My mind is reeling instantly. She's alive, wait what? I can't think, I cannot process what's going on until I'm striding across the room to the elevator and punching a few buttons quickly.

She's alive, but she's dying. I can't think, I need to go to her, I don't care about Command at the moment, Madge is alive, the girl I love is alive. The elevator stops once and I stop pacing as Thom gets in the elevator. He looks quite defeated and angry. Time to cheer him up.

"They're alive." I choke out hoarsely and after a minute, he grins before pumping his fist in the air. We both stand restlessly in the elevator for God only knows how long, and finally, finally, the doors open and we both step out into the hospital ward. We see the family that crossed over with them, they're quite a mess and huddled together holding each other. Thom quickly looks up what rooms Bristel and Madge are in and we shoot off that way.

Thom stops in front of Bristel's door and takes a breath. I can say hello to her later. As soon as the door is open, I hear a shriek coming from inside. Must be Bristel.

I keep walking until I get to Madge's door. My family is outside. I don't know how they found out, but at the moment, I don't frankly care. My mother comes to embrace me and Posy clings to my legs.

"What are we doing, Gale?"

"We're going to see Madge, Posy." I grin down at her as a she laughs and goes to sit by Rory and Vick.

For the next few hours, I alternate from pacing, to sitting, to pacing again. Apparently, Madge is in surgery, she was poisioned by something, I don't know what though. All I can really process is: Madge is alive. For weeks now I had been mourning about her, thinking she was dead, when all this time, she's been alive, stuck in the woods, dying.

Finally, the doctor comes out, looking grim. "She's going to be okay. She's been through a lot these past few weeks. She was poisoned by something in the woods, we don't know what though. When she wakes up we'll have to talk to her about it."

"When she wakes up?"

"She had morphling, to keep the pain from her leg and ribs away. Just go on in there." He says quietly, opening the door and shoving all of us inside.

She's covered in cuts, hair matted, dirt is all over her, and she's the most beautiful person I've ever seen. Her face is deathly pale and I begin to think that it's too late and she's died. Immediately, I've crossed the room to her side and am sitting in the chair set next to the bed she's in. Memories flood my brain, everything we've been through together all coming back to me at once. I grasp her small fingers and kiss her hand softly. Posy crawls onto my lap and looks down at Madge. Rory and Vick sit on the edge of her bed, staring in awe at her.

I don't know how long we sit there, just waiting for her to wake up. She has all of these wires in her arm and everything seems normal. My mother tries to force me to go do something else, to go to Command, but I can't move. I need to be here when she wakes up, I have to be here. No questions asked.

She stirs in her sleep a few times and I think that she's going to wake up, but then doesn't, so my spirits deflate. Posy falls asleep in my arms so my mother takes her and the boys back. She leaves me here alone with Madge.

Pretty soon, I begin to doze.

As soon as she's out of my sight, I bolt to the Everdeen's house, getting Prim and Mrs. Everdeen, they don't have time to grab anything from their house. I tell them to get to the meadow, they know where it is. My house next. My family is already ready in the house, pacing across the creaking floor.

"Get to the meadow. I'll be there later."

"Gale, what's going on?" My mother asks. I can't lie to her.

"It's happening. Ma, get everyone to the meadow, I have to get Madge. I'll see you guys soon." I kiss each of their heads and Posy clings to me.

"Gale, where are you going?" She asks, looking up at me. God, this makes it hard to leave. I bend down and kiss her forehead.

"I'll see you in a bit, Posy. I have to go now." I stand and Rory gets her off of me. I take one last fleeting look at my family, my house, the place I grew up, the place where my family grew up, the place where I've been for nineteen years. It's hard to leave it, knowing that it's probably not going to survive. Then, I exit the door.

I meet up with Thom somewhere in the time that I'm telling people to get out of the District. Some people refuse, saying that they won't bomb us, but they will. I know they will, after the stunt they pulled in the arena, they will. Some people rush out the door and run, going to inform others or going to the meadow. One old couple refuses, they said that they have little time left anyways and would perfer to die in their home. Well, that's comforting.

I meet up with Thom somewhere in the trek to Madge's house, where we know Madge and Bristel will be. 100 feet from her house, a bomb is dropped. On her house. I can hear myself yelling and I can hear Thom yelling but I can't process what we're saying because all I can hear is screaming. Her screaming. Mixed with Bristels, her fathers and her mothers. The loudest is Madge's; it's the only thing I can hear. I can't hear the bombs being dropped on the rest of the district, I can't hear other people screaming. I can only hear her.

"Gale we have to go." Thom regains himself first. I'm in shock.

