He ended up occupying his mind by tracing the patterns on the tiled floor. It didn't take much to distract his thoughts nowadays. It was so easy to keep himself occupied, not much of his mind was conscious and what was conscious wasn't functioning properly. He smashed a bright purple bug under his thumb, his skin meeting only the cool tile. The bug shimmered for a second before melting away. He looked up when a chubby Capitolite came in. He blinked and shook his head a little, and it was Delly Cartwright when he opened his eyes again. She had come in a few times to talk to him. He knew it was because the Capitol hadn't twisted her in his mind.

"Hi Delly."

"How are you feeling, Peeta?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm literally feeling nothing."

"Oh." Peeta sighed. Delly is the only friend he has right now, he should try to be nice to her, that's what the old Peeta would do. He would be nice to his friend.

"My mind... Mind can't stay anywhere very long. I might hate you in five seconds. I might black out. I don't know. But right now I'm just hallucinating. You had blue hair and orange skin when you came in."
"That's awful! What are they doing about it?"
"Watching. Waiting. Not much they can d-Dell-Delly! Don't let them put more in me! Don't let them! Make them stop, it hurts so bad, it stings! It stings me! I can't. I can't take it anymore. I can't. Make them stop- DELLY get out of here, they'll poison you too! You have to go! Leave me here, it's too late for me, save yourself and go!"
"Doctor? Doctor!" The doctor came in with a guard a few steps behind her.
"There isn't anything I can give him that will help. I can only put him to sleep, but he requested we stop sedating him for awhile. I can't legally sedate him."
"Peeta... Poor Peeta. Shh, it's okay. You're out of the Capitol. It's okay, we're helping you. What's in your head, Peeta? What is it? Tell me."
"Katniss... Katniss... What are you saying to me, what will you do to me, where did she go, when did she leave me? What will be left after the cameras are gone? When will she go back to her seam boy, why does she love him and not me? Why is she still here, is she going to kill me kindly or let me bleed to death, will she use her fangs or her claws, why are the scales so cold, when did her skin turn green, where is she taking me? Katniss don't hurt me anymore, I love you, why do you do this to me? What did I do to you? Talk to me, Katniss, tell me what I did? Tell me how to make it better? I want you to love me. I need you to love me. Why won't she love me? Why can't she love me?"
"Peeta, it's not real. It's not real. You're here with me, Delly. That's real. That's not fake." Delly was crying so hard at his words, his face was only a blur in front of her eyes. He looked up at her, his own eyes drowning in tears and his breathing broken up with harsh hiccups and choking noises.
"Delly, help me?"
He slumped down, broken.

A few days later, a different doctor came in to examine Peeta and to see if there was a way to heal him.
"What happens when you have an... An episode, Mr. Mellark?"
"Please stop calling me that."
"Mr. Mellark? Is that not your name?"
"That's what THEY called me. Always. Always... always... Katniss... Stay..."
"Peeta?"
"Huh? Oh, you're the good doctor, right? What did you ask me?"
"Yes, I'm Dr. Lan. I asked you what it's like when you get an episode."
"Oh. It's different sometimes. When I first got back, and I saw her, I couldn't think anything, my mind was black. I could only see her running towards me with her claws aimed at my neck. I don't know what I did. You all say I attacked her. But when the man... The one that hit me-"
"Boggs."
"Boggs. When he hit me, I felt like I was back in the Capitol because they hit me a lot there."
"Yes, you started panicking."
"But usually, when I'm too tired to fight for myself, then my mind just goes back to sitting in my cell, back in the Capitol prison. Everything is white and silent and cold. Nothing happens, I'm just scared."
"What about the times that something triggers a flashback, you mentioned being somewhere else."
"If I hear something from before that they showed me pictures of in the room after giving me the venom, then I think of when that was said before. Except with a nightmare ending instead of what you tell me really happened."
"Those are the ones we think will be the easiest to reverse. We'll show you the recording of the real event, and if that triggers an attack, we'll give you a sedative to calm you so that those memories don't frighten you anymore. Does that sound good to you?"
"Yeah. Doctor?"
"Yes?"
"I want to see her. I have to tell her I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, it's too early still. But it's good to hear you say that, that's the real Peeta coming back."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Haymitch's POV}

"He's in terrible condition, Mr. Abernathy."
"He seems fine." We're standing next to a large window into the boy's room.
"Right now he does. In a few seconds, he'll... Well, watch."
We look through the glass, where a nurse is taking the boy's blood pressure and pulse. They have him strapped to his bed. He speaks quietly but after a couple seconds, his face gets hard, and the nurse looks up and steps back. I can't hear what they're saying, but after he glowers at her for awhile, I can vaguely make out his shouts. The nurse doesn't look surprised. Another twenty seconds and he suddenly stops yelling and his eyes grow wide, bright and terrified. He shrinks away as she lifts her palms to show she isn't a threat. She moves closer slowly, and he kept shrinking farther and farther into the bed. After half a minute, his eyes droop and he loses consciousness. My girl has no idea that she's the one who's done the most damage to him. The hijacking was a big part, but the worst of it was the constant denial he'd put himself through, add onto that the constant feeling inadequacy from his childhood, and the abuse from his mother. My poor boy.