I have been dying to update, but I've been in Nevada for three days at a debate tournament, so I haven't really had the timeā¦
Here is Chapter 11!
Peeta POV
I sat next to Katniss as she lays unconscious on her hospital bed, her hand in mine. They have kept her sedated,scared that she might start freaking out again. The doctors keeping running tests and taking her blood, but they won't tell me anything.
Her mother and sister come and sit in here a lot too, but I don't [ay them any attention, I just sit there and hold her hand. Gale doesn't sit down, he stands at the bottom of the bed, his eyes shifting between her face and her hand in mine. "She's not yours you know." He says, then turns around and walks out the door.
I know it's true, Katniss isn't with me, she isn't mine. But one of the few things that has kept me going is that how she was acting on the beach might have been real. But I know that even if she isn't mine, I will always be her's.
Finnick came in once, but he spends most of his time with Annie. Apparently she was in the room right next to Katniss, so they were able to get her too.
Katniss' tightening hand and small whimpers pull me from my thoughts. "No," She mumbles in her sleep, moving her head back and forth. "Stop, it hurts." I felt my chest tighten as tears started leaking out of her closed eyes.
I rest my forehead against her arm, and listen to her sleep talk.
"Peeta?" I looked up and Prim was standing in the doorway. "They have the results back. My mom wants to talk to you." I stood up and looked down at Katniss. I didn't want to leave in case she woke, and I want'ed to be there when she did.
I looked back at Prim and nodded. She walked away and I followed her. We walked through the halls until we stopped in front of an apartment. "Where are we?" I asked her as she opened the door.
"This is mine and my room." I follow her into the room and shut the door behind mom is sitting in a desk chair, reading our of a book. "Mom," Prim said, getting her mother's attention.
She looked up at us and shut her book. She gave me a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. and when her gaze met mine, her eyes were full of worry and exhaustion. "Hello Peeta, have a seat." Her voice was full of sadness as she motioned for me to sit on the bed.
"Prim said that Katniss' test results came back." I began, sitting next to Prim on the bed. "Is she okay?"
Mrs. Everdeen gave me a sad smile and shook her head. "Physically she is fine. Although in x-rays we found evidence of previously cracked ribs, she is covered in bruises, she is also very dehydrated and malnourished. But in her blood," She paused, and reopened her book. "We found large amounts of hallucinogens and a drug known as Versed." My mind is racing as I'm rethinking how Gale kept saying how Katniss was telling me to leave, even when I was nowhere around her.
"What's that?" Prim asked, and I realized that she is hearing this for the first time too.
"Versed is used mostly for torture. It causes extreme pain to run through the body. And depending on the dose, it can last for hours." He eyes had tears in them, most likely because she was thinking about what her daughter had gone through the past months.
"The hallucinogen explains why she is so unstable. The one that they had injected her with set off the portion of her brain that stores guilt and fear. And putting those together," She let out a breath and shook her head and shoulders. "There is no telling what that did to her mentally."
Prim was shaking on the bed and tears were pouring out of her eyes. She was staring at her mother, as if she would say that she was kidding, and Katniss is fine. But she didn't.
I couldn't sit in that room any longer, so I got up and walked the short distance to my room. I opened the door and Finnick was sleeping on his bed. I walked right past him and into the bathroom for a shower. I hadn't been in my room-let alone showered- since they brought Katniss back three days ago.
I sat in the shower a lot longer than I should have, and finally get out when the water starts to turn cold. I step into the bedroom, and Finnick is getting ready to leave.
"How's Annie?" I ask, putting on my shoes.
A huge grin spreads across his face, and he sits next to me on my bed. "She's doing better. A lot better. I'm gonna go see her, see you later." He patted my shoulder and walked out of the room.
I took a few steadying breaths before heading to the hospital myself. When I got there, Gale caught my eye and nodded for me to follow him. He led me to a storage closet, and I glance around to make sure no one was watching before I went in.
"Do you know what condition she's in? No one will tell me what's going on." He said as soon as I had closed the door. His eyes were pleading and he grasped my shoulders in his hands.
"They have been injecting her with hallucinogens and some drug that causes pain." I said, although it came out a whisper. "Physically she will be fine, as long as they can bring her weight up, but it's how mentally damaged she is that I think they're worried about."
"So they think that they'll be fine?"
