Chapter Two.

A.N. Wow! I was soo not expecting the reaction I got to this story. You guys totally made my week. Thank you to everyone who reviewed/followed/favourited this story, you make me want to continue it. If you like, please review and as always, enjoy.

Effie Trinket awoke to the sound of beeping and the smell of industrial disinfectant. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked against the bright lights in the predominantly white room. A healer's ward, that's where she had to be; it was the only place that made sense given her surroundings. On a whim she decided to sit up… and quickly decided that was not the best course of action. Bringing her hand to her abdomen she could feel the bandage through the hospital johnny. What happened? She pressed down lightly and hissed with pain.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you sweetheart."

Her head shot over to the man draped in the small chair in the corner of her room. She narrowed her eyes at him. What was he doing here?

All of a sudden she remembered. She'd been sleeping and she'd heard this awful noise and she'd gone to see what was happening. Haymitch had been having a nightmare; he'd been the one making all the noise… except when she tried to wake him he wouldn't wake up. She had tried a few times so she decided to shake him…

Effie flinched and recoiled, looking at him in horror. "You stabbed me!"

Effie thought that she saw a shadow of sadness pass over Haymitch's face but she couldn't be sure because she was too fixated on the flask he was drinking from.

Her temper flared, "Haymitch! You can't drink in here! This is a place of healing!"

Haymitch rolled his eyes as he screwed the cap back on, "It's water sweetheart."

Effie raised an eyebrow as she watched him. She hadn't noticed before but he did look different. His eyes looked bloodshot, and not from his usual hang over. The whites of his eyes and his skin had a yellowish tint, presumably jaundice. He looked thinner and tired. He'd always looked bad but he looked worse.

He nodded as he watched her. "That's right Trinket. Water. Has been for the last couple of days, one of the terms of my release."

Effie rubbed her temples, wow her head hurt. And it didn't help that Haymitch wasn't making any sense.

"Haymitch, I don't have time for this. Where's the nurse?"

He shrugged and took another sip of "water" from his flask as he slowly unravelled himself from the chair he was on. Effie almost felt bad for him; withdrawal – if that was what he was going through – was not doing him any favours. But he deserved it! He had stabbed her! Her hand went subconsciously to her stomach as she traced the outline of the bandage.

"Ahhh you're awake. Welcome back Ms. Trinket."

Effie looked up to see a bubbly nurse with bright green hair saunter in. Effie couldn't help but grin at the young female nurse, her attitude was infectious.

Effie nodded, "Glad to be back."

The nurse smiled and went about looking at charts and bustling about the room. Catching a glimpse at her name tag Effie discovered her name was Emerald. She laughed inwardly as the green-haired whirlwind continued about the room, what a fitting name seeing as everyone the young nurse had on was green.

"And how are we feeling today Ms. Trinket? You know you gave us quite the scare two nights ago; you were very unresponsive. Gave the doctors quite the workout!" Emerald laughed.

Effie started at Emerald without blinking. Surely she'd heard that wrong. Two nights ago? She'd been unconscious for that long?!

She cleared her throat, "I'm sorry… two nights ago?"

Emerald bobbed her head, "Oh yes Ms. Trinket – "

"Effie."

"– oh, um… Effie. Yes as I was saying, you were admitted two nights ago with the injury to your abdomen. There was quite a bit of internal bleeding so a surgery was necessary and the doctor thought it would be beneficial to keep you asleep so your body could heal; at least for a little while."

Effie nodded, absorbing all of the information. She stared at her manicured nails as she thought about what she'd just been told. It suddenly dawned on her and she looked up at the still bubbly Emerald.

She looked around before looking back at the nurse. "There must be some mistake surely, you said two nights ago… but we should have reached the Capitol by now."

Emerald shifted her weight looking slightly awkward. "There's no mistake Ms. Trin – er - Effie. The train is being held up because of a rockslide at the entrance of the mountain pass in District Two. We're trying to clear it as fast as we can but there's still a lot of work to be done…"

Effie frowned, well that would definitely put a dent in her schedule. Especially if the Games had to be postponed to make up for the time spent trying to clear the pass. A rockslide… what weird timing for something so random.

There was no more talk of the situation with the train as emerald continued through the rest of her examination of Effie. They talked about other things, which tributes they thought would do well, which ones they though would die in the bloodbath and which ones they thought were attractive. Effie was somewhat perturbed to hear that her tribute was lower on the list then she would have liked.

After all her vitals had been taken and her bandage had been changed – with no sign of infection thank Panem – Effie got the chance to relax. She'd gotten a lot of the answers she'd been looking for, well, at least those pertaining to her condition and that of the train. She was still curious to know about what Haymitch had been talking about. Something about a release? Had he been arrested?

Effie looked over at Emerald who was currently putting everything she'd gotten out away. She was still bubbly as ever but she seemed to have calmed down and Effie would bet her best Capitol Couture wig that Effie had been her first patient of the day. She watched Emerald for another minute; she still really wanted to know about Haymitch and she wondered how much Emerald knew.

"Emerald?" She called out in the most professional voice she could muster, "What happened to Haymitch?"

The young woman in question looked over at her with an expression of confusion. "Haymitch Abernathy? The one who injured you?"

When Effie nodded Emerald just shrugged. "Well he was apprehended by peacekeepers, naturally."

Effie nodded again, "Naturally, yes of course. But… what happened after that?"