"No. They must be alive, in there, they have to be!" I shout, preparing to run into the house and get them out of there. Thom grabs my arm and tries to pull me back. "Madge!" I shout out, still trying to get to her. I have to get to her.

I wake with a start, my heart pounding and I'm sweating. That's the usual nightmare I have. The one where Madge's house gets bombed, and I could hear her screaming. That must be where she got all of the burns.

My eyes scan over her face, breathing in everything about her. She has a few spare cuts and burns on her face but other than that, she looks reletively the same. Her hair is matted but still glowing when it catches the dim light. I wish I could see her eyes, the bright blue that would always light up my day even if I was in the worst mood possible.

I brush a few stray strands of hair off of her face, my fingers brushing over her skin. She stirs a bit and shifts until her eyelids flutter open, finally.

I stare in shock with eyes wide as she slowly opens her eyes all the way and goes to sit up but hisses in pain and clutches her side where her ribs are broken. She's the only thing I can see, the blue of her eyes the only color that stands out to me. It's the only color that's stood out to me, here in 13, everything is dull. Seeing her eyes is like the sun is rising again after years of no light.

Her eyes scan the room and finally, she speaks, her voice like music despite it being scratchy. "Am... Am I dead?" Her eyes finally scan over to me and it causes me to take a sharp intake of breath when her eyes pop out of her head. "G-Gale..." I don't hesitate to pull her petite form into my arms, moving onto the bed and holding her, careful not to cause any pain to her. I don't want to put her through more pain. Her hand curls on my chest and we sit there for a little, me holding her. Just holding her.

Oh, how I've longed to hold her. I realize that she's crying. I pull away and rest my forehead on hers. "Shh, don't cry. Please. I just found you again." I gently wipe her tears from her face and they leave streaks of dirt.

She shifts with much pain in her eyes, it's completely evident to me. "No, stop. Don't move. I don't want you to be hurt anymore." I whisper to her and she speaks.

"I love you. I love you, Gale." She speaks frantically, trying to get the words out quickly, like she doesn't think she's going to be able too. "I love you."

I turn her, carefully, so I don't hurt her anymore than she already is and press my lips onto hers for our first kiss in months. She still tastes like strawberries, I think silently to myself. I don't push her, just kiss her gently and slowly, hopefully telling her everything I hadn't been able to tell her. She breaks the kiss first by wincing. She tries to hide it, but unsuccessfully.

I force her to lay back down on her hospital bed and take her hand, kissing it once more. "I thought you were dead, Madge." I finally force out and her fingers twine with mine.

"I thought I was too." She admits, tears then pooling in her eyes. I reach out and cup her face, gently wiping the tears again with my thumb. "My dad's dead." She chokes out and I look down at our hands.

"I know. I couldn't get him out. I couldn't even get you out, Madge." I drop my head into my hands and run them through my hair. "I couldn't even get the one person I love the most out."

"It's not your fault, Gale."

Slowly, shifting her without hurting her side or her leg or whatever else is wrong with her, I press my lips to hers for the first time in months. She still tastes like strawberries, I think to myself. I don't push her too fast, just slowly kiss her, telling her everything I haven't been able to tell her. We don't break away until she winces. She tries to hide it, but I see it.

I force her to lay back down before taking her hand again and kissing it. I don't say anything for a minute as she watches me. "All this time... I thought you were dead Madge. When in reality... You're alive. You're alive." The words sound foreign in my mouth. But she's only barely alive. She's nearly dead. "What poisoned you, Madge?" I gently ask her and she looks up, blinking away more tears.

"I... I-it was a snake... A few days before we got here... It got me and-"

"Where?" I whisper to her and she raises a weak and trembling arm from where her ribs are broken and pats her right shoulder. It really is a miracle that she's alive. I can't believe it, I never thought that she would still be alive. I mean, I had hoped but when her house exploded... I thought it was over. I really did.

I stay with Madge about twenty more minutes, relishing in the fact that she's actually alive. She's really weak and can't actaully move very far. Occasinally while I talk, Ill squeeze her hand, making sure she's still with me.

Eventually, she falls asleep and only then do I realize how long I've stayed with her. It's been all day. Coin's gonna kill me.

Back at my home, my mother and Rory are still up. When the door snaps shut, they jump up from the couch and come to me, firing questions.

"She's fine. Just resting. She'll be okay."

And even as I say it, I hope it's true.

A/N: Sorry if this took forever. Wanted to get it right. Hope I did it justice. Updates will be only once a few becasue my grades are dropping and parents aren't very happy. I'm not abandoning, I just have to get my grades up! Review!