Katniss
The phone dropped from her hand and hit the floor with a resounding thud. She could hear Finnick's muffled voice calling out to her but she was too stunned to pick the phone back up. She ran past her startled sister and into the room she shared with Peeta. Tears pricked her eyes as she tore off the pajamas she had been wearing and threw on a pair of leggings and a hoodie. When she entered the living room again Prim was standing in the doorway of the kitchen with Katniss's phone to her ear. She was listening intently to what was being said on the other end of the line and making small noises of agreement to let the other person know she was listening. When she saw Katniss again she said a quick goodbye to the person on the phone and started up the stairs tossing the phone back into Katniss's hands.
"Give me two minutes," Prim yelled from the top of the stairs.
Katniss stood there looking at the black phone screen in her hands and wondering where the wetness on the screen had come from until it dawned on her that she was crying. She hastily wiped her eyes as Prim rushed down the stairs taking Katniss by the hand and pulling her out the front door.
"Give me your keys," Prim said calmly, but firmly. Katniss mutely did as her sister asked. "Do you know the way to the hospital?"
She nodded as Prim jumped into the driver's seat of her car. Katniss quickly got in on the passenger side. She squared her shoulders as she wiped her eyes. She scolded herself for her tears. She couldn't break down now. He was probably fine and she was overreacting. She took a deep, calming breath and looked at Prim as her sister backed down the driveway and headed towards the hospital.
Victors Memorial Hospital was a forty-minute drive from their sleepy small town. It was a metropolitan hospital that was far larger and had more capabilities than the community hospital she was more familiar with. Prim parked the car in the underground parking garage and they made their way towards the emergency area where Finnick last told them he was. They approached a nurse with a kind and friendly looking face stationed behind a large desk just beyond the emergency room entrance.
"Hi," Prim said flashing her beautiful smile at the nurse. "My sister's boyfriend was brought in a while ago. We were told he was getting a CT scan. We were hoping we would be able to go back and see him or at least talk to someone about his injuries. His name is Peeta Mellark. He came in with his friend, Finnick Odair."
At the mention of Finnick's name, the nurse's cheeks redden and she called to another nurse while gesturing to Katniss and Prim to wait. A few taps of the computer keyboard later and they were directed to a waiting room several floors above the emergency area. As they stepped off the elevator, Katniss immediately caught sight of Finnick's copper hair as he sat slumped in one of the waiting room chairs.
"Finnick!" She shouted as she rushed towards him. Finnick stood and wrapped Katniss in his arms. "Have you seen him yet? Or, heard anything?"
Finnick pulled back and shook his head. "Not yet. They took him back to get the CT. He was still pretty out of it. They told me to come up here and wait. I'm glad you got here so fast though."
He sighed and sat down again pulling Katniss down into the seat beside him. It was then that he noticed Prim and smiled at her reaching out his hand to shake hers. Prim took his hand and tried to choke back the small giggle that escaped. Katniss rolled her eyes and Prim quickly moved to the seat beside her mumbling a quick apology as she sat. Katniss patted her sister's knee. Now that she knew Finnick and his family better, she honestly tended to forget he was famous and she couldn't begrudge her sister for being a little star struck.
"What happened, Finnick?" Katniss asked.
"I – Look, don't be mad at him, ok? He loves you so much and he loves that little girl so much even though she isn't even here yet. He was just trying to do the right thing for you both."
Katniss blinked and nodded her head waiting for Finnick to continue.
"I was on the set and he came to visit me. Marvel was working too. Peet went to talk to him. He wanted to make sure that Marvel knew that you weren't after his money and that you were having a baby girl. Peeta wanted to extend the offer to be a part of the baby's life, if he was in fact the father."
Katniss could feel the bile rising in her throat. As true and good as Peeta's intentions may have been, she knew Marvel wouldn't have taken it well. "What did Marvel do to him?"
