GALE'S POV
"What?" I ask, although I heard her clearly.
"I said, I'm coming too," Katniss says, squaring her shoulders. I shake my head.
"But, you're afraid of caves," I say, lowering my voice. She shrugs.
"Yeah, but I know you were, too, and I think it's time I get over my fear," she explains. I take a deep breath.
"Okay, fine. So, Emerson, where's the entrance?" I ask. Emerson leads Katniss and me to the other entrance, which is down a weed-ridden path through the woods. Katniss and I are holding hands tightly the whole way there.
I sit on the edge of the 2-feet-in-diameter hole, my legs hanging in. "Ready?" I ask, looking up at Katniss, who's standing up. She nods, and I drop myself 5 feet to the cave floor. Ouch, my ankles. Katniss jumps down behind me. We hold hands again as we walk down a slight decline, shin-deep in water. Soon it gets so deep that we're up to our hips. We're holding hands over the water. My hand is almost going numb from the super-tight grip Katniss has on me.
Once we are stomach-deep, I say to Katniss, "Don't worry, I'll be right back. I'm going under." I let go of Katniss's hand, go underwater, and open my eyes. Through the crystal-clear water, I can see a small hole through which I can see our friends' legs treading water! I re-surface.
"Katniss! Our friends are right through this hole we have to swim under. Stay here, I'm swimming under," I explain, and take a deep breath. I'm just ready to go under when Katniss puts her hand on my shoulder.
"No, I'm coming with. You can't leave me," Katniss says, her voice tight. I look her in the eyes, and she holds my gaze. I can see she isn't backing down. I sigh.
"Ready, then?" I ask. We take a deep breath, and we swim through the hole, me leading her. We surface on the other side. But, there's only a foot of air left to breathe. I look at Katniss, and her eyes are wide and full of fear.
"Katniss! Gale!" Amber shrieks.
"Oh thank goodness," Hanna whimpers. "Look, there's a hole underwater that you have to swim through, and if you get through it, stand up and walk up the incline. Emily and Emerson will be calling your names," I instruct. Sam, then Hanna, then Amber, then Jake swim underwater.
"Ready?" I ask Katniss. Now that it's just me and her in this small space, I can hear that her breathing has gotten very shallow with fear. She takes a shaky breath, and we go under. Before we can even reach the hole, Katniss pulls from the grip and re-surfaces. I turn around and follow her.
"Katniss, what's wrong?" I ask her.
"I-I-I c-can't get a d-deep enough b-breath," Katniss replies shakily. I swim over to Katniss and put my hands on her cheeks, which is kind of hard to do while treading water. I kiss her, but only briefly, since she can't hold her breath very long.
"Just take deep breathes, okay?" I encourage her. But the water is up to only 7 inches left of air, and that's making deep breathing difficult for Katniss. With each loud splash of water, she starts breathing shallowly again. We have to tilt our heads at an angle to breathe in air.
"G-Gale, I can't breathe deep enough. I can't hold my breath long enough," Katniss says sadly, "Go ahead and go. I can't risk your life along with mine."
"Katniss. How could you say that? I could never live with myself if you died. You have to try," I say. Katniss closes her eyes and tries deep breathing again. I start to sing to her the song that we danced together to at the fair:
"I don't want to close my eyes,
I don't want to fall asleep,
Cause I'd miss you, baby.
And I don't want to miss a thing.
Cause even when I dream of you,
The sweetest dream will never do.
I'd still miss you, baby,
And I don't want to miss a thing."
I pause, then finally, "Katniss, we have to go now." The water has gotten even higher. But she shakes her head.
"I can't," she whispers. A wave of sadness comes over me. How could I lose Katniss? Wait, I can't. If she drowns here, I will too. But an idea hits me.
"Katniss, what if I clamp my hands over your mouth and nose? There's no way you could breathe in water if my hands are covering your mouth," I say. She smiles.
"That could work," she says. I nod.
"Ready?" we take a deep breath. I pull her towards the hole, and as her air dwindles, I clamp my hand over her nose and mouth. No, I'm not losing her while we're this close. Half way through the hole, she starts fighting for air. Her body shakes and her lips are twitching under my hand. But I hold my hand tightly to her face, and I pull her out of the hole. As I'm swimming for the surface, her body goes limp in my arms. No! When I get to the surface, I remove my hand, and wait for her to gasp for air.
She doesn't.
I hold her to my chest and I sprint faster than I ever remember myself running. I get to the exit and hold Katniss up. Some boy from school takes her and lays her on the grass aboveground. I hoist myself up, and sit next to her. I'm patting her cheeks, trying to wake her up.
"She's not breathing," I say quietly, then louder, "We were swimming out when she ran out of air. I put my hand over her mouth and nose so she couldn't breathe in any water, but she fainted from lack of oxygen."
"Anybody know CPR?" people shout through the crowd.
"I watched my mom give my sister CPR when she fainted once, but I'm not sure exactly how to do it…" I say. Nobody says anything until Emerson speaks.
"Well, nobody else has any experience at all, so it looks like you're her man," he says, patting me on the back. I bite my lip.
I hold Katniss's nose and breathe in her mouth. I pulse my hands against her ribs, to get the air out. Then I breathe in her mouth again. Repeat.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
And repeat.
Still nothing.
I'm starting to cry.
But I try again.
Nothing.