DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.

Chapter 76-Rest

Katniss awakens in a hospital room, lying on her back on the bed. She has just woken up from a nightmare, shaking uncontrollably. She realizes she has been screaming, for all of the sudden she hears her door open and sees a figure emerge at her door-Peeta.

"Peeta" Katniss cries out in shock.

"I came to the capitol as soon as I got your letter. I've been so worried." Peeta says coming up beside Katniss's bed and taking her hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"How do you feel?" his eyes not leaving hers as he asks with concern.

"Sore, really sore" Katniss says, realizing that she doesn't feel intense pain anymore.

"Well, I'll let you get back to sleep" Peeta says letting go of her hand and walking away.

"Peeta!" Katniss cries out.

He turns his head around immediately and looks at her, anticipating what she will say next.

"Will you stay with me?"

"Sure" and he walks back to her bed and pulls up a chair, taking her hand and kissing it.

"I always slept better when I was with you" Katniss says while yawning.

Peeta smiles and says, "You love me, true or false?"

"True" she says looking up at the ceiling, not able to look at him in the eyes.

"Then why did you break my heart?" he says with a sudden look of anger in his eyes.

Before Katniss can respond, he gets up and reaches behind his back, pulling a knife out. He begins stabbing her in the chest over and over.

"Slag heap slut!" he screams at the top of his lungs. The uncontrollable look of rage on his face she hadn't seen since he first came to District 13.

She jolts herself wake, her eyes wide, heart pounding. It takes her a few seconds to realize it was a bad dream, or nightmare she wasn't sure what to call it. In most of her nightmares she has to relive seeing the images of her friends die over and over, it was never her being killed in her nightmares.

She looks around her, she is the hospital room she just dreamed about. She sees she is hooked up to an IV, she wonders if she is receiving morphling. She pushes the call button, waiting for the nurse to come.

"Can I help you Miss Everdeen?" the nurse asks coming in shortly after Katniss pushed the button.

"What pain medication is this?"

"Morphling."

Katniss immediately pulls the IV out of her arm, seeing the liquid squirt everywhere, her arm squirting blood out as well.

The nurse comes and applies pressure to the site. "Miss Everdeen! What are you doing?

"No morphling, give me something else."

"It won't be as strong."

"I don't care!" Katniss says raising her voice.

"Alright, alright." And the nurse rings for additional help and another nurse comes in to help stop the bleeding and get a new IV fluid bag ready.

The doctor comes in and asks Katniss why she didn't want morphling.

"It's the best pain medication we have" he says looking at Katniss in confusion.

"I know, I-had a habit of taking too many of them when I was taking the pills."

The doctor nods his head, immediately understanding. "Well, I am sorry, you were unconscious when they brought you to us and then they left so quickly we didn't have time to get any details."

Katniss immediately becomes concerned to hear that Gale is not here at the hospital. "They left? You mean Commander Hawthorne is gone?"

"He comes and goes. He is not here right now, he left about an hour ago."

"Did he-say when he would be back?"

"No, I'm sorry."

Katniss wonders if Gale had to leave because there was still fighting going on, she wonders if Marlon is here as well.

Before she can ask anything else the doctor says, "Once the IV fluid bag they just hooked up is empty, we will bring another medication for you. It is decent, and not habit forming, but you will experience a lot more discomfort."

"I don't care. I can handle it."

The doctor nods his head and says, "I'm sure you can" and turns and leaves.

She stares at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts. Once the IV fluid bag is empty the nurse comes in and gives Katniss a pill to take to help sleep and hooks up the new medication to her IV.

The pill takes affect quickly, her eyes getting heavy within what feels like seconds.

When she wakes up, she sees her Mother sitting beside her.

"Mom?" Katniss chokes out, surprised to see her. She tries to sit up.

"Katniss-easy, don't try to sit up" her Mother says getting up out of her chair and standing above her.

"Is it really you?" Katniss wonders aloud, not knowing if this was another dream.

"It's me, I just got here. Gale arranged for a hovercraft to come get me."

"Is he here?" Katniss asks desperately.

"No honey, he's with the President right now. But he'll be back after."

Katniss feels a sense relief to hear he is coming back, and that he is safe.

"Where am I?

"District 9, you are at a local hospital."