Finnick swallowed. His green eyes met her grey ones and she saw nothing but guilt in them. "There was a fight. Peeta threw the first punch and I should have stopped it there, but that asshole deserved to get hit so I let it go. I'm not even exactly sure what happened next. They fell on the ground and their arms were swinging. Dirt was flying up making it hard to see. Somehow, I got them apart and I grabbed Peeta by the shirt to pull him away when Marvel hit him in the back of the head with a something heavy. A hammer, maybe?"
Katniss jumped back. She had realized after their conversation during Thanksgiving that Marvel was not a kind man, but to deliberately hit someone in the head with a hammer? She couldn't imagine the kind of maliciousness that would drive someone to do something that could cause irrevocable harm or even death. It was then that she finally took in Finnick's appearance. His shirt and the front of his pants where covered in blood. Her hands began to shake.
Finnick reached out a hand and cupped her cheek drawing her focus away from his blood-stained clothes and back to his face. "I'm so sorry, Katniss. I called an ambulance as soon as it happened. He was unconscious for nearly the whole ride here. He came too just before we got to the hospital and vomited. The paramedics said that can be normal for a head injury. They couldn't tell me much else though other than they needed to get him into a CT to see the extent of the injury."
Finnick slumped back into the chair and covered his face with his free hand. His shoulders shook as he began to cry. Katniss grabbed the hand that was on her face and held it in her lap as she leaned against the back of her chair. The silence that stretched between the three of them was only punctuated by the opening and closing of the double doors that led to an area they were currently unable to enter. An area where Katniss knew Peeta currently was. Each time the doors opened they would jump and turn their heads with hopeful looks on their faces that would fall when the person entering or exiting the area wasn't for them.
As they waited Katniss couldn't keep all of the terrible scenarios from racing through her mind. What if he was dead? What if he was paralyzed or had suffered brain damage? What kind of life would be left for him after an injury like that? Just when she thought she would go insane as she fell deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of what ifs, the double doors swung open and a woman dressed in scrubs that didn't look much older than Katniss walked through the doors and into the waiting area.
"Mr. Odair?" She asked.
"Yes?" Finnick asked jumping from his seat.
Katniss and Prim both rose with him but the woman motioned for them to sit. Katniss noticed that woman had a vining tattoo that ran from her hairline down the side of her neck and disappeared into her scrubs. She couldn't decide if the tattoo made her feel more or less at ease with this person. Was this Peeta's doctor?
"I'm Dr. Cressida. Is Mr. Mellark's family available? Or is he married?"
"We're his family," Katniss blurted out quickly. "Um, he doesn't have any contact with his family. We are the closest thing he has to family. Finnick is like a brother. I'm his girlfriend and this is my sister."
Dr. Cressida looked hesitantly between the three of them. Her eyes flitted briefly to the swell under Katniss's sweater before she nodded and continued. "I'm a neurosurgical resident. I've been assisting with Peeta's case. Peeta was brought in with a fairly extensive head injury. We took him down to radiology and performed a CT scan. That scan showed that he sustained a skull fracture from the impact to the back of his head and that has also resulted in some swelling. He did regain consciousness for a period of time, but we have him sedated now in order to get the swelling under control and assess any additional injuries."
"So, is he going to be ok?" Katniss asked. She hated how small and scared her voice sounded.
"He's definitely not out of the woods yet, but the fact that he was conscious and conversing with us is a very good sign. However, there is something more that we need to discuss."
Dr. Cressida stood and motioned for the group to follow her into a small private room located off the main waiting area. The room contained nothing more than a large table with several chairs and a projection screen located on the wall opposite the door. Finnick, Katniss and Prim all took seats around the table as Dr. Cressida shut the door, lowered the lights and joined them at the table. She laid a black tablet on the table that Katniss hadn't even realized she had been carrying. Dr. Cressida entered a few details into the tablet and an image appeared on the projection screen.
"This is one of the scans from Peeta's CT," the doctor began. "You can see the area from the impact located here," she used a stylus on her tablet to highlight the area on the projection screen. "However, that is not why I brought you in here. Do you see this small area near the front of his brain?"
Katniss watched the doctor circle what looked like a small berry shaped black dot. The group nodded as the doctor waited before continuing.
