The doctor is assuring Haymitch that Katniss is okay, and pushing him out of the room.
"The bullet didn't penetrate or even dent the armor. We need to assess for internal damage -" The doctor stops talking, maneuvers Haymitch past the door, and swings it shut so there's just a tiny gap open. Through the gap he says, "And we can't do that with you in here. Go sit down." The door clicks shut.
Haymitch pounds his fist on the door, knowing it will do no good. Then he walks to the opposite wall, and leans his head on his arms, braced against the wall. He takes several deep breaths.
He had been watching the live feed with Coin and Plutarch in Command. He watched her get shot. He had stood up and thrown a chair across the room.
"Oh, my god," said Alma Coin.
Three jumpsuits had converged on him.
Plutarch said, "Haymitch, she's okay! She's okay, I promise!"
They had a syringe and used it on him in the hall. What were they, standard issue?
When he had woken up, Plutarch was looking at him, trying to suppress his mirth. He was giggling, pressing his lips shut with the tips of of his fingers.
"Ah, Haymitch. You are my favorite victor. You always have been." He sat on the end of his bed and patted Haymitch's shin. "Katniss is being brought in now. She's okay. I talked them out of keeping you here for a week, which is what they really wanted, because of your 'emotional disturbance.'"
"Yeah. What'd you have to do, kiss Coin's boots? I heard you were into that sort of thing."
Plutarch laughs, loudly. "Something of the sort. Come on. Drink some water. They even let you keep your clothes, so we can leave right now, meet Katniss at the hangar."
The medics coming off the hovercraft merely repeated what Plutarch had already said.
Katniss was okay. They had done what they could in the air, there were more assessments that needed to be done before a diagnosis and prognosis could be made. They did not like it when he got in the same elevator as them and Katniss.
Now, he's waiting outside her room.
He knows he's behaving in a way that might end badly for him. He thinks of the dry-out hole, the conditions Katniss's prep team had been found in, and tries to get a hold of himself. He wants to scream.
He has seen her in mortal danger before. He has sent her into two different arenas, watched her in two different war zones. He has seen that District Two girl almost slice and dice her face. Watched bombs drop all around her in Eight. Watched Snow look at her the way a cat looks at a spider.
He walks to Peeta's room and looks at him through the observational glass. He's lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling. He's perfectly still while tears run down his cheeks.
Someone comes up behind him.
"Katniss is okay," says Gale.
He looks at him. He's grown, probably almost finished, but he's the same height as Haymitch now. He had still been a few inches shorter than him when he was showing them snares before the 75th.
"Thanks, Hale."
Gale grins.
"You got it, Raymitch."
Haymitch feels his mouth twitch. So, he's grown taller and learned to take a joke.
"She did a good job in Two."
Gale nods. "I think she still doesn't understand how she makes a crowd feel."
"It's that unpracticed honesty they're responding to. After years, their whole lives, of Capitol propos, saying everything's great while they consume our lives. Then here comes Katniss, saying what they've all been thinking. If she was faking it, or able to, I don't think they'd be as committed to her."
They're quiet for a second, and Haymitch is left stunned by his sudden realization that Plutarch had been right to choose Katniss for the face of the rebellion. Cinna had seen it. Had even laughed at him when he had argued against it.
Gale says, "I've been thinking about that. The propos."
Haymitch scratches his face, and looks at Gale. He tries to casually glance at the door behind them. He doesn't see anyone, but never assumes a gray jumpsuit is far from the victors, Katniss and Peeta especially. He likes to think it's for their protection, but assumes they make detailed reports to Coin.
Gale sees where he's looking. His brow furrows, and his following words are expressionless. "I don't want her getting shot in another propo."
Haymitch nods.
"I have to go. I'm allowed a 10 minute walk topside these days. Because it helps my 'recovery'." He layers sarcasm on the word as thickly as he can. These suits are almost impossible for him to rile, and sarcasm slides off them like water off a duck, but he keeps trying.
