"Hello Madge." I wave a little at Dr. Byrd. It's sort of quiet in the room. I wonder if the boy named Sayer doesn't talk much either.

"Madge, Sayer. Sayer, Madge." Dr. Byrd says, introducing us to each other. I finally get a glimpse of the boy. He was the one I saw being dragged out of the cell before they knocked me out. I guess he's about Gale's age, maybe a year or two younger. I don't know.

"Hi." He says slowly, holding out his hand to shake mine. I notice he has whip marks along his wrists too, but they travel all the way up his arms. They disappear under his shirt sleeves. I glance at Dr. Byrd and she nods, insisting that he won't hurt me. The only person I've voluntarily touched is Gale, as of now, but if Sayer went through the same torture that I did, then he must have issues with touching people, too. So we slowly shake hands before they drop to our sides.

Quickly, with Dr. Byrd watching me with kind eyes, I drop slowly into the chair that doesn't have the armrests on it. She continues to stare, "So, I figured that the two of you went through mostly the same torture," both of us involuntarily flinch, "you could help each other, tell each other how you cope and move on from it." Silence. Neither of us move, until Sayer speaks, his voice cracky.

"Do you think that will help?"

"Well, my thoughts were that because Madge doesn't talk much because of it, and you are able to talk, then you could help her with that, and she could help you get used to being touched by people again, because I have a feeling that has gotten better." She gives me a pointed look and my eyes drop to my lap. I want to tell her what happened between me and Gale, but I don't know if I want Sayer to hear it.

"Oh." I finally force out Sayer turns to me slightly.

"So how do you cope?" He seems bitter. I guess it's because of the torture. I'm not bitter, just afraid of anyone who touches me. Or even comes within ten inches of me. I shrug. I guess I'm still a little afraid that he's going to try to hurt me.

"Madge," Dr. Byrd says gently, her voice forcing me to look at her, "He's not going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about." I nod, slowly and Sayer talks again.

"Plus, I'm pretty damn sure that Hawthorne would beat me if I even put a finger on you." He scoffs, leaning back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. I feel a blush sprout over my cheeks and I look down because I know it's probably true..

Dr. Byrd continues, completely oblivious to the discomfort Sayer and I have between us. I don't really know how much I like Sayer at the moment. He just seems rude, and stuff, but I guess that's because he went through hell, but I did too, and I don't feel like that.

Finally, Sayer decides it's time for him to go. The whole meeting was just a bust. Neither of us said much, or even acknowledged the others existence.

When he leaves, Dr. Byrd sighs. "That didn't go like I planned." I shake my head and her eyes turn back to me. "So I sense there is something you've been waiting to tell me?"

I nod and take a breath. "My dad's in the hospital." Her eyebrows raise, telling me to continue. "He has some disease and they have to give him surgery."

"I'm sorry." She says, sounding generally concerned as she jots something down on her clipboard. "Anything else?"

I nod and continue to stare at my hands. Stuff like this always makes me shy. "I let Gale touch me."

She nods, and gives me a small smile. "No surprise there. I figured the two of you couldn't stay far apart for long." I blush again and she smiles more broadly, pulling out another sheet.

"On a different note, a few more results from your tests came back."

"And?"

"It looks like they gave you a shot before your night session." I nod slowly, cringing inwardly. "That was to prevent you from conceiving, and it will last three years. So when you turn twenty, the effects will ware off." I nod again. Yeah, because I'll definitely have sex after what I went through.

"Dr. Byrd, what if-"

"Please, Madge, that makes me sound old. Call me Mona." I nod and try to make it not sound weird.

"Mona what if I never remember anything?"

She pauses, before ruffling through some papers. "I'm sure you will, Madge. Have you remembered anything?"

I shrug. "I'll get random images that don't make sense to me, but that's it."

"Well, I'm sure your memory will come back, but over time. It'll be a while, yeah. And it's going to suck. It's really going to suck. But I'm sure you can get through it. You've gotten through a lot, though you don't remember it. A little memory issue isn't going to stop that."


I have another relapse. But this time, it lasts for forty-five minutes. Not five. Forty-five. And it terrifies me. It terrifies Haymitch too. I get put back in the hospital for a day because of it. They claim that it could happen again because it lasted for so long.

So the entire day, instead of going to the hospital to learn about sickness and stuff, or going to see Dr. Byrd, or Mona as she puts it, I'm stuck in a hospital bed with the "Crazy" badge branded on me again. I thought that was going away. I guess not, because the band on my wrist is back.

