Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games.
Enjoy the chapter! I think you'll like the ending *hint hint*
Another summer day, has come and gone away in Paris and Rome, but I want to go home. Maybe surrounded by, a million people I, still feel all alone, I want to go home. ~Home, Blake Shelton 3
"Happy week anniversary" Gale smirks at me when he meets me outside my house for our walk to work. We've been walking to and from work together every day.
"Thanks" I chuckle as I look up at him. Everyone on the crew has been saying they're surprised I've lasted this long. Work isn't as hard anymore though. Lucas was right about gaining muscle, and my hands have adjusted too. Which is annoying, somewhat, because Lucas is always hitting on me now too.
Another thing that I've realized is how much I enjoy Gale's company. I guess it's because there's no one at my house, but I always look forward to seeing him in the mornings. I actually caught myself thinking of him at night too. Wondering what he's doing right now, if he had enough to eat. I actually care about him since I don't have any family anymore. I guess I've always cared about him, the boy who was my best friend.
"So, are you excited for the harvest festival on Friday?" I ask as I look up at him. His face goes hard for a moment.
"I don't think I'm going" he says gruffly, I can't help the disappointment I feel to his answer. He should go; it'll be fun for everybody.
"Why?" I press him, wanting an explanation.
"Cause" he says gruffly. Wonderful. Another thing I've remembered is that if Gale really doesn't want to tell you something, it's pretty damn hard to get him too. I kinda hoped that had changed about him. So I just sigh as I go and put my jacket in its place at the mines, since we've arrived there now.
As I walk over to my crew I notice a new man standing among them. He's a bit shorter than Gale, but just as big. He's not Seam, his blond hair gives that away, but he's not
merchant either, gray eyes.
"Who's this?" I ask as I walk up.
"His names Trip baby" Lucas explains to me a smirk on his face, "we have to use explosives today and he's the one to do them." I just nod and file into the shaft as the whistle blows. I don't like Trip, he keeps to himself, didn't even greet me, and is pushy, I can tell that by the shove he gives me from behind.
Minutes later we're swinging our pick axes. There's little talk between us, like always, only the canary singing away, but it's just strange with Trip here too. He is a bit farther down hooking up something that will blow the wall. I find myself occasionally glancing down to see what he's doing. I've never seen someone used explosives in the mine before.
Just before lunch he calls for us to stop so he can blow the wall. I take off my hardhat and put it under my arm as we all stand back while he pushes down on a lever a few feet ahead of us. I cover my ears at the massive boom that fills and echoes around us. Coal dust billows everywhere, but when it settles, I can see the five feet of wall Trip blew through. It would take a miner more than a week to do that. Everyone around me turns and walks off for lunch. I stay back a little then follow from behind after Trip has gotten up and is making his way towards me.
My foot catches on something and I stumble forward, I stop before I fall though.
"Move it shorty" I hear Trip growl at me, I take a few steps when I'm shoved forward. I stumble again and fall, my head slams against the stone hard wall and I fall to the floor, my head crashes against that too. "Told ya" Trips snaps stepping over me. My hands go up and I clutch my head, the world seems to be spinning and vibrating.
I regret taking off my hardhat now. Everything goes black for a moment before they come back spinning still. I let out a loud groan and then I hear feet running towards me.
"Denver? Denver you okay?" I hear Gary ask me first. I groan and if I could, I'd have rolled my eyes.
"Do I look okay?" I grumble I take my hands away from my head and see they're red from my blood. Great.
"I guess not" he mumbles again. Everyone from my crew is around me now, mumbling suggestions on what to do. Just let me rest? Let me sit out the rest of work? Do nothing at all? After about five minutes of this it's Gale who finally just snaps.
"How about I just take her home? Clearly she needs to be bandaged up I'll take her to Mrs. Everdeen." he almost yells at everyone.
"Okay" they agree with him.
My vision has cleared and I see hand offered out to me. I don't know who it belongs too but I take it, I think it's Lucas. Whoever it is helps me to my feet and I use them to steady myself.
"Okay, Gale you get the rest of the day off too then, make sure she gets some help." Gary shrugs at Gale, who stands behind me. I feel his hands go on my shoulders as he guides me towards the shaft. I let my hand that's not against the wall go up to my head, which throbs with each step. Halfway to the shaft I stop so my head can clear.
"You okay?" Gale asks worriedly.
"No"
"Here, how about I carry you then?" he offers, I stare at him, can he even pick me up? He seems to read my mind, "Common you can't weigh more than a coal cart." true, very true. I nod and soon Gale is carrying me bridal style the rest of the way to the shaft. I let my head roll back and rest on Gales shoulder. I can think a little better since its resting on something, but I can't piece together my jumbled memories of the past ten minutes to remember what happened.
