Author's Note: Hello 451 soldiers. I'm so so sorry for not updating for so long, but with Mockingjay Part 2 coming out, school and cheerleading, I almost forgot a had a story to take care of. Anyway, I won't waste more time. Here is chapter 40. Enjoy

I don't own The Hunger Games

Chapter 40

Peeta's POV

Someone grabbed my arm and is dragging me through a white hallway to a white room. I can't think about anything but Katniss. What if I'm never able to hold her warm hand anymore? What if I'm not able to kiss her soft lips, or hug her tiny little figure? What if I have to survive the rest of my life without her?

"Peeta? Peeta? Peeta!" I come back to myself as someone yells my name over and over again. I'm sitting on a chair with all kinds of medical supplies and tools surrounding me. The elder healer is kneeling right in front of me looking concerned. " It's okay boy. She will be okay, I promise you they are going to take very good care of her. We are going to bring her back to you safe and sound." I just nod. "Now let me take a look at your arm." She removes the cloth from my arm. The bullet wound is still bleeding a lot and now that all the adrenaline is finally down I start feeling the ardent pain. "I will give you an anesthesia and I will operate a very simple surgery to remove the bullet." I just nod. She stands up and walks to the white counter on the other side of the room. She comes back holding a cotton ball and a syringe. I barely feel the pain as she sterilize a small spot on my arm and inserts the needle. I take a deep and feel my arm going numb until I can't feel it. I stare at the floor as she works, my mind fixed on Katniss the entire time. What is happening to her right now?

"There you go." The healer says as she finishes bandaging my arm. She places an arm around my back and helps me to stand up and walk to the closest wait room where Greasy Sae, whose clothes are still covered with Katniss's blood, and Haytmich are.

"What happened? Where is Gale?" I begin asking as soon as I lay my eyes on him.

"You got him pretty good, didn't you son? He is also getting checked by doctors before we decide what is going to happen to him. Let's remember that we are all humans here and as much as I want to see him suffer we must do it in the right way." If it depended on me I would let him die.

"How are you feeling child?" Greasy Sae asks as I sit on the chair opposite from her and Haymitch.

"Awful. I need to see her Sae, I need to make sure she is okay." I turn towards the healed, who is still standing on the corner. "Please, I'm begging you, let me see her. I will not interfere with anything. Please, I can't stand this." I can feel tears slide down my face, I'm beginning to lose it and I don't care.

"I really wish I could but nobody is allowed past those doors unless you are a doctor. I will try to find some information and I will let you know, I promise." She gives me a sympathetic look and leaves.

The three of us wait for what feels like hours, but it could've been only a couple minutes, before Haymitch decides to make a trip to the cafeteria and get something for us to eat and drink.

"Come on boy, you have to keep yourself strong if you want to be here for her when she wakes up. She will need you and I'm pretty sure you don't want to be way too weak for it, am I correct?" Greasy Sae says after I refuse Haytmich's appetizers. I just shake my head and continue to stare at a spot on the floor.

"Peeta?" I look up and see the same elder healer who took care of me standing with a small smile on her face. She gestures with her hand for me to follow her. I look at both Greasy Sae and Haytmich, who have hopeful expressions on their faces, before I stand up and begin walking. She leads me through a series of white hallways. We pass a couple doors, all of them with a number labeling the room, like we are in a labyrinth, until finally we reach a door that reads 1243L.

"She regained consciousness while they were proceeding with the examinations and exams. She was desperate and hysterical asking for you, so they had to sedate her. She is still asleep because of the medications but we all thought it would be better if you were here when she wakes up, to make sure she is calm. She is going to be okay Peeta, we promise you that." I smile and thank her before making my way through the door.

Katniss is lying on a white bed surrounded by machines measuring her every breath and heartbeat. She still looks pale but the color has retuned to her lips and nails. Her dark brown hair is spread on the pillow forming a halo around her head, making her look like an angel. My angel. There is a chair next to her bed, so I take it and hold her small hand in mine, being careful not to hurt her since she seems to be attached to hundreds of IVs. I delicately caress her small hand as I wait for her to open those beautiful silver eyes that I love so much.

"Good evening Mr. Mellark." A woman, in her late-thirties, says. I didn't even notice when she walked into the room. "I'm doctor Angela and I was responsible for Ms. Everdeen. I would like to ask you a couple questions if you don't mind. I've heard that you are the closest person to her." I just nod my head. "Well, as you may have notice, Katniss suffered of a small concussion and a couple minor fractures that we are making sure will be taken care of. But the only thing that is worrying us the most if the substance found in her blood tests." I look at her with a curious express. A substance in her blood?

" I don't think I….I mean…Katniss…"

"Did any of her doctors prescript any kind of medication recently?" She asks

"Not that I'm familiar with ma'am."