"This is called a saccular aneurysm. It's likely that Peeta never even realized he had it. Most people don't until they burst. We're lucky to be able to find it."
Katniss was stunned into silence. Her brain seemed to just completely stop working as she stared at the picture of Peeta's brain. She registered that the doctor had paused giving them time to digest the information and ask questions, but Katniss's brain felt fuzzy and her mouth felt too dry to speak.
"So, are you planning to go in and clip it?" Prim asked in a calm and even voice.
Katniss's head whipped to her sister. Until that moment she had almost forgotten Prim was in the room with her and suddenly she was overwhelmingly happy that she was. Prim was a pre-med student and while she still had a lot to learn she would understand much more of what was going on than Katniss or Finnick would.
"Well, we have two options. We can go in surgically or we can do an embolization technique using a platinum coil," Dr. Cressida said matter-of-factly as she looked directly at Prim. "The embolization is less invasive, but it may need to be done again at a later date if the aneurysm reappears. Surgery would take care of it completely, but it comes with its own set of risks especially after the head trauma that Peeta has suffered."
"What if you do nothing at all?" Finnick asked. "You said that Peet probably didn't even realize he had this thing, so he could just go on with his life and it never bother him, right?"
"There is a possibility of that, yes. However, this aneurysm is rather large at twenty millimeters and the likelihood of it rupturing are high."
"What would happen if it ruptured?" Katniss croaked out, finally finding her voice.
"It can be life threatening especially one of this size. At the very least he could have frequent seizures. The more likely scenario would be that the rupture would cause excessive bleeding which would lead to a buildup of pressure in the brain. This pressure can cause permanent brain damage or death."
"Fuck," Finnick whispered, his hands coming up to scrub roughly at his face.
"Obviously, we are going to want you to treat it," Prim said, her hands moving through the air in her agitation. "I mean, if this were you, Katniss, I would absolutely have them treat it."
Katniss looked towards Finnick and then fixed the doctor with her steely gaze. "Yes, please take care of it."
Dr. Cressida's eyes soften at the determined look on Katniss's face. She glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "He should be waking up from sedation soon. We need to talk with him and let him know what is going on. Once we get his consent, I can have him in an operating room first thing in the morning. He's currently in an ICU bed so we can keep a close watch on him. I should be able to take you back now if you'd like."
Katniss nodded her head and gripped Finnick's hand as they stood from the table. Prim wrapped her arms around Katniss's neck and placed a kiss on her cheek letting her know that she would hang back in the waiting area while they visited. As they walked through the double doors she gripped Finnick's hand harder and his fingers tightened around hers. In any other circumstance she would have been embarrassed by her inability to show a stoic demeanor, but her mind was so flooded with thoughts of Peeta and his wellbeing for her to even think about how she appeared to the world.
They followed Dr. Cressida around a corner and into a large room with a central nurse's station and patient rooms with glass doors and walls allowing the nurses and doctors at the station to be able to visually see into the rooms at all times. As they walked, Katniss looked over to Finnick. His face was pale and drawn and he had dark purple circles under his eyes that were only accentuated by the harsh florescent light that flooded the space. She heard the errant whispering as they passed by people working or visiting on the floor. People were beginning to recognize him or word had gotten out that he was in the building. Either way, the rumor mill would be running at full steam in no time.
Dr. Cressida stopped outside of a room that had a curtain drawn across the glass wall for privacy. She gestured at them to wait as she moved into the room and disappeared behind the curtain.
"Did you talk to Annie?" Katniss asked in a low voice drawing Finnick's attention away from the door and down to her.
"Mmhmm," he replied quietly although his eyes drifted back to the door. "She's looking for a babysitter for Jacob and then she's planning on coming down here. It's hard though because it's Christmas Eve."
Up until that moment she had completely forgotten it was almost Christmas and a wave of guilt swept over her. "Finnick, you don't have to stay. I don't want you to miss Christmas with your son."
Finnick looked down at her with the most genuine look of gratitude in his eyes. "I appreciate that. I really do, but I can't leave. It's my brother in there."
