I would like to apologize in advance. Finals have just ended and I'm in the process of certifying several students for graduation in addition to updating grades and such for the rest of the students I deal with. Updating may be a bit spotty over the next two weeks until graduation, but I promise I'll try to update as often as I can. Oh, and thanks for the many reviews! I love them, so keep 'em coming!
The next morning was a similarly weathered day. Because I was hankering for some fresh meat, we headed out earlier than the day before and Peeta followed as I tried to set up a few snares. If nothing was caught while we were at the lake, the plan was for me to go hunting while he went home.
That morning I taught Peeta a simple crawl. After I had demonstrated the moves to him in the clear water, I held him up under the water, his legs picking up the kicking motion quickly. His arm work was a little looser, but the general movements were achieved. We slowly began swimming around the perimeter of the lake while Peeta became more comfortable with the moves; stopping to rest on the side when necessary. We eventually took a break on the far side of the lake, climbing up on the large rock to eat while we rested in the warm sun.
"So how do you like swimming so far?" I asked Peeta. "I like it. I can't say I'm a natural, but it's fun. It feels good to be in the water and outside." He said with a quick smile as he continued eating his sandwich. We laid down on the large rock after we finished eating to rest a little more before going back into the water.
"Would you say the woods are your favorite place?" Peeta asked me. It seemed like an odd question, but I answered anyway, "Well… Yeah. Why?" "I'm just wondering," he said, although you could clearly hear the smile in his voice. I propped myself up on my elbow and turned to face him but simply gave him a quizzical look while he smiled with his eyes closed. I put my head back down and continued wondering what he was trying to get at. Sure the woods were my favorite place. I had so many good memories from here. Why wouldn't it be? As I sat there thinking and keeping my eyes closed from the bright noonday sun Peeta leaned over to me, gave me a quick peck on the check and slid off the rock to get into the water. While I should have been more concerned after the incident yesterday, I wasn't. I simply sat up and watched him while he continued the various moves I'd taught him so far.
"Do you want to learn another move?" I shouted out to him as he treaded water some 20 feet away from me. "Sure," He said with a big grin as he treaded towards me. The area closest to the rock was shallow so we stood there as I began to show him the back stroke. His eyes were locked on me as I asked him to hold me under my back so I could stay steady and show him what he would need to do with his arms and legs. I felt a little uncomfortable for some reason, but pushed the thoughts aside. He had seen me lay out in my swimming suit before. I had taught him how to do other things in the water while his hands rested against my body. A smile spread across Peeta's face which helped me relax some, although the uncomfortable feeling settled in the back of my head.
Peeta picked up the move surprisingly quickly as I held him from underneath. We took turns going back and forth along the distance of the lake, practicing the strokes of the day. After about an hour we were both sufficiently tired and climbed back onto our rock. As we sat there resting a bit before changing, Peeta said, "Well Katniss, you are a great teacher. And to think, just yesterday morning I would have drowned!" I laughed as I waved my hand, disregarding his remark and he took it, kissing my palm softly. "Thanks. Really." He said with a smile. I smiled back and he stood up, holding out his hand to help me stand as well as we climbed down to change in our separate areas.
As we met back up the sun was still high; it was probably only 2 or 3 in the afternoon so Peeta walked with me as I went to check on the snares I had set. Nothing had been caught. Between the heat and the noise we made swimming, I wasn't too surprised. Peeta offered to come along and learn about hunting but I dismissed him, "There's been enough teaching on my part for today," and he left, loudly making his way out of the woods. When the noise of his footsteps had died off, I went to the tree where I hid my bow and arrows and began making my way deeper into the forest.
Because it was still early enough in the day, I decided to go in an area I was less familiar with and began walking stealthily through the forest. The trees were so thick that the only way I could see was from the few rays of sunlight that broke through the treetops. It was noticeably cooler though and I was sure I could catch something. I heard a few twigs snap a couple of yards away and quietly turned in that direction with my bow at the ready. A small rabbit hopped across my path and I quickly shot it in the eye. I began moving for it when I took a wrong step and fell; a large pain shooting up through my right leg as I heard a faint crack from my feet. It seemed that the leaves and a few other things had covered a sudden drop in the ground. As I pulled myself up to sit on the ground I began to grow light-headed as I bent to check on my feet. My ankle was clearly broken.
As I bit my lip in reaction to the pain I tried to strategize how I would get home. I had walked a good 30 minutes in the opposite direction from where I had split off from Peeta which meant it would take me at least an hour to get to the fence and then another fifteen minutes to get home. As I sat there, hoping that Peeta would miraculously appear and save me, I was brought back to reality a few moments later, realizing that, as with more difficulties in my life, I could not be a damsel in distress waiting for a prince to come, but instead I'd have to save myself. I sat there looking at what was around me that I could use to walk towards the fence. None of the pieces of wood were sufficiently long enough to form a can so I broke one of my arrows to serve as a splint, and decided to try and use my bow as a cane.
