Chapter 37. Overdue Confessions

The procedure and recovery seemed to take forever to complete. It wasn't until afternoon the next day that a doctor finally walked out into the waiting room. He went to the secretary, speaking with her for a brief moment before making his way towards Delly. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

Delly almost immediately sat up, her coat falling off her body. She had pushed two chairs together and slept there all night and, truthfully, it wasn't that bad. She just wasn't planning on leaving Peeta. She ran a hand through her hair, standing up and picking up her coat off the floor. "Doctor. How is he?"

"He's awake and aware of his surroundings, though he did not expect to have visitors. We're made some preparations for you to speak with him whenever you're ready."

"I'm ready. I'm ready if he wants to see me," Delly replied immediately, folding the coat over her arm.

"Then follow me," the doctor instructed as he began to lead Delly down a few hallways.

The route that the doctor took was much different then the one that led to the usual temporary stay unit. The walk seemed exceptionally talk as they passed countless patient rooms and passing doctors. Eventually, the man led Delly down to a new wing labelled Quarantine. Delly glanced up at the sign and she frowned a little. She crossed her arms, a little uncomfortably. "What's wrong with him?"

"I'm not allowed to share that information. He'll tell you what's going on, if he wishes," the doctor replied as he held open a door for her. "This way please."

Delly pressed her lips together, but nodded. She walked through the door anxiously. Inside, the room was separated by a large window and wall that did not allow for visitors to come into physical contact with the patient. The room was relatively dark on the visitor's side, but was rather bright where Peeta was. The boy laid in his hospital bed, shaking slightly. His eyes were covered with bandages and he had an IV hooked into his arm that pumped an all too familiar pain killer into his body.

Delly gasped a little but instantly ran to stand next to the window. She raised her fingers slightly, touching the glass, frowning. "What have you done to him?"

When she spoke, however, her voice seemed to echo into the room Peeta was in through an intercom. The blond boy tilted his head up slightly. "D-Delly?"

Delly's eyes widened slightly in surprise but she didn't move from the window. "Peeta. Are you alright?"

Peeta bit his bottom lip slightly, almost in a nervous manner. "Y-you... shouldn't be here."

"I'm not going to leave you here alone, Peeta," Delly said softly, though her voice still echoed. "Why are you in quarantine?"

The door closed behind Delly as the doctor left, giving the two their privacy. As Peeta heard the door though, he slightly wished it was the girl leaving. He rested his head back against his pillow with a sigh. "I-I... Delly, I believe you now."

"You believe I'm telling the truth?"

He nodded. "Y-yeah. About Gale and Katniss not b-being Mutts," he tried to explain, but his voice kept cutting out and cracking. The Morphling was doing it's job at dulling his eye pain, but the emotional escape it once gave him was much weaker, most likely from abusing the substance so much prior to his capture. He showed sure signs of distress and fear as his hands trembled.

"Well... I'm glad. But that doesn't explain why you attacked her," Delly tried to keep her voice as soft as possible, even as she wished she could run in and hold his hands to stop their terembling.

"I-I... I'm s-starting to remember things from the Capitol. Thing a-are starting to make more sense to me," Peeta almost whispered. If he wasn't so heavily sedated and his eyes so numb, he would have been crying at that point. "Katniss, Gale... they're not Mutts. Delly, I... I-I'm a Mutt."

Delly paused for a moment, unsure how to reply. The more she thought about it, the more it began to make sense. But she wouldn't tell him that. "Peeta. I... I mean, it's okay, right? They'll fix you."

"I don't know if I want fixed."

"What...? Why wouldn't you want to be fixed, Peeta?"

"It's not... I hurt them. I hurt Katniss, I hit Haymitch... and who knows what I did at the Capitol, there's still a lot that's a blur to me. I shouldn't be allowed to even..." He trailed off as his head fell to the side, away from the window. He felt he was too great a threat to everybody and, in his mind, regardless of what he promised Katniss, he'd never be cured. That had all been wishful thinking and now, faced with an actual reality he believed in, he was considering what it would be like if every reality with him in it ended.

"They understand, Peeta. At least, Katniss does. All she's saying is how it wasn't your fault and how it was hers. I love you, Peeta, and so do Katniss and Haymitch. Anything you did doesn't matter. All that matters is, now that you're back with us, you get better."

"Y-you... you shouldn't l-love me. I'll end up hurting you next, Delly."

"You won't hurt me, Peeta," Delly pressed her hand against the glass a bit harder as her forehead joined her fingers. She wanted to go in so badly and hold him, but she couldn't. "I can't help how I feel and I'm going to be here everyday until you're better."

Peeta paused for a long time, silent and unmoving. When he finally turned his head up, facing the ceiling, he gripped onto his hair tightly as if fighting a mirgrane. All he wanted to do was give up. It would be better for everybody if he did, in his mind at least. Sure, they'd be upset and sad at first, but they'd move on. And then he couldn't hurt anybody else. But he promised he would try and drilled it over and over again in his mind that he had to. "Y-you're all too good to me."

"We're returning the favor," Delly replied, still trying to keep her voice soft and comforting, even as she just wanted to cry. "You've done so much for all of us, Peeta. You'll remember and then you'll understand why we have to do this for you."

"I-I sure hope I do."

Again, the baker said nothing for a long time, laying in silent contemplation. The stress of the situation was suffocating him, but knowing he had people there who cared served as a large comfort to him. The baker took in a deep breath before forcing himself up to a sit on the bed, draping his legs over the side.

