Author's Note: Hello again tributes. I just wanted to make it clear that this story is rated M for a reason. There will be some Everllark hot moments, but I need to make sure that it will happen at the right time. Anyway, please review and here is Chapter 20. Enjoy
I don't own The Hunger Games
Chapter 20
Haymitch's POV
I watch as Katniss's face becomes completely pale. Tears stream down her face and sobs are leaving her mouth. I wish I could tell her that everything is going to be alright, that Peeta will be okay soon. But after what I saw, I'm not even sure myself.
comes running from the kitchen, probably after hearing Katniss crying so loud. As I hold the poor girl in my arms I try my best to calm her down, but there is no use. Katniss keeps calling for Peeta, how am I supposed to tell her that the boy she loves may be dead right now?
"What is happening here?" asks Ms. Everdeen. Suddenly Katniss looks up at her mother, with her eyes full of tears and yells "I-I-T-T'S A-A-ALL Y-YOUR F-F-FAULT. I-I –T-TOLD Y-Y-YOU T-THAT I-I N-N-NEEDED T-TO S-SEE H-H-HIM. I-I K-KNEW S-S-SOMETHING B-BAD W-WAS H-H-HAPPENING."
I can barely understand one work that just came out of Katniss's mouth. If I thought that I saw this girl desperate a couple of weeks ago, when whatever happened between her and Gale, I don't know how to describe what I'm seeing right now. She is completely out of her mind. She is yelling at her mother and crying out loud. Loud sobs echoed through the living room and she can barely breath. looks at me for answers.
"I just came from town, Peeta was working with the construction crew and he feel from the third floor of a building. I need to go to the hospital and Sweetheart is coming with me." I don't even bother asking for her permission to bring Katniss with me. I'm her mentor, so I'm responsible for keeping her alive, and I know that Katniss would die if she stayed in this house while Peeta is fighting for his life.
"Okay Haymitch, Let me grab some things and then we go. I may be able to help" she says as she runs out of the living room and probably to her room. I take this time to talk to Katniss. She hasn't calmed down a bit, I'm really starting to get worried that she is about to faint.
"Hey, hey Sweetheart look at me. We are going to the hospital okay? But before we leave this house I need to make sure you can take a deep breath and calm yourself down." I take her head in my hands and whisper to her. Her eyes look distant.
"P-P-P-Peeta, p-p-p-please H-H-Haymitch." I can see that she is struggling to speak and I caress her hair as I wait for her to calm down.
"Let's go, there is no time to waste!" says once she comes back. I take Katniss's hand and help her to her feet. Her legs are shaking and I'm not sure if she will be able to walk all the way until the hospital.
As we leave the house I pray in silence that this girl will still be able to see the love of her life alive.
Katniss's POV
This can't be happening. Not my Peeta. This is all my fault, if something happens to him I don't know what I'm capable of doing. I need to see Peeta again, well and alive. I need to make sure he will come back to me, like the times when the Capitol tried to separate us.
I feel someone holding my hand and dragging me across the streets towards the hospital. I don't see anything, I don't hear anything and I just feel my heart beating faster and faster as we approach our destination. What if we are too late? I just want my Peeta to be alive, that's all. Is that asking too much from my life?
"Katniss if we are going in there you need to keep yourself stable. I don't want to have to worry about the boy and you at the same time." Haymitch says. Suddenly he stops and walks in front of me, our faces almost touching.
"Sweetheart I know exactly what you are feeling right now. God knows how destroyed we would be if something happens to that boy. Listen, I know life took away the things you loved the most, but please Katniss you have to hold yourself together and be strong one more time. I swear that I won't let this cruel world take him away from us. I promise you." Haymitch kisses my forehead and takes my right hand again before resuming our walk.
It takes us 20 minutes to get to the hospital since I could barely walk by myself. By the time we are about to go in my entire body freezes, I can't breath and my vision is completely blurry. I can't do this. I can't go in there just for people to tell me that he is already dead. Tears are streaming down my face and animalistic sounds are leaving my mouth. The sobs are stuck in my throat.
"Go ahead, I will take care of it." Haymitch tell my mother. I barely see her shadow as she runs towards the main door.
"Hey, hey Katniss! Calm down and get it together. Breath sweetheart, you are going to end up killing yourself." He says.
"Haymitch! Katniss!" I hear someone yelling.
"Tom!" Haymitch yells back.
"Here. asked me to bring Katniss a cup of water and some pills." He handles Haymitch what looks like a plastic cup.
"Here sweetheart take these pills and drink your water." Haymitch orders me. I'm in no condition to argue with him so I do as I was told.
"What happened so far Tom?" Haymitch asks, I can hear the hesitation in his voice. He is scared of the answer.
"Can we talk about it later?" I hear Tom answers.
"N-no I want to know it. Please Tom, how is him?" I say. Tears are still streaming down my face but I'm finally able to control my breathing.
"Okay. We don't know a lot about it. They won't let us in because he is under examination. The only thing the doctor said is that he may be extremely luck to survive with no aftereffects. But…" he takes a deep breath. "They said that if Peeta fractured his spine near the top, transecting the aorta which carries blood out of the heart, or something like that, he has a minimum chance of surviving and if he does he may never move his body from the neck down."
And that is what happens when I think life can't get worse. If Peeta survives he may never be able to do anything by himself again, he will be a living vegetable. I can't control more tears from falling.
