Chapter 11: I've Lost Him
Estes and I struggle for a time to get pregnant again. But finally, when Katniss is about four years old, we give birth to a second daughter who carries more of my Merchant features. We name her Primrose, after another beautiful flower. Estes has always loved flowers and has been sure to pass on their beauty and usefulness to our children.
The days are long for my husband at the mines. Every night when he comes home, I give him a bath to wash away the soot and grime.
One day, Katniss and Primrose are both in school. Katniss is 11 and Prim is 7. Suddenly, after seeing a patient off - it's been a slow and quiet day - I suddenly hear a rumble and the alarm from the mines sound. There's been another collapse or accident.
They've happened before, and they'll happen again. But all the same, I run with concerned vigor over to the mine entrance. One by one, elevator loads bring up miners, some healthy, some injured. But Estes has always been among them... where is he?
When I see my husband, among the bodies now being hauled up, my world ends. I lose it.
I cradle his frame in my arms, kiss his lips. But he can't come back, he can't be saved. What will I tell the girls when they get home from school today? How can I tell them their Daddy is gone?
Katniss accepts the medal from the Mayor for all of us, where I can't. The mine collapse - one of the worst in living memory - has been deemed a district tragedy.
But I can see, even in my mourning state behind my black shawl, that there are families worse off than us. One woman has four children crowded around her, and looks like her fifth one will pop out any day, I feel moved to go over to her and console her. She introduces herself as Hazelle Hawthorne, and I offer to help her deliver the baby when it comes.