"You will," she reassured him before she watched him sit up. Instantly, she was concerned. "Are you supposed to be getting up, Peeta?" She almost sounded mother-like, like she was scolding him.

"Probably not," he murmured as he forced himself to a shaking stand. He grasped on to the wheeled IV stand at the side of his bed for support. Now that he was up and out of hiding from under the blankets, Delly could see the boy's arms and had small incisions and stitches here and there where more work had been done. Using the stand as both a support and a way of testing what was around him in his blind state, Peeta began to take small, slow steps towards the window that Delly stood behind.

"Peeta, you're going to hurt yourself!" For the first time since arriving, Delly's voice became panicked. She was unsure about what they had done to the boy, but she knew he couldn't see.

But Peeta ignored her. Every step was calm and steady as he focused solely on his footing so not to fall - he might tear his stitches if he did and didn't feel like needing another procedure. His IV stand was the first to reach the window and the baker was releaved to find a chair within arm's reach of where he had ended up. He pushed it closer to the window before throwing himself in an exhausted manner into it. However, regardless of how much the walk took out of him, he still pressed one hand up against the glass and rested his temple to it, as if trying to reach out to her. Delly let out a soft noise but cringed a little when her desperation was amplified. She lifted her hand and pressed it against his through the glass, pretending she could feel him, needing to pretend she felt him.

"You're so stupid, Peeta," she said after a moment but, by the hitch in her breathing and the softness of her tone, she clearly thought his actions were anything but stupid.

"S-sorry, Dell," he forced a small smile as he turned so his forehead was pressing against the window instead. "I-I just... thank you."

She hesitated before setting her forehead against the glass where his would be if the window wasn't separating them. She closed her eyes at his voice. "For what?"

"For e-everything. F-for being there for me through all this."

"I'll always be here for you, Peeta," she said after a moment, her voice thick with emotion. "All you have to do is tell your doctors and I'll be here faster than you can blink."

"I can't blink," Peeta laughed slightly, giving the first genuine smile since she arrived, even though it was brief.

Delly giggled a little, dropping her hand from the window. "Sorry, that was insensitive of me."

"No, no, it's okay," he sighed as his laughter died out. The baker leaned back in his chair slightly, taking his forehead off the glass but his fingers still glued to it. "Y-you know, I think I-I felt it today - that love you said I-I had for Katniss. When her and Haymitch w-were bringing me here this morning."

Delly didn't say anything for a long moment. She didn't remove her forehead from the glass. She stared at the floor, unable to look at him, feeling her heart pound in her chest. She knew if she looked at him, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from crying. "I'm... glad. She's everything you've always wanted."

"It was w-weird though. I mean, the feeling was-was familiar. Like, recently familiar, not surpressed memory kind of f-familiar.

"I... don't know what that means," Delly said softly, almost apologetically.

"It felt like... how I-I feel about you."

Delly hesitated. Her breath caught in her throat and she slowly looked up at Peeta through the glass. She swallowed the lump in her throat before speaking, her voice shaking slightly. "Like...like friendship love?"

He shook his head. "N-no... more. M-much more."

"Peeta, I..." Delly trailed off. As much as she wanted him, and oh it was so much, she was hurt slightly by the fact that he felt the same for Katniss. She wanted to sabotage the girl, but knew it would not make Peeta see herself any more favorably. And, in any case, his words caused butterflies in her stomach and her heart to beat overtime. "Peeta, I don't want to make things more difficult for you. You're already in this ridiculous love triangle with her and Gale."

Peeta's face fell almost immediately as he mistook her words for rejection. His hand slid off the window and both hands grasped the metal rod of the IV stand. "Y-yeah... right, okay. I'm sorry."

"Peeta," Delly almost immediately began, pushing her hand against the window and willing for his to return. Her pale cheeks turned pink as she spoke, but he had to understand. "I've loved you since we were children, but I was always only your friend. I've loved you for almost as long as you've loved Katniss. I just... don't want you to say this and then realize that you only think you feel this way because I've been taking care of you."

He stopped his movements, letting his hands drop the from IV pole. He placed both of his hands back on the window, his head dropping. "I-I don't know how long I've felt this way, Dell. My mind's still all... a lot is missing and a lot makes no sense. All I know for c-certain is that I love you, I don't think it, I can feel it. I c-can't promise the feelings didn't come up because of how much time we've spend t-together or because of the absence of Katniss but I c-can promise that I know for a fact that it's love. Y-you can take that however you want, I just... I just wanted you to know."

Delly let out a sob before she could stop herself. She set a shaky hand over her mouth to stifle another one but it was still audible. The stresses of the past two days were catching up with her and Peeta's confession was so... Peeta. It was so heartfelt that she was sure the pounding of her heart was loud enough to be amplified to him. There was a moment before she spoke again, forcing her voice steady, even though it was soft, almost a whisper. "Please don't hurt me, Peeta. You're all I have left."

The baker shook his head slightly, wishing he could see her and reach out to her. "You s-said before I won't hurt you, remember? I... When I get better, I want to be there for you like you were for me. So just wait for me, okay? W-wait for me to sort everything out... Regardless of what I discover or happens, I won't l-let you be alone. Okay, Dell?"

Delly held in another sob, pressing her forehead against the glass. She knew that, once he was better, he would be all about Katniss again. He was always thinking about her. Delly closed her eyes painfully but nodded a little against the glass.

"Of course, Peeta. I... I'll always be here for you. You know that."