When I wake up in the morning, I carefully climb off the bed trying to not wake up Peeta. He opens sleepy eyes. "Please stay, Katniss," he whispers.

I run my hand gently down the side of his face. "Go back to sleep. I'll come back after hunting. Maybe I will bring some bread that is not crumbled," I whisper back.

Peeta smiles and then yawns. I kiss his forehead lightly as he closes his eyes.

I wave to Prim as I walk past the room she is in. She is reading a story to a little girl with a broken arm.

After hunting, I head down the hall to the kitchen to drop off my bag. As I turn the corner, I notice someone crouched in the doorway of a room. When I get closer I recognize the person.

"Cheth, what are you doing?" I ask as I look to make sure it is really him.

"Nothing. Just thinking." He glances up at me briefly and then looks back at the floor.

"Is everything okay?" I sit down and lean against the doorframe.

"Fine," Cheth answers weakly as he turns his face more to the corner.

"You don't sound okay." I pull my legs up to my chest and just sit in silence for a while looking at Cheth. "Did something happen?" I ask quietly and reach out to rest my hand on his shoulder. He pulls away slightly and shakes his head. "Cheth, I want to help you."

He just barely turns his face to look at me. "You can't help me. Okay."

"Do you need someone to talk to? Peeta's a good listener, if you don't want to talk to a girl."

"Peeta can't help me either. No one can."

"But…"

"Just leave me alone, Katniss," he snaps slightly as he turns to face me.

I gasp as I see his eye is black and blue and practically swollen shut. "Who did that?" I demand, but the answer snaps in my head as soon as the words leave my mouth. "Sythe."

"Somehow he figured out I had something to do with the paintball battle. But you can't tell anyone. It will only make it worse."

"We have to report him. This has to stop."

"No, it will only make him madder. Then he'll just beat me up again."

"Well, we'll have you switched to a new team."

"It won't do any good. He'll still beat me up. Please, Katniss, just let it go," he looks at me with pleading eyes.

"Fine," I huff, "I won't say anything this time, but if it happens again, I will tell." He nods and looks back at the floor.

As I start to stand, I notice the hand he has cradled in his lap looks strange. His wrist is bent at a very strange angle. "What's wrong with your wrist?" He slowly looks up at me. I cross my arms to show I want the truth, but still watch him with gentle eyes.

Cheth is silent for a long while but finally speaks softly, "After Sythe punched me, I tried to hit him back but he just grabbed my hand and twisted it."

"It doesn't look right. I think you need to go to the hospital and get it checked out."

He shakes his head already looking away. "I'll…I'll be okay."

I reach out my hand but as soon as I barely touch it, he winces in pain and immediately pulls away. "I'm pretty sure it's broken. I'm taking you to the doctor." I stand and reach my hand down to help him up. Cheth doesn't move. "I will force you if I have to. I half drugged Peeta in our first games. I'm sure I could carry you if I had to."

Cheth looks up weakly and begins to get up trying to move his injured arm as little as possible. "But you have to promise not to tell what happened."

I cock my head and look at him with an annoyed expression. "Why don't you want anyone to know? They won't let Sythe hurt you."

"Because he's my stepbrother, okay. There you know. Are you happy now?" Cheth blurts out as he storms past me still cradling his hurt arm.

"Wait! What!" I shake my head then run to catch up. I grab his shoulder to stop him. "Did you just say Sythe is your brother?"

"Stepbrother, yes. He…he…even though he hates me, he's the only family I have." My expression immediately softens as I look down at Cheth's dejected form. I put both hands on his shoulders but still can't find the words to say. Finally Cheth quietly continues, "Our parents married a few years ago. They both died when Sythe's dad tried to go back for my mom when we were being evacuated from our district."

Cheth turns to continue walking down the hall. I walk beside him in silence. After a while I quietly say, "I won't tell anyone what happened." Cheth doesn't say a word but glances sideways at me as we continue walking.

