Chapter 8: Hospital examinations

When Prim visited next time, she told me right away that Mr. and Mrs. Madison had finally decided to have Rue examined at the University Hospital. That already had had a talk with Dr. Aurelius, and he had told them that the initial examinations would take a fully day; they had set an appointment for that one week later, and Rue would have to skip one day of school. Prim´s face changed between happiness and sadness, and when I inquired about that, I was told: "I am happy about Rue finally getting a proper check up. But I am also sad because I am afraid that she may actually be sick. I am not sure how to feel about that!"

I looked her into the yes and let her know: "Sometimes we just need to see how God's plans unfold, and at this time there is nothing we can do. But whatever happens, if she needs us later on, we'll be there for her, won't we?" Prim agreed and looked more or less happy again.

Today we went outside to check progress on the battery storage. The enclosure had been erected and a roof was there, and the first few battery blocks had arrived. Two workers were busy adding the blocks to the site, and there was a small electronics shack to control energy flow according to need. As first part of the energy project, I was going to have a small set of street lights set up in the Seam. Currently, there was absolutely no electrical lighting there at all, and residents who needed to walk around after dusk either needed to walk in the dark or use torches or lanterns. With the Mayor's permission, a few streetlights with low power LEDs had already been added to a few road crossings, and the electrical wiring was to follow soon. The main circuit was to be connected to my site's power distribution unit, and while the main source of power would be the big wind generator, the battery unit was going to buffer some power, like when there was no wind.

Prim came to my home again on the day of Rue´s examination at Panem University Hospital. Naturally, she was concerned and worried about her best friend, and I tried to comfort her. I also mentioned that Rue might not be willing to tell her any details about the results, as those might be confidential, and only her parents were supposed to learn about them. Of course, I also would not learn anything unless Rue's parents decided to share with me. We played a few games and Prim got started with her homework for the day. She almost got stuck with a few difficult calculations in mathematics, but I provided some hints to help her proceed. Prim finally left for home when dusk was already close.

For a few days no news on Rue´s situation arrived, but during the following week Prim came again and told me that Rue was taken out of school for the entire next week, presumably for more detailed examinations at the hospital. Prim was worried because she would want to visit her friend, but the hospital was out of range for her. In theory she could have taken the bus, but the trip would have taken more than one hour and her family could ill afford the ticket. In addition, her mother and older sister probably would not have allowed her to make that kind of trip on her own. I suggested: "Prim, maybe we could visit Rue together, and I could take you in the car. However, we'd need to check with Rue's parents first if they allow us visiting." Prim beamed and said that she liked my idea. Thus we sat down together and wrote a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Madison (since their last visit I had their address available) politely asking about Rue´s well being, suggesting that Prim and I would like to visit her at the hospital if that was agreeable. In addition I asked if I could be of any service assisting them to visit their daughter at the hospital at any time; I knew that they did not own a car. We also asked about best suited visiting hours, signed the letter and carried it to the next mailbox together.

Only three days letter the reply letter arrived. Mrs. Madison wrote that Rue indeed needed to spend next week at the hospital. While pick up and bringing home was to be organized by the hospital, visiting was going to be a problem for them. Her husband would not be able to get time off work for a visit, but she would have Wednesday afternoon free, and she would appreciate a lot if I could take her and visit her daughter together with her and Prim. Right away I wrote back and agreed to pick her up next Wednesday early afternoon right after I had picked up Prim from school. Naturally I also informed Mrs. Everdeen about our plans, and she was happy about that, as she also cared for Rue.

On the next day I decided to check how the herb garden in the Seam looked like by now. As it was morning, Prim and Leevy were of course at school, and I had Camilla Brown with me. She was my farmer´s daughter and back at home for a week or two before she was going to get back to university, and I wanted to get her advice on what we could further improve. When she saw what Prim and Leevy had already started, she was quite impressed. After half an hour of thorough examination Mrs. Everdeen stopped by to check on the growth of some herbs, and I introduced the two ladies. Soon they got into some passionate technical discussion on botanical topics and I was at least partially lost.

When we left again, Camilla told me: "I was quite impressed about Mrs. Everdeen's knowledge on plants and herbs. Specifically considering her detailed background about herb effects on health, I almost believe that some professors at university could learn from her. I certainly did not expect to meet such a knowledgeable person here in the Seam, and I have arranged further meetings with her – this is really astonishing, and I have already taken some notes. Maybe I will take 'medical effects of plants' as a minor in my further studies."