Dr. Cressida appeared around the curtain and met them outside of the room. "The sedation is beginning to wear off and he's coming to. He's still pretty groggy and the pain medication we have him on is making him slightly incoherent at times, but that should get better the more he wakes up. He's asking for you both."
Katniss looked toward Finnick before walking through the door and gripping the privacy curtain with shaking fingers. She peered around the curtain briefly before stepping all the way into the room. The sight stole her breath and she brought her trembling fingers up to her mouth. Peeta's head was wrapped in white gauze securing a large bandage to the back of his head. She could see where they had shaved his hair on the side and back making his unruly curls stand haphazardly against the bandage. Various tubes and wires extended from his body. His knuckles were bruised and covered in minor scraped and cuts, but what caused her gasp was his battered face. His eyes and cheeks were badly swollen and she could see angry black, blue and purple bruises already extending from his hairline down his forehead across his right eye and onto his cheek.
Finnick's sharp intake of breath as he entered the room and took in the scene caused her to jump and Peeta's left eye fly open. His gaze drifted over Finnick, lingering briefly on the blood stains on his clothes before finding Katniss. Peeta sucked in a ragged breath. His bottom lip trembled slightly.
"Katniss, I –," he began but a sob escaped his lips cutting him off as he blinked away tears.
She moved to the side of his bed and wove her fingers through his squeezing them gently. He released a shuddering sigh and seemed to slip back into unconsciousness again. A nurse moved on the other side of the bed inputting data into a computer and adjusting his I.V. He lifted the blanket near the bottom of the bed checking something hanging low on that side before removing his gloves and sticking his hands under an automated hand sanitizing dispenser.
"Don't be surprised if he doesn't remember any of that," he said. "He's on a lot of pain medication and head trauma patients tend to forget quite a bit during the first few days. The emotional reaction is also very common, so don't let it frighten you. He's doing pretty good all things considered. I'll be back in about an hour unless you need me before. Hopefully, he will be up and ready to talk by then."
The nurse slipped past the curtain and out the glass door. Katniss lowered herself into a chair at Peeta's bedside suddenly feeling the weight of exhaustion crash over her. Finnick slumped down into a chair against the wall. His eyes furrowed in concentration as they scanned Peeta's body.
"I want to kill that son-of-a-bitch for this," Finnick whispered. "He walked away with not much more than a black eye and a bloody nose."
Katniss nodded afraid of what her voice would sound like if she actually spoke the words tangled up in her head. A murderous streak she didn't know she possessed flowed through her. In that moment she was sure that if she ever saw Marvel again she would run him through with the closest available pointed object. The thought that she would be capable of something like that and the satisfaction she felt at the mere imagination of his death gave her pause. As if knowing that her mind was headed to a dark place, the baby fluttered inside her as her stomach growled. She was hungry. The baby always moved a lot more when she was hungry. She reached out and brushed her knuckles softly against the side of Peeta's face.
"We should contact his family," she said with a resigned sigh. "I'm almost positive he is going to want to do the surgery. He won't want to risk the aneurysm coming back, not with the baby coming in a few months. They should at least know what's going on." She turned to Finnick who was watching her with a solemn expression on his face that she didn't exactly know how to interpret. "I don't have any of their information. Do you know how to get in touch with any of them?"
He nodded and grabbed his phone saying that he needed to call Annie back too and that he would reach out to Peeta's family when he was done with the call. He rose from the chair and kissed Katniss on the top of the head before exiting the room.
"She won't care, you know," Peeta mumbled causing Katniss to jerk her head towards him. Her hand instantly reached out to grasp his. He turned his head, wincing as the wound rubbed against the pillow, until he could meet her eyes.
"Who won't care?" She asked even though she was fairly certain that she knew who he was talking about.
"My mother. If anything, she'll probably be disappointed that Marvel didn't finish me off. But, then again, the fact that my death wouldn't bring back Proja would probably be what would piss her of the most."