I began hobbling towards the direction I had come from, completely forgetting about the meat I had shot. As I continued hobbling I grew more and more frustrated with the situation until I began to grow angry. Why had I been so stupid to come out here on my own? There was perfectly good meat in the town. Why couldn't Peeta read my mind and come find me? Why couldn't he be a stealthy hunter like my dad or like Gale? The more I thought the angrier I became. The angrier I became the more depressed I became for being so angry. Why did Peeta still have to care? Why couldn't he have just left me to wither away when I got back from the Capitol? Why did I have to be so ungrateful? As I began to spiral downward I realized I still hadn't gotten that far. While I had been walking for what felt like hours I was still a good bit from the area where we split up.
I sat down on a rock, exhausted emotionally and physically. I hadn't been leaning much on the bow for fear I would break it so my back and legs felt very tight. After resting for several minutes I got back up again but too quickly this time and I dropped, crying out in pain. I began to feel lightheaded again and decided against standing. I began to crawl across the ground, strapping my bow against my back with my other arrows. As I placed my hands I would wince in pain occasionally as my palm would land upon a sharp rock or the end of a twig. But half an hour or so later I gave up. I lay down on the ground and pulled my knees up to my chest, lying in fetal position, when I began to cry. It wasn't supposed to be like this. A wave of memories came to mind as I lay there crying on the forest floor; regrets for not dying in the first arena, regrets for being the mockingjay. I regretted Peeta and his misguided love for me. Was it even love? All we did was make out. We were really just friends with benefits. As I lie there wallowing in my own self-guilt and pity I grew light headed until I blacked out.
The nightmare was vivid. Peeta was being tortured and I was the one forced to inject him. I stood there as I put the needle into his arm and watched him plead for help as I stood there, completely numb, and not relieving his pain. It shot from that to watching Prim burst into flames. As she screamed for me, her eyes boring holes into mine, I sat there, numb and motionless, as she burned. I woke to the sound of my own voice, screaming loudly, and alone, in the woods. As I lay there, frozen in place, I realized the sun had sunk lower and would soon be setting. I lay there, staring at the sky, waiting for the darkness to envelope me, when I fall asleep again.
This time the roles are changed. I lie, strapped down to a sterile table, listening to Peeta yell for help as he is tortured in the room next to me. I scream out, but no one comes to my aid. Instead, a masked man comes by my side with a syringe full of a green liquid. As he shoots it into my arm he takes off his mask and I see that it is President Snow. But his face slowly transforms into that of a bloodied snake, hissing and jabbing towards me. I fade out but come back to hear Peeta and Finnick screaming on either side of me. Their cries are unbearable as I jerk on the table, trying to break free from the straps tying me down. As my head hits the table again I awake to find myself, once again, on the bottom of the forest floor, this time looking up at a nighttime sky.
I couldn't help but feel the immense pain shooting through my leg, but considered my alternative of staying here and letting an animal find me, I began to devise a way to get out. I got back on my knees and swung my bow and arrows across my back as I continued to crawl towards the lake. I stopped after about twenty minutes to rest. I had gone maybe 300 or 25 yards. I sat down and tried to ignore the throbbing pain. Fifteen minutes or so later I began crawling again. I repeated this pattern four more times. I decided to stop for a longer rest since I was becoming gradually weaker and crawling caused such immense pain.
As I sat there on the ground I decided to lie down. I was dehydrated and knew I was hungry because a severe headache was beginning to take over my thoughts. As I lay there I couldn't help but hope against hope that someone would come find me. Peeta. Haymitch. I'd even accept Gale if he found me. Exhausted and struggling with a headache, thirst, and an empty stomach I shut my eyes, hoping for a restful sleep. I was only partially granted my wish.
My dreams were vivid. Not long scenes like the ones I had had earlier, but short snapshots in bright colors and loud noises. Peeta screaming at me that I was a Mutt. Prim and the children screaming for help as they burned alive in the Capitol. Cinna being beaten senseless while I stood in my tube, waiting to be listed into the Quarter Quell arena. I cried out for all of them, but my voice had no sound. I was silent. I thrashed violently trying to break free from whatever was holding me back, but the grips tightened until my entire body felt like it was being crushed it. As I began gasping for air and trying to yell I awoke to hear my name.
"Katniss! Katniss, are you okay?" I was still struggling to catch my breath but I began to register his voice as he bent down to try and wake me up. The smell of his alcohol alone was enough to wake me up.