I replied: "Camilla, I am glad that you are willing to listen and to learn. Knowledge and experience can be found at different places, and it is always good to be open minded. I'd like to encourage you in this direction."

In the afternoon, I spent a few hours at the battery storage unit, which was almost ready for the first stage of operation. After some discussion with Haymitch, we decided to start initial operations only once all of the basic components were ready: Power generation (wind turbine plus a small set of solar cells), power storage (battery unit), wiring (currently at the site itself and to the Seam), and power usage units (at this time some LED lights on the site and a few more at several road crossing in the Seam). We estimated that we'd be ready in a week at the latest, and I went to the Mayor´s office next day to inform him about progress. He asked if this date was fix and reliable, and I confirmed. He smiled and decided that this was worth a small celebration. As we were already in early summer, he wanted to prepare a speech and initiate the official start of the Seam road lighting with a 'meet the people and celebrate' event.

After a few more days of work, which kept me quite busy, the Wednesday being scheduled for the Rue visit had arrived. Right after lunch I drove my Jeep to school and waited for Prim. Soon after the school bell rang, she came running out of the main building and excitedly jumped in my direction. When I stepped out of my car to greet her, I got a firm hug and a kiss on my cheek, and she smiled at me, saying that she was ready.

After I had started the engine again and we were driving to the Madison residence in district 11, I asked her: "Prim, I need to ask you something. You just greeted me with a hug outside of school, fully visible for hundreds of pupils. As much as I like your hugs, I would have expected that showing bodily affection to an adult might be somewhat embarrassing...".

Prim smiled at me and responded: "Well, if you were my father and twice your age, that might be true. But you are still almost a teenager, you are good looking, and you have a cool car. Giving you a hug is not embarrassing at all – instead, my friends are going to be so envious of me!" She giggled: "Actually, some of them will ask me if you are my boyfriend, and I will particularly enjoy neither denying nor confirming that!"

I had to be careful not to drive the car off the road, because I was close to breaking into laughter; ROTF is not exactly something one should do while driving a car.

Arriving at the house the Madisons were living in, Mrs. Madison was already waiting for us. Prim obediently moved to the back seat and Mrs. Madison got into the car. I could see that she was nervous and worried, which was of course totally understandable. Above and beyond being concerned abut the health of her only child, she would also be sad about lacking time and means to visit her more often, and if some serious illness was found, there would be no money to pay expensive medicine or special treatment. Thus, we drove on towards the hospital without talking much, although Prim tried a few times to get some kind of conversation going.

Fortunately, parking was available close to the children's unit of the hospital, and the three of us went in towards the reception desk. Rue´s mother had to fill out a visitor sheet for us, as non-relatives required explicit parental permission to visit. The receptionist told us where we'd have to go, and we easily found the right room, which Rue was sharing with another girl. We knocked and entered, and when Rue saw us, she quickly got up and hugged both her mother and Prim, and she shook my hand. Rue introduced her room mate: "This is Wiress, she is three years older than me. You would not believe how much she knows about electronics and computers – she could probably work as well as teacher on those topics at our school!" We also said hello to Wiress and exchanged a few words.

After some conversation and asking Rue how she was keeping up I assumed that Rue would want to have some time alone with the mother, and thus I suggested: "Mrs. Madison, I assume that you may want to have some time alone with your daughter – would you mind if Prim and I went shopping and came back in two hours or so?" Mrs. Madison nodded, and I dragged the blonde girl out of the room. There was a shopping mall close to the hospital, and first I sat down with Prim and we had some ice cream, and I explained: "Prim, Rue and her mother will need some time for a mother-girl talk. Rue may want to talk about the examinations she has already had, and at least at this time, this is none of our business. Maybe they will share some of that with us later on, but maybe not. Before we head back, is there something specific you'd like to do or buy here?" Well knowing that the Everdeens did not have a lot of money at all I did not expect her to actually buy something, but she already had a little allowance (which I had paid out) from working in the Seam herb garden, and she insisted to get a few small household utensils; Prim told me that the Hawthornes badly needed them. We also walked around and looked into a lot of shop-windows, and Prim was very impressed to see what how much different merchandise the shops offered here, compared to her home district.