"Maybe we'll get lucky and she won't come," Katniss said with a smirk in hopes that he would smile at her half-hearted attempt to make a joke.
"Yeah, maybe." He closed his eyes for a moment and she thought he might have drifted off again, but then his fingers tightened around hers. "I have an aneurysm?"
She inhaled deeply, torn about what to say to him. She felt like she should call the doctor back in or at least that nurse. They would be able to explain things to him that she wasn't qualified to or barely understood herself, but when she met his eyes and saw the earnest and frightened look in them, the words spilled out of her without a second thought. He listened silently as she explained what the doctor had said and what Prim had told her. When she said that the way the doctor had explained the surgery made it seem routine, simple even, but that it was still brain surgery with all the risks involved, he hesitantly brought his hand up to touch the bandage on his head. Once she had relayed everything she could remember to him, she waited for his response. She wanted him to say something, anything, to let her know how he was feeling. She was scared shitless and this wasn't even happening to her. If she felt that way then he must be terrified, but just like the night after she had told him about Marvel, the first words to leave his mouth surprised her.
"How's my baby girl doing today," he said, letting go of her hand to reach down and smooth his fingers across her belly.
She closed her eyes at his touch, humming softly as the sensation of his light touch as it caused goosebumps to form on her skin. "She's excited you're awake." She sighed and turned to look at him again. "You can't do things like this Peeta. You scared me to death."
"I know," he said while still drawing small circles with his hand on her stomach. "I just wanted to talk to him. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted to try and reason with him, but the things he said were too much. I was hitting him before I even knew what I was doing."
A commotion behind the privacy curtain caught their attention and they both turned their heads towards the sound. Finnick appeared with snacks and bottles of water in his arms. A look of relief flooded his face as he saw that Peeta was fully awake. He unloaded the items from his arms into an empty chair and came up beside the bed to grab Peeta's hand.
"I'm sorry, Peeta. I should've stepped in sooner. Hell, I should've hit the guy myself."
"You couldn't have done that," Peeta said. "That would've cost your job and maybe your whole career. That's your life. I don't want to take that away from you."
Finnick waved his hand in front of him brushing off Peeta's comment. "I could build a career again or do something else. Nobody says what that jackass said about my family. At least we can all be happy that he is no longer employed with the studio," he said with a shrug. "Good luck to him finding another job in the industry too."
"Did I hurt him?" Peeta asked, his voice laced with concern.
Katniss's chest tightened and she watched Finnick's eyes grow soft. Of course, Peeta would feel guilty and worry that he had hurt Marvel just as bad as the man had hurt him.
"He'll be fine," Finnick said as he patted Peeta's thigh and moved towards the empty chair holding the snacks. "His face might not be so pretty for a few weeks, but it's nothing that won't heal with time."
Peeta's eyebrows scrunch together as he carefully moved his head into a more comfortable position on his pillow. "Good," he said under his breath. His eyelids began to droop once more.
Katniss did quite understand how he could have so much concern for someone who had intentionally hit him so hard that it fractured his skull. She had far too much fire inside of her to be that forgiving. She had never sought out a way to harm someone, but she knew that deep down if she were ever forced into a situation that required it, she would be able to do so without hesitation. She had always thought of herself as an inherently good person, but in that moment she was sure that outside of Prim, she had never met anyone as truly good as Peeta Mellark.
Peeta
The edges of his thoughts were fuzzy. They felt just beyond his grasp and it took a great deal of effort to concentrate on anything. He knew it was because of the pain medication. He hated it, but his head throbbed intensely from even just the slightest movement and there was a constant headache pounding just behind his eyes. He was tired. It didn't matter how hard he tried, he could only stay awake for short periods of time. The doctors came in earlier and told him about the aneurysm, about the fracture in his skull, about his three cracked ribs and the other smaller more insignificant injuries. They had explained the procedure to him and the risks. He would be taken to an operating room, given general anesthesia, his head will be placed into a device to hold it steady and neurosurgeons will remove part of his skull and place a coil device to clip the aneurysm. He was scheduled to have surgery in the morning. On Christmas Day.
