room-onthe-broom requested: "Can I request a trip to the zoo please? or an archery lesson from auntie Katniss? :D"
"It was an accident! Honest!"
He knew it was. Of course it was. But that didn't make him feel any more sympathetic for his clearly upset eight year old. After all, she wasn't the one sitting in District Twelve's clinic with an arrow in her knee (well, technically it fell more along the thigh regions but he really didn't give a damn of the correct locational name at this point). His fingers dug into the cheap foam of the hospital gurney as the door opened and Katniss walked in.
"I thought you were teaching her how to shoot," he grimaced, grinding his teeth together. "Not how to kill me!"
"It wasn't like I knew you were out in the woods," Katniss said defensively. "And anyway, it's really not that bad. I've done worse on myself."
"Thanks for the apology," he replied dryly. "Glad to know that after all we've been through, you find my being injured not a concern"
"Oh stop being so melodramatic," she frowned. "Not like you haven't been through worse too. Oh," she glanced towards the door. "I took the liberty of calling Effie for you. I thought she'd like to know where you and her daughter were in case she went looking."
"What?" Haymitch hissed, a jolt of pain shooting through his leg when he moved a little too suddenly. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"Am I in trouble?" Olive sniffled from her chair in the corner. "I'm sorry, daddy. I'm so sorry."
The old mentor exhaled, closing his eyes for a moment as he waited for the pain to die down. Evidently this damn hospital didn't seem to find a weapon injury that serious. Or at least not his. He wasn't mad at his daughter. No, it really hadn't been her fault at all. If anyone was to blame, it was most assuredly Katniss Everdeen. And not even for the arrow. Oh no, for summoning the hypersensitive woman herself, Effie Trinket.
"No," Haymitch mumbled, pressing the palm of his hand against his thigh. "No, you're not in trouble." His eyes flickered over to Katniss who stood, arms folded, in the opposite corner. "But I might be when your mother finds out that I let you even hold a bow."
The door opened once more and all three pairs of eyes turned to see a very flustered, very unhappy woman scurry in. Effie Trinket leaned heavy back against the entrance, a hand over her heart as she gulped in several breaths of air. If Katniss thought he'd been dramatic he didn't even want to know what that made Effie. Angry, pale blue eyes focused on Haymitch Abernathy and almost instantly he was face to face with the discontented mother of his child.
"Are you insane," she exclaimed. "Having our daughter go out and shoot arrows like a wild man-" she paused, turning to Katniss with a much lighter tone of voice. "No offense towards you at all, dear. You do a very glamorous job with those things." And then rounding to face him again. "What if she had gotten hurt?! Hm? Obviously you did, so she could've as well! Where's the doctor? Has he even come to take a look at you?"
"I'm fine," Haymitch muttered, a hand still squeezing his leg. "Really, it's just a flesh wound."
"Just a flesh wound?!" Effie gasped, pointing at the shaft of the arrow. "Haymitch Abernathy, that thing has to be a good inch or so in deep!" She sighed, pinching the brim of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "At least you had the decency not to pull it out yourself."
"Oh trust me," Haymitch said under his breath. "I'm beginning to regret not doing so."
Effie shook her head, clicking her tongue in disapproval as her gaze finally fixed on Olive. The young girl stared at her mother, guilt masked over her usual expression as she kicked her legs back and forth in her seat. The ex-escort sighed, a look of defeat flickering over her own features as she motioned for Olive to come over. The child obliged and within seconds, two small arms wound themselves around Effie's legs.
"It was an accident," Olive repeated, sniffling. "I wasn't trying to kill him!"
Effie's eyes grew wide with shock as she looked to Haymitch and Katniss in sheer terror. "What in Panem is she talking about?! Please tell me that there wasn't someone else involved?!"
"No," Haymitch sighed. "There wasn't. She misunderstood my joke to Katniss…"
"Oh honestly, Haymitch," Effie breathed, kneeling down to comfort Olive who by now how shifted into full fledged tears. "You and I will have a lot to talk about once you have that leg taken care of. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only adult in this household. I have one kid, mind you, not two."
Haymitch stared forward in complete and utter displeasure as Effie continued to nag him for whatever else she felt appropriate at this time. At least his pain wasn't that noticeable anymore. Oh no, sometimes it just took Effie talking to clear any bodily pain from rearing its ugly head. He sighed, his eyes flickering towards the clock as Effie's voice blurred in his ears. This was going to be awhile.