Chapter 13

The air smelt of disinfectant and bleach which the staff had used to clean the blood on the hospital floors from the injured they brought in. Nurses hurried passed, wheeling trolleys filled with medicines, bandages and medical equipment.

In one of the room, Effie was bent forward on the chair, her head pillowed on Haymitch's stomach. He had gained consciousness the night before after suffering from a head concussion from the blast and was currently being kept in the hospital for observation. Under the influence of medicine, Haymitch was asleep. He was twitching in his sleep but Effie was oblivious to it.

She only startled awake when she felt a hand on her back.

"Get some rest," Finnick spoke softly. "I'll watch over him."

Effie blinked and stretched her sore muscles.

"I need to check on Katniss," she said and stood up, leaving the chair free for Finnick.

"There are no changes to her since you last dropped by two hours ago. She's still not talking."

Effie sighed.

"Even if she's not talking and she's not responsive, we should still try to reach out to her. Silence shouldn't be met with silence."

"Peeta's with her," Finnick informed.

He scratched on his hand through the bandage where he had sustained the burn injury and Effie hit it away.

"You will slow down the healing if you keep scratching. The salve works though, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Finnick nodded. "Annie's sitting with Johanna but Jo's being difficult. She wants to leave."

Effie sighed.

"I will talk to her. How is Annie?"

"She is... It's affecting her but she's okay with me around."

She made a mental note to talk to Annie, too.

"I'll be back soon," Effie said. "If Haymitch wakes up, please get me. I will be with Katniss."

Katniss was awake, staring at the ceiling with her arms folded across her stomach. Just as Finnick had said, Peeta was sitting on the chair next to her bed, sketching.

"Is it another vision, Peeta?"

The boy jumped in his seat and relaxed when he noticed that it was her.

"No," he reassured her. "I was just … I needed to do something."

When Katniss was brought in to the hospital for treatment of her burn wounds three days ago, she had not uttered a single word except to tell her mother that Prim was dead. The silence coming from her was deafening and worrying.

The night before, she had given Peeta a scare when he returned from the washroom to see her missing from her bed. It took him, Finnick and Effie an hour searching for her before Peeta eventually found her in a utility closet.

When she refused to come out and not wanting to get her in trouble by reporting the incident, Peeta took his place next to her and held her hand throughout until he finally managed to coax her back to bed.

"How is she today?" Effie asked even if she already knew the answer from Finnick.

The doctors had told her and Plutarch that Katniss was in shock and that she needed to grieve her sister's passing. She had not shed a tear or broken down in sobs. She had simply retreated into herself.

Time, Effie figured. They needed to give Katniss time.

XxX

"Hey, kid," Haymitch settled down on the edge of the bed.

Her eyes flicked over to him briefly and Effie squeezed his shoulder in encouragement. A reaction, no matter how small, was still a reaction and Effie counted it as an improvement.

"I'm sorry about Prim," he told her.

"She didn't deserve it," Katniss croaked, surprising Haymitch and Effie both of whom had not expected her to talk to them. "If I wasn't here she won't – "

"No," Haymitch interrupted. "They attacked the house even without you there, Katniss. This has nothing to do with being -"

Katniss turned to her sides with her back facing them, a clear dismissal. Effie fussed over her until Haymitch gently pulled her away before it became too much for Katniss. He, of all people, understood the need to be alone.

They returned to his hospital bed and when she tried to make sure he was comfortable, he batted her hands away. Instead of getting into an argument with him, she left to sit with Annie. When she returned an hour later, it was to see him gone and his hospital bed neatly made up for the next patient.

She tracked him down in his quarters but before she could even get a word in, he was already glaring at her.

"Don't start, sweetheart," he warned. "I don't have to stay in there another second when I feel fine."

Effie sighed. They had argued about him 'feeling fine' twice since this morning and for once, she suspected that he might have made an exception and abused his abilities to 'convince' the doctor into discharging him.

There would be a time to talk about that in particular but not today when he was clearly not in a good mood.

"You're dead on your feet. You've got dark circles under your eyes," he pointed out.

"I know," she sighed, taking a seat at the edge of his bed. "I am exhausted but I need to be there for the children. They need me."

"They're fine being on their own for a few hours. They have each other."

He was standing in front of her and she had to tilt her head up to look at him. Effie did not react when he reached out to pull the band holding her hair together. Instead, she leaned forward, resting her forehead on his stomach as he ran his fingers through her hair, combing through the knots. Effie certainly did not protest when his fingers returned to her scalp and he began to massage them lightly until she began to relax completely against him.