"I didn't say that." I looked around the closet full of medical supplies. "We have no idea exactly what she went through there. The only thing I know is that her mother told me that the hallucinogens they gave her triggered the fear part of her brain, and she was going through what most of us couldn't even comprehend." I was close to yelling now, I don't know why, but he had a look in his eyes that I didn't like. "So no Gale, they don't think she will be okay for a long time." I shrugged his hands on me and walked out the door to Katniss' room.
Through the window next to the door I saw her sitting on her bed, talking to a doctor. It looked like he was running her through some sort of physical exam because she was touching her fingers together and moving her legs.
She was still shaking like she was when I saw her on camera, but I knew that she would fight through this, she would be herself again someday.
"I wouldn't go in there." I looked over my shoulder at Connor, and turned my gaze back to Katniss.
"Why would that be?" I asked, watching as she got off the bed and tried to balance herself.
"Because," He said, coming up to stand beside me. "She isn't herself right now. I was there when she first woke up, and she started screaming at her mother and sister. I don't think she understands that she's safe now, and they way that she's been acting, I'd say those hallucinogens hit a little close to home." He shrugged one shoulder and walked away, just as the doctor was leaving the room.
When I turned towards the window again I saw Katniss watching me. I gave her a smile and started to open the door. When I walked in, Katniss was no longer standing by her bed, but cowering in the corner of the room.
"Katniss?" I said gently, slowly walking towards her. "It's me, Peeta." Tears were pouring out of her eyes, and her hands were clawing at her face. "Katniss, it's okay, you're safe."
She was shaking her head, looking at everything but me. "You're not Peeta. Peeta would never hurt me like you did." She shouted and started tearing at her face again. "This isn't real, this is Snow doing this to me." She was muttering, rocking back and forth.
"Katniss, you're not in the Capitol, you're in district 13." Carefully, I kneeled down next her, and felt a pain in my chest when she tried to bury herself further into the corner. "Please, look at me, I'm not going to hurt you-"
"You liar! You're not Peeta, and that wasn't my mother, or my sister, or Gale!" She stood up, her body visibly shaking and off balance. "You're all dead! None of you are here, you're all dead." I stood up, and watched as she sobbed, gripping her chest. "I killed you. You're not real." She whispered the last part, and slumped against the wall.
I didn't know what to say, I just stood there and watched as she cried. She didn't say anything either, she just sobbed into her hand, sliding down the wall until she was on the ground.
I sat down on the ground in front of her, and waited for her to exhaust herself so I could put her back in her bed.
Katniss POV
I woke up in a white room. I didn't know where I was, because this wasn't my room. My mom was sleeping in a chair, which I found odd because they never slept in my hallucinations. I looked down and noticed that I was still in a hospital gown.
I watched my mother, and waited for the yelling to begin, or for Prim do come and scream instead. I waited for a couple minutes to make sure she was asleep, and started to get out of bed. I sat up, and threw my legs over the edge, trying to ignore my joints protests. When my bare feet touched the ground I looked back at my mother to make sure she was still asleep.
I stood up, and immediately my legs collapsed under me and I was on the ground. I heard my mother gasp and call my name, and quickly moved underneath the bed. I watched her feet move about the room, and clapped a hand over my mouth the cover my breathing. "Katniss?" My mother called again.
Her feet moved to farthest position from the door, and I moved as fast as my body could towards the door. I had my hand on the handle when my mother grabbed me around the waist and dragged me away from the door.
"Katniss, you need to stop! I'm not going to hurt you!" I started kicking in her arms, trying to hit any part of her body. "I need a doctor!" She screamed, trying to get me back into bed.
"Let me go! Leave me alone!" I yelled thrashing around, trying to get her to loosen her grip.
The door burst open and there were two men in gray jumpsuits yelling for me to calm down. When I wouldn't, they all grabbed me and pinned me to the bed. My mother and my arms, and the larger doctor held my legs. I didn't know where the third person went until he came back with a needle.
"No! No more needles!" I screamed, trying to kick one of them off. "I'm done!"
"Katniss, we need you to relax." The man with the syringe said, swabbing my arm with a wipe. "No one is going to hurt you." He put the needle in my arm, and almost instantly I cringed, waiting for the fire to spread. But it didn't. I felt calmer, and stopped fighting.
