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Chapter 13

I don't want to think about Snow, so I decide to find Finnick. I could congratulate him. At least something good is going on.

Finnick is still in the hospital. I go to his room and see that he's awake, but Annie, in the other bed is asleep. I knock softly and walk in. Finnick smiles. I can tell he's truly happy now.

"I just heard you're getting married." I whisper.

"You don't have to whisper. She sleeps like a rock." He says "Yes, I'm getting married." He says happily.

"I'm glad you're happy, that you got her back." I say. He looks over to Annie sleeping. She's slightly snoring.

"Yup, even her snoring is beautiful." He says. I laugh and then try to quiet down so I don't wake her. Finnick laughs at my failed attempt.

"Where are they having the wedding?" I ask.

"Uh… I don't know. Plutarch and some others are arranging everything. I hope he doesn't go overboard with it. Even if things are pretty plain here, Plutarch is from the Capitol. They do everything big."

Yes, the Capitol is all about doing everything big. Peeta and I found it overwhelming. Huge parties, crazy costumes, and tons of food that goes to waste. It didn't bother me to eat it, but when I found out people eat, throw it up, and go eat more, I almost despised them. There were starving children and they ate for fun.

"I'm sure the wedding won't be too over the top. District Thirteen is pretty restricted with things." I say. "Is there any some special traditions that you do back in Four?"

"Yes, there's the net, and the song… I should tell Plutarch about it." he says.

"I'll tell him. You're stuck in bed. I'll make sure we have a net." I say jokingly.

"Thanks, Katniss." Finnick says with the warmest smile I haven't seen from him in awhile.

"Oh," I say. "How's Johanna?" I ask. She's been in the hospital all this time, and I haven't seen her since the time they came back from the rescue mission. I'm nervous to just go into her room. What would I say? "Hey Johanna how are you doing?" Uh, no. She did attack me, but it was to save me from the tributes in the arena. She saved me, and I can't go talk to her?

"Hmm, last I heard she's still in the hospital. She got a little dependent on the morphling, and a doctor has therapy sessions with her. I haven't seen her, well, because I can't go anywhere right now. You could ask for her room number, if you want to go see her." He says.

"Uh yeah, I could go." I say nervously. "I'll see you later then." I go into the hallway. Am I really going to see Johanna? Uhhh.

I walk slowly to the waiting area. Then I go up to the front desk. I ask for Johanna room number, and walk the hallway about 3 times. I finally find it. Maybe I was just stalling. I'm kind of nervous. We're not exactly best buddies, but I have to show I'm grateful or something. I look into the little window in the door. I hope she's asleep. No, she's not asleep. I tap the door a few times and walk in.

"Hey," I say. She looks at me. It's almost like she's glaring at me, but then again, it's usually how she looks at me.

"Visiting time is it? Do you go to all the patients to heighten their spirits?" She says mockingly.

I give a short sigh. "No, I wanted to see how you were doing." I say.

"Well, you're seeing. I'm not that well." She says. She mutters, "Those bastards."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm also sorry, for being rude to you, when all you were trying to do was help me, when I had no idea why. And also for being in the Capitol. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Save your apologies." She says. "What happened, happened. I'm still alive, even though sometimes it would be better if I weren't."

"I know how you feel." I say.

"Bet you do, Mockingjay. Can't leave yet, can you? Still got this whole heroism production going on. Everybody is watching what you'll do next. Glad I'm not you." She says smirking to herself.

I can't help but feel a little mad, but I don't show it. Johanna has been through the Capitol's torture. She's done so much. I don't deserve to get mad at her ever. I can see her used to be shaved, head is now covered with short brown tufts of hair.

"I'm sorry you're you." She says a little more sympathetically… I think.

"Umm, thanks, I guess."

"You know, at first it made me sick, the whole act. Your tacky romance drama, and defender-of-the-helpless. But, the unbearable part, was that it wasn't an act. Feel free to take it personally."

"I would say you should have been the Mockingjay, but I don't want to wish absolute ignominy on you."

"Well thanks for caring." She says. "I'm pretty much almost there. This withdrawal has a lot do with it. You know, those morphine addicted tributes from Six got it made, they looked pretty happy. Happier than most of us." She looks at her used-to-be morphling drip. She lies back on her pillow and crosses her arms. She looks in the direction of a small television screen fuzzing with images of a new report.

"You know, this doctor, comes for sessions. He's supposed to help me with the whole problem and stuff. He's a complete idiot. Every 5 minutes he reminds me I'm safe. Ha, safe."

I laugh a little. I know what she means. Nobody's safe. Especially now. I can die any day now. Heck, this ceiling can come down and… It doesn't matter really. What matters is that I do what I can do, before I die. Days can't go wasted, which I feel is happening when I'm not in the Capitol with the rebels.