Finally, when I start to fall asleep in the uncomfortable bed that I was stuck in for a while ago, the door opens quietly. I groan inwardly. Of course, just as I'm going to sleep someone has to come in. Probably Haymitch on my dad's condition. According to him, he's been subjected to bedrest, like me, I guess. Groggily, I open my eyes to find Gale standing at the door.

"Hey." He says quietly, attempting to give me a smile but it falls off of his face quickly. Slowly, he walks closer, afraid that I might start screaming like I was earlier. I sit up from my position on my side and rest against the pillows as he sits on the edge of the bed, closer than I would normally allow anyone too, but it's Gale. I trust him. "What are you doing here?"

I shrug. "Relapse." He frowns and meets my eyes.

"But why'd you have to come to the hospital?" He spits out, eyes facing the ground.

"They were worried it was going to happen again."

"How long did it last?"

"Almost an hour." I sigh, shuffling back deeper under the covers. Gale's eyes flit back to mine, and my heart skips a beat. That shouldn't happen. Yeah, I guess I am getting to know him more, but I don't even know how deep the feelings run. Everyone says that I loved him, but when I don't remember him, much less love him, then I really don't know.

"Well you didn't have to come back to the hospital because of it." He spouts out bitterly, face morphing into another frown as he stands and starts to pace. "I don't like you being in the hospital. If you're fine, you shouldn't be in here."

"I have to be in here for a day." I force out and he sits back down on the bed, though closer to me this time. And I don't flinch. Not even a twitch. And I'm completely overjoyed that I've gotten over a little hurdle out of the thousand that are left.

"Well I don't want you in here." He grumbles, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't want to be in here, either." I groan as he looks at my wrist, before grabbing it gently. I don't flinch, again. Before I know what he's doing, he's ripping the band off of my wrist and crumpling it in his hand. "What are you doing?"

He shrugs, before tossing it into the wastebasket. "You don't need that, they can't just put that brand on you when they don't even know you." He grumbles, and I shift again. I don't even know myself, let alone those doctors. Gale notices my shift and immediately moves further away from me. "Did I get to close?"

I shake my head quickly and he stops moving away, instead shifts closer again. "Then what's wrong?"

"How can you tell when something's wrong with me?"

"Because I know you. And you make this adorable face, not to mention." I feel a pink spread across my cheeks and he grins a little. "So what's wrong?"

I sigh, before finally speaking. "You say that people can't call me crazy because they don't know me. How are they going to know me when I don't even know myself, Gale?"

"Madge, you do know yourself. You're just confused because you don't know your past or what exactly you've seen. When you can figure some of that out, you get to know yourself again."

Quickly, I nod, before thinking for a second. "I want to get to know you." I finally say, and his eyebrows quirk up.

He sits more fully on the bed, tucking his feet under him. "What do you wanna know?"

I think for a minute, sitting up myself. "Middle name."

He groans quickly, giving me a look. "Anything but the middle name, Madge." I laugh and he grins again. "Alexander." I have to bite my lip from letting a bubble of laughter out and he gives me another grin. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh."

"I'm not laughing." I try to say, but end up giggling. When I finally stop giggling, I speak again. "Mine's Eryn."

"I know."

"What don't you know about me?"

"Not much, I can tell you that." He pauses to shift on the bed. "What else?"

It takes me a while to think of something else to ask him. "What was your Victor talent or whatever?"

"I don't think I ever got around to telling you that. Just had too much to think about. Don't laugh at this, but I found out that I was pretty good at making jewelry. You know that necklace that you have in your room?" I nod, and he continues. "Well, I made it for you on your birthday." Finally, the mystery is explained! It makes sense now, I guess.

"Oh. Okay. I'm guessing mine was the piano?"

He nods. "You were pretty damn good at it, too."

"I miss it." I sigh, my eyes drifting downwards.

"There's one here, you know. Downstairs. I could take you sometime, if you want." Quickly I nod, and he grins. Maybe this can work.


A/N: So, I suck for taking forever. Sorry! Life has just been insane. After New Year, I was spending a lot of time with friends, and didn't really know what to write! Then, I had camp, and I got sick at camp (which sucked, by the way) and yeah. I meant to get it up last week, but something came up, and sorry. Sorry if this is short too. I'm expecting to write a long chapter next. It's probably going to be a major turning point.