Response to reviews:
Cinna's Bird: Oh my gosh, that was probably my favorite review yet! Love that you used the Hanging Tree reference!
reneecoe: Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
the scout12: Haha, don't die! Just keep reading!
blowofsmoke: well alrighty then
cjp1007: Some miracle, hmmm maybe
Savannah mariyah: Oh lord, don't cry...
iluviggyhesthebest: You may get what you've wished for.
HealthyHungerGamesObsession101: Uh oh, lets not die! But I'm glad you love the story, so don't forget to favorite it!
Ivy's POV
For a second I couldn't breathe, my whole body shut down when her heart monitor went dead. Then I regained my senses and started applying CPR. She couldn't die, no, I wouldn't let that happen. I yelled at one of the nurses to get the AED ready while I continued to do CPR. I looked at the Cardiac Monitor and to my despair I saw no change. She couldn't be gone.
The nurse charged it and we applied the ointment and pads over Katniss' chest.
"One, two, three, clear!" I yelled as I gave her a shock.
"Nothing." My assistant replied.
"Again." I demanded. He nodded and charged it up at a higher voltage this time. "One, two, three, clear!" Nothing happened, the damn thing wasn't working and Katniss was gone.
No. I refused to believe it.
"Again!" I yelled. "One, two, three, clear!" I screeched.
No result.
"It's no use, Dr. Ivy," one of the nurses told me gently. "She's a lost cause."
I shrugged his hand off my shoulder. "She's my daughter dammit!" I snapped before ordering the assistant to charge the AED once more. "Katniss is not a lost cause! There is no such thing! We are not giving up!" I was well aware that I sounded hysteric, I had every right to be. I was not about to lose my daughter after I'd finally found her. Not again.
"It's ready."
"Come on, Katniss, sweetie." I pleaded. "One, two, three, clear!"
In that moment it seemed time had come to a stop. I didn't hear anything around me, all my attention was focused on the body of my daughter as she jerked up a little due to the current that coursed through her body. When she stilled again the cardiac monitor started to beep, slow at first then gradually increasing till a steady rhythm could be picked up. I couldn't help but smile. I gave the AED to the other nurse and cupped my daughters face in my hands, letting a few tears fall as I kissed her forehead.
"That's my little girl," I whispered.
Cato POV
I was talking to Chief Paylor, describing the burns and cuts I've seen over my girlfriend's body. John put in a few words here and there, and Paylor listened intently. That's when Madge came running towards us, crying hysterically with blood staining her shirt. Somehow I knew the blood wasn't hers though. I excused myself to go talk to Madge, because I knew she wasn't crying for no reason. And I felt that the reason behind her tears was Katniss, and that worried me to no end.
Something had happened to Katniss.
The words she uttered next through her tears made my blood run cold.
No. No. No! This cannot be happening, she couldn't be... no. But alas, Madge's words were true and my heart shattered. All the color drained from my face and I felt like I could collapse then and there, the pain in my heart unbearable.
My beautiful Katniss was in critical surgery, fighting her for life. And it was my fault. I told her I wouldn't let him touch her. I promised her I wouldn't let that monster get near her. Then when he came to the hospital, I let her go with him. Sure I didn't have much of a choice, but I could have stopped her. I would have gone to jail if that's what it took to keep her safe; I would do anything to keep her safe.
But I didn't and now she's paying the price for my mistake. My delicate girlfriend, my Katniss, was fighting a battle I'm not 100% sure she could win. From how Madge explained her, I was in fear that she wasn't going to make it; that she would die tonight, that I would never get to hold her in my arms ever again. I would never get to say 'I love you' again, never get to hear hear angelic laughter, never get to see her beautiful smile, never get to kiss her perfect lips... I felt the tears trickling down my face, and I made no move to stop them.
Please, Katniss, please fight. You can't leave me! You... you can't. I pleaded with her in my mind. I can't lose you...
I'm going to kill Snow, I'm going to murder that son of a bitch for ever laying a finger on Katniss. For ever even looking at my love, for ever uttering one word to her. He was going to pay; that was a promise set in stone.
"What's going on?" John asks, walking up to us and snapping me out of my murderous thoughts.
I choke on my words, but I manage to painfully reply. But saying the words aloud only make them true. "K...Katniss is in the emergency r-room."
John POV
"What?" I asked, my voice cracking and my eyes wide. Cato was crying along with Madge, and I've never seen this tough boy so... broken.