As we pass the kitchen, I call to Greasy Sae and set my bag in the corner.

When we get to the hospital floor I tell Cheth to wait for me. I go to the admissions desk to check him in. Lucky for me Prim is at the desk and I quickly explain the situation, well what she needs to know anyway.

She looks over at Cheth sitting in the chair with his hand resting on his leg. "That looks painful," she says, as she picks up the phone to call one of the doctors, then she ushers Cheth and I into one of the rooms. "The doctor should be here in a bit."

"Thanks, Prim." I say as she closes the door.

Cheth and I don't really speak as we wait. In fact, it is very awkward. I want to leave but I'm afraid that Cheth will leave too and not get his wrist taken care of. "Thanks again for helping Peeta," I finally say to try to break the silence.

"You're welcome. Peeta's cool. I really like him," Cheth replies without taking his eyes off the floor.

To my relief the doctor comes in. "So what can I help you with?" He looks at me and then at Cheth.

"He hurt his wrist. I think it might be broken."

The doctor pulls a chair up next to Cheth. "Let me see, young man." Cheth tentatively lifts his arm toward the doctor. The doctor holds onto Cheth's hand to steady it and then gently feels his wrist. Cheth winces a few times but does not move. "Well, it is definitely broken, son. I'm going to send in the nurse to get it cast."

By the time his wrist is cast and he has been given pills to help with the pain it is almost 3:00pm. Cheth says he is going back to his room for rest.

"Sythe won't bother you, will he?"

"No, I usually don't see him except at training unless he is looking for me."

"But don't you share a room since your 'family'?"

"We did at first but now Sythe lives with his girlfriend."

I nod as he turns to head to the elevator. I walk down the hall toward Peeta's room. I figure I should check in to see how he is doing. I knock lightly and when I don't hear an answer, I open the door quietly. Sure enough I find him sleeping.

I sit in the chair in the corner of the room and watch him sleep for a while as I try to decide if I should wake him up. His still body begins to stir but he does not open his eyes. He starts to mumble in his sleep. "No…no…no more videos." I am almost sure his dream is about the capitol.

As his body starts to thrash a bit more, I soon become afraid that he will injure himself more if he keeps this up, plus by now I can tell his dream has become a full blown nightmare.

I jump out of the chair and hurry to Peeta's side. I take hold of his shoulders and shake him a bit. "Peeta, wake up. You're just dreaming."

After more shaking and calling to him, he finally comes out of the dream. His eyes open wide, and I see his unmistakably large pupils. "Peeta, it's me Katniss."

"Katniss?" he whispers as he looks into my gray eyes. I feel his body become tense as his messed up brain tries to register who I am. His eyes turn fearful as he tries to push himself away without taking his eyes off me.

"Peeta, it's okay," I say calmly as I reach for his arm.

He quickly jerks it away and tries to pull his legs up to his chest but stops as he winces in pain from his ribs. "Where am I?" he mutters as his eyes drift around the stark white room.

"You're in the hospital. Remember, Sythe and his buddies beat you up."

Peeta looks down at the bed and scrunches up his face as he thinks. He slowly begins to shake his head. "No…no, this is not a hospital. I remember everything." He pulls his arms tightly around his chest and begins to rock. "This is the capitol and I was captured after the quell." His eyes get large again with realization as he slowly looks back at me. His whole body shivers. "You aren't Katniss. You're a mutt."

I take a step back and shake my head. "No, remember you are in district 13. You were rescued from the capitol with Johanna and Annie. You've been helping in the kitchen." I stare into his eyes to see if anything is registering.

Peeta closes his eyes and shakes his head. "No…no! You're lying. You're trying to trick me." His eyes dart around the room. "Where are the doctors? They sent you to confuse me. Get out." He flings his arm at me as if I will disappear like a mist or dream. "Get out of here! I hate you!" He closes his eyes and leans back in bed. He covers his face with his hands as his body shakes uncontrollably. Machines begin to beep loudly.