He doesn't put me down when we reach the surface. He explains to the foreman what happened and were both excused for the rest of the day. I'm carried through the square, which earns many glances and stares. We have to pass the schoolyard to get to Victors Village, where Katniss and her family live. As we pass I see from behind Gale's neck that the kids are out playing on break. Before I know it I faintly hear Vick and Rory.
"Gale! What's wrong?" I hear Rory shout over, we turn as Gale makes his way over.
"She hit her head pretty hard; I'm taking her to Katniss's mom." Gale explains.
"Will she be okay?"
"I'll be fine." I laugh lightly but stop as it makes my head throb.
"Go back to your friends, you can see her later." Gale tells his brothers, they nod and go run off. "You okay?" Gale asks me again.
"Kinda" I admit, I don't feel too bad. We're almost to the house when my stomach contorts. "Put me down now!" I say quickly.
"What?"
"unless you want vomit on you put me down!" by the time I say vomit I'm put on my feet. I go over to the side and begin to retch. Gale holds my hair back for me.
"I'm glad I put you down." he chuckles.
In response I throw up again and again, and again. After I stand and take deep breaths. "I think I'm good" I gasp.
"Okay, can you walk now?" he asks. I take a few steps before the world is spinning again and it causes me to throw up again. "I take that as a no"
"Do you, smartass?" I taunt him; he cracks a grin at me.
Minutes later Gale is knocking on the Everdeens door, he's carrying me again. A middle aged woman with blond hair opens the door.
"Gale?" she asks clearly surprised. "Who's this?" clearly surprised to see me.
"A friend, she hit her head pretty hard on the wall in the mines. She can't walk really, makes her head hurt. She was throwing up a lot too." he explains quickly. The lady quickly goes into nurse mode.
"Bring her in; she can sit on the couch."
I'm brought inside and Gale puts me down on the couch. The lady, she must be Mrs. Everdeen, comes over and begins to check my head. I help her out and point to a spot where the blood had come off. She makes a strange noise when she sees it.
"Gale, get some water, we need to get the coal dust out of it."
Every time they put water on my head it stings, it burns, and I find myself gritting my teeth together. After Mrs. Everdeen deems it clean they bandage it up. My head feels like there's a coal mine on the inside and miners are trying to chisel their way out by the end. I grit my teeth through the pain, but some tears do slip out of my eyes.
"You okay dear?" Mrs. Everdeen asks.
"My head is killing me."
"oh, well, I think you've had a concussion, do you remember what happened?" she asks.
"No, I just want to rest" I choke out.
"Okay, I have an idea." she goes off towards the kitchen, I look over at Gale, he's sitting in a leather armchair a few feet away.
"Thanks Gale" my words snap him out of a daydream.
"What?" he asks confused.
"I said thanks, for helping me" I explain for him.
"Oh, it was nothing, I'm kinda glad, I got off work early now" he shrugs. Mrs. Everdeen comes back holding a little glass flask. I eye it carefully as she holds it out to me.
"Sleep syrup" she explains.
"Oh" is all I say as I take it, sleeping doesn't sound too bad right now. I'd be asleep if it weren't for my head, this stuff will help me with that. I've never had the stuff. I know it jumbles your thoughts so you don't know what you're really thinking, or saying for that matter. Whatever, I want to sleep so much, anything to make the miners on the inside of my head go away.
"Gale, you can bring her up to the extra room, there's a chair in there too if you want to stay with her." I hear the lady explain as I drink the sweet liquid from the flask. I don't hear Gales answer, but I guess he said okay since he comes over and picks me up again. My mind feels cloudy from the medicine. I can't think strait, everything just feels, fuzzy.
Gale puts me down on a bed. He strokes the hair out of my face gently. "Sleep" he tells me softly, he rises to go sit down or something but I take his hand, he turns back to me.
"Yeah?"
"Stay here" I ask sleepily, the drug starting to pull me into a deep sleep.
"I will, till you wake up" he promises, squeezing my hand a little.
"Gale?"
"yeah?" he asks again, I look into his eyes as my own begin to close.
"I love you" I whisper then my world goes black as I'm pulled fully under.
Thank you for reading again. I hope it was enjoyable. Sorry that it's so short and for grammar mistakes that spell check may, probably has, missed. I wrote this from my iPod while on vacation. Happy to say my friend and I found a pretty fun glade, we went through twice and I only fell seven times. Haha I'm actually a pretty good skier despite falling so much, I'm just not that worried about safety. Though I did hit a pipe and my ski flew off….
ANYWAYS I really liked writing this chapter (I stayed up till 2:30 in the morning working on it) So please review! I beg you on my knees to review for me! I love them so so much! The more reviews the faster the updates come! I'll reward you for more reviews :P Thanks for reading again.
Mocking Verse (just realized that I never sign/type my "name" at the end…and I use the word realized a lot)