Chapter 19: Primrose with broken wings

[Winter after the 72nd Hunger Games]

When winter settled in this year, Mr. Everdeen told me that more coal miners than usual complained about not feeling well, and she found them to have mostly cold symptoms and some fever. That was by itself not really alarming; most Seam houses were poorly heated and most coal miners had to survive on meager food, so that even a simple cold could easily turn into something more serious like a lung infection, as the citizens' immune system was not properly supported.

The district neither had a hospital nor a medical doctor, so that healers like Mrs. Everdeen were all we had. Lacking access to high quality medicine, healers had acquainted expertise in plants and their healing capabilities, and some of them had become very capable in using those. There were limits to what they could achieve, though. We had no means of doing any kind of major surgery, and proper detection of illnesses was also difficult.

During one of the evenings I spent with my girlfriend at the Everdeen home her mother mentioned:

"I have a feeling that something is wrong. There are way too many coal miners with typical symptoms, and I suspect this is not only caused by port living and working conditions, but maybe some nasty virus."

"What are you going to do about it, Mrs. Everdeen?" I asked.

She shook her head: "There is not much I can do at all, unfortunately. Better food and better heating would work to strengthen the immune system, but that is not available to most miners. I can provide soup with some sustenance, and a few herbs will support the affected people, but that's about it."

"By the way, Ryan," she continued, "we have been friends for a long time now, and it's about time that you address me by first name rather than last. Please call me Mabel from now on."

"With pleasure, Mabel" I replied.

A few days later the annual victory tour started in our district, and when we were all gathered outside of the Justice Building, I could hear quite a few miners coughing and not looking very healthy at all. Once we had suffered through the usual speeches and the train had left again, I went to the mayor's office and asked:

"Sir, sure you have noticed that a lot of people are sick. Is there anything we can do about it?"

"Son, the only thing the Capitol cares about is coal, as much as our district is concerned. However, as the amount of coal will be reduced if too many coal miners get sick, I may have a chance to make the Capitol do something. I have already told them, and they have promised to at least send some medicine with the next train."

Indeed we received a large box with medicine from the Capitol when the next train came a few days later, and all healers in the district got their share to use as they saw fit. Mrs. Everdeen told me:

"It's not one of their wonder medicines, this is for sure. It should be good enough to prevent most ill people from dying and have them recover slowly, if they get proper rest and care. This is at least something."

She now turned towards Prim and said: "Primrose, I really need your help, as there are too many sick people to take care of. I would like to take you out of school for a few days so that you can assist me; is that all right for you?"

Prim nodded: "Of course, Mom. You know that I will do my best to help."

I was curious about something: "With Prim assisting you, isn't there a risk that the two of you get this illness as well?"

Mrs. Everdeen looked at me: "Yes, indeed. But what can I do? We have too few healers and no real doctors, and Prim is really good in what she is doing."

A couple of days later, when I came to visit my girlfriend after work, I found her upstairs in her room, attended by her mother. One of her arms was in a splint, and the other one was badly bruised, and Prim looked quite worn and exhausted. I was shocked to see that, and Mrs. Everdeen hurried to explain when she noticed me:

"Ryan, I am glad to see you. Primrose got injured today while she was helping me. We were treating a sick coal miner in his Seam house, when Prim was trying to get some supplies from a rack. The rack was lose and fell down on her, braking her right arm and spraining her left wrist. She also got quite a few bruises on various parts of her body, but no internal injuries as much as I can tell."

Of course I moved over to my girlfriend and touched her cheeks, and she started to smile.

Mrs. Everdeen continued: "Ryan, I have to ask a favor. I don't have time to focus much on Primrose, as so many sick people in the Seam need me. Katniss promised to help out at the Hawthornes, as two of their kids are also sick. Of course she would stay here with Prim, but the Hawthorne family really needs her badly. Can you take Primrose home with you and be there for her? You probably realize that you'd have to help her with almost everything – with a broken arm right and a sprained wrist left there's not much she can do at all, but there's really nobody except Katniss I'd want her to be with for all of that. Also, knowing you, this is probably not something you'd mind doing, right?"

I nodded and confirmed: "Of course I will gladly take care of Prim. I will have to talk to the mayor about reducing my work hours for a few weeks, but due to adverse weather there's not much we can do outdoors anyway, so this should not be a problem. Can you please put some of her clothes in a bag?"

