Ariel's POV
My eyes sting with tears, only causing me to cry more. My knuckles ache from clinging to Finnick's soft shirt as he holds my crumpled heap of a body on the elevator floor. I feel as if my entire chest has been ripped out with one of Garnet's machetes, or Aid's knives, or maybe even Sapphire's trident, cut up, and then reattached with rusty fishhooks.
"Sh-shh," Finnick whispers, hesitantly rubbing my back. "It's…it's…ok…we're here. Annie and I are here."
I don't want you, I want Mako. Mako!
It's Finnick's muscular hold on me that keeps me from just collapsing on the soft velvet floor. I've stopped crying. I just lean against Finnick's chest, my fingers loosening weakly from his shirt. I hear the "ding" indicating that we've reached the fourth floor, but I feel too weak to stand up. Finnick seems to realize this after he tries to stand up and I continue to weigh him down.
I suddenly feel him shift me around to where he has one arm under my knees and one on my back. I still lean against his chest as he stands up and carries me like a sleeping child out of the elevator.
"Here, just put her on her bed," says Annie quietly. The soft comforter envelopes me in a coat of plush and I stare ahead as Finnick leans over and brushes some stray hair out of my face. He also removes my crown and puts it on the bedside table drawer.
"You sure you don't need my help?" he asks. Annie nods.
"I can take care of her," she says, suddenly wincing and twitching. "I'll be fine."
Finnick sighs and leans in to kiss Annie, but she softly pushes at his chest and nods her head towards me, shakes her head, and mouths, "Not now."
"Right," Finnick whispers. He holds her hand for a moment and then heads towards the door. Before he exits through the doorway, he gives one wavering glance back at me, his eyebrows furrowing with concern. I must look dead to him now. I stare at the twin pools of sea foam green, but I don't say anything. I feel so numb. Finnick finally tears his gaze away from me and disappears behind the door.
"Come here, Ariel, sit up," says Annie, propping me up to a sitting position on the bed. I don't question or protest. I just sit there and let her do whatever. It doesn't really faze me that I am alone with a mentally instable woman.
I watch her robotically as she races to the bathroom and comes back with a wet rag to clean off my face, and then brushes my hair. The subtle crow's feet around her eyes are more prominent as she squints to work off my makeup. She must have been drop dead gorgeous during the time of her Games.
As was Finnick, but he still retains very few wrinkles. As Annie straightens out the knots in my hair, a strange thought occurs.
Am I the first person that they have treated like this? Am I the first one to act up that absurdly on stage?
"That was a stupid thing you did to President Snow," says Annie; the wet cloth whips me in the eye as she twitches. "Sorry." She pauses. "You could have been killed."
"I don't care," I finally mutter. "Let them kill me."
Annie grabs my arm roughly and holds it up to my face. I'm still wearing the bracelet that Mako gave me.
"You still have a reason to live," she says harshly. "When I said you are pregnant I wasn't bluffing to save your skin from the Peacekeepers."
My head snaps up and I lock my gaze with hers.
"What?" That's ridiculous. "You can't be serious."
"Dead serious," she says with the most stolid expression I've ever seen her wear. "While in the arena, the Gamemaker who was monitoring your vitals noticed a few strange things going on with your body. Strange no one figured it out. I knew right away." Annie winces and twitches again. "And after they pulled you out of the arena and put you in intensive care. They had to repair your left lung, and your heart. While running blood and urine tests to make sure our medication wouldn't cause an allergic reaction, my prediction was confirmed. A week and a half old."
I just stare at her. The fact that she's crazy is now starting to make me nervous.
"I knew you were mentally off your rocker, but this is ridiculous," I say. "Why did Finnick leave you alone with me?"
Annie stands to leave the room.
"You'll see, Ariel," she says softly. "Carrying a piece of the one you love under your heart isn't a bad thing. And look on the bright side: you'll be better off than most mothers your age."
"What do-" I'm about to challenge her, but then I remember that I am a victor.
I'll never have to worry about money ever again. If I am pregnant, Mako's child will life a perfect life, supported by the Capitol in the lap of luxury in Victor's Village.
Then a horrifying thought occurs to me. Cinna and Rue were both the children of victors, and look what happened to them.