"Like I said, he is under examination. We don't have any answers so far. Don't worry Katniss, I'm sure Peeta will be okay. He is the strongest person I know." Tom whispers. I'm not sure if it is because of the pill, but I can't bring myself to just breakdown. I can't describe what I'm feeling right now. My Peeta is fighting for his life and we don't have any news about what is really happening, and I'm the closest I can get to calm.
"Can I see him?" I ask, my voice sounding stable for once.
"No, I'm sorry. They won't let anybody in there. They only said that we have to wait in the waiting room and a doctor will come give us some news as soon as possible."
"I want to go in." I whisper. Haymitch and Tom walk next to me as we enter the hospital, ready to catch me if I fall. It seems like they know that my shaking legs are about to give up on me.
As we go in many people stare at us. I'm not sure if they know the reason why we are here. We walk straight to the waiting room and I'm surprised to see so many people here. Greasy Sae stands up from her chairs and hugs me tight.
"It's okay Child, everything is going to be okay." She whispers in my ear. I never thought that I would say this but I need someone to comfort me right now, someone to tell me that everything is going to end up well. I need someone to be my mother, and Greasy Sae is the closest figure for that.`
"It's all my fault Sae" I say, finally I'm able to free the sobs that were suffocating my chest. It feels so good to cry on someone's shoulder as they hold you, whispering soothing words in your year. It reminds me of Peeta, how he would hug me tight as I cried, caressing my hair and kissing my face. I can't live without him, If Peeta dies I will be right behind him.
"Shhhh, of course it isn't Katniss. It was an accident, nobody's fault. Girl calm down, he is strong and a fighter. He is going to be okay you will see."
I stay in there, in Greasy Sae's arms for what feels like a long time, until I'm sure that if I don't sit down my legs will break. Greasy Sae helps me to sit on an empty chair and Haymitch sits next to me. She has one of my hands in between hers and Haymitch is caressing my hair. They feel like my parents, taking care of me when I'm about to breakdown.
We stay like that for hours until a doctor comes walking towards us. Her clothes are covered in blood and her expression is blank. My hearts starts beating even faster, I feel like it's going to jump out of my chest. It's now. Now I'm going to know if my Dandelion is alive or not. My hands start shaking and I hold my breath.
"Katniss Everdeen?" she asks. I'm sure that Haymitch notices that I can't speak so he simply points at me.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she says staring at me directly. I try my best to stand up without falling but my legs can barely hold my weight. She leads the way to another room, smaller than the waiting room, and asks me to sit down. I do as I was told and wait and she takes a sit on the chair opposite from mine.
"Your mother asked me talk to you first and make sure you are okay." She says. I just nod in response.
"We finish the examinations on Peeta. We are pleased to know that his spine is perfectly fine. On the other hand he hit his head too hard and it caused a concussion. We are not sure how this affected his brain, the next 48 hours will tell us everything. He is in surgery right now, we found a couple of broken ribs and we need to make sure none of them affected an organ. He is really lucky Katniss." I listen carefully to her words. Peeta is not okay, but he is not dead. I have to wait 48 hours to know what is going to happen. I don't think I could wait that long.
"When can I see him?" I ask
"I'm not sure Katniss. Since your mother is one of the nurses maybe she can get you in his room after they are done, even though you shouldn't be allowed."
"Please…" I plead. I just want to be able to be by his side.
"I will try my best, I promise. Now why don't you go back to the waiting room. I will talk to them about it, don't worry." I just nod and stand up. I walk slowly back to the waiting room with the nurse right behind me.
"What happened?" asks Haymitch as he sees us. I just sit back on my chair while the nurse explains to them what she just told me.
The next 5 hours are a blur. I hear people talking around me but I don't say a word. The moon light is shining through the small window in the room. I don't think I stopped crying since the nurse left. I can't bring myself to think of this as an accident, I feel like it was all my fault. If I didn't push him away he wouldn't be working with the construction crew.
"Hey sweetheart, I will go get something for you to eat okay?" Haymitch, who is sitting next to me, whispers in my ear. I just shake my head.
"Come on Katniss, please. You can't starve yourself to death right now. Peeta needs you and you need to be strong for him." He says while wiping my cheeks with his hand. I shake my head again. Haymitch sighs. I can feel a couple pair of eyes staring at me.
People start waking around, trying to find something to eat. I'm not sure, but I think they have a small cafeteria in this hospital. I can't bring myself to be hungry.
A couple of hours later I'm the only one awake. Some of the people who were here before left, now it's just me, Haymitch, Greasy Sae, Tom and a young guy that I don't know the name. He seems to work with Peeta. They are all leaning against their chair or each other to rest. I can't bring myself to close my eyes. I need to know what is happening in there. I need to see him.
"Katniss?" I feel someone shaking me. My mother.
"What happened?" I ask. I don't remember falling asleep.
"I'm sorry for waking you up but Peeta is out of surgery and I know how much you want to see him." She says
"Yes, please. Let me see him." I plead. Breath Katniss, don't crying. Don't show any weakness.
"Come on." My mother leads the way to Peeta's room. It is pretty obvious that my mother doesn't accept my relationship with him but now is not about acceptance, I have to see him before it's too late.
"You have to be quiet, he is still sleeping and we are not sure when he is going to wake up. Be quickly." She says as she opens the door.
Nothing prepared me for what I see lying on the hospital bed.
There we go. Hope you guys liked it. I will try to update as soon as possible. Please review, I don't even know if there are people who enjoy reading this story. See you next time.