was listless and refused to eat any food. Peeta hurried to find Dr. Beetee. When the doctor arrived, he felt around the child's throat and looked into her mouth. There were yellow spots on her tonsils.

"Her throat is inflamed," he said. He gave Katniss a bottle of syrup and instructed her to give the child a spoonful twice each day.

Within minutes of swallowing the medicine, Lavinia fell asleep. Peeta carried her bed out the living quarters into the kitchen area of the bakeshop so he and Katniss could keep an eye on the child.

"She'll be fine," he said. "She's always been healthy."

Lavinia had been uncommonly healthy up until now so Peeta's reassurance had some comfort in it. But Katniss still worried. The child had been fine yesterday. Why had she taken sick?

A fantastical thought flew into her mind. Maybe Madge wanted to take her daughter back? With Katniss' own child due to arrive within weeks, possibly days, maybe Madge thought two babies would be too much for Katniss.

Katniss shook the idea from her mind. It was superstitious and silly and plain wrong. She had faith in Dr. Beetee. Still she wished that her mother and Prim would arrive. Delly had thought they were coming. She hoped the woman was right.

Lavinia's health stayed the same; and within a day it was clear from the conversation of customers who frequented the bakeshop that a sickness was going around District 12. Symptoms included a fever, a severe sore throat, and yellow spots in the mouth.

Katniss and Peeta remained healthy, but others in town were ill, including Delly. Rory returned from working at the camp two days later to tell them that the theater group's performance had been postponed. Delly, and the actor playing the part of Romeo, could hardly speak. Most of the residents of the new boarding house, where the actors had staying, were also ill.

Gale stopped by a few days later. Peeta had closed the bakeshop early; fewer customers had come in with the sickness spreading through town.

He rapped at the door loudly and called for them. Peeta let the man in. It was Lavinia's first birthday and Katniss wondered if Gale had come to wish her well.

But Gale was distraught. He told them Jo had taken ill. When he learned that Lavinia was sick, too, his face crumpled.

"I can't lose both of them," Gale said, dropping his face into his hands.

"They'll recover," Katniss insisted. "No one is dying."

Gale shook his head. "One man has died Katniss. They buried him this morning."

A stabbing pain went through her. Madge had died one year ago this very day. Was it an omen? She exchanged glances with Peeta. He wore an uneasy look. She had no idea that the illness could be so serious as to kill its victims.

Her father had died of ague the very day she and her family had arrived in Dirty District 12. If anything happened to Lavinia, or even Peeta… Katniss didn't want to think about it.

After Gale left, Peeta turned to her. "I'm closing up the bakeshop until the illness runs its course. I don't want to take any chances. I just want to put you and the baby," he rubbed his hand over her belly as he spoke, "somewhere you can't get sick."

Katniss and Peeta stayed locked inside their living quarters for the next two days, only allowing Dr. Beetee in to check up on Lavinia, and Rory in to sleep at night. The medicine the doctor gave Lavinia made her sleep continuously. When she woke up, Katniss fed some her some applesauce and bread. The child had some difficulty swallowing, but her appetite was slowly returning. Once she finished, Katniss doused her with another spoonful of syrup and she quickly fell asleep.

Without customers, Peeta and Katniss cleaned the bakeshop and living quarters from top to bottom.

The couple had ordered a bed for the new baby months ago. It had been sitting in a corner of their living quarters for weeks now. Peeta moved the new cradle next to Katniss' side of the bed. Katniss made it up, lining it with soft fabric.

When they were done, Peeta experimented with a few new bread recipes while Katniss slept. She was so tired these days. Annie had warned her to rest up.

"You won't get much sleep once the baby gets here."

She was dreaming about the meadow and Madge and the baby she'd lost when she heard Prim's voice. Did something happen to her sister? Was Prim in the meadow too?

Katniss startled awake to see Prim sitting on the edge of her bed. Her mother was leaning over the cradle, studying Lavinia.

Prim was smiling at her. "Katniss, you're so big now."

Katniss grimaced. Is that all anyone could think to say when they saw her?

"How are you feeling?" her mother asked.

"Uncomfortable and tired."

Her mother laughed. "Well, that's normal at this stage." She changed the subject. "How long has Lavinia been sick?"

"Over a week now," Peeta chimed in.

He was standing near to the door.

Her mother turned to Peeta. "Has there been any change in her?"

"I think she's slowly getting better," Peeta said. "Her appetite is returning. But she sleeps so much."

Peeta took the bottle off of a nearby shelf and handed it to Mrs. Everdeen. "The doctor gave us this medicine."

She pulled the cork from the bottle, tilted it, and got a dab of it onto her pinkie finger. She shut up the bottle and licked her finger.

