Dread filled Katniss' stomach when the knock sounded. She glanced around the house as if her mother would appear, though she knew she'd gone into town to buy more ingredients for Prim's medicine. There was no one else there to speak to whoever was on the other side, as Prim lay in bed half asleep.

Taking a deep breath, Katniss tugged the door open, preparing herself to come face-to-face with someone half wounded who she would have to turn away. There was no medicine here to help them—her mother hadn't had time to make anything new lately—let alone a healer who could work their magic.

But when the door opened, it wasn't someone in pain on the other side; it was Hazel Hawthorne.

Katniss blinked a few times as she processed the woman's presence. It had been a long time since she'd seen Hazel. In the past, she'd dropped by the Hawthorne residence a few times a month to check in and see if they needed anything, but it must have been at least three months since she'd last done so.

Gale was rarely home, and there was never game to drop off anymore. She hadn't had a reason to visit, though speaking to Hazel might have been reason enough to go anyway if she'd stopped to consider the idea.

"Katniss," Hazel greeted, a soft smile on her lips.

There had always been something naturally warm about Hazel, even when she was stern. In many ways, Katniss envied Gale for having her as a mother. Hazel was an archetype of a mother. Though Katniss had long since gotten over her own mother's shortcomings, part of her still wished, as she had years ago, that Hazel had been her mother instead.

Not even in her darkest moments had she let on to her mother that she'd held such a desire. It was one of her closest kept secrets.

"Hazel, hi," Katniss returned.

The awkward greeting didn't make Hazel drop her kind smile. She motioned over Katniss' shoulder.

"Mind if I step inside for a moment?" she asked, taking half a step forward before Katniss' mind caught up and she took her own step back to allow Hazel into the kitchen.

It was only then that Katniss realized Hazel was carrying a sack. It looked like one of the bags Gale had used for hauling game, and it looked half as full as it would have been if she and Gale were on their way back from the woods.

Without a word, Hazel sat the sack on top of the kitchen table and unknotted the opening. Katniss could do nothing but stare as Hazel pulled out several containers of food, some cooked and some not.

Just as Katniss was about to protest, Prim began to cough. Both Katniss and Hazel turned to watch the girl, poised to intervene, but the coughing stopped before they could do anything.

"Your family could use this," Hazel said quietly, placing a couple tomatoes on the counter. "The market was offering a good price for chicken thighs, so I brought along some of that. There's at least enough for the three of you to make one meal out of it."

Katniss felt tears prick at her eyes as she watched Hazel place the chicken in the otherwise empty refrigerator. The woman knelt down beside the fridge, plugging it into the nearest outlet. The sound of it humming nearly broke Katniss.

"You really don't have to do this," Katniss said, embarrassed by how desperate her voice sounded. "Your family needs food as much as we do."

"My children are fine. Between my work and Gale's and your mother's, no one is going to starve, not a Hawthorne and not an Everdeen."

There was a finality to her voice that kept Katniss from protesting further. Her voice was thick when she spoke.

"Thank you."

Hazel smiled at her once more, stepping forward and patting her twice on the shoulder before she deposited her last gift in the middle of the kitchen table: three heavily bruised peaches.

They were reaching the end of their shelf life, but Katniss felt a few tears break free at the sight of them. It had been years since she'd eaten a peach that hadn't been canned. The overly syrupy orange cubes they were sometimes served at school felt worlds away from the few fresh peaches Katniss had enjoyed in her life.

She couldn't say anything else to Hazel, but the woman didn't expect her too. She folded up her empty bag and held it close to her chest, giving Katniss one last nod and smile before she disappeared out the door and left Katniss to pull herself together in peace.

XXX

The sun had set by the time Katniss let herself through the door. She'd walked the perimeter of the district until she could hardly stand anymore, staying far enough away from the fence that none of the peacekeepers would suspect her of anything. It didn't stop them from leering at her as she passed them.

Pure physical exhaustion was the only thing capable of getting her to sleep, and her eyes fluttered closed even as she remained standing. She walked towards her bed from memory alone, but before she could collapse, she realized her mother was sitting in a chair beside it, hunched over.

She was asleep, Katniss asserted after several bewildered seconds of looking at her. A new rush of adrenaline kept her eyes open, and she noticed her mother was gripping Prim's hand. Something must have happened again. Katniss felt her exhaustion rising once more.

Her eyes glanced at her mother's bed, empty aside from rustled sheets. Shaking her head, Katniss wandered over and dropped down into it, not letting her thoughts wander before she could drift off to sleep.

XXX

It couldn't have been more than an hour when the high-pitched cry sent Katniss jolting up in bed. She was disoriented at first, having expected to find herself on the other side of the room, and she'd kicked off her mother's sheets before she remembered where she'd fallen asleep.

Her mother was standing, but she was hovering as close to Prim as she had been when Katniss had arrived in the house late into the night.

Prim was awake and restless. Katniss realized it was her cry that had woken her. She stood, panicked but unsure of what to do. Her mother's hands were shaking as she fumbled with a vial and tried to get a squirming Prim to drink it.

"What should I do?" Katniss asked in little more than a whisper.

Her fingers flexed as if they should be reaching for something, but there was nothing for them to grab ahold of.

"I've got it," her mother responded without glancing her way.

Katniss' fingers still twitched with the need to do something. She backed towards the door. In her exhaustion, she hadn't changed from her clothes before falling asleep.

As soon as the cool autumn night touched her skin, she shivered. It invigorated her. Her heart pounded as images of Prim's pained face ran through her mind.

She ran. She didn't realize it was the bakery she was running towards until she was halfway there.