My eyes begin to cloud over with tears.

As doctors come rushing in, I suddenly bolt out the door and down the hall. I don't even stop when I hear Prim calling my name. I bump into many people, but don't stop until I have made it to my hiding place in the supply closet.

I slide down the wall to the ground as the tears continue to streak down my cheeks. My whole body shakes with my sobs until I am so exhausted that I slump to the floor and lay there.

I close my eyes and must have fallen asleep because when I get up and crawl out of the closet I look at the clock on the wall it is 7:00. I have missed supper but that is okay because I am not hungry and don't feel like being around people anyway.

I walk out into the hall and head back to my room. Luckily most people are still finishing up supper so I don't see anyone in the halls. I decide to skip training and will just have to come up with a good excuse later.

When I get to my room I take a hot shower and then crawl under the covers and curl up in a fetal position. I just stare at the wall. My mind keeps replaying Peeta screaming "I hate you!" over and over.

After a long time, I hear the door open as Prim walks in. When she sees me she comes to sit on my bed. She places her hand on my shoulder. "Katniss, what happened? I saw you run from the hospital and then we didn't see you at supper."

"Peeta started yelling at me and said he hates me." I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

Prim started to rub my back slowly as she waited for me to continue, but I couldn't. "You know he didn't mean it."

"But he did. You should have seen his face," I manage to get out between sobs.

"Katniss, you know he is in a lot of pain and his body is filled with morphling. It's probably just reacting with the traces of venom still in his system causing him to have an episode. I'm sure he'll forget about it by tomorrow."

"But what if he doesn't? What if it's permanent."

"Katniss, just go to sleep. You've been staying up too late and are exhausted. You'll think clearly after a good nights rest." I close my eyes and try to relax as Prim continues to rub my back and hums a song.

When I finally drift off to sleep it is not very restful. I am immediately thrown into a nightmare.

I am walking down a white hall much like the hospital, but when I stop to look in an open door I see Peeta with bruises covering his body as he cowers in the corner. I rush in to help him but when he sees me his eyes grow large. "Get away!" he screams.

As I stand to back away I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror that I don't think was there just a few seconds ago. Instead of seeing myself I see a creature that is much like the wolves from our first game but I have more human features. I put my hands to my face in disbelief.

Suddenly my attention is drawn back to Peeta when I hear him moving around. I look at him just in time to see him lunge at me with a knife that he seems to have pulled out of nowhere. Lucky for me he is weak so I am able to easily dodge him.

I run out the door and down the hall calling for a doctor or nurse. I can hear thudding coming from behind me. When I turn I see Peeta stumbling down the hall toward me still holding the knife in his hand. I keep turning corners and running farther but every time I turn around I see Peeta coming behind me. I finally duck into a dark room and close the door. I slump to the floor as I can feel my heart racing. I freeze and try to listen for any noise but all I can hear is my own heartbeat. I look up at the door as I hear the handle turning. I suck in a breath and wait for the door to open. Just as the door opens and I see Peeta with wild eyes staring down at me, I am jolted awake.

I lay in my bed trying to calm my racing heart. I know I will not be sleeping any more so I quietly slip out of bed and over to the door. I walk out into the hall and head down to Peeta's room.

When I open the door the familiar sights of the bed greet me where Peeta would hold me tight to keep away the nightmares, the paintings that he had painted of so many fond memories, and the easel that still held a painting.

I walk over to the easel to look at the painting. It is of Peeta and I sitting on the beach during the quell when he placed the pearl in my hand. I sit in the chair and stare at the painting as I can feel a tear slide down my cheek. What if Peeta never looks at me that way again.

After a long while I crawl into bed and hug the pillow that Peeta always used. It still has his smell. I slowly fall asleep with the pain of loneliness slowly creeping inside of me.