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DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Hunger Game s or the film/novel Don't Say a Word. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit out of this and all of the characters, unless otherwise no ted, belong to their respective owners, the great Suzanne Collins and Andrew Klavan.
Chapter 2: A New Patient
Dr. Annie Cresta was the best doctor in all of Fresno. She graduated at the top of her class in med school and was the first woman to publish a book about the human mind under the age of thirty-five. She had a PhD in just about anything you could imagine and had the awards to prove it. With her long auburn hair, piercing green eyes, and her perfect figure and Dr. Annie Cresta was indeed the epitome of brains and beauty. There was not one patient who she could not quickly diagnose and help treat. Her history with patients was extremely remarkable for not one of them was ever admitted back into the hospital. She often got 'Thank You' cards from them and was always extremely happy when they would tell her about how much she helped them change their lives.
However, as Dr. Cresta walked into the hospital on this cold December morning, a sudden feeling of doubt came over her. Maybe it was the cold weather, or maybe it was that meatloaf she had last night. She didn't know, but something inside her told her that today wouldn't be like any other day.
Whatever it was, she quickly pushed those thoughts aside as she headed towards the elevator and pushed the 'Up' button. Once inside the elevator, she selected the button with the number 12, the psychiatric ward.
When the elevator signaled that she was finally on the twelfth floor, she stepped out and headed towards the front desk.
"Good morning Effie." she said to the blonde behind the counter, while she grabbed the folders that were already waiting for her.
Effie Trinket had just begun working as the main receptionist on the twelfth floor almost 8 months before. She had blond hair that she often curled into small ringlets and wore way too much makeup for Annie's own taste.
"Good morning Dr. Cresta." replied the clerk with a smile on her face.
"Anything happen last night?"
"When doesn't anything happen?" said Effie with a roll of her eyes, "I swear, the residents down in the ER think that they can just send up as many people as they please. In my opinion, the only reason they send the patients up is just so they wouldn't have to deal with them anymore."
Annie chuckled at the clerk's remark. It was true, most of the time, when the residents didn't know what to do about a patient; they would send them up to the psychiatric ward to get evaluated. Most of the patients sent up were released within the next hour.
"I'll see you later Effie." Annie said as she began to walk away towards her office.
"Oh," said Effie, "Dr. Cresta, before I forget, Dr. Aurelius wants to see you before you start your morning rounds."
Annie nodded her head and began to walk towards her boss's office. However, just as she was about to knock, the door suddenly opened revealing the short balding man who had been looking for her.
"Dr. Aurelius," she said as the man gave her a small smile, "Effie said you wanted to see me?"
"Ah, yes, I did." said Dr. Aurelius, "Come, walk with me."
Annie tucked her folders under her arm as she began to walk down the hall with the shorter man. Dr. Aurelius had been her boss ever since she started her residency at the hospital. He recognized her talent from the moment he first met her and had since then, taken her under his wing.
"Annie, in all my years of working here in this hospital, I have never had quiet a talented Doctor as you," he began, "You have always exceeded everyone's expectations and have definitely proven yourself to be worthy of taking my position once I leave."
"Thank you sir, you of all people know how serious I take my job."
"Yes I do. You're the only other person who is just as dedicated, besides me of course," he chuckled, "But that's not what I want to speak to you about."
He stopped and gave her a folder he had been caring with him. She took the folder and started to go through its contents.
"What's this?" she asked.
"A seventeen-year-old girl came in last night with a lot of drugs in her system, water in her lungs, and sliced wrists." He responded, tucking his hands into his lab coat.
"Wow, sounds like she really wanted to die."
"Yes, it would seem. Luckily, the doctors downstairs were able to revive her and they sent her up here."
"Do we know why?" Annie asked, looking up from the contents of the folder.
"No. She left no note, no indication of what she wanted to do."
"What about her friends?"
"She doesn't have any. Her foster mom said she just moved here about three months ago."
"Foster mom?"
"She's in foster care. Her foster mom discovered her in the bottom of the bathtub bleeding and unconscious. She said she though something was wrong when she called the girl to dinner and she didn't respond. Said she went up the stairs and found her room empty. Then she noticed water coming from the bathroom and found her."
"It must feel horrible to know Social Services gave you a suicidal person to look after." Said Annie
"I bet it does."
"But sir, what does this have to do with me?"
"I want you to help her. She woke up about an hour ago. But she won't talk to anyone; she won't even look at anyone. All she does is sit on her bed and stare at the wall. It's like her mind has momentarily shut down." Said Dr. Aurelius as they began to walk further down the hall.
"She must be in shock.," said Annie, "She wanted to die so bad that she's shocked it didn't work. She's probably wondering what went wrong and if God's punishing her by making her live on."