Soon I carried my girlfriend, wrapped in a thick blanket, through the snow covered roads to the bakery. First we stopped in the living room where Dad was reading a book, and I informed him about the situation. He looked at Prim and said:

"Poor girl; does it hurt a lot?"

Prim shook he head: "Not, not much, only if I try to move my arms. Mom has told me that I should try to not do this, and I will do my best. For now I am just tired and exhausted."

Dad looked at her: "I guess when you feel an itching somewhere you've got a problem."

Despite her tiredness Prim smiled and replied: "Not really, as long as I've got my boyfriend around!"

I picked her up again to get upstairs and placed her on the bed in my room.

"Are you all right for now?" I asked. "I will need to get back and grab your bag, but I should be back in half an hour."

"Yes, I am all right" Prim confirmed and nodded.

I went down again and walked over to the Seam towards the Everdeen home. Outside I met Lizzy, one of Prim՚s best friends, and told her about Prim՚s situation. Lizzy looked sad for her friend, and I suggested:

"Lizzy, when you want to come over at some time to talk with Prim, please feel free to do this at any time. Prim will be glad to get a visitor, and we all don't mind visitors at all. None of us at the bakery will mock you for being Seam, and you can have some snacks with us."

"Really, I could do that? Some of the shop owners have not treated me well when I entered their shops, and I have been warned about that by my parents."

"I am afraid that some Merchants behave that way, yes, and my mother used to discriminate against Seam, too. Please rest assured that we at the bakery do not, and everybody is welcome there, Merchant and Seam both."

Lizzy smiled now and replied: "Thank you for the kind invitation, Mr. Mellark, and I will certainly show up at some time."

Mrs. Everdeen had already left again, but Katniss was in when I picked up the bag with Prim՚s clothes. She asked me:

"You will take good care of my little sister?"

"Yes, I will, Katniss. You know that she is very dear to me, and it will be a pleasure to have her around."

She just nodded; Katniss Everdeen was not a friend of many words. Maybe that was a side effect of hunting: talking a lot scared the animals away, or so I had heard.

When I got back to the bakery, I hurried upstairs to my room, to find Wheat in there talking to my girlfriend. I first thought that he was going to make fun of us again, but Prim had shown him her injuries, and he was actually looking concerned and sympathetic. He told us:

"Prim, Rye, if I can help with anything, just let me know. Looks like you are going to be here for some time, Prim. I hope that you feel right at home, and we will make sure to feed you properly at least."

Prim managed a weak smile, and Wheat left. Now, looking at her, I asked:

"What would you like to do for the rest of the day, my dear?"

"I am afraid that I first need to go to the bathroom."

"Okay, let's do that first – I guess that I will have to pull your pants down, right?"

She nodded, and we performed this necessary business. Afterwards, I pondered the situation: "Hm, pulling pants down every time might be a little cumbersome; what about we get you something else to wear? If I gave you one my tee shirts, it would be like a dress for you, probably going down to your knees, and I'd only have to lift it up when you need to go."

Prim replied: "Yes, that might be quite comfortable. But getting a shirt over my arms might be a challenge."

"Oh, yes, you are right." I understood. "But, on the other side, you are not supposed to move and use your arms anyway, right?"

Prim nodded, and I continued: "We can as well get once of my tee shirts on you and not use the arm openings, but have your arms rather kind of fixed close to your chest, this would discourage you from using them a little bit, I think."

Prim looked a little sad and replied: "It is odd to be told not to use your arms at all. If I wasn't with you, this would probably drive me crazy. But yes, let's give it a shot."

My girlfriend's current shirt was stained with blood and dirt, and after getting approval from her, I simply cut it off her body to avoid moving her arms to get them through the sleeves. Her tank top was faring better, and I left that on her for now. She selected one of my tee shirts, and I pulled it over her head, and indeed it reached almost down to her knees.

"Are you comfortable like this?" I asked.

"Well, comfortable may not really be the word I'd use," she replied, "but good enough, thank you."

"All right – what's next?"

"I guess I could use something to eat, if that's all right."

"Okay, I will see what I can find in the kitchen – I will be back soon!"