"Her father... he beat her again, close to death. Worse than ever before." Madge sobbed. "She got to my house somehow, and I brought her over here as fast as I could. Your wife is in the ER working on her."
I froze; I swear I stopped breathing. It felt as the world was crashing down on me. My daughter, my little girl, was fighting for her life. A nurse came towards me, snapping me into the harsh reality I faced.
"Are you John Everdeen, Dr. Ivys husband?" She asked frantically.
I nodded, "Yes that's me."
"We need a blood transfusion right now, for a teenage girl we are treating in the emergency room. She's a B+."
"Yes, that's my blood type." I replied, my voice cracking slightly.
"I need you to come with me." She said, pulling down the long hallway and into another room.
She began the transfusion, wasting no time. She gave me an orange juice after and instructed me to stay there for 15 minutes. I asked her how Katniss was doing, but she had no information for me. I closed my eyes and prayed my little girl stay strong. I couldn't lose her.
I couldn't lose my only daughter.
After another thirty minutes or longer, the nurse came in and informed me that Katniss was now in intensive care after some troubles with the surgery. All in all she's okay though.
Ivy POV
Katniss had to be in intensive care for the next two days. She was sedated the whole time, and we frequently checked up on her to make sure she was responding well to the surgery that had been conducted. On the fourth day of her stay in the hospital I asked to have her taken to my home, where I kept the medical equipment required to treat her there. Once I got the approval she was transferred out of the hospital.
Cato, Mags, my husband, and I never left her side, always taking turns in watching over her. They all were here as much as possible, Cato especially. He very rarely left her side, always clutching her hand as if his life depended on it. His eyes were always on her form as he stared at her softly, often he caressed her face and set light kisses atop it. I sometimes would walk in to hear him whispering apologies to her sleeping form, then he would whisper words of love with the softest of smiles lighting up his features.
It was truly amazing to watch.
The only times the boy would get up was to go to the bathroom or when I needed to check on her. I knew he blamed himself for this, even if we all told it wasn't true. He couldn't have done anything, it was an officers word against his own. I had forced him out of the room to go get some food, poor kid hasn't been eating well from his worry.
Madge would have done the same, had it not been for the fact that her father was being prosecuted for having a hand in the kidnapping of Katniss. Cato had informed Chief Paylor of Seneca's attempted rapes and she immediately arrested the pervert. Mags also testified in the abuse she had witnessed. She looked so ashamed as she gave the details about what went on at home. We all understood she had done the best she could to protect our daughter.
Seneca struck a deal with her to reduce his sentencing if he gave her information on the kidnapping, in which he mentioned Thread's, Madge's father, involvement.
Madge would turn 18 in December which was only a month away, giving her ownership of her father's company. I knew she tried to be here for Katniss as much as possible, but as much as she resented her father for what he did, she still loved him. Snow was a completely different story. He fled soon after Katniss was taken into the hospital and hadn't been found. That bothered John and Cato to no end, they each really wanted to sink their fist into him. John offered a large sum of money for whoever found him and turned him into the authorities.
We both had gathered Cato and Madge and explained to them what happened and who we were to Katniss. The DNA results had come in yesterday and our assumption and parental instinct had been correct. It was a 99.9% match for the both of us. I placed the envelope over the night stand before I caressed Katniss's cheek. She looked a little pale, but I knew she would be find physically. Emotionally... that was a complete different story. Snow had done a number on her and I would never forgive him for that. No one would.
I sighed and got up to get a glass of water when I noticed my little girl started to come to. I put the cup down and rushed to her side, brushing away the strands of hair from her face. She still had an oxygen mask on, which she tried to remove with little success. She was still very weak from the operation and her left arm was on a sling to prevent her from hurting her collarbone any more than it already was.
"Hey," I greeted with a smile, fighting away the tears that threatened to fall. She looked around the room, not knowing where she was. "You're in my house." I informed her gently.
She gave me a blank stare in response.
"I-" She began, but stopped to clear her throat when her voice cracked. "I died." she stated.
I nodded as I continued to caress her cheek, slowly rubbing my thumb against it in a motherly fashion.
"I know," I replied, my voice slightly choking at the memory. "Somehow I managed to bring you back."
Katniss started at me, her expression blank but her eyes reveling the inner workings of her mind. And I didn't like what I saw there. What my daughter said next made my blood run cold.
"You should have just let me die."
Uh oh... What happened to Katniss' mind? Does she even want to live anymore?
Hey, at least Snow is out of the picture! For now at least...
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