Katniss is not surprised. She apologizes to her Mother for leaving Panem without saying goodbye and tells her how she just wanted to get to the tribe, and how she got injured, resulting in her chance meeting with Marlon.

She talks so fast her Mother doesn't get a chance to respond. She tries to calm Katniss down, letting her know they could talk more about it later.

Katniss ends up falling asleep again, she wakes up in a lot of discomfort, realizing the morphling was out of her system. She tries to ignore the pain, and turns on the TV in the room to distract her. She sees a note from her Mother saying that she went to Jocelyn's house for dinner. She realizes she must not be far from Jocelyn's house and that the hospital she is at was the hospital Rain worked at.

While lost in the TV show is watching, she hears a knock at her door and sees Marlon standing there.

"Marlon" Katniss says perking up, relieved to see that he was up and walking around.

His face still looks bruised, but Katniss notices as he walks towards her bed that his gait is good.

"You okay?" he says eyeing her with curiosity.

"Yes. Are you alright?" concerned about what the Jay Killers did to him.

"I'll live. So, when can we get out of here?"

"I don't know, I don't know what is happening with the Jay Killers."

"Your man came to see me. Gale is it? He came to thank me for saving you."

"What did you say?" Katniss says imagining a sarcastic remark back.

"I told him that while you could be a pain it was-kind of nice, having someone to talk to again. Though you didn't do much talking at first. I also told him, that I hopefully got you back on the right track."

Katniss nods in response, not saying anything further in regards to the subject. She wonders what Gale said in response but a part of her didn't want to know the answer. She knows he is still unsure of her feelings, she also knew he wasn't holding her at an icy distance like he did in the past. The fact that he let her stay in his tent the previous night proved that.

When Marlon sees she wasn't going to respond he says, "I need you to talk to your man for me, have him get me out of here, the doctors here won't let me leave."

It was weird for Katniss to hear Marlon refer to Gale as "her man", but she knows he is speaking the truth. She always looked at him as hers, even when she had suppressed her feelings, she knew she would never stop being possessive of him in that way.

"I'll ask, but we don't know what happened to your cabin. The Jay Killers might have fled there and have taken it over or even destroyed it."

"If they did, this-army better get them out of there. And if they destroyed it, I will just have to rebuild. I am not leaving there, it is my home."

Katniss knows it is of no use trying to change Marlon's mind about going back. She only hopes the Jay Killers don't plan on paying him a visit again, for they would kill him the next time they saw him. She nods in understanding instead.

"So what will you do now?" Marlon asks in a more concerned tone.

"I'd like to go back to District 9, finish my teaching assignment, only-"

"You don't know what will happen to your Native friends?" Marlon says cutting her off.

"They have my map, I didn't see it when we rescued you."

"When they took me into that tent, they looked through all your stuff, they quickly took the map and your journal. Saying they would make sure someone by the name of Jasper gets it."

Katniss wonders if that is the Jay Killers new leader, this Jasper person.

"I have to warn them, convince them they have to leave."

"Do you think they will listen to you?"

"I don't know, I hope so. They have good fighters, but they'd be no match for guns."

"Well, the quicker we get out of here the quicker you can go and try to help" Marlon says in a matter of fact tone.


Later that evening Katniss's Mother comes back with Jocelyn. The three of them have a nice visit, as nice of a visit she could have under the circumstances. Katniss's Mother notices she is not receiving morphling and asks Katniss about it.

Katniss tries to brush it off by saying that she didn't feel the morphling was helping and that she wanted something else. Her Mother says nothing in response.

After her Mother and Jocelyn leave, Katniss falls asleep again. She is awakened by someone grabbing her hand. She was having difficulty sleeping due to her discomfort, waking easily.

When she opens her eyes she sees it is Gale's hand that has taken hers. She looks up and sees him looking down at her, standing at full height by her bed.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you" he says giving her a soft smile.

"I'm having a hard time sleeping anyway."

"Oh-your dreamcatcher. I completely forgot about it, it's back on the hovercraft" Gale says chastising himself for forgetting it.

"Where is the hovercraft?"

"Back at our base here in 9, about 40 minutes from here."

Katniss remembers the ride was not long from the base when she and Spencer first drove to Rain's house.

"Do you want me to go get it for you?" he asks.