"Have you noticed any type of unfamiliar activity or reaction coming from Ms. Everdeen lately?" I think about this. Katniss has been a little out of it lately but I brought myself to think that it was because of the situation with Gale.

"She hasn't been paying attention to her surrounding lately. I have to force her to eat because she seems to have been losing her appetite." I say honestly. Doctor Angela stares at Katniss's unmoving body and shakes her head.

"Have you noticed any difficulty in performing everyday activities such as walking, breathing or even her sleep cycle?" I just nod my head. I'm starting to feel really worried.

"What is going on Doctor?" I ask

"Peeta, after we ran a couple blood tests and analyzed the results, we have found a high level of morphine in Katniss's blood." I feel my face turning pale and my body paralyses. Morphine? Where in the world would Katniss find morphine? Why would she do this and not talk to me about it? What are the consequences of her acts? "We don't know how long she is being taking it, but it doesn't seem very recent. We will have to wait until she wakes up to find more answers." The doctor walks closer to me and places her hand on my shoulder in a soothing way. "She will need you right now. You are the only person who will be able to help her and understand exactly what is happening to her. Peeta, you are her only hope." She doesn't want for my response as she walks out of the room, leaving Katniss and I alone.

I spend the next hour or so lost in my thoughts as I watch over Katniss's angelic face. Her eyes are closed and her mouth pressed into a thin line, she looks relaxed. I wonder what is going on in her head and how long I will have to wait until she finally wakes up. I'm so worried that I can't bring myself to close my eyes and try to take a nap as I wait. I also can't stop blaming myself for what she is going through. If I was better at understanding her and being there for her more, maybe she wouldn't be searching for relieve in a capital drug.

I'm brought back to reality by a small hand moving under mine. Katniss is making little sounds, like whimpers or maybe she is just trying to talk, and her facial expression is as if she is struggling to free herself of whatever she is seeing behind her closed eyelids.

"Katniss?" I whisper, placing my left hand on her cheek as my right caresses her hand that what under it. She whimpers a little more and I see a single tear leave her eye. "Katniss, it's me baby. Can you hear me?" I ask. I wish there was more I could do to help her, but I'm completely useless.

"P-P-Pee-ee-ta." I hear in between whimpers and cries.

"Yes, it's me. Open your eyes for me, please." I beg. Slowly, her eyelids open and I'm staring right into my lover's silver mooned eyes. She looks around the room for a few second until her gaze falls on me. She looks scared, so small and fragile, that I wish I could hold her and be like a shield, not letting anything happen to her ever again. "Hey there my brave girl. How are you feeling?" I ask, trying to sound as positive as I can. The last thing I want right now is to scare her or let her notice that something may not be right.

"I…I….H-he-ad…P-p-pain." Immediately I press the emergency button next to her bed to call a doctor. I will not let her be in pain for another second.

"It's okay, I called the doctor. The pain will go away very soon. Shhh, everything is okay now." A couple second later, the same doctor comes in.

"Oh Hello, nice to see you are awake Katniss. Can you tell me how you are feeling?" Katniss tries to talk again but she is struggling a lot and only whimpers are coming out of her mouth. It breaks my heart to see her like this.

"She said that her head was hurting." I say

"Oh okay. The nurses cut her morphine IV to a minimum, so that may be the case. We are trying a natural pain killer, a little less effective but considering the situation…It is our best option." I glare at her. I don't care what the situation is, Katniss is in pain and they should do something about it. We will deal with this whole morphine story later.

"But she is in pain. You can't just not do anything about it." I say, a little louder than I was intending.

"We are waiting for the alternate substance to take action. We don't have another option Mr. Mellark. I'm pretty sure Katniss is strong enough to hold on a little longer." I can feel my blood boiling inside of me. This woman is not doing anything to help Katniss, who is squeezing my hand in pain. "Now if you will excuse me, I have other patients to check on. I will back soon." She says and leaves the room. Katniss has started crying and I feel completely lost. So I do the only thing I can think of right now. I move her body a little to make some room for me, being careful not to hurt her, and lay next to her on the hospital bed. I place my arm under her neck, for her to use as a pillow since those hospital pillows feel like they are made of rocks, and use that hand to caress her arm since she still has my other hand in a iron grip. I kiss her forehead, her temple, her cheeks and whisper to her over and over again "It's okay baby. I'm right here. You are going to be okay, I " Until I finally feel her body relaxing a little when the painkillers do their job. I thought that this was the end and that we would finally have some peace and be happy. But we still have a long chapter to go and I know that as long as we are together, we will get through whatever challenge life throws our way next.

There you have it folks. I hope you like it. Please let me know any comments or concerns and your opinions are always gold. Also, I would like to know what you guys thought of Mockingjay Part 2 . Thank you so much for setting aside the time to read my story, reviews make my day. See you next time.