Johanna and I don't speak for a minute then she looks at me strangely.
"Have you gained weight?"

"Well, we've been in the Hunger Games, then we got here, so…"

"Uh no, you look bigger." She remarks.

"Well I hope you gained something, since you've been here."

"Yeah, sure. I'm enjoying the slop. I hope I don't get fat like you." She says jokingly.

I try to get out a laugh, that's not too forced. It kind of sounded forced, but she can't possibly know what's going on in my head right now. Am I showing a lot now? What happens when I can't hide it anymore? On my agenda; hide bump.

I leave Johanna's room. That wasn't too bad. Johanna has seemed to have softened from the first time I met her. So now I have to figure out how to further conceal my baby bump. It's not that noticeable. I heard that it varies with different women when they're pregnant. So I guess I have about a month or so till it's totally undeniable that I'm prego. So back to my agenda.

Open the door. Open the door. I'm knocking on Dr. Odessa door. I'm starting to get a little impatient.

"Katniss, I've could have been with a patient."

"I'm sorry. It didn't look like you were busy. Are you with a patient?" I say kind of fast.

"No."

"Doctor, I'm not sure how I can hide this." I speak in a hushed tone, putting my hand to my stomach. She motions for me to come in. She goes to a filing cabinet and opens the bottom drawer. She goes to the very back and pulls out a gray jacket. It looks very much like what the people in District Thirteen wear, but it has two lines of zippers and a hood. It's thicker and larger than my gray shirt. Dr. Odessa helps me put it on. It makes my bump disappear.

"Was this yours?" I ask.

"Yes, it was. When I was younger, around your age, I was in the army. Young adults were given these jackets."

"You were in the army?" I ask interested.

"Yes, but I dropped out, and finished my doctor training."

"Oh, I see. Do they still wear these jackets?" I ask.

"I see a few people wear them, but it covers you well." She smiles at me. I can't help but wonder what her story is. Who is Dr. Odessa? What was she like when she was a girl?

She walks me to the door. "I hope you've been taking your vitamins." She says.

I nod. "Very good. See you soon. Probably in a few weeks or so, for your next appointment." She smiles as she leads me out.

"Thank you." I say. She nods and closes the door. I'm beginning to feel guilty. I have been taking my vitamins and all, but if Dr. Odessa found out I want to go to the Capitol, she would be angry with me. She probably would think of me as irresponsible, but am I really irresponsible when I have a huge part in this war? I spent enough time thinking. I need to do something. Like Gale said. I've got to take care of things one thing at a time, and right now, I just want to find Plutarch.

So I find Plutarch in a large empty room. He's with Fulvia and they're talking about the wedding. They're looking intently at a plain wall.

"What are you guys looking at?" I say suddenly.

"Oh goodness, Katniss. Why did you have to sneak up on us?" says Fulvia. Actually, Plutarch remains in position, looking at the wall.

"We're trying to decide where to put the choir." Says Plutarch. "We need an area for the children."

"Choir?"

"Why yes, it seems as though there is traditional wedding song, and many of the children have volunteered to sing." Says Fulvia delighted.

"Oh, how nice." I say.

"Oh yes, it will be absolutely lovely after the small fireworks." She says. Fireworks? That's definetly a red flag.

"Um Fulvia, Finnick has asked me to tell you guys that he wants the wedding to simple and traditional." I say.

"Simple?" says Plutarch. "Oh, where is the fun in that? I have asked Coin in serving alcohol, but she denied that. She also said no table cloths, but you can't have a wedding without table clothes!"

This is a little ridiculous. "Finnick wants it be traditional. He wants to have a real District Four wedding, with nets and all. I mean, it's his image. That's how he pictures his wedding day." I say.

"Yes, it seems many are not for a grand wedding. It's alright, we'll do the very best with what we have and make it traditional. We want the happiest day of a person's life to be perfect." Says Fulvia almost disappointedly.

"Finnick would appreciate it."

"Yes well, we still must find something for Annie to wear. District Thirteen does not have wedding dresses." Says Plutarch.

"What about the dresses in Twelve? I have lots of dresses from the Victory Tour. Annie will probably find something."

"Excellent idea!" says Fulvia. "We will plan for you and Annie to go to Twelve. The wedding is going to be absolutely wonderful. This war has gotten everybody down, but this wedding will be perfect to lighten everybody's mood."

Not really everybody. I can name a person. He will not be able to go to the wedding.

I love Johanna. She's hillarious in a unfunny way, if that makes sense. Thanks for reading.

-cheezebuns