"No, that's okay, I'm sure you're exhausted."

"But your nightmares-"and before he can continue she says, "It's not because of the dreamcatcher that I cannot sleep."

He looks at her in confusion and she explains by saying, "They were giving me morphling, I told them I didn't want it so they gave me something else. What they gave me doesn't work nearly as well, so it is hard to sleep."

"Katniss, if you are in pain-"

"I can't take morphling Gale you know that!"

He knows she is right, but he feels the need to do something to help ease her pain.

"When you return to District 9, I am going to arrange to have your meals delivered to you. And I will arrange for a cleaning service to come clean your apartment."

"Don't arrange anything just yet. I have to get to the tribe, tomorrow if possible."

"No-"

"I have to warn them! This new leader still has my map correct?"

"We captured 25 Jay Killers, quite a few of them were dead, the rest scattered into the woods. We are surveilling the area. We will find them."

"But no map? No journal?"

"Not yet."

She tells him what Marlon just told her, again stressing the need to get to the tribe as soon as possible. She also tells him of Marlon's request.

"I will talk to the doctor and see if it is alright. His cabin is fine, no one has shown up, but it doesn't mean they won't."

"That's what I told him."

"Well, he's just as stubborn as you so-I'm not surprised. No wonder you two got along so well."

"Like you're not stubborn" Katniss says in defense.

"I never said I wasn't."

"Will they release me?"

"I think so, we could always tell them it is a matter of security. But you know they will have all kinds of discharge instructions. And I'm pretty sure going back into the woods is not on the list."

"It's because of me they are in danger."

"Do you know how much I worry about you?"

"I know."

He lets go of her hand and pulls up a chair and sits beside her. She sees that he looks utterly exhausted. She can't believe that a little over 24 hours ago they had arrived in the wild territory, had sex, slept, snuck in the Jay Killer's camp to save Marlon, engaged in fighting, and now here she was, in a hospital room.

"You should go lay down in a real bed, back at the base" she says to him while he yawns.

He sighs and says, "What about you?"

"I'll be fine."

"Where is your Mom?"

"At Jocelyn's house. I expect she'll be here in the morning."

"I'm not leaving you."

"I didn't know if you planned to stay."

"What makes you say that?"

"I just, I still don't know where we stand."

"You do remember what we were doing last night right?"

"Yes but-I didn't think that meant anything."

"WHAT? Did it not mean anything to you?"

"Of course it did! I'm only trying to say-people still have sex when they are mad at each other. Didn't you have that with Dez?

"Yeah."

Katniss gives him a look proving her point.

"Look Katniss-I'm not-mad at you. I'm disappointed."

"I know."

"I want to know for sure that I am enough for you. That-you won't suddenly fall out of love with me like you did with Peeta. I don't think I could take it if that happens."

"I didn't suddenly fall out of love with Peeta! It was a long time coming."

"Well, I don't want that either. You being with me just to be with me."

She wishes she could throw her arms up in disgust, instead she says angrily, "I can't win with you."

"All I want, is for you to be completely sure. As eager as I was to be with you, I think moving as fast as we did hurt us."

She nods in understanding, they had been on a crazy romantic whirlwind at times since getting together. Even to the point where she wanted to have children with him right away. She knows now that was a mistake, and was thankful that didn't go any further than a conversation.

"I am sure. I will prove it to you. So I'll see you tomorrow alright?"

"You sure you don't want me to stay?"

"I want you to get sleep, you need it."

He gets up and bends down and kisses her, softly at first and then more aggressively. She hears the monitor she is hooked up to start to beep, signaling her heartbeat was rising.

He breaks off the kiss and says, "I'll see you in the morning."

She smiles and nods back, giving him a quick kiss one last time.

He gives her one last long look and heads out the door. Once he is gone she sees a guard appear right outside her door. She knows Gale arranged the guard, not taking any chances. She assumes Marlon has one as well.

She manages to get some sleep, periodically waking up a few times in the night due to discomfort, when she awakens in the morning she sees her Mother come into the room with the doctor. Her Mother greets her and leaves the two of them alone to talk.