"This is morphine," she said. "That's why she's so tired." She looked at Katniss. "You haven't taken any of this, have you?"

"No," Katniss insisted. "I'm not sick."

"Good." She looked at Peeta. "You should start cutting back on Lavinia's dose. This medicine can be very dangerous if taken too long."

Katniss got out of bed. Peeta had a meal prepared for the women and they all sat down to eat. Over their meal they caught each other up on the goings on of family and friends.

Katniss was pleased to hear that her Hawthorne cousins were doing well. Aunt Hazelle and Uncle Samuel liked their lives in Sacramento City. They had planted a large garden on their land and had chickens and even a goat. Vick was overseeing the garden, and Posy was in charge of the chickens. The girl had started her own business selling eggs in Sacramento City.

Katniss' mother enthusiastically described her work at the apothecary shop. Prim appeared caught up in the work as well.

"Did you know that a medical school has opened especially for women in Boston now?" Prim asked.

Katniss was amazed at Prim's interest in healing. Her sister used to have dreams of becoming a teacher. She knew Prim had missed school when they'd left Oregon, but she never would have imagined her sister would become interested in studying medicine.

Katniss told her family further details about Gale's troubles since his shooting. They knew of that event since Katniss had mentioned it in a letter. They didn't know about Jo's pregnancy, however. Prim's jaw dropped and Mrs. Everdeen scowled when Katniss told them the news.

"What about Rory?" Prim finally asked. "Where is he? What's he doing?"

"He walks out to the river every day with Finnick," Katniss said. "He should be here soon. He sleeps here at night," she added.

Surprise crossed Mrs. Everdeen's face. She looked toward her son-in-law. "You are such a kind person to put up with all of us."

Katniss exchanged looks with Peeta. "That's not all he's had to deal with," she muttered.

A puzzled expression appeared on her mother's face.

"My brother returned last week," Peeta explained. "He's broke and living at the Dirty District 12 camp."

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Peeta insisted that Katniss' mother and sister stay with them. He slept on the bakeshop floor with Rory, while the three women huddled together in the bed. After a couple of hours, Prim climbed out and slept on the floor.

"There was no room for me," she told Katniss and her mother the next morning.

Katniss mood lightened as the days passed. Peeta re-opened the bakeshop. Her mother and Prim visited with some of their friends, taking along a special mixture of crushed garlic, honey, and black pepper to aid in the recovery of the sick. They came back with the news that Delly and Jo were doing much better.

Prim helped Katniss put together a layette of necessary baby items. Annie had already made a few long gowns for the baby. Prim knit two hats and some booties.

Within two weeks of the start of the contagion, the illness seemed to be winding down. Only one man died, and Mrs. Everdeen guessed he'd likely developed complications with his heart, something that often happened with this kind of throat inflammation.

The theater performance was re-scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen planned to attend, as did most of the town's residents. Reverend Undersee had protested at first about it being held on the Lord's Day, but no one took his protest seriously because Sunday was the only day off work for most miners.

With all the excitement going around about the performance, Katniss wished she could attend simply to be part of the moment. But she was near time to deliver – it could be any day now – and Peeta wouldn't allow her to take the risk of traveling to the camp.

He promised to stay back with her. Later, Katniss wished she'd insisted that Peeta attend the performance, especially when Cray pounded on the bakeshop door after dinner that Sunday night.

"You're under arrest," the man shouted when Peeta opened the door.

"For what?" Rory asked, standing behind a stunned Peeta.

"For helping to plan and carry out a robbery at Effie Trinkett's residence this afternoon."

Katniss gasped and lumbered forward toward her husband but before she could reach him, three men had dragged him from his spot and out the door.

"Peeta," she howled. She couldn't protect him. There were too many people between them now.

He twisted his head toward her. "Katniss, it will be all right. I'll straighten this out."

Tears ran down her face as the men dragged Peeta away into the dark night. Her mother and Prim rushed to her side. Instinctively Katniss reached for the pearl that hung on the end of the golden chain on her neck and feverishly ran it across her lips.

Author's Note: The Boston Female Medical College, the first medical school for women was opened in 1848. Twelve women enrolled the first year and were graduated in 1850.

The symptoms of strep throat include fever, severe sore throat, and white or yellow spots on the tongue or tonsils. It's transmitted by direct contact with saliva or fluids from the nose of an infected person. The illness is highly contagious. Current treatment for the malady involves the use of antibiotics. However, prior to the discovery of antibiotics in 1928, the illness was simply endured. Homeopathic remedies included Belladona, mercury salts and Lac-Caninum. A mixture of garlic, honey, and cayenne pepper might be used to soothe the throat and kill the bacteria. Left untreated it may, in some cases, develop into rheumatic fever, which can lead to death.