(Katniss' POV.)
My entire body feels completely numb. I slowly sag to the floor, the air now unable to fill my lungs. The image of Gale's lifeless body hitting the floor only continues to blur my mind, the thought nearly drawing me to tears.
No tears escape, though. No matter how many great memories we had, the man that died in my arms was not the one that I loved. That man was a monster.
The sound of constant crying claws at my ears, my head beginning to throb. I force myself to shake off the memories and look up, my tired eyes immediately finding the pain filled ones belonging to Rose.
I watch as she desperately grasps her tiny fingers around the arrow lodged in the middle of Gale's chest, her entire body uncontrollably shaking as tears rush down her bright red cheeks.
Thick red blood runs down the edge of her arm as the arrow wobbles around in her hand, her crying only growing much louder. My arms quickly embrace her. My shirt is immediately soaked in hot tears, her chest rising and falling rapidly against mine.
"Everything's gonna be okay," I assure her in a whisper, my fingers beginning to run through her long blonde hair.
The top of her head nearly slams into my jaw with how fast she begins shaking it.
"No, it's not okay. I killed him!" Rose screams in a hoarse voice. Her body suddenly jolts forward in pain, a thick yellow liquid slipping out of the gap between her cracked lips.
I carefully pat her back as she continues to empty her stomach, my other hand now grazing the tips of her blood covered fingers.
It reminds me of my first time killing someone. Gale once said to me that killing people is no different than killing animals.
People that had families who loved them; ones who may have had a bright future coming their way had they won the Games. No matter how heartless and cruel they were, they were still living and breathing people with beating hearts.
The killing part is the same. The emotional side effects are what make it different. Those painful thoughts will always haunt me. I know exactly what Rose is going through.
I pull her in closer. "You saved me, Rose."
Her eyes slowly find mine again, her breathing beginning to slightly return to normal.
"I did." She whispers to herself. A smile dances across her lips as her hands grasp tightly onto mine. "It's because I love you so much."
The words instantly fill me up with complete warmth and love. I can't help but smile, hot tears immediately beginning to burn at my eyes.
"I love you too." I whisper back, my hands automatically dragging her into a big hug.
Just as Rose is about to respond, a loud sound suddenly cuts her off. It's then that I realize the noises are coming from Finnius' room, them being the sound of his cries.
I'm up on two shaky legs before I even know it, my body almost throwing itself at the doorway to his room. From the corner of my eye I notice Peeta, his unconscious body sprawled out on the floor.
"Stay here and help your father!" I hiss at Rose just as she begins to climb to her feet, her face twisted into a look of worry.
I don't even stop to see if she heard my command, the blazing pain instantly ripping across my ankle as I force myself over to his hospital bed.
"Mommy!" Finnius screeches, a pool of blood now forming on his chest as he continues to cough up the thick red liquid.
I find myself bawling once I finally reach him, his tiny fingers grasping onto whatever they can find as I grow closer.
"Please don't let me die." He manages to get out, his eyes immediately producing a full flow of tears down his snow white skin.
It's an almost exact replica of the events that occurred only an hour before; his body slowly shutting down right before my eyes as he pleads for help, that being the one thing I have no idea how to provide.
"Never," I whisper back, the tears now only flooding faster. The sad truth is, I have let him die. How he came back to life, I will never know. What if he never was dead? How did Meddy not notice?
The millions of questions spinning around in my mind make it feel as if my head is on the verge of exploding. There's no time for questioning.
By instinct, I immediately begin to wrap more bandages around the wound on the back of his head, my free hand sloppily wiping away the blood resting on his chin and chest.
A hot spray suddenly splashes across the side of my head, a hoarse cough coming from Finnius following. I nearly throw up at the smell, my body instantly feeling close to blacking out. I can't think about it right now. Focusing is what I need to do.
This is exactly what Meddy and her assistant were doing, yet he still died. With them and Peeta knocked out cold, what am I supposed to do to keep him alive? Knowing it's come to this only makes my emotions stir around faster in the pit of my stomach.
Finnius' fingers dig harder into my shoulders, the touch sending blood dripping down my arms. I strongly resist the urge to wince in pain, my eyes nervously shifting around the small room in a desperate search for something to assist me in helping him.
"It hurts!" He screams, the blood clogging up his throat now splattering across my face once more. This time a small portion enters my mouth, the taste immediately exploding across my tongue.
I instantly spit out the metal tasting liquid, my stomach now doing painful flips. I don't have much time before I black out.
Voices suddenly fill the other room, the sound growing louder and louder. Another noise follows.
"Where's Gale?" I hear a man's voice yell out, his tone coming across very tense. This causes conflicting emotions to tear through my heart.
Picturing his dead body only makes my chest ache more.
"Where is he?!" Another voice screams, this one coming across much more anxious.
"He's dead!" Peeta suddenly says in a hoarse voice. It feels like I'm slowly being boxed up into a cube of confusion, nothing making even the slightest amount of sense anymore.
Finnius' grip on my hand grows tighter, his blood immediately rushing down the edge of my arm. "Don't go!"
I quickly turn to face him, my eyes growing much wider. What am I supposed to do? I can't just leave Finnius in here.
"I'm not leaving!" I hiss back, my voice hitting him like a blade. His body flinches back with fear, his eyes beginning to release more tears down his bloody cheeks.
The two men suddenly burst through the doorway, their boots leaving behind a loud screeching sound as they move across the tile.
"Katniss Everdeen," the bearded man whispers. This completely catches me off guard.
"You don't have much time, Mrs. Everdeen." The other one informs me, his deep brown eyes feeling almost to the point of burning through my skull with how hard he stares into mine.
More blood splashes against my face, this time most of it hitting my neck. The bearded man suddenly throws himself at Finnius, his hands instantly going to work.
"Frost, I'll help the boy! You help search for it!"
So many different feelings are exploding inside of me all at once. Search for what? Who are these men? Why do they want Gale? All of these questions continue to rattle my brain around. It's nearly to the point of making me throw up.
"Search for what?" I scream at the man, my heart beginning to race with urgency.
Brown Eyes ignores me, his fingers now clawing at various objects in the room. I watch intently as he begins carelessly tossing things from shelves to the floor, his hands desperately searching for something. The question is, what is it that is urgently needed?
"Be quiet!" The bearded man hisses, his eyes shifting all around him.
Then I hear it; a light ticking sound suddenly surrounds us.
"Help me!" Brown Eyes screams at me, his hands continuing to chuck medical supplies across the tiled floor.
I rush over to the opposite shelf from him, my shaky fingers immediately shoving things aside in search for the ticking object.
As I continue to move down from row to row, the sound suddenly grows louder. This sends a rush of adreneline coursing throughout my veins, my hands now slapping down everything blocking my path.
A quick cold sensation rips across my arm as it makes contact with a small box, my body instinctively flinching back.
The ticking has grown from a small noise into a monsterous screech. My shaky fingers study the small black cube, red dots splattered across the box now coming into view.
"Careful!" Brown Eyes screams at me, his eyes turning wide with fear.
A light flickers inside my mind, the object now becoming familiar. Resting in my hands is a bomb.