Chapter 29

I expect the ride up in the lift to take only moments, but it doesn't. The lift slows as the electronic device implanted in the lift's wall ticks over to 2 and eventually comes to a halt, I look at Peeta questioningly and he just shrugs. The lift doors open to reveal a medium sized man with grey hair, he smiles at both of us before stepping into the lift and pressing the button with the number '7' clearly displayed on it.

Looking back out of the lift doors I see something that shocks me. The scene in front of me consists of two broad looking men dragging a frail looking man across the hall, bruises cover the man's arms and legs. The man being dragged tilts his head up just for a second, this allows me to see him blood stained face. His eyes lock on mine and in them I see masses of pain and exhaustion, his lips start to part as he mouths 'help me please' to me and my mouth hangs agape.

Before I can realise what I am doing I am out of the lift and running down the hall towards them. I can tell that Peeta has followed me as he is calling my name, but I am too fast for him and his voice slowly drowns out. The two men turn around, obviously hearing Peeta calling my name and anger forms on their face once they see me.

"What are you doing to him?!" I practically scream "this doesn't concern you miss" they both reply at the same time. "I don't care if this doesn't concern me, it sure does look like you're torturing him!" I exclaim throwing my arms around to emphasis my point "Miss you need to leave here" the taller of the two men says. My eyes catch his and they're showing no emotion, his cold look reminds me of him and the memory's cause me to flinch but I quickly push that from my mind.

"No, I am staying here until you tell me what you're doing to him!" I demand but I still get no answer, instead the taller of the two men lets go of the man he was dragging and walks so he is directly in front of me, he towers over me before saying "sorry Miss but if you refuse to leave, I will have to force you to leave myself" he says before putting his hand on my arm, his grip is tight and causes me to yelp "don't touch me" I hiss through gritted teeth but him hand doesn't move and I begin to panic.

Flailing my arm around I scream "GET OFF ME!" but this only causes him to spin behind me in one swift movement and pin both of my hands behind my back, I scream and kick my legs but this man must have shins made of steel as he doesn't flinch no matter how hard I kick him or however many times.

"Miss calm down" he says but I don't listen "Miss calm down" he repeats but still I continue. "KATNISS!" A voice shouts and I lift my head to see Peeta. However before I can say anything I feel a sharp stinging pain in the arm and everything goes back.

Peeta's POV

"KATNISS!" I shout and her eyes lock on mine, in them I see immense panic. Out of the corner of my eye I see the man who is holding her reach into his pocket and pull out a small syringe with a green liquid in it, I don't even have time to warn Katniss before the needle is shoved into her arm and the liquid is injected into her skin. I watch helplessly as her eyes begin to close and her body goes limp.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!" I scream at this man while I run over to where he has let Katniss fall to the floor. He doesn't reply instead his eyes lock on something behind me, turning around I see Plutarch coming out of the lift door, his eyes are fixed on the floor as he starts to walk towards us. As he is only about 5 meters away he begins talking "Mr Mellark, Miss Everdeen I received word that-" he stops when he takes his eyes off of the ground.

"What happened here?" he questions, looking directly at me. I point at the man who injected Katniss "he injected her with something" I say and for a moment I swear a wave of concern washes over his eyes. His eyes fix on the man behind me "Is this true?" he asks, the man nods "Mr Mellark, could I please ask you to move?" he asks politely and I oblige, nodding I stand up and step back from Katniss.

Plutarch immediately kneels down and checks Katniss' pulse, then he looks up at the man "Did you give her all of the serum?" he questions and the man nods. He looks back at me "Mr Mellark, I don't mean to alarm you but the serum we have injected Katniss with is sleep serum, and I know that doesn't sound bad but..." he pauses and I can feel the palms of my hand become sweaty what have they done to Katniss? I think "what? But what?!" I demand and he sighs "you see the serum was matched in proportion to this man's body, with mass and height carefully calculated, therefore this serum was already powerful as it was designed to send this man into a deep sleep".

"Now, as you can see Miss Everdeen is considerably smaller and has considerably less mass and therefore we do run the risk of..." he pauses "of what?" I ask sceptically "of her...slipping into a coma" he says and I literally feel the colour drain from my face, leaving me feeling numb a coma? "a-a c-coma?" I ask not quite wanting to believe it.

*** {Time Skip} ***

Now I'm sat beside Katniss' hospital bed clutching her hand. My eyes sting with fresh tears while my checks are stained from the old ones. The room is quiet except from the heart monitor machine which Katniss is hooked up to, the gentle beeping sounds telling me she is still alive.

Once Plutarch had confirmed to me about the fact that Katniss could slip into a coma, I think I was going to pass out myself. However, I soon pulled myself together as Plutarch was telling me we had to get Katniss to the local District 12 hospital. Plutarch left once we arrived here leaving me to explain what happened, obviously leaving out the parts about how she came into contact with the men who injected her with the serum.

Once Katniss was hooked up to all the machines necessary the nurse explained the seriousness of her situation, she told me how Katniss was directly on the end of falling into a comatose state and therefore it is a 50/50 percent chance it could happen. I was told I could stay with Katniss for as long as I wish, and therefore I have decided to stay by her side until she wakes, be it hours or months, I will be here for her and I will make sure I am here for when she wakes up.

Then it suddenly occurs to me that I should call Haymitch, as I suppose he has a right to know.

I get the number off of Katniss' phone which is on the table beside her hospital bed and place it into my phone before dialling it. On the third ring, a husky voiced Haymitch picks up the phone.

"Hello?" He asks slurring his words.

"Hi Haymitch" I say "It's Peeta".

He grunts.

"What do you want kid?" he asks sounding annoyed in his drunken state.

"I was phoning to tell you..erm" I pause rubbing the back of my neck "that...Katniss is in hospital" I say, my voice cracking slightly at the end.

The phone line is silent for a while.

"Why?" Is all he says.

I begin explaining "She was injected with sleep serum but it was too much for her body to handle and..." I intake a deep breath "and she facing slipping into a coma" I say whispering the last part while trying to hold in my tears.

"I'll be there as soon as" he says quickly before putting the phone down, not even letting me explain how she came to be injected with the sleep serum.

Placing my phone down on the side next to Katniss' I take a seat back where I was sat before, I notice little wisps of the hair that have fallen out of the braid and are now draped across her face. I reach up and move them away from her eyes gently. Kissing her forehead, I take this time to realise how peaceful and beautiful she looks when she is sleeping.

Smiling to myself I re-grasp both of her hands.

"Please stay with me" I whisper as tears once again spill over my eyelids.

And I swear I hear a soft quiet reply,

"Always".

A/N - Hope you enjoyed it - please REVIEW :-)! A little bit of a plot twist and cliff hanger but not much! And I know it's a shorter chapter, but I felt like I should end it there as I have an idea for the next chapter:-). Anyway, thank you for sticking with this story and until the next chapter...

-WordsOfWonder.