Finally the wait time was over and we headed back to the hospital. Back in Rue's room Mrs. Madison told us that the doctors wanted to keep Rue for a second week of examinations, and they had not told her yet what they had found out so far. I asked Rue if she would like me also to come again, and when she shyly nodded, I suggested to come for another visit next Wednesday at the same time – Mrs. Madison gladly accepted this offer and mentioned, that maybe her husband would be able to join in as well. With those plans we took our leave from Rue and drove back home.

For the next few days I was busy checking and overseeing the final preparations for the initial Seam street ligthing opening ceremony Mayor Undersee insisted on doing on Saturday evening. All of the Seam residents were invited, and I really wanted to make sure that everything worked as planned. The first wind turbine had been operating for a few days and feeding electricity into the battery storage unit. During broad daylight we ran a couple of tests to verify that the wiring was good and the individual LED lights were fully functional. Based on the lights´ power consumption and the capacity we currently had the illumination could be sustained for at least twelve hours, which was more than good enough for the entire night at this time of the year. For the event, we had set up a small stage with a few additional lights illuminating the stage, so that the Major would be properly visible for everybody. This being done and double checked, we could only hope for good weather.

I also got a chance to talk to Madge Undersee, the Mayor´s daughter, on Saturday. I told her: "Your father suggested that you might be suitable to assist with the communication between my company and the district, so that my plans here are properly aligned with the Mayor´s office. Would you be agreeable to that, and if yes, which times could you work on that?"

Madge responded: "Oh yes, my father and I talked about that, and I´d be very happy to do this. Of course, I am still at school, but I could work for a few hours during the week and on Saturdays, if this is all right for you."

I smiled and confirmed: "This is perfect. Would you have a few minutes so that we can walk over to my admin building and I can introduce you to my staff?"

She agreed and we started our walk to my site. Haymitch was sitting outside and talking to a couple of workers, so that we waited until he was done. He turned towards us and addressed Madge: "So, the Mayor´s daughter. Have you finally decided to do something useful?"

I was a little bit shocked, but then I recalled that Haymitch and Madge would of course know each other. Indeed, Madge started laughing and responded: "Yes, I like you too, Haymitch. Let's go inside and get me started!" Inside, we introduced Madge to the office help and gave her some additional information. She got started on browsing through the files right away, and I could continue my way towards a final check at the battery storage unit.

Saturday evening had finally arrived, and the time for the Mayor's ceremony was close. Haymitch and I walked over to the small stage which had been erected, where Mayor Undersee was already waiting. A box with a button had been installed to start the illumination when he was ready, but of course he wanted to wait until it was mostly dark. Seam residents started to arrive, and at least some drinks and snacks were provided for everybody. A beautiful sunset ended the day and provided a red colored sky for some time, before darkness slowly descended upon us. Before the last traces of light were completely gone, the Major held a very short speech and finally pressed the button. Fortunately, the system worked as expected, and the dim light from the street lamps and on the stage went on, so that the guests clapped their hands. Mayor Undersee waved me to the stage and promised that more lights would be installed later on; he also hinted at the option to get electricity to all houses at a later time. Finally he invited the residents to help themselves to the food and drinks, and the ceremony was over.

After all the activity of the last days, I was glad that I could relax on Sunday, but on Monday another issue waited for me. Mr. and Mrs. Brown, my farmers, had asked to talk to me, and thus I walked over to the farm house on Monday morning. Mr. Brown explained: "Since a few weeks ago we have noticed that some seeds have not developed and grown as expected, and at first we did not know why. A few day ago I placed some night vision cameras around some fields, and I have seen quite a few rabbits helping themselves during dawn and dusk times. In addition, there are signs of boar coming over and devastating some areas. I believe that our nearby forest, lacking hunters, is the perfect environment for those animals to multiply, and they are now coming out looking for more food."

I nodded: "I see. I had planned to look out for hunters eventually, but I will to do this more urgently now. There is a person I have already in mind, and I need to talk to her soon. Thank you for pointing out the situation, Mr. Brown."

Of course, the person I had in mind was Katniss Everdeen. If possible, I wanted to avoid having hunters with guns in my forest, and her prowess with bow and arrow would be perfect. I needed to prepare a job offer for her she would not want to resist, and when I was back in my house I started to draft one right away. Knowing that she would hesitate to accept a job, I wrote it in a way that she would do me a favor by hunting in my forest, which was actually true. It was mentioned that some of the hunted game was supposed to be used for being given to the hob for a kind of small soup kitchen for the poor; Haymitch had cleared that with the Mayor. In addition I pointed out that I would eventually need more hunters, and that she could maybe train others to hunt with bow and arrow. I concluded with asking her to stop by if she was interested to learn about more details, and sent the letter off. Naturally, I would have to talk to Prim and ask her to make sure that Katniss actually read the letter.

