Short(er) chapter, but I figured you would enjoy an update. Enjoy!
Chapter 20
I wake up to the soft light of the morning peeking through my windows. It is an overcast day, the clouds covering the sky, not allowing any sunlight to permeate them. I look over to my alarm clock. It's still early, but I climb out of bed, wanting to check on Gale. My back is still sore. It hurts to move but I need to make sure he is still alive. I clutch the railing as I make my way downstairs, then hold onto the wall for support.
I find Gale where I left him, asleep on the kitchen table. I feel a little angered when I find him alone. Someone should be near him at all times. I sit in the chair I occupied last night. He is so still that I'm starting to wonder if he's still alive. I place my hand on his cheek. His skin is still warm. I then put my ear near his face to make sure he is still breathing. He is. I let out a sight of relief and then take his hand in mine, waiting for him to wake.
About twenty minutes later, my mother enters the kitchen wearing a robe and slippers. My anger returns when I think about how she left him alone.
"Why did you leave him?" I ask in a stern voice.
"He was sleeping Katniss." she answers.
"But something could have gone wrong."
"He's fine." she said nonchalantly.
"Next time you leave him, you make sure I'm here with him." I warn her. She nods her head as a smile creeps on her face. "What?"
"It's amazing how tragedy can reveal a person's true feelings for another." she said walking closer to me.
"What are you talking about?" I ask, still confused.
"It's obvious you care a great deal about him." she said sitting beside me.
"Of course I do. He's my friend." I answer back. She gives another grin but says noting in reply. I know what she's thinking. She's thinking there is some sort of romantic sentiment between Gale and I, which is ridiculous. He's my best friend. How could I ever feel that way about him?
My mother stands up and starts to remove his bandages.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"We need to let the wound breathe." she says as she removes the last of the bandages. I wince when I see it. I had almost forgotten how bad it looked from the night before.
"Will it heal?" I ask her.
"Yes, it will."
"How long will it take?"
"A few weeks." she says.
"But then he will be ok?" I question.
"It will still hurt sometimes, in the cold or when there are changes in air pressure. He will be ok, though." My mother leaves for a minute and returns with a damp cloth. She gently pressed on his back, cleaning the wound. I look at his face, expecting to see him in distress but instead he remains as still as before.
"You're lucky you're friend showed up with the morphling. He'd be in pure agony without it."
"I know. When does he get another dose?" I ask.
"I am actually going to try something else first, to see if it will help with the pain."
"Why not use the morphling? We have more." I interject.
"It's a highly addictive drug, Katniss and should be used sparingly. If my method doesn't work, I will give him another injection." she tells me. I nod in agreement with her plan.
I wait with Gale for a few hours, waiting for him to rouse from his sleep. The drugs have kept him pulled under though. I study his face, watching for any signs of discomfort. A half hour later, he lets out a gasp and closes his eyes tightly.
"Gale!" I say with worry as I stroke his hair. He grunts as he buries his face into his arm and pound his fist on the table.
"Mother!" I shout into the air, hoping she can hear me. She enters the kitchen. "Mom, he's in pain." I say in a panic. She grabs a large bowl from the counter and leaves the room.
I see my mother return with a big bowl of snow. She pulls some bottle from her medical box and adds a combination of liquids to the batch, mixing them quickly into the snow, which takes on a mint green tint. She brings the bowl over to the table with a linen cloth.
"What is that?"
"It's called snow coat. It will help with the pain." she said spreading the linen over his skin. She then ladled the mixture onto his back. I can hear the sizzling sound of the mixture hitting his heated flesh. He lets out a sigh and removes his face from his arm, resting his head on the table. A wave of calmness washes over him. My mother then hands me a small satchel of the snow coat for my face. As I press it to the gash on my cheek, I feel the throbbing pain disappear.
"Ah, this feels amazing. Why didn't you give it to us sooner?"
"The wound needs to set before you can use it." she says. My mother stands up and puts the rest of the mixture in the freezer for later. I take Gale's hand with my free hand and give it a gentle squeeze, to see if he's still conscious. His eyes flutter open, his gaze aimed at me.
"How are you feeling?" I whisper to him.
"Good." he says with a weak smile. "I want to know everything that happened?"
"You don't remember?"
"It's hard to remember anything after the first 40 lashes." he says weakly.
"I'll tell you later, you need your rest." I say. I'm not looking forward to tell him the full story but I know I will have to eventually.
"And you need your rest too." my mother says walk up to the table. "You're body is still healing too."
"Healing from what?" Gale asks confused.
"I'll tell you later." I say, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He smiles at my affection.
I walk upstairs to my room, as the pain shoots up my back. When I reach my room, I hear a clicking sound coming from my window. I walk to the windowpane and see Merrick, standing below, throwing pebbles at the glass. When he sees me appear, he stops and gives a wave. I wave back at him, but can't even muster a smile right now. I close my blinds and then walk to my bed collapsing on my stomach, wonder what I will do about this situation. Gale will be so angry once he hears the truth that I'm sure he'll do everything he can to keep Merrick away from me. And Merrick, what will I do with him? Can we even go back to how we used to be after everything that has happened? I silently hope that we can before I close my eyes and drift to sleep.
When I wake, my room is much darker, indicating the sun has long set. I must have needed the sleep. I crawl out of bed and make my way downstairs where I hear chatting in the living room and walk into the room. I find Peeta sitting next to Prim telling her stories that make her laugh and smile. I lean on the entranceway and revel in the moment. It's not often that I see Prim smile, especially since I returned home from the Games. She's is too serious for her age; it's nice to see her act like a child. As for Peeta, he really does have a way with words and is quite a good storyteller. I think back to all the stories he told me when we were trapped in that cave during the Games. They helped calm me during that perilous time.