It was Haymitch who pushed her back until she was lying on his bed before he climbed in next to her. She scooted closer and turned in his arms, hooking a leg over his.

"We are odd, aren't we?"

"Why's that?"

"You let me sleep in your bed… We've slept together a few times but we've never kissed, not once."

He scoffed.

"Last time I tried you didn't let me," he pointed out.

"You didn't try again after that. I was disappointed," she pouted as she toyed with the button of his shirt.

"So you do actually want me to kiss you," he declared triumphantly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Are you not going to kiss me now?"

"Nah, I think I'll make you wait."

It was the silliest thing she heard that it made her laugh. After everything, she needed to laugh over something. His lips twitched into a smile but it never reached his eyes. Her laughter tapered off, wondering if there was anything wrong.

In the end, she decided, if there was something truly important, Haymitch would talk. She tucked her head under his chin, staring at the wall, willing herself to fall asleep but sleep did not come easy for her or for him.

"Before we brought her to the hospital," Effie started talking about what was bothering her since they were both still awake, "and before the loss of her sister truly hit her, Katniss said that she wanted to be the one to do it… To take the Capitol down… Except, I don't know…" Effie hesitated, "I don't know if she will be able to see it through now and it is not fair to place such burden on her after she's suffered this loss. Peeta's vision may have placed her in - "

Haymitch exhaled loudly and clasped her hand to still the agitated movement.

"She's going to want revenge, sweetheart. If she's anything like me, going after the Capitol will give her a renewed sense of purpose," Haymitch mused. "We can't push her to it immediately after this. I don't care what Coin's gotta say. We gotta give Katniss a little time but she'll come around. She's strong, that one."

"You look troubled, Haymitch," she pushed herself on her elbow. "What is on your mind?"

"Nothing important," he answered too quickly for her to know that there was something.

"I may not be able to read your mind but I know if you're lying to me, and you are."

He regarded her carefully and she could read his eyes. He was contemplating it through.

"You can tell me," she ran her thumb soothingly across his brow. "We're in this together. We're a team. You can tell me, Haymitch."

"Something is wrong," Haymitch admitted. "This isn't Snow. The bombing… The murdered children…"

"It was a Capitol plane."

She wasn't sure what he meant. It was clear to anyone that the violence was linked to Snow. They had loss students to the bloodshed and they were steadily losing students whose parents were still alive. They were pulling their children out of Thirteen over safety concerns. Effie couldn't blame them.

"I know that. We all saw that plane except something's off. Think about it, Effie, this isn't Snow. It's not him."

"What are you talking about? How can you be so sure?"

Haymitch pushed himself up so abruptly that he dislodged her. She tossed him a look.

"Snow will never kill mutant children so carelessly like that. He experiments on them, yeah, and they die under his hands as a result of it but he wouldn't outright kill them. It isn't him. Killing them serves no purpose. He wants the strongest, Effs, and blowin' them up ain't gonna show him which one of these children is the strongest."

She blinked, trying to piece his logic together.

"He attacked us a few weeks ago. How is this any different?"

"Exactly, Effie," he insisted. "The planes carrying those bombs came with neutralising tanks. He was trying to flush every single one of us out to capture, not to kill. "

"Perhaps, flushing us out in order to capture did not work it his favour, he is pushed into an extreme."

"No," Haymitch shook his head. "I've been thinkin' about it. Something's wrong. Somethin' here makes my skin crawl."

"What are you insinuating?"

"I don't know for certain what it is but I can feel it in my guts that-" Haymitch turned towards her, his eyes piercing hers with such fierce intensity. "I need you to be careful. You don't talk about what we've discussed to anyone. You understand? You don't talk 'bout this to those in Command especially."

"Haymitch, you are scaring me."

"Good," he rested a palm against her cheek. "Fear keeps you alert. It keeps you alive and … I need you alive."

Effie almost saw it in an agonisingly slow motion even if her heart was suddenly racing in her chest and Haymitch's intention began to click in her mind. He was leaning forward towards her and slowly, she raised her chin. His gaze flitted from her eyes to her lips and then she felt the brush of soft lips against his own before the kiss became firm and insistent.

He held her in place with his hands cradling her head and her eyes fluttered shut.

Casting aside her exhaustion, her anxiety and her fears, Effie focused on the feeling blooming in her chest as he dragged his lips from her mouth to her jaw and down her neck.

THE KISS! Leave a review with your thoughts :)