"I know you are anxious to leave, you can leave after tomorrow. We will give you some pain medication to take with you, non-habit forming medication per your wishes. I know you were in the wild territory, I strongly recommend you don't go back, but if you do, try to rest as much as you can. No lifting for a couple of months until your shoulder is completely healed along with your arm. You'll need help when you are back home. No long periods of walking or standing either, your leg will take at least a month to heal. So-overall, limited physical activity. I want you to work with the therapists today to get you out of this bed. We will be disconnecting the monitor and IV."

"What about the man who came with me? Can he leave?"

"Yes, he can leave today. His injuries were pretty minor."

Katniss thanks the doctor and after he leaves, her Mother comes in, bringing Katniss her breakfast.

Katniss argues with her Mother about going to the tribe. When her Mother realizes she will never win the argument she gives up, prepared to give Gale an earful before they leave.

Her Mother stays with her while she works with the therapists. They teach Katniss some exercises they want her to work on. When she heads back to her room, she sees it is almost lunch time. Gale hadn't come by yet. She becomes concerned that something happened with the Jay Killers, delaying his visit to her. She tries to push thoughts of worry from her mind.

After she finishes eating her lunch with her Mom, Marlon comes bolting into her room without knocking.

"When can I go? The doctor said I can leave. Where is your man? Tell him I am ready to go."

Katniss's Mom gives him a very unfriendly look, Katniss then gives her Mother a look letting her know it was alright and she leaves the room, giving Katniss and Marlon privacy.

"Hello to you too" Katniss says sarcastically.

Marlon huffs and says, "Hello. Look you know I don't like being here, I want to get as far away from Panem as I can."

"Gale has not come to see me today. I think something is happening with the Jay Killers. They will take you back once they get here."

"If they get here."

Katniss frowns at Marlon, not liking what he is implying. "Of course they will get here. They just might not get here today, so you'll just have to wait. Unless you want to walk back home."

This time Marlon frowns at Katniss and says, "I'll go back to watching TV. TV today is way better than it was when Snow was in charge."

"No more mandatory viewings."

"Right. Well, sorry to interrupt your-whatever you were doing with your Mother."

"Have dinner with me tonight, if you are still here that is."

"I'll think about it" he says giving her a wink and walks out.

Katniss works with the therapists in the afternoon as well, and returns to her room very fatigued. She ends up taking a nap and waking up at 5 pm.

Her Mother tells her that Gale still hasn't shown, Katniss becoming even more anxious than before. Katniss tells her Mother about her dinner plans and her Mother says she was planning to go Jocelyn's anyway.

"If Gale shows, call me" her Mother says as she gets up to leave.

"I will, thanks Mom."

Katniss and Marlon eat in her room, the nurses bringing in a small fold up table for them to eat at. They make small talk while eating their food, Marlon telling Katniss he thinks the food was just so-so.

They begin to talk about more serious matters, such as their fears at what was happening with the Jay Killers.

"You're worried about him aren't you?" Marlon says.

"Of course. Knowing Gale he won't rest until this Jasper person is found and he gets the map back for me."

"And yet he questions how you feel about him?"

"It's more complicated than you think."

"Not really. It's possible to love more than one person. I believe it is at least. He questions his assurance that you are committed to him, but, the fact that you are still moving forward with your plans should be his answer."

"I think the big test will be where I end up getting a job."

"Where would you want to work?"

"I'll have to get a job in District 2. If they'll have me that is."

"Have to get a job in 2?"

"It's where he lives, I told you this."

"He can't get a job somewhere else?"

"Government official jobs are not easy to come by."

"Well, if you can't get a job in 2, I don't think he'll hold that against you."

"Let's hope."

"Just don't get a job in 12, he might hold that against you" Marlon says curling his lips up in a smile.

She laughs back and says, "Don't worry about that."

They watch some TV before Marlon goes back to his room. She sees it is 9 pm. Still no visit from Gale.

She was not in as much discomfort today, falling asleep much quicker than she did yesterday. She wakes up and sees that it is midnight, startled when she sees Gale sleeping in the chair pulled up next to her.

She wants to wake him, but she knows he needs his sleep. She quietly gets out of the bed and uses the bathroom. Before getting back into the bed, she gives him a soft kiss on the cheek, careful not to wake him.

He moves slightly by her touch but does not wake, continuing to sleep. Once she is sure he will not wake she crawls back into bed, relieved beyond belief that he is okay.