Peeta had prepared a soup today, and I took a bowl with soup upstairs on a tray, together with a few cookies. Being fully aware that I needed to feed Prim, I made her sit on the bed with her back to the wall, placed the tray on a small table and myself next to her on the bed, facing her. Prim smirked and chuckled a little, saying:

"It has been a while since I was small and Dad and Mom needed to feed me. This is going to be quite some experience, I guess. Jut do me a favor, will you? Don't make me laugh when I eat. If you do, your bed cover will be full of soup!"

She had a point there, and I decided to do my best and behave, but teased her a little beforehand:

"So, nothing like 'another spoon for Daddy' and 'yet another spoonful for Mommy'?"

"No," Prim chuckled again, "not good!"

"Too bad," I continued to tease, "as I was just thinking that this could be a perfect opportunity to practice handling a baby. I mean, I will have to feed you, make you burp, I have to help you to go to the bathroom – actually, as a matter of fact, I could get some diapers and practice on you how to properly change them, applying baby powder and all..."

Prim burst out laughing and said: "Don't you dare! On the other hand, some of those things might actually be fun. I might want to see how you make me burp at least when I am done eating."

"Deal!" I replied. "I will skip the diapers, but I will try my best to make you burp when you are done with the soup."

For her benefit, I somehow managed to keep a neutral face while we were eating the soup. I alternated between pushing one spoonful in her mouth and in mine, and we managed to eat the entire content of the bowl I had brought up with me. For desert I had placed a few cookies on the tray, and we ate those as well, with me handing one of the cookies to her when she wanted to bite. When we were done, Prim sighed and told me:

"Thank you, Rye, that was good. I am full now, and you can stop feeding me for today, I guess. However, I may be looking forward to breakfast tomorrow."

I smirked, put the tray and our napkins aside, and grabbed Prim around the waist, carefully avoiding to move her arms, lifting her up and moving her head over my shoulder, shaking her up and down a little bit. She yelped:

"What is that supposed to be?"

"Trying to make you burp, as promised!"

"You really want to do this?" Prim giggled.

"Of course, this is going to be fun!"

Prim burst out laughing again, and I joined her, but continued to shake her body and push her stomach from time to time. Dad must have heard the commotion, as he came in and looked at us:

"I guess you two must have a lot of fun – I could hear you from downstairs."

"Sure, Dad, we have fun – Prim needs to burp after being fed, and I am trying to make her."

"You are trying to do what? Make her burp? Seriously?"

Dad almost could not believe it, but Prim՚s stomach used the opportunity to release a bubble of air upwards right at this time, and her burp was very distinct.

"Yeah, we did it!" I shouted, and now all three of us were laughing.

"How old are you again, Ryan?"

"You know," I replied when I had calmed down a little bit, "with Prim I sometimes feel like I am half my real age or so."

Later on, when I had brought the tray down again and we had talked a little, I could see Prim yawning again. She had had a long day, and the amount of work helping her mother combined with her injuries sure made her tired. I helped her to the bathroom again and also brushed her teeth, and finally I cleaned her face with a washcloth. When I had laid her down in bed and covered her, she asked:

"Rye, I am getting tired, but before I get to sleep, can you read something to me?"

"Sure – anything specific?"

"Is there a fairy tale I do now know yet?"

"Hm, let me see."

I went into the storage room where we had the few boxes of old books and games, and earlier I had already seen something which I eventually would want to read. It was a nice book with partially colored printing, and I took it up to my room.

"I found something; let's see how this starts. It is called 'The NeverEnding Story', from a person called 'Michael Ende'. It has a lot of pages, and we might be able to finish it if I read a few pages each night while you are here. What do you think?"

"Yes, let's go for it!"

I started to read about a shy boy called 'Bastian Balthasar Bux', who finds an odd book in a bookstore and starts to read it in the school's attic, but at that time Prim was already asleep, with a smile on her lips. I guessed that she had liked how this story started, and I was looking forward to the next few pages tomorrow.

I went downstairs to talk for a while with Dad and my brothers, and Philip, the new bakery assistant, also joined us for some time. Philip was getting used to baking, and he learned quickly. Dad had selected the proper person to hire, and Philip was quite happy with the little money and free food he got from us. Eventually I got to bed as well, cuddling close to my girlfriend who was already asleep.

