DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN "THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY"
IT BELONGS TO SUZANNE COLLINS
Thirty-Seven
Alouette E. Mellark.
"Alouette is a beautiful name." Peeta whispers as he lightly passes his palm across our daughter's cheek. Alouette raises her tiny fists and makes a faint smile. "She seems to like it."
The nurse comes in holding forms for us to fill up. I get the pen and encode the name of my daughter because that is really the only thing left aside from my signature. I hand her back the forms and she leaves.
"She has your eyes." I tell Peeta as I sit up on the bed. He sits next to me and for a moment we just watch her squirm in Peeta's arms. Quickly as though he was handling a bomb, Peeta hands the baby to me, making a jerking movement that sends the child in tears. I compose myself and have the baby in a safe clutch, ready to scold Peeta when I notice his eyes turn cold and dark. Peeta starts grumbling just as he did when we were in District One.
"Now they're both going to die. The bitch and the bastard, this will be fun!" I hear. Peeta turns his back from us and starts hitting his head with his own fists.
Alouette is crying in my arms, her wails sending shivers through my spine. I look down at her and feel something I have never felt before; the quintessential knowledge that as long as she is with me, she is safe. Safe even from her own father.
I rock her lightly in my arms as I make a swift leap from the hospital bed. Our security team barges through the door, one of them holding the same machine Gale was using months ago when I first felt her stir in me. I notice the radar beeping and sending out red lights. Harvey, my personal security guard takes hold of me and quickly removes me from the scene.
"Mrs. Mellark, please hold on to your daughter." Harvey leads me through the hall where a series of nurses watch horrified as they watch the leader of the Rebellion in her hospital robe holding a wailing infant.
"What are they going to do to Peeta?!" I ask Harvey as he lets me through a different hospital room that is about 3 doors away from ours. I take a seat on the bed and Harvey stands in front of me.
"Standard protocol." He says, while pressing on his earpiece. The standard protocol as it has been agreed, is to restrain Peeta with handcuffs, wait for the light to turn yellow and remove his cuffs. When the light turns yellow, they usually tell me it's alright to be back on the scene so that when it turns green, Peeta wouldn't notice the differences.
"We're too far from the hospital room, what if the light turns yellow again?" I ask. Alouette has not stopped crying and she's starting to turn red with rage.
"This is a different case, Mrs. Mellark. Usually, before Mr. Mellark loses control, green lights turn to yellow then to red. That has served to be our warning but this time, it went from green to red immediately." He says as he hands me a clean handkerchief to wipe Alouette's tears. "We fear that his situation is getting worse."
"What's the protocol for that?" I ask weakly. Harvey calls a nurse to bring in a crib for Alouette. I set her down and bring the soft blanket up to her chin. She looks back at me, her expression tired and expectant.
"The protocol is to remove you from the venue and call Private Hawthorne." He says, "I have already contacted him. We're taking extra caution now that there is a baby in the family."
"What's the protocol for Peeta?" I ask as I sit back down on the bed. Harvey doesn't answer me. "Harvey, what is the protocol for Peeta?"
He slowly brings his hand on the side of his hip and I notice a compartment, almost invisible. It is tube-like in shape and I needn't any more explanation to know that in that compartment is a needle containing the nightlock cure they've created and the one I've refused.
I quickly fumble for the call button found in all hospital rooms and press on it countless times. A number of nurses report to the room and I order them to take my daughter and under no circumstances will they let her out of their sight or in other people's hands. I get to my feet and sprint away form the room, back to Peeta. Harvey quickly follows my trail in the hall and restrains me with both arms across my waist. I kick him as hard as I can and for the quickest second his grip lightens and I take the opportunity to free myself but Harvey doesn't let me go and tells me to calm down.
"Get your hands off me!" I tell him but his grip only tightens, "That was an order!"
"I do not respond to orders that are against your safety. That's part of my job." He says. "Mrs. Mellark I need you to listen. The needle is not nightlock or whatever you thought it was. It's just a sedative!" I stop struggling and Harvey ends up half carrying me. We freeze in the middle of the hall where nurses and patients watched our chase. He sets me down and I straighten my robe. The patients close their doors and the nurses quickly busy themselves in their station.
"I'm sorry." I say.
"We won't give him nightlock unless ordered by you. Please understand that all of this is up to you and we trust you, Soldier Everdeen," He clears his throat, "Soldier Mellark." A give him a grin and start to walk towards my hospital room where Peeta stays.
"Mrs. Mellark?" Harvey calls after me.
"I'm going to see him." I insist, not even looking back. Alouette is safe and sound; it's Peeta who needs me now.
"Mrs. Mellark?" another voice calls and I turn to see the nurse who stands a few steps from Harvey. She stands with the cradle that is carrying Alouette. "She's hungry." I hear Alouette start to whimper as if to confirm what the nurse has just said.
My feet freezes mid-step and slowly, I let go of my intention to reach Peeta. My daughter is my first priority; I need to accept that even if it means leaving Peeta behind for a while. I walk back and the nurse meets me half way. We go back to the reserve room where Harvey and I were talking. Harvey doesn't follow. He follows the hall down to my previous hospital room and as the nurse and I make our way to the opposite side, I hear Harvey take a step in and close the door behind him.
I lie on the bed and rest my back against the bed frame. The nurse carries Alouette and I take her into my arms and let her feed. There's a knock on the door and my mother peaks in. I wave for her to come in and she sits on the foot of my bed.
"Harvey's gone to check on Peeta for you." She says quietly. I look down at the baby on my chest and wonder how fast time has gone. For a moment I was struggling to keep Prim still around my short arms and now, I've got my own child and a mentally disabled husband.
"How will I take care of both of them?" I ask, still not looking up at my mother.
"Katniss, you won't have to." She says and finally, I raise my eyes to face her.
"What is that supposed to mean? Of course I have to take care of them. I can't just throw the other away and—"
"I did not mean that. Peeta's sick, you know that." She cuts me off. "And there's a cure."
"No. Not the nightlock. It won't be worth it." I say as I wipe Alouette's chin.
"You don't know that." She continues, "It might just solve your problem. Think of Alouette, would you have her in the house knowing there's a side of her father that wants her dead?"
"And what do you know about being a parent? You blocked out the moment Dad was out of our lives! I had to take care of Prim and you, who are you to say that I can't do it again?"
"I wasn't a threat, he is and I won't let my granddaughter suffer because of your decisions." Alouette starts to stir in my arms. She's stopped feeding and I cover myself with the robe.
"You don't get to tell me how to raise my child not after the way you raised us." I scowl. "You're upsetting Alouette. I think you should go." I say even though Alouette looks perfectly peaceful.
My mother sighs and gets on her feet and closes the door behind her. I let the tears fall down my face and look down at my baby.
"Alouette," I whisper to her. The door opens and I quickly wipe the tears from my eyes and find Peeta standing by the doorframe. The security team is huddled behind him and I look over to Harvey and he greets me with an approving nod.
"They told me you've been transferred to a different room." Peeta looks around, "I don't see how this is different from the other." He pauses when he notices me, "You're crying."
"I was, I'm not anymore." I try to smile. "Happy tears."
"It's time to go home." He says, helping me up from the bed. Peeta takes hold of our things while I carry Alouette. Home would be where she would learn to walk and talk, it would also be the place where she will learn how to hide when her father is not who he is.