Skada Socket- District Five female (15)

God, I don't feel so good...

I wasn't sure how long I'd been lying on the floor. I wasn't really sure of a lot of things. I knew I'd been shot but I wasn't certain how bad it was. It hurt, but more of a distant ache than what I imagined a gunshot would feel like. All I could think about was all the horrible germs that were all over a place like this and how back then people used ground-up mummies as medicine. If I wasn't dead yet then it probably wouldn't be the shot that killed me. It would be the aftermath.

"How many fingers?" Tabitha asked. Her fingers weren't blurry but it took me a long time to focus on them. I could see them just fine but it was hard to make my brain connect to my mouth.

"Four," I said.

"Good," Tabitha said. She and Nene were watching over me while Richard stood at the window to check for oncoming Careers. I didn't know what they planned to do if they came. I certainly couldn't walk. Maybe the plan was for Richard to carry me. That would probably make me start bleeding again. Lester and Irina had gone out to try to find some sort of livestock store and hopefully get some medical supplies.

"There they are!" Richard called, pointing out the window. "Lester and Irina, I mean," he hastily added. He went to unlock the door for them. Irina and Lester came in carrying armfuls of various supplies, Irina asking about my condition. Am I going to die? I thought almost dreamily. My breathing quickened and tugged painfully at the skin around my wound.

Lester knelt by me and carefully pulled at the shirt bandaging my wound. I winced and then whimpered as the shirt tugged at the caked blood almost gluing it into place.

"Is this gonna hurt a lot?" I squeaked.

"Good news and bad news," Irina said. "The bad news is we're going to need to stitch that up with this." She held up a spool of thick thread and a very large-looking needle along with a bottle of antiseptic that I already knew was going to burn. She set them down and held up another bottle. "The good news is we found this."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Laudanum," Irina said as she splashed antiseptic on the needle and thread and Lester poked around in the cabinets for a bowl to put water in. "Pretty sure the vet had that one for himself, since people quickly discovered its "recreational" use.

"What, it's alcohol?" I asked. I had to smile a little at how completely ridiculous it was that I'd just been shot and was about to be drunk.

"More like cocaine," Irina said.

Richard Franklin- District Five male (18)

I'd never felt more useless. All these muscles and I couldn't do a thing to help. I hadn't even gotten to the fight before it was over. Skada might die and Irina had lost two fingers and I hadn't gotten a scratch. I should have been down there helping. I should have been the one to get shot. I was used to it. Sure I couldn't deflect a bullet like I could a cannonball but it had to be good for something. At least Skada wouldn't be lying on the ground all pale and agonized and trying to be brave. I should have been the one being brave and she should be the one who was safe and hoping I would be okay.

"How much is a dose?" Lester asked.

"I think back then it was kind of just 'give them a bit and see what happens'," Irina said. She took the spoon Lester offered and carefully filled it with laudanum. She offered it to Skada and helped her drip it into her mouth.

"You feel anything?" Irina asked.

"Just tired. And sore," Skada said with a weak smile. It tore me up to look through her brave demeanor and see the pain and fear shining through. Skada looked awful. There was a foreboding listnessness about her and an unhealthy damp pallor to her skin. None of us were doctors but it was clear she was seriously wounded. If we didn't do something big I couldn't imagine she would survive.

Lester gestured for me to come sit by him. He handed me a basin of water. "Pour this on the bandage while I tug it away, okay?" he asked.

"Of course," I said. I hated that I knew it was going to hurt but I just wanted to do something to help. I gently tipped the bowl and let water run down onto the shirt as Lester gently started to loosen the material. Skada went stiff. She closed her eyes and scrunched her face. I tried not to flinch when she twitched or grunted with the pain of Lester's efforts.

Once revealed the wound... could have been worse. It turned my stomach to see the thumb-sized crater right above Skada's hip. I had to fight back tears when I remembered Lexi was at home watching her little sister bleeding and in pain. We had to keep Skada safe. We just had to.

Lester dabbed at the wound with the last of the water in the basin. It probably wasn't sterile but it at least looked pretty clean. We'd use the antiseptic next. That was the part I was afraid of.

"Woah," Skada said. She turned her head and looked at me with eyes that didn't seem to see me. "I think this stuff's kicking in."

Irina Sokolova- District One female (18)

"Who's gonna do the sewing?" Tabitha asked.

"Not Three-Hands McGee over here," I said, holding up my very sore hand. We'd washed it with water and bandaged it. Once Skada was taken care of we could dress it better and maybe do stitches. I wasn't even sure if we could do stitches on such a small area. Fewer stitches, I guess.

"I have big bear paws," Richard said, looking like it was somehow a moral failing.

"I did some first aid stuff in the Capitol," Nene offered. I handed her the thread and she started poking it into the needle.

"Just kind of pinch in together and sew it shut, I guess," I said.

"You ready?" Lester asked Skada, holding the bottle of antiseptic up over her wound.

"I feel like a million bucks," Skada said with a loopy smile.

I tensed as Lester started to pour out the antiseptic. Even if Skada was numb I almost had a secondhand sensation of the stinging liquid splashing over her raw flesh. Most of us recoiled and Tabitha actually covered her eyes.

"Ooh, it's cold," Skada said.

"I think she's drunk," Tabitha said. Lester finished daubing the antiseptic into the wound. It was a little eerie seeing Skada's non-reaction to what would have a normal person crying. Lester scooted away and Nene took his place.

"I'm going to start sewing," she said.

"Kay," Skada said.

Nene gingerly pinched together the skin on either side of the hole. She put the needle to the skin. She hesitated, then pushed the needle in. It went into Skada and came out the other side of the pinched skin. I was a Career and all but I did feel a little icked out watching it pierce Skada like a piece of fabric.

"Ahhh, that feels weird," Skada said, her words slurring a little. She turned her gaze to me, her eyes languid. "You know... you're really ssssssexy," she said.

"I am," I agreed, trying not to laugh. "Thanks."

"You tooooooo, Nene," Skada said. "And Tabitha... you're pretty, you know? More pretty than sexy."

"What about me?" Richard asked.

"No," Skada said. Tabitha snickered and Richard side-eyed her. We all clustered around Nene, watching with a mix of disgust and trepidation as she sewed Skada up. We'd left the bullet in, worried that we'd tear her up worse if we tried to get it out. If it ended up killing her... there wasn't much we could do. We were a bunch of kids with a spool of thread.

I got up to watch the window. The whole thing was grossing me out anyway and we had to keep watching for the Careers. As soon as Skada was stable we would have to move out. They'd be coming back and this time they'd have a plan.

"Done," Nene said a few minutes later.

"How is she?" I asked. I looked down. Skada was asleep.

I decided to do an update today so I could do this scene and then next update can be non-circus people. There are also some sponsor gifts coming but I didn't have room here.