When I woke up early in the morning, I found myself turned towards my girlfriend, and her face was what I noticed first. She was still asleep, and I enjoyed watching her for some time, before I got up. After my bathroom chores, I found my father downstairs, we talked a little and had a quick breakfast. Looking around, I collected some food for Prim՚s breakfast and prepared a cup of hot chocolate for her as well. For an appetizer, to get her awake, I picked a cheese bun which was just fresh out of the oven and still had a very strong and enticing smell.

Upstairs again I placed the tray close to the bed and waved the fresh cheese bun under Prim՚s nose. Still in her sleep, she started to sniff the air for some time, and finally she opened her eyes and was quite delighted to find the cheese bun hold close to her. Before I noticed, she had used her teeth and ripped a piece off. After chewing and swallowing she smiled at me:

"What a wonderful way to wake up! Is this breakfast for me?"

"Yes, it is," I nodded, "why don't you sit up and enjoy."

I helped her to sit up and rest her body against the wall, same as last evening, and I fed her with the bread, cheese bun, and hot chocolate until she was full. When we were done with eating and had talked for some time, I noticed that her way of speaking was somewhat different from normal, and I asked:

"Prim, did something in your mouth get injured as well? You talk a little odd?"

"What?" she replied. "Oh, that's probably because of my missing teeth." She opened her mouth wide for me to see, and there were not only one or two gaps, but a total of five, where the baby teeth had gone out and the next ones not yet there. Of course, she was still in that age range.

Mid morning my father guided Mrs. Everdeen upstairs. Naturally she was concerned about how her daughter was doing, but she found Prim looking quite happy, considering the breakfast she had had earlier; the empty tray was still around.

"Mom!" Prim yelled. "Look, I had breakfast in bed!"

"Yes, I see – good morning, you two."

"Rye has been taking such good care of me!" Prim continued to report. "Yesterday he also fed me, and he even read a good night story to me!"

"Yes, and after feeding her I made her burp and suggested to change diapers on her, but for some reason she was not really in favor of the latter." I teased.

"Rye!" Prim complained and tried to look annoyed, but started to chuckle instead.

"You did what?" Mrs. Everdeen could not believe that, I guessed.

"I made her burp after being fed, and it worked!"

Mrs. Everdeen reacted in a way I had not quite expected, and she laughed heartily, and almost could not stop again. When she had finally calmed down, she told us:

"Ryan, you just managed to make me do something I have not really been able to do much since my husband died – you made me laugh. Thank you very much for that. And thank you, too, Prim, for being part of that. Just one question: Why did you think about diapers?"

"Oh, I just thought that I could practice for later when we have kids of our own."

"You did? Really? Well, I guess you will be wonderful father eventually. But please do not even think about making babies with Prim anytime soon; this is nothing a mother wants to know, and it will have to wait for quite a few years anyway!"

Mrs. Everdeen – I found it difficult to call her 'Mabel' rather than 'Mrs. Everdeen' in my mind – looked more amused than concerned, though, and I replied truthfully:

"I am afraid that I can not do this, Mabel. My mind occasionally goes in wild directions, and I am not always in control of my thoughts and my dreams, I admit. However, as Prim and I have talked about that some topic time ago, I assure you that we both agreed not to actually do anything in that direction before we are married."

"Well, considering that you seem to be a healthy young man, this is probably all I can reasonably expect. Ryan, do you mind to give me some time with my daughter alone for a full examination?"

"Of course, Mabel. I need to talk to the mayor anyway about cutting back my work hours for a few weeks, and I can as well do that right now. Please do not hesitate to call my father if you need anything!"

"Sure, I will – talk to you later."

"Bye, Mabel" I addressed Mrs. Everdeen, and 'Bye, my love, see you later!" I told my girlfriend. When I left I could still hear Mrs. Everdeen telling her daughter:

"It is so sweet of him to call you 'my love' even with me being present, isn't it?"

Prim՚s giggling was the last I heard before I had left the house.

[Author's Note: The book 'The NeverEnding Story' is a translation from the real German book 'Die Unendliche Geschichte' by Michael Ende, and a movie was also done based on it, created by the 'Bavaria Filmstudios' in München, Germany.]