He had mumbled sincere apologies to all the doctors and nurses who would be stuck operating on him instead of enjoying the holiday at home with their families. They had assured him that it wasn't a problem. They had taken an oath to save lives and his life was worth being a little late to their holiday festivities. He had sent Finnick home. Annie was unable to find a sitter and there was no need for Finnick to be uncomfortable in his hospital room overnight, when there were more important things, like Santa Claus, to attend to. Finnick had looked dubious, but Peeta insisted that he would not allow this to ruin Christmas morning for Jacob, so Finnick relented saying he would be back as soon as he could in the morning.
Katniss was another story completely. She refused to leave his side. He did talk her into telling Prim to go back to the house, which she did only after bringing a fresh set of clothes and a few toiletries for Katniss. The nurses had taken pity on her and brought in a cot, pillow and blanket to help her sleep. Every time he woke up she was there curled on the cot beside his bed with her arm resting on the side of the bed so their fingers could touch.
Although he would frequently fall asleep, he didn't stay asleep long and he watched the hours pass as the hands on the clock on the wall ticked by. A new rotation of nurses arrived at 6am and a shy nurse with beautiful, red hair named Lavinia came in to check his vitals. She didn't speak much, but the few words she did speak were said in hushed tones as her eyes flitted over to Katniss's sleeping form. Peeta watched as she disappeared out the door and idly wondered what it would take to recreate that color of red on canvas sleep captured him again.
The click of high heels and a loud, brash voiced jolted him awake. He turned his head to see Katniss seated in a chair beside his bed, her cot nowhere to be found, and her head tilted quizzically toward the sound. As the voice grew closer he was finally able to hear what was being said.
"That tone is absolutely uncalled for! I will have you know that my late husband has made numerous, large donations to this hospital so I would think that would afford me to be treated with a little more respect."
Another voice with more whispered tones begins speaking before the second voice cut in again.
"I don't give a fig about visiting hours. Like I said, my donations practically built that new wing I hear the hospital director bragging about all the time, so if you have a problem with me visiting my nephew," the voice became crystal clear as the door to his room opened, "then you can let the director know he can speak with me personally. The name is Effie Trinket Heavensbee."
Before Peeta had a chance to say anything to warn Katniss about what was coming, Effie appeared from behind the privacy curtain with a bright pink dress hugging her slender figure, ridiculously tall high heel shoes and a large brimmed matching pink hat sitting atop the blonde ringlets perfectly coiffed to frame her face.
"Peeta, darling!" Effie exclaimed as she teetered to the bedside opposite Katniss. "Oh, my sweet boy. That handsome friend of yours, Finnick, called me yesterday and I rushed here as soon as I could."
Peeta smirked to himself. Of course, Finnick had called Effie and not his parents. Finnick knew that Effie acted as the perfect buffer between Peeta and his mother and that Effie truly had Peeta's best interest at heart. He would need to thank Finnick later.
"I talked with your parents, of course. They are worried sick. Your father is due to arrive shortly with Rye. Your mother needs to stay behind to watch over the bakery. I'm sure you understand." Effie patted his arm, but her eyes told him that she disagreed with his mother's decision. She fussed with the bit of hair sticking out of the bandages around his head and straightened the blankets around his middle. "Today is a big, big, big day, but I'm I know you are going to do just fine, dear. We will all be here for you and I will make sure that everything is taken care of and – oh! Who is this lovely, young lady?"
Katniss's eyes darted from Peeta to Effie and back to Peeta and he saw the nervous look in them. She was unsure of what to say or do. She knew of his aunt. Everyone in their small town knew of Effie even if they didn't know her personally. She grew up as a prominent member of the townspeople, along with his mother, because her family owned and operated the only pharmacy in town. The family did well financially, but once Effie met and married Plutarch Heavensbee, she officially became one of the wealthiest people in the country. She was definitely the wealthiest person anyone from their small town had ever known. This made Effie a sort of legendary figure, someone that people talked about in hushed, reverent voices. Although, if they knew Effie, really knew her, they would realize that deep down she was still a small-town girl, even if she did talk with a made up hoity-toity accent that made Peeta rolls his eyes behind her back.