It wasn't until then that I noticed the tears on my face. "Please," I whispered. "No more." My mother and the doctor got off me when they were confident that I had calmed down, and they crowded my bed.
My mom stroked hair, as I brought my knees to my chest and buried my face in my legs. "It's okay Katniss, nobody is going to do anything to hurt you anymore." I looked up at her kind face, and remembered how coldly she had looked at me before. "You're safe." She kissed my forehead and stood up to address the doctors. "What did you give her."
"Just a drug to calm her, we need to start weaning her off of all the sedatives and medications they had her on." The shorter doctor said, I buried my head in my legs again and tried to block them out as they talked with my mom.
"Mrs. Everdeen," The other doctor said, "We need to examine your daughter, and it might be easier if we were alone."
"Of course." She said and stroked my hair again before I heard two sets of retreating footsteps.
"Katniss, I know you much be exhausted, but I need to make sure everything is physically okay with you. Can you sit up please?" I nodded and pushed myself up onto my arms. "Okay then, lets get started." He said, helping me to fully sit up on the edge of the bed. "Can you touch each of your fingers together for me?" I looked up at him and he gave me a sincere smile.
Nodding, I brought each of my fingers to meet my thumb several times. "Fantastic, Now I need you to move your legs." I tried moving my legs, and winced when pain shot through them.
"That hurts." I whispered to him, as he moved them himself.
"Well, from the bruises we found on your wrists and ankles, it seemed like you were restrained. Do you remember if you were?" I couldn't speak, so I nodded. "How long?"
"I don't know, I was so drugged, all I know is that I've been there since my last interview with Cesar." I wasn't sure if they knew I had been interviewed by him, he nodded and continued to move my other leg.
"That was two weeks ago. That would explain why your body is so stiff, because your muscles have moved in so long." He let go of my leg and met my eyes.
"What's happening to me?" I whisper as he takes my hands and helps me stand up.
"Johanna Mason cut out your tracker in the arena so the Capitol wouldn't be able to find you. But, when she ran off, you went back to the tree, and our rescue teams lost your location. We were able to get Peeta, Johanna, Beetee, and Finnick out, but they couldn't find you and assumed you were dead. It wasn't until your first interview at the Capitol that everyone realized you were alive." I tried bouncing on my toes, but quickly lost balance and had to hold on to the doctor to keep me from falling.
"How long have I been gone?" I was scared of that the answer would be worse than I thought, but I had to know.
"Almost four months." He looked at the window, then back at me.
Curious, I looked back as well and saw Peeta standing with his back to us, speaking with some man. "Can I be alone now?" I asked, keeping my eyes on him.
"Of course, I'll be back later." He patted my shoulder and walked out of the room. When Peeta saw him walk out, he turned and looked right at me.
And it was as if all my fear came rushing back into me like a flash flood. We stood there and stared at each other for a minute, until he walked through the door.
The closer he came, the more panicked I became. He was walked towards me, and I curled myself into the corner, and buried my face into my hands.
"Katniss?" He said, reaching his hand out to me. "It's me, Peeta." I could feel the tears fall out of my eyes, no matter how hard I tried to keep them in. "Katniss, it's okay, you're safe." His voice was warm and concerned, but everyone had seemed different since I got out. I thought I was out- but I knew if I was out of the Capitol- than Gale and my family had nothing to do with it. They were all dead, and now they were just figments of my imagination.
I shook my head, not looking at him. "You're not Peeta. Peeta would never hurt me like you did." I shouted, and turned to face him. "This isn't real, this is Snow doing this to me." I muttered to myself, trying to forget that he was here.
"Katniss, you're not in the Capitol, you're in district 13." I felt him squat down next to me, and tried to push myself into the corner as far as I could go. "Please, look at me, I'm not going to hurt you-"
"You liar! You're not Peeta, and that wasn't my mother, or my sister, or Gale!" I stood up and looked down at his worried eyes. I felt dizzy and had to put my hand on the wall to steady me. "You're all dead! None of you are here, you're all dead." He stood up, and watched as I grasped my hand to my chest and tried to keep myself together. "I killed you. You're not real." I was so exhausted, that the last part of my rant came out a whisper and I slumped against the wall.
He didn't say anything, just watched as I slid to the floor and sobbed.
Sitting down in front of me, he watched me with pain filled eyes while I exhausted myself.
There it is! Finally! REVIEW