"Oh my God," I say aloud. I feel suddenly nauseas. Annie turns away from the door.
"Yes?" she says, almost expecting me to say something.
"I'll be better off, yes, but-" I'm going to wretch I know it. "-what about when he…or she… turns twelve? What about when they become eligible for the Games? Think about it. Katniss and Peeta just went up against the Capitol by breaking the rules of the Games. I outright attacked the President!"
Silence. Not what I was looking for.
"What do I do?" I beg, on the verge of tears again. Annie comes back over and stands in front of me.
"Start training him or her as early as you can," she answers. "There's not much else you can do."
I sit back on the bed. I feel completely defeated, cornered. I may have left the arena, but the Games are still going on. The Capitol owns me and I can't do anything about it.
"You should sleep," says Annie. "Your interview is tomorrow and you've had a…rough day." She pauses. "You know, Mako didn't take his own life so that you could win."
I look up, frustration filling my voice as I whisper, "What?"
"He took his life so the Gamemakers could get you of the arena fast enough to save you."
"How would you know what?" I ask accusingly. "Your precious Finnick pretty boy wasn't with you in the Games. He got to watch from the sidelines as you cowered behind a rock through the whole thing and then floated like a damn bubble until the Gamemakers fished you out of the water!"
Hurt and pain crosses Annie's face, she covers her ears and bows her head. Oh no, she's not getting out that fast. I stand up and get right in her face, even though her messy hair bangs cover her eyes.
"You don't know what it's like to watch the one you love kill himself because you were just too weak to defend yourself!"
She shakes her head and staggers back.
"Stop," she whimpers.
"Tell me, did you fall in love with Finnick because he was a victor or because of his looks? Did you have a heart attack every time you saw him on the screen fighting off another hell planted by the Gamemakers?"
"Shut up!" she cries, her back hitting the door behind her.
"Did you!" I yell in her face, tears spilling down my face; I grab her wrists and hysterics overcome me. "Did you? All alone in your comfy home, watching him fight for his life with every fiber of will he had in his body?" Her wild frightened eyes lock on me. "You didn't have to watch Finnick die, did you! How would you know a damn thing about why Mako killed himself!"
Annie lets out a shrill cry and slides down against the door, breaking down into a hysteric sob. She suddenly falls back as the door slides open with Finnick on the other side. He immediately pulls Annie to her feet, who then buries her face in his chest, crying hysterically.
"What the hell did you do?" he asks, face red with anger. Tears continue to roll down my face.
"She thinks she knows everything about Mako and me!" I yell. "Neither of you know! You didn't have to watch her die either did you? You don't know!"
Finnick's steely eyes flare in anger, he whispers to Annie to go back to their room and she runs next door and disappears into their room. I am suddenly afraid for my life as Finnick now towers over me offensively. He steps into my room and the door slides closed behind him.
"After she tried to help you," he says, his voice dropping an octave. "And you just go off on her like that? Do you realize how delicate she is?"
"She thinks she knows why Mako killed himself!" I shout.
"Ariel, I could tell why he did!" Finnick yells back, equally loud if not louder. "A blind man could tell you why he did!"
I shut my mouth, but I still stare him down, fury burning in my cheeks.
"He killed himself to save you," Finnick says, his voice softening. "He wouldn't have done it if you weren't dying. Just think about it for a second Ariel."
It takes me a second to cool the rage in my head and actually ponder what Finnick has said.
He's right. If we'd both been perfectly healthy, Mako wouldn't have killed himself. We would have stayed together until the Gamemakers had finished off whichever one of us they didn't want to be the victor.
I remember the piercing pain of the trident skewering me in the back. The scar isn't even there because of the full body polish the doctors did on me. I look down at my flawless hands. The scars from countless fishhook mishaps are completely gone.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. Finnick sighs and rubs the back of his neck in exhaustion.
"It's fine just…" He groans. "Just apologize to Annie in the morning. She'll be up all night now."
"Sorry," I repeat.
"Alright. Just get in bed and go to sleep. You got a big life ahead of you now."
A/N: Just as a warning, this is the second to last chapter. So the next one will be the conclusion to my story of the fourth Quarter Quell. I might add another chapter as the first chapter to the sequel I plan on making. Thank you to everyone for sticking with me this far.