The Night wind chills me; I'm not sure if it's our new location or if the Gamemakers are making it windy. My teeth are chattering and I wish nothing more just to fall asleep but the pain on my side is too sharp I can't. I can't get up or walk anywhere, and even if I could by some miracle get up and walk with no pain Nick wouldn't be too happy. He has been carrying me around everywhere I wanted to go just so I wouldn't start bleeding again.
I turn my head to look at Nick. He looks so peaceful and serene. My eyes wander down to his lips; once again the thought of the spontaneous kiss comes in my head. My cheeks get warm thinking about it. I wish he was awake with me right now, I know like that night on the train, I could fall asleep quickly in his arms.
It's so cold I can't stand it. I am shaking so hard I feel like my arms and legs are going to fall off. I close my eyes hoping I will soon drift off to sleep.
When I finally fall asleep I don't remember having a dream or a nightmare, so I actually feel rested. When I wake up I find a second jacket on top of me, I recognize the smell of the jacket right away, it's a warm smell. The jacket is Nicks, I must of have been shaking in my sleep. I pull the jacket up to my nose and embrace it like I am hugging Nick.
Looking around the tent I see that I am alone, I am frightened for a second but then I see Keanan sitting on the sand outside the tent, staring out into the water once again. He looks so alone, and I don't know if he wants to be, but I am going to sit next to him.
After a long time of just trying to stand up I finally somehow do it. As I get and limp my way over to Keanan the pain is growing, but I can't go back now. When I get to him I plop myself quickly down because now the pain is almost unbearable. His head shoots up soon as I hit the floor.
"I would've helped you." He says looking down at the cloth wrapped around my waist.
"Nah, I'm fine." I sat making a face showing how it actually really hurts. He actually gives a smile but his amber watery eyes still have a tint of sadness in them. You could see he wasn't alright in his face even though he gave a smile and pretended to be alright.
"Nick went hunting." He says looking back at the water. I nod my head even though he can't see because he is so captivated by the water, even though he has been staring at it for the past day. When he is looking at the water he looks like he getting hypnotized, like if I would talk to him he wouldn't hear, he is in a distant land.
"Keanan-" I start to say his name, but I'm not sure what to say…I'm sorry your best friend died. How are you feeling since your best friend died? I know the answer to that question, he isn't feeling good. So I don't say anything. But then he continues for me.
"I keep thinking how much Jace would have loved this view." He doesn't look at me at all his eyes are just sparkling from the reflection of the waves of the water in front of us. "It reminds me a lot of back home, this place we used to go." He swallows and I can't tell if he is going to continue with his story, but I don't interrupt him.
"I remember the way she would smile when she was in the water; her smile was just so radiant. She was such a great swimmer, better than me, and I am good too." He smiles at the memory. "Of course she wasn't as good at fishing as I was. Whenever her parents sent her out to fish and she couldn't get any I would catch a bunch for her." I'm surprised that he is keeping a smile on his face.
"In return she would find me sea glass." He pulls up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal something on his wrist. "When I was getting her fish she used to make these bracelets for me." I look down at his wrist to see a thin bracelet; it consists of light and dark blues, light and dark greens. The bracelet is intertwined with the different colors and rope that looks like fishing nets.
"I miss her." When he says this, his weakness shows in his voice. His voice cracks and he takes his eyes off of the roaring waves. He looks me in the eye and I can not only see his pain, I can feel it. I don't know if Keanan was in love with Jace more than a friend, but I know he cared so much for this girl.
I lift my arms attempting to give him a hug but it hurts my side, I endure the pain though. I wrap my arms around Keanan. I hope talking about Jace made him feel better.
"Thank you for listening Hailey." Keanan says to me when I pull away from him. We sit together on the beach in silence remembering Jace, though I don't have many memories of her, I know Keanan does.
When Nick gets back from hunting and sees me on the beach Keanan tells him he helped me out here so Nick doesn't get all doctor on me and say I shouldn't be moving. Nick doesn't seem affected it by it. It seems like something else is on his mind.
"When I was hunting... I saw Kyler. "Nick sits down next to me, talking to me and Keanan. "We were staring at each other, not saying anything; I thought he was going to attack me to be honest. He didn't, well if he was he didn't get a chance. There was another tribute there; I don't know what district he was from…"
Nick tells us how the boy was running at them and Kyler and him were running away. The boy shot an arrow at Kyler. He fell to the ground and Nick went back and threw his knife at the guy. Kyler was dead before he got a chance to look at him. He got pierced in the heart, just like Clora.
I can't believe Kyler is dead. I try to picture his tiny body lying with an arrow in his heart, but I just can't, but that's a good thing, because that image would be on my brain forever.
Hours and hours pass, I eat some squirrel meat Nick brought back from hunting, I mostly sit in the tent when Nick carries me back. He sits with me while Keanan takes the spear Kyler left behind so long ago, and fishes. He said he would get the food so Nick wouldn't have to go into the woods and risked getting killed by any other tributes.
When night comes and the anthem will soon play, once again Nick carries me out to the beach. I look back at the tent but Keanan isn't coming, he is fast asleep, it probably tired him to be fishing that long. Nick and I sit alone just outside the tent looking up in the sky. His arms are around me and I feel so warm cuddled up in his arm.
The anthem starts, it goes straight to the District 8, Nick tells me that's the guy who he killed, after the guy killed Kyler. I don't remember his face at all, not even his interview. The next is Kyler, poor little Kyler, though me and him had our problems it still didn't make his death better.
That's it for the deaths, only six tributes left. I am proud of myself for actually making it this far even though I have a big gash in my side, I'm here.
Nick carries me into the tent placing me in my spot I feel like I am always in. I put my head down on the back pack, I need to sleep.
"Goodnight." Nick's voice is light and soft and makes my heart feel warm. I look up at him with my eyes widened. Nick walks over to me and kisses me softy on my forehead.
"Goodnight Hawthorne." I say. He smiles revealing his dimple.