"Yes," I answered Haymitch groggily. He turned his bright flashlight off as he began to try and pick me up, which was no small feat, given his breathlessness and inebriated state; I stepped lightly on my broken ankle and dropped down again, screaming in pain. "No. I'm not okay." I said as I hit the ground with my fist. "My ankle is broken." "What? Where did you break it?" he asked, turning the flashlight back on to look at my ankle. I pointed in the general direction and shrugged, "Back there; about a mile away." "What in the world?" he began as he pointed the light in the direction I indicated; the light almost getting lost in the darkness. But I raised my hand, cutting him off, "I don't want to hear it." He sat down beside me to quickly devised a plan.
He helped me stand, both of us carefully making sure my injured leg did not touch the ground. We walked a few yard and sat on a rock. He told me to stay put and turned his flashlight back on. "Peeta is looking for you too. I'll go find him and he can carry you better than I can." He and his light quickly disappeared as I heard him begin to yell out for Peeta. His voice eventually disappeared as I sat on the rock, my bow and arrow still strapped to my back.
A few minutes later I could hear two voices gradually return as I heard Peeta's distinctive, loud footsteps run in my direction, Haymitch wheezing and coming up behind him. Peeta flashed his light around, finally catching sight of me. As he came close, the worry in his eyes was palpable. I tried to give him a smile, but failed miserably. He gave me a quick, concerned smile as he looked down, gently trying to remove my boot to look at my ankle. I winced in pain though. No amount of tenderness or gentleness was going to mask the pain and enormous swelling my ankle was undergoing at the moment. The look on Peeta's face became more concentrated as Haymitch caught up and held his flashlight out for additional light.
After a brief inspection Peeta gave me back my boot and quickly whisked me up into his arms as he began jogging towards the fence. "Running again?" Haymitch pleaded in despair. "Walk if you want," Peeta yelled back at him, a good 20 yards between them. My headache had returned full force so I simply rested my head against Peeta's shoulders as he continued running towards the fence. While he wasn't hitting my ankle, the bumpy motion irritated it and I couldn't help but wince a few more times. "I'm sorry, Katniss," he said as he tried to steady his jogging to a quick run. It didn't help much and instinctively I couldn't help but bite his shirt to try and keep from screaming in pain. But Peeta simply held me tighter and whispered repeatedly in my ear that I would be okay. Everything would be okay. While I knew my broken ankle would lead to my death, the afternoon had been long and painful. But his words calmed me down.
Eventually we made it out of the woods but Peeta quickened his pace as he ran to the first house we came to. It must have been close to midnight because all of the houses were dark. A sleepy man came to the door and Peeta apologized profusely. "I'm so sorry, sir. We've had an accident in the woods and she's broken her ankle. Could we borrow your car or could you drive us to the clinic?" The man nodded, suddenly registering what Peeta had said, and he closed the door, saying he would be back quickly. When he returned he was dressed and holding his keys. As Peeta settled me into the backseat of the car I settled a bit, finally relaxing on something more stable than Peeta's arms as he jogged and more comfortable that the forest floor strewn with leaves, grass, and twigs.
Ten minutes later we arrived at the clinic where Peeta brought me in and sat me down, my body stretching across three seats. He asked the nurse to attend to me while he went outside to thank the man who refused Peeta's money before hopping back into his car and leaving. Peeta was quickly inside again and sitting next to me, looking me over with a worried, but lighter tone on his face. "You'll be okay," he kept saying as he rubbed my arms. I think the reassurance was more for his own sake than mine.
What seemed like an hour later, a nurse came outside and he, along with Peeta placed me on a bed. The doctor began to wheel me away while Peeta stood there. "No, please! I need him to come with me!" I yelled at the nurse. He had a confused look on his face but shrugged and motioned for Peeta to come with us. As I was wheeled back Peeta walked quickly alongside the bed, holding my hand and looking down into my face. When we got to the room the nurse helped me remove my bow and arrows which were still strapped to my back. He looked at Peeta and cleared his throat, hinting that he was about to change me out of my clothing. Peeta's eyes grew wide and he began to move towards the door. "No, he can stay," I said. It might have been awkward for Peeta to see me disrobed, but I couldn't stand losing sight of him again. He came close and asked what I wanted him to do while the nurse slowly grew more impatient with his patient. "Hold my hand but turn that way," I said, pointing to the wall. Peeta laughed and turned, doing what I had asked. The nurse quickly undressed me and put me into a gown; Peeta letting go when obviously necessary.
A few moments later, and IV was in my arm and Peeta has stroking my hair as he stood at the head of the bed, next to me. There must have been morphling in the bag because I was beginning to feel odd. "I was so worried," he began, the worry in his face slowly fading. I tried to talk but the drugs were quickly affecting me and I was unable to speak. He smiled and put his hand on my lips, bending down to replace it with his lips.