Emerald straightened herself, the blanket she'd been folding resting over her arm. "Well from what I know they wanted to lock him away… but then we hit the rockslide and it was just decided he wouldn't go to jail, but there would be terms for his freedom. Like the no drinking thing. Oh! And it might just be a rumour but I heard he had to go see a therapist when we get to the Capitol but I just don't know."

Effie stared at her hand as her nurse explained what was happening. Ever mindful of her manners Effie refrained herself from snorting when Emerald mentioned therapy. Yeah Effie thought, And Pigs fly.

Emerald shook her head, "Well, if you ask me Effie after what he did to you he can rot in a cell. He's useless anyways, nothing but a drunken deadweight."

Effie frowned a bit. Sure, what Emerald said was true but Effie had seen Haymitch during the worst of his nightmares. She'd seen him get trapped in his mind and as much as she thought that he needed help Effie doubted he'd ever seek it out. In his mind Haymitch was far beyond the help anyone could offer him, and wasn't that getting him in everyone's good books.

Effie looked at the clock on the bedside table when she saw Emerald look at her watch. Guess Emerald was the nighttime nurse… and one with a lot of time on her hand at that. She'd been here for quite some time and it made Effie wonder how many patients were actually in this ward. She couldn't imagine there were very many, after all the tributes weren't allowed to fight. Besides that they didn't even meet while on the train, most met during the training sessions.

After saying good-bye, Emerald left and Effie was left to her own devices. It wasn't until she blinked and almost forgot to open her eyes that she realized how tired she was. She gave the clock another glance; it really wasn't late at all. She'd only been awake for a little bit anyways, so why was she so tired?

Couldn't be because she was still recovering from a stab wound.

Nooooooo.

Sighing Effie slid down further into the comfortable pillows and the soft blankets. Another good thing about the Capitol was that everything was top notch. Even the clothing and bedding in a healing ward was comfortable, nothing like the paper sheets in the districts; those that could afford them anyways.

Letting out a yawn Effie closed her eyes. She would have liked a shower, but she highly doubted they would let her and she probably wasn't up to it either. Luckily, there was no mirror in the room where she could look at her reflection; if she did Effie figured her heart would probably stop. For now, she could just relax and not worry about being Captiol perfect. She wasn't knocking it though; Effie was itching to get her wig back on and some make-up onto her face. She couldn't wait to be pretty again.

For the amount of time she'd been sleeping prior to when she awoken Effie fell asleep rather quickly. She drifted off and dreamed of the Capitol; the people and the fashions, the colours and the Games all fluttered through her subconscious. In her dream she was shopping at her favourite boutique, they'd just come out with their new autumn fashion and Effie was excited. This boutique never failed and it was reasonably priced.

When she walked in Effie almost squealed with excitement before remembering her manners and gathering her wits about her. The whole store had been transformed with the change of the season… fashion season that was. She all but ran to the shoes, they were perfect! The golden/auburn colour was decorated jewels that reflected the light perfectly. Slipping out of the ones she was wearing Effie grabbed her size and tried them on; after she got them on she stood up and took a small walk about. They were beautiful and amazingly comfortable.

As she walked she was able to browse the rest of the clothes in the store, putting outfits together in her mind as she went. When she changed back into her own shoes she went about gathering the outfits together disappearing into the change rooms.

Two hours later she was just about ready to leave. She was just finishing picking out her new earrings and bracelets. She couldn't wait until she could wear her new clothes; nothing made her feel better than the feel of high quality material on her skin.

When she got to the check-out counter she was shocked, and extremely happy to find that there was no line. Perhaps no one else knew about it yet? It was unlikely but what other explanation was there? The confusion continued as she walked up to see no one behind the counter. What was going on here? The store was open, it wasn't like she broken in. So where was everyone?

"Problems sweetheart?"

Effie spun on her heel to see none other than Haymitch Abernathy standing in the doorway to the shop. Leaning casually against the doorframe as if he owned the place the grin on his lips made Effie uneasy, what was he doing here?

"Haymitch!" She brought her hand up to her chest to show her surprise. "You scared me! What are you doing here?"

She watched as Haymitch pushed himself off the doorframe and walked over to her at a leisurely pace. Effie was tempted to take a step back. It was ridiculous for her to be nervous of Haymitch, he was nothing but a drunken victor; someone who had fallen from grace a long time ago.

He shrugged as he approached, "Just thought I'd stop by. See what all the fuss is about."

Effie raised an eyebrow, fuss? There was no one –

Effie jumped back at the people who were suddenly everywhere. They hadn't been there before had they? Oh she was so confused!

"Haymitch," She turned to him. "What is going on here?!"

He was standing right in front of her. Spinning that damn dagger he always carried around with him. She was really getting annoyed with him now, what a stupid man. She watched as he rested the tip against her stomach.

He leaned in his lips brushing her ear, "Sorry sweetheart." And pushed the dagger into her skin.

Effie awoke with a scream, clutching at her stomach and dripping with sweat. Clamping her hands over her mouth to quieten her screams she stared into the dark room. Panicked she felt her abdomen, felt the bandage still there and her tears welled in her eyes. Pulling her knees to her chest she put her head on them. And cried.

A.N. Guys I swear when I start these they aren't supposed to be angsty and depressing. They're also not supposed to be five pages long but that's another story. It will get better I promise. Reviews feed my soul, please donate