"This is Katniss," he began, taking Katniss's hand and bringing her fingers to his lips.
"Katniss. The Katniss?" Effie asked, looking between the two of them.
Katniss's brows furrowed in confusion and Peeta ignored the questioning look in her eyes.
"Yes. And, that," he gestured to Katniss's belly, "is our baby girl."
Katniss's eyes darted towards him unsure. She only knew of his mother and he knew she was wary that Effie's reaction would be similar to his mother's, but he knew better.
"Peeta!" Effie screeched making Katniss jump slightly in her seat. "Why didn't you tell me? Your mother said nothing about this to me at all. Shame on her!" Effie's hands flapped wildly in front of her eyes as the tears began to fall. She slid her hand into Peeta's being careful of the I.V. attached. "Oh, my dear, dear, sweet boy. You're going to be a daddy. I'm over the moon about this!" She quickly tottered over to Katniss pulling her out of her chair and wrapping her in a crushing hug. Katniss stood there eyes wide and arms pinned at her sides. "I'm just so happy," Effie cried finally releasing Katniss. Effie playfully swatted Peeta's leg. "Look at how you've ruined my makeup. This takes so long to perfect, you know."
Effie crossed the room and sat down in one of the available empty chairs. She pulled a compact out of the bag he hadn't noticed was tucked under her arm and began to fix the tear streaked makeup.
There were three sets of doors. He had counted the frames and changing ceiling tiles as they passed through all of them to enter the operating room. He had kept his breathing even and smiled graciously at the nurses that wheeled him through the halls and doorways. As they passed through the final set of doors he could only think of Katniss and the determination she had poured into their last kiss. She had refused to say goodbye telling him that she would be by his side when he woke up, but he could see the concern in her eyes. They both knew that there was a chance he wouldn't wake up. He had spoken to Finnick quietly and quickly when Katniss had excused herself to use the bathroom. He asked his friend to look after her. Finnick promised that Katniss and the baby would always be taken care of.
Peeta's father and Rye had shown up just shortly before Peeta was wheeled from his room. His father had brushed Peeta's hair from his eyes and lightly kissed his forehead. Rye had awkwardly hung back at first only nodding at Peeta with a small smile, but once the nurses arrived to take Peeta away, Rye moved towards the bed and gripped his hand. Then, with a smile on his lips he began the secret handshake they had devised when they were both little boys. Katniss watched hiding a smile behind her hand and quickly wiping a tear that had escaped. Their father chuckled, Finnick laughed and Effie scoffed. When the handshake was done, Peeta reached up and punched Rye lightly in the arm, but as he was wheeled out of the room he had a bright smile on his face.
The earth momentarily shifted as he was lifted from the gurney onto the surgical table. The anesthesiologist that he had met earlier that morning appeared by his head. He must have seen the fear in Peeta's eyes even though he was desperately trying to hide it because the man smiled warmly and patted Peeta's shoulder. He explained that he was going to administer the general anesthesia and that Peeta would feel a cool sensation in his veins and begin to feel drowsy. The man than moved away from the table and Peeta focused on the ceiling. It was painted in a calming blue color which was odd because the rest of the room had plain white walls. He vaguely wondered if that was done for the patient's benefit to give them a pretty color to look at before their lives were in the hands of others. He wanted to ask the anesthesiologist about it, but he suddenly felt the cold sensation he was told about running up his arm and through his whole body. He shivered. He heard the anesthesiologist ask him to count backwards from ten. His eyes felt heavy as he began to count. He looked to the ceiling once more and as his eyes dropped he wished that it was sunset orange and not blue because he would've loved to see that color one more time before he died.
Happy New Year! I'm in graduate school (and have two small kids and a husband ha!) and classes have started back up again, so I'm going to try to get a chapter out once a week but that may not always be possible. I'll do my best though. Thank you again for reading and liking the story! Seeing that it is almost to 100 followers is amazing!