"I certainly hope that that's what it is," he said as they suddenly stopped in front of a door with a small window, "She's in here."
Annie looked through the window and noticed a small frail, thin body with long, dark stringy hair.
"I'll do everything I can." She said.
"I know you will. You're all she has now."
Annie nodded her head in agreement as Dr. Aurelius turned to leave.
"Wait, Dr. Aurelius?" she asked.
Dr. Aurelius turned back to look at her.
"What's her name?"
"Katniss Everdeen."
"Hey Peeta, we're still on for tonight right?" asked Gale as he slipped on his shirt in the boys locker room. Football practice had ended half an hour ago and Peeta and his friends were getting ready to leave.
"What are you talking about?" asked the blue-eyed captain.
Gale, Thom, Darius, and a couple other guys from the team all turned to look at Peeta with shocked looks on their faces. Peeta, suddenly realizing that everyone was staring at him, reached behind his neck and softly scratched himself. Why was everyone staring at him?
"What?" he asked, "Do I have something on my face?"
"You're about to have my fist all over your face unless you remember what tonight is," said Gale as he took one step forward towards his best friend.
"Uh…" Peeta stuttered as he stared to back up, "it-it's not your birthday is it?"
"Great!" yelled Gale as he threw his arms in the air for dramatic effect, "How are we supposed to trash the Career's gym if our captain doesn't even remember?"
"Oh..." said Peeta as a sudden realization dawned on him. Of course, tonight was the night the Panem High Mockingjays were supposed tepee and completely trash the gym at Career Technical High School—their cross-town rivals—as a payback for events that occurred the weekend before.
Last Weekend, the Mutts from CTH—led by the disdainful Cato and Marvel—decided to crash an exclusive Panem party. However, they were kicked out and brutally ridiculed by the Football team, namely Peeta, Gale, and Darius. The Mutts, embarrassed and filled with rage, decided to have a little payback by completely trashing all the Mockingjay's cars. It was then that Peeta and his team had declared war and decided that the following week, they would teach those Mutts a lesson:
Payback's a bitch.
The only thing wrong with this full proof plan was the fact that Peeta had indeed forgotten about it. It wasn't his fault though! At least, that's what he told himself as his back hit the lockers behind him in an attempt to back away from an angry looking Gale.
"Oh?" Gale yelled, "You were the one who declared war and came up with the plan and not to mention, completely forgot about it and all you can say is 'Oh'? You got to be fucking kidding me!"
"I-I'm sorry?" said Peeta as more of a question.
Gale sighed along with the whole team.
"Look," said Peeta as he stepped towards his friend, "I really am sorry I forgot. I just got a lot on my mind right now."
It was true, ever since Gale told him about the suicide attempt of Katniss Everdeen, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Sure he didn't know anything about her—and had only spoken exactly five words to her the whole three months she was there—but somehow, his thoughts never left her. He didn't know why he felt so guilty when they called her name out for attendance in fifth period only to be marked absent. He couldn't help but feel guilty when no one bothered asking, 'I wonder what happened to Katniss Everdeen?'
Unfortunately, other people noticed how distracted he had become. Even at practice his coach thought his game seemed a little off. But he just thought that maybe his star player was excited about the winter break that was coming up. This might have been true for his teammates, but not for him.
"Look captain," said Thom as he stood next to Gale, "I know you're excited that winter break is coming up, and I would be too! I-mean, how many parents do you know that would leave their kid alone, in a house, with food, and possibly beer, for two whole weeks? Can you say par-tay?"
A laugh escaped Peeta's lips. Not only did Thom manage to make a fool of himself once again, but he also didn't know the real reason why Peeta's mind was elsewhere, which meant that no one else knew where his mind was.
"Yeah," piped in Mitchell, "you can't let next week's excitement get the best of you. I-mean, no one can wait for the parties you're going to throw."
"What these two idiots here are trying to say is that you got to stay focused," said Gale, "You can't go around pretending to be the shit when you're just acting like shit."
Peeta sighed as he grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder, "You know what?" he said, "You guys are right. I shouldn't let myself get too excited about all the fun I'll have when my parents are out of town. I'm sorry I lost myself for a second there. Are we cool?"
By this time, Peeta was standing in front of Gale who looked up at his best friend. Gale seemed to contemplate whether or not to accept his friend's apology before a smirk found its way onto his face. He nodded and extended his hand so that they could do their manly handshake.
"You bet." said Gale as the whole team started laughing.
"So," said Darius as he and Peeta started walking towards the exit, "are we still on for tonight?"
Peeta turned towards his team who were all staring at him in anticipation. He gave them his famous Peeta Mellark signature smirk.
"Fuck yea." was all he said before he made his way out of the locker room.
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P.S. I tried to update earlier but my document manager was acting up, I'm sorry for the inconvenience