Before I knew it, the day of the next hospital visit was there, and I was driving to Prim´s school again. Recalling her words from last time, I decided to follow the concept, and when she came out of the school and approached my car, I lifted her up in my arms, turned her around a few times, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. This time she actually blushed a little bit, and I started laughing.

She was curious: "What was that for?"

Still laughing, I told her jokingly: "Just having fun pretending to be your boyfriend!" and she also joined into the laughter. I added: "To be honest, the longer I know you, the more I feel like you´re my little sister."

Prim liked that and returned: "And I like to think of you like my big brother."

This time, both of Rue´s parents could come, and I drove all of us towards the city. Conversation was more subdued, and I heard that the doctors planned to tell the Madisons today what their initial diagnosis was.

Rue and her room mate Wiress were both happy to see us. We learned that Wiress was an orphan, and once she was released from the hospital, she would have to go back into an orphanage, which she hated. She had not relatives left and did not get any visitors, and she was sad about that. Thus, while the Madisons and Prim were talking to their daughter, I took a seat next to Wiress' bed and talked to her. She told me that she was very interested in electronics and computers and was one of the best at school in those areas, and her insight actually impressed me. She also mentioned that Rue was now her best friend, and that she was going to be very unhappy once Rue would be dismissed.

"You see", she explained, "the other kids at the orphanage consider me weird because of my gift for electronics. The orphanage is in the Capitol area, and while electronics and computer work is normal in district 3 where I come from, the Capitol kids are much more interested in fashion and modeling and shopping, so that I stick out. Rue is different – she does not know much about electronics, but she likes me because of me – I have really grown attached to her."

I sighed and responded: "Yes, I understand. In district 12 the Seam residents are looked down upon because of how they look like and where they live and because of them being poor, at Rue's and Prim's school Rue is mobbed because of darker skin color, and at your orphanage your are disliked because your hobbies and gifts ate different form the majority. It is sad to see humans beings react like that." I continued: "Tell you what, as Rue and you like each other so much, maybe there is a possibility that a visit can be arranged in future – would you like that?"

Wiress beamed: "Oh yes, that would be really great!"

Mr. and Mrs. Madison had an appointment with Dr. Aurelius, head of the pediatrics unit. Before they left, Rue asked if she could spend an hour or so in the hospital garden. I offered to take care of that, and the Madisons agreed. Thus, when her parents were gone, we made sure that Rue was properly dressed, and Prim and I guided her down to the garden area, where we sat down on a bench, surrounded by some smaller trees.

Rue took a deep breath and said: "This is so nice, sitting between trees again – I really miss this."

Prim also joined into the conversation: "And the trees here are more beautiful than those in the Seam!"

I commented: "Yes, indeed. There are even more beautiful and exotic trees in the city's botanical garden. Maybe at some time in the future we can go there together."

Rue asked: "Botanical garden?"

I explained: "Yes, the Panem University maintains a wonderful botanical garden. I have been there just once, earlier in the year, when the rhododendron plants are in flower, and I really enjoyed that day. But they also have lots of other plants including some huge greenhouses, so that going there will be great at any time of the year."

Both Rue and Prim seemed to be fantasizing about it, and I continued: "I would enjoy taking you two there at some later time, and maybe we should also invite Wiress. When I talked to her, she told me that does not have any visitors."

Rue really liked that: "Oh yes, Wiress is now a good friend of mine, and it is so sad that she does not have any other friends. If we could do something together with her, it would be good for her for sure. During the last days here at the hospital, I almost feel like she's my older sister, and I so like her."

We continued with small talk until Rue´s parents came out; they had completed their session with Dr. Aurelius, and they told us that Rue would be allowed to get home next Saturday. As I had expected, they did not say anything about their daughter´s state of health, and I did not ask. Finally we had to take our leave, and a nurse took over to bring Rue back to her room. While we walked away and turned around to look back one last time and wave our hands, I noticed Rue still sitting on the bench, some isolated sun rays touching her skin, and her hair softly blowing in the wind, and this image touched something in my heart. I did not really understand why, but I kept this image in my mind all the time we drove back, and even later on when I was in my bed.

[Author's Note: Further progress will be somewhat slower, as I need time to figure out how to get the story to the point I want to get it - please be patient]