DISCALIMER: I DO NOT OWN "THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY"
IT BELONGS TO SUZANNE COLLINS
Thirty-Six
"Are we all settled?" The nurse calls as she enters the hospital room, her accent strongly suggest that she's from the Capitol. She must have been specially sent to Twelve to assist me.
"We're great." I lie on the bed, wearing a hospital gown so thin that I feel like I am wearing nothing but paper. Peeta sits on a chair beside my bed, his hand over my large belly. I squirm to sit up and tuck my hair away from my face.
She starts to open a drawer of the end table that stands opposite Peeta's side and takes out a vial filled with blue liquid.
"When the countdown marks zero, you will feel a burning sensation; the countdown will melt and the fluid will seep into your bloodstream." She takes my wrist and looks down at my countdown.
"It's supposed to act as a warning and the fluid can serve as a painkiller but it's hardly enough because its main purpose is to speed up dilation. When the liquid takes effect, contractions will immediately start. That is why when you feel like you can't handle it anymore, just say so and I'll run this through your IV line."
"How long do the contractions last?" Peeta asks,
"It varies with different women, others take hours, most in minutes. But don't you fret," she clasps my wrist. "I'll make it as easy as possible, if you'll let me." The nurse hands me the vial.
"The medication has a side effect. Most women who take it hardly recollect the moment they first hold their child but their memory is not permanently damaged. Through time, some of them claim to have flashes of the first time they see their child but none ever reported that they can recall the whole experience." I almost drop the vial but Peeta catches it and hands it back to the nurse. She sets the vial back in the drawer and leaves the room as she reminds us that we can press the button on the bedside if we needed her.
When the door locks in place, I turn to Peeta.
"Whatever I say out of pain, do not ever let her put that in my IV line." I tell him sternly.
"Don't worry, I won't." Peeta takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. Together, we watch the countdown tick by. Only a few minutes left now.
"Peeta, can you call my mom? She's supposed to come two days from now but I guess she'll want to be here before then." I tell him as I take his hand. "You can send orders for her to be sent through the Capitol route so she'll get here sooner."
"Sure, Katniss." He says and searches for his earpiece in his pockets.
So long ago, I only imagined living through a day in the Arena but now I lie on a hospital bed, waiting for a human to pop out of me. I hear Peeta press the earpiece and set it down on the table.
"You're mom's boarding the hover craft. How will we start travelling after the baby comes?" Peeta asks, as I pull the covers over my bouldering belly.
"We can take her with us." I reply halfheartedly.
"You know we can't do that, they'll hound her." He says, implying the cameras that follow us everywhere. I sink into the pillows and Peeta scoots next to me.
"We can't leave her here, no one will take care of her." I pause. "What about names first?" I ask as he lets my head rest on his shoulder.
"We haven't talked about that," Peeta notices. "We've been so busy with…"
"Haymitch." We say together.
"I was thinking about Al—" but his voice is muffled in my scream as I feel the countdown melt beneath my skin. My wrist turns bloody red and suddenly, the countdown dissolves into a clear liquid and I can feel it create a cold path in my vessels. My scream echoes through the room and is quickly followed by another as I feel my muscles clench in pain because of the contraction.
The doors open with a bang as our security team rushes into the room, their weapons drawn. I pain subsides and I take my breath and wave them away but they remain by the doorframe anyway. Peeta looks down at me his face concerned. Doctor Hail and the nurse rush into my room.
"Do you want me to inject this into your IV line?" the nurse approaches me, preparing to fill the tube with the substance
"No." I say while shaking my head and letting my grip over Peeta's hands relax. "I want to remember this day."
"I'm assuming the countdown has melted away." Doctor Hail says as she sits and the foot of my bed, signaling me to raise my legs and I do. Metal rings are adjusted for my feet to rest on. "Dilation is happening quickly. Be ready to push in a few minutes."
"Minutes?!" I grit my teeth as my back arches in pain through another contraction, much stronger than the one that came before. I can feel my sweat run down my temples, my toes curl on the metal rings and my hands grip on the sheets of the bed. The contractions come and never go and all I can do is scream. I feel as though I have been lowered in a tomb that persists on closing in on me, crushing me inside of it. I can feel Peeta whipping my face whispering words I cannot understand. Doctor Hail starts to order me to push and I do.
"She's almost there." Doctor Hail says.
"You did this!" I shout at Peeta, "You made me want this!"
"It's okay just a little more, Katniss." Peeta tries to comfort me. Everything escalated so quickly, just a few seconds ago, I was just lying on the bed enjoying Peeta's company. In the few seconds that the countdown took to melt and cause instant dilation, there has been nothing but pain. Doctor Hail starts to tell me to stop pushing now and I take great effort to catch my breath. I notice my mother enter the room still wearing her nurse uniform and clutching her luggage.
"Alright one more, one last." She tells me and I obey, closing my eyes tight. I feel her leave my body and Doctor Hail takes the tiny baby in her arms, cuts the umbilical cord, covers her with a soft cloth and hands her to me.
The child's cries fill the room when my own screams have gone silent. She squirms in my arms, her hands in tiny fists, and her small feet kicking the air. I let my palm rest on her forehead, trying hard not to let her slip from my arm.
Beautiful.
"Shh." I hear myself say as I calm her. She stops crying and finally opens her eyes to meet mine. "You're okay, I'm here."
"She's perfect." Peeta whispers as he leans over to see our child. I look up to his eyes and look back at my daughter's. The same blue eyes.
"We need to clean her up, now. A little check-up to see if everything is fine." A voice says, but I ignore it. "Just for a little while." Doctor Hail says and reluctantly I give her my baby. The nurse comes over and gives me a pill that will help with the healing. Peeta plants a kiss on my lips and tells me I did great. My mother, who has just arrived, leaves her luggage by the door and gives me a hug.
"My child; so strong." She whispers.
Doctor Hail returns with the baby in her arms and I sit up and open my arms. She carefully sets her down in my arms.
"She's perfectly healthy. Congratulations!" Doctor Hail says. She and the nurse make their way out of the room and close the door behind them. My mother follows shortly after them.
I shift the baby in my arms so that Peeta can see her without having to stand. She's stopped crying, her blue eyes searching the room.
"She is the most beautiful thing my eyes have set on since I saw you." Peeta says and I pull on his shirt to bring him down to my lips so I can kiss him. We carefully transfer her from my arms to his. "She's here, she's finally here."
"She's Alouette." I whisper with a smile.