Gale allows himself a small smile. "I wish you the best in your recovery, soldier." He bows, and leaves Haymitch looking at Peeta. They might even let him see Katniss after ten more minutes.
It's not strictly scheduled. Haymitch still hasn't been sticking his arm in anything with needles. But he can nod to the guard at the door and walk outside for no more than 10 minutes.
He hates to admit the suits have actually found something that works, but the minutes of being free, looking at the sky, and sometimes the sun, or a flock of birds, flash of fish jumping for insects above the water, have all lifted his mood considerably. He likes to think of walking this path with Effie one day.
Gale joins him. He starts to say, "So, about that -"
Haymitch clears his throat and points to Gale's communicuff. Gale looks surprised, but removes it without another word, and hides it amongst a pile of rocks.
Once they're a few feet away, Gale asks, "Do you think they're listening to us through those?"
The boy actually looks troubled. He laughs, and claps Gale on the shoulder.
"Never trust your government, Gale. Always ask questions."
Gale looks upset. Haymitch would feel bad, but the kid's naivete just isn't his top priority at the moment.
"What'd you wanna say down there? By Peeta?"
Gale clears his throat and says, "I know Katniss wants to be in the fight. And I like that about her," he says, suddenly looking as though Haymitch has suggested otherwise. Gale smiles softly and says, "Sorry, I feel like I've had to defend her a lot, lately. Especially to President Coin. I'm not saying she can't handle herself, or that our job is to hold her back. I've always appreciated that you understood she's a fighter."
Haymitch thinks about this. He's surprised Gale has thought of him at all. He had seemed to embrace his gray jumpsuit, no questions asked, but he had been paying attention. He guesses this is what Katniss sees. It would be an invaluable trait in an ally, or hunting partner.
"What are you saying?"
Gale shakes his head. They reach a fallen log, and sit, facing one of the craters.
"Two things. The first is, these propos have only gotten more dangerous. I guess that'll be the case, especially when we launch an attack on the Capitol. I'll protect her as much as I can, and I think Boggs is on the same mission. But I don't always think Coin and Plutarch are." He says this last very quietly, using the movement needed to retie his shoelaces to get his mouth close to Haymitch's ear, before sitting normally again.
"The second is this: Why are we filming propos at all? Shouldn't we just…tell the truth?"
Haymitch looks at Gale's young, young face. He can remember being 19. His third year of being a mentor. He hated the thought of the 53rd. The last year he had really, really tried, until Katniss came along. And Peeta.
He sighs, and looks back at the crater.
"I've never heard of a government that tells the truth. How long could it be expected to last? The truth is almost unbearable, and boring to boot."
Gale chuckles. "I get why Katniss likes you."
"A ringing endorsement."
Gale's smile vanishes. Still prickly, then. That's too bad.
"I don't like the propos either. And I think I can talk to Plutarch. We're probably okay to keep Katniss off the front lines at least. She can still fight, and be useful, but I think she deserves a little rest, don't you?"
"Just as long as no one tells her that," Gale says.
Haymitch smiles. "Yeah. We better head back. I want to see if they'll let me in now."
"How's Peeta?"
They rise from the log and head back for the entrance.
"I don't know. Sometimes he seems almost normal. Then…" He doesn't finish. He thinks of Peeta crying, Johanna screaming. Effie and Enobaria are still in Snow's clutches.
"Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta seem happy together. Is Annie okay?"
"She's used to feeling unstable, she's not taking it as hard as some of us. And Finnick's just glad he gets to be with her."
"Do you think that would have happened to Katniss?"
Haymitch shakes his head. "I think Katniss would always have been trouble."
Gale raises his eyebrows. "She always has been."
They reach the pile of rocks and Gale puts his communicuff back on. They're back below ground before he's ready. He knows he's imagining it, but the air feels heavier, thicker.
Gale says goodbye and goes to fulfill the rest of the day's schedule.
Haymitch heads back to the hospital, where they do let him see Katniss, and she is okay.