After a few minutes, the moment ceases as I catch Peeta's eye. I walk toward him and feel him wrap his arms around my shoulders.
"I had to stop by to make sure you were ok."
"I'm fine." I tell him, feigning a smile.
"Aren't you going to kiss her?" Prim asks with a giddy tone. She thinks it's all real. We figured it was best to keep it that way so she wouldn't reveal the truth by mistake.
"I was getting to that part." he teases. He then closes the space between us and puts his lips to mine. I kiss him back. It's been such a long time since I've kissed him that I feel it would be good practice. When our lips part, he turns to Prim while still holding me in his arms.
"You happy?" he asks. Prim nods in reply. He then turns back to me. "I made you dinner. I figured that with everything going on, you had enough to worry about. I'll get you some."
"No, I'll come with you. I want to check on Gale anyway." I tell him. We walk into the kitchen and find my mother putting more snow coat on Gale's back. I can hear his heavy breathing indicating that he is awake and try to manage the pain. I start to walk towards him but my mother shakes her head at me. Peeta leads me to the stove. I pour myself a bowl of soup while he slices me some bread he baked. We put it on a tray and he carries it to the living room where he sets it on the coffee table. I kneel in front of it and begin to consume the food. It's not until I start that I realize how hungry I am. It's been over a day since my last meal.
"It's a good thing Effie isn't here. She'd be appalled." Peeta says with a laugh. I shoot him a look and he laughs some more. We spend the next hour updating each other on our lives over the past few weeks. Then, it is time for him to go home. I offer to walk with him. I've been wanting to speak to Haymitch. My mother gives me some soup and bread to take to Haymitch and we are on our way.
We make our way down the stairs just fine, but then realize the concrete is now covered with icy patches. We try to maneuver our way down the path to his house but it proves to be difficult. Peeta clutches onto me and I hold onto him as we try to regain our footing but eventually we come crashing down to the ground, laughing as we fall.
"See I told you this leg was no good." he says with a smile as turns towards me.
"Well I'm sure the Capitol wasn't worried about icy walkways when they were designing it. They probably never have that there." I say as I help him up. I grab the bag with Haymitch's dinner and we continue to make our way to Peeta's house. We walk inside to a deafening silence.
"They still haven't moved in yet." I murmur.
"No." he says looking to the ground. "Most of them won't even talk to me…with the exception of my father."
"So you're here all by yourself?" I ask with concern. He nods his head. "Peeta, you could come live with us. We have the room and you know my family just loves you." I say, trying my best to convince him.
"I'll be fine here, really, I will." he says. "Besides, what would the people think if they find out we are living together before we are married?" he jokes. A somber expression appears on my face and his smile fades. "It was only a joke, Katniss."
"But it will still happen. When you do you think it will happen?" I ask.
"I talked to Haymitch. He imagines sometime around the Quarter Quell…to add to the festivities." he says with an eye roll.
"What will we do?" I ask with worry.
"Hope that something will happen that will prevent it from happening." he says.
I give him a hug and then make my way to Haymitch's house. I open the door and a putrid smell stings my nostrils. I find him in the kitchen slumped over the kitchen table, a drink in one hand and a knife in another. I don't want to be to near to him when I wake him so I grab a pan and a large spoon and clang the spoon against the metal pan. He jumps up and holds his bottle up instead of the knife, as if he is going to attack me with it.
"Yeah, that will really do some damage." I sputter sarcastically.
"What brings you here, sweetheart?" he slurs out.
"Brought you some dinner…and to talk." I say as I grab a bowl and a spoon from the cabinets. I empty the soup into the bowl and place it in front of him. He takes the bowl in his hands and tries some, a sickening sound coming from his mouth. He then adds some liquor to the soup and mixes it with his knife before trying it again.
"Much better." he says. "Oh, by the way, got a package for you from the Capitol from Effie Trinket. It's on the table in the hall." he tells me. I walk and retrieve the package, which has already been opened. I bring it into the kitchen and open the lid to find a small jar of cream.
"What's it for?" I ask.
"For that gash on your face. Need to look pretty for the photo shoot." he says. My heart drops.
"I didn't think that was real. I thought you just made that up."
"No it's real. I bought you a few weeks though."
"So it's really happening…the wedding."
"Yes." he says, then pauses. "We all have to do things we don't want to do, Katniss." he says with sympathy. I never expected that tone from him.
"But I have to marry him."
"Could be a lot worse. He's a decent boy. Way too good for you." he remarks before taking a swig of liquor.
"I know." I say with a sigh. "What did you have to you?"
"Huh?" he asks, taken off-guard.
"You said we all have to do things we don't want to do. What did you have to do?" He hesitates, contemplating whether or not he should tell me.
"I was obstinate, trying to one over the Capitol, and I paid for it. Lost everyone I loved. That's why you need to be careful. You're walking a very fine line. Don't think that they won't try to do the same to you."
I nod my head in reply.
"Get on out of here." he says shooing me away. "And don't forget to use that cream."
I leave his house and walk back home. When I get inside, I check on Gale once more then head upstairs. I take a warm shower and then inspect my wounds in mirror. The bruises on my back are just as vibrant in color as they were the previous night. The gash on my face looks pretty bad too. I open the jar of cream and spread it across my cheek before heading to bed. As I lay there, I realize, I don't want to be alone tonight. I walk to Prim's room where she is already fast asleep. I get under the covers and cuddle up next to her. It feels good to have someone near, to feel like I'm not alone. I hold onto her tightly, happy that she safe and here with me.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.