Let The Fever Make That Water Rise

Storm clouds from the mountains shook the jet in midair. They were flying through the sky, flying as fast as the engine allowed. Pandora's lips were purple. Her eyes were half moons and though Adric tried his hardest to keep the pressure on the wound blood was starting to seep onto the metal floor. Each breath that past her lips was rasped and serrated.

"Help—me."

A cry ruptured from her as Adric pressed his hand against the wound, blotting the gushing blood as well as he could. His uniform was ripped. Blood covered his hands and sleeves. His electric blond hair was disheveled.

"Stay awake," he whispered back, "Stay with me."

Blood loss was causing her vision to fluctuate between haziness and clarity. Despite the deep wound in her torso she was starting to feel less and less pain. This of course was a bad sign—but she was too delusional to understand that.

Turbulence rattled them sending Adric's balance off for a split second. The sound of thunder was rumbling around them. The storm was bad.

"Don't we have a medic's kit on board?!" He shouted, anxiously studying Pandora's face.

The squadron leader stumbled towards them. "Normally this kind of jet has a medic, no reason to have a kit—unfortunately we have neither right now."

"I'm dying—" she wheezed through a cry.

"No, no. Sh."

Her eyes rolled back into her head. At this point she could feel every drop of blood that was trickling out of the wound. Even when she was taken out of the arena she hadn't felt like this. She could feel death's hands on her.

"Hey!" He slapped her face as her eyes started to close, "Keep them open! You hear me?!"

"Capitol's coming into view!" A pilot screamed from the cockpit of the jet.

"Take us to the PSO!"

Adric's hand was still on her cheek when he lifted his eyes and urgently whipped his head around.

"No! The infirmary! She needs a doctor!"

"My orders are to—"

"Dammit, she's dying! Our orders were to save her and if we don't get her to Viktor Mironov she's going to be a corpse!"

The squadron leader silently looked around for a heartbeat before scrunching his face together and shaking his head.

"The infirmary it is."

Everyone on board braced themselves as the aircraft took a nose dive through lightning clouds and soared to the left. The only thing holding Pandora in place were Adric's hands.

"She must be some model," a soldier whispered, "All this for a girl."

Hearing that Adric shifted his eyes to the buckled in soldiers and glared, "Watch your mouth!"

"That's enough! No fights!" The squadron leader shouted, "Pedersen get her ready, the infirmary's coming into view now!"

"How do you think we're going to explain the midnight jet landing to the public?" The same mouthy soldier asked.

The leader rubbed his stubble and swallowed loudly, "Routine testing."

Adric scooped his hand around her neck and gently let go of the wound. Blood flooded out. He grimaced as he picked up her legs with his other hand and felt the reverberation of the jet lowering onto solid ground. He could hear how shallow her breaths were.

"Don't worry. We're almost there."

"I can't—I can't feel anything," she was crying. She tried to reach for his uniform to hold onto but she could barely move her eyes let alone her arm.

"You'll be okay, everything will be okay."

His lips mashed together. He didn't know if he believed his own words or not.

A strong gust of ice wind blew into the aircraft as soon as the ramp louder. Adric had already started to run before the exit was fully opened. He could hear her crying out as he jumped onto the roof and rushed towards the awaiting medics.

"We need a gurney!" one of them shouted into a device.

"Sir, we have to take her now!"

But Adric glared at them, refusing to hand her over. He pushed past a few, "Where's Dr. Mironov?!"

"Sir—"

"It's alright! Let him carry her!" Mironov suddenly appeared on the roof. His lab coat was blowing in the wind, "Follow me."

For a moment Adric dropped his eyes to Pandora's face and adjusted her in his arms. She didn't have much more time.

They were heading for the stairs. A few flights had past when Mironov, who was leading the way, pushed through a set of doors and marching into a sterile corridor. The gurney was waiting.

"Put her down, just there." He whispered to Adric.

Hesitantly he obeyed. At this point Pandora was dead weight. Her body sunk into the thin padding of the gurney like a ton of bricks.

"What happened?"

Adric tried to brush his hair back into it's normal neatly swept side part only to smear blood on his face. He was wrestling to come up with an explanation. Everything had happened so fast.

"She was stabbed—stabbed in the side—"

Mironov leaned over Pandora just as the gurney started moving. Her eyes fluttered in response to the passing helium lights overhead.

"Pandora? Can you hear me?"

She closed her eyes for a moment and whimpered.

"Adric—" she whispered.

Adric's lips parted. He stumbled close behind. When she said his name her eyes frantically darted around. Her hand managed to rise for a brief second before it fell back down.

"I'm here," he was beside Mironov now. "I'm right here."

"He left me."

His brow furrowed.

"What?"

Hot tears streamed out of her eyes.

"He's gone."

Suddenly Adric realized what she was talking about. Finnick. Of course that's who she'd be thinking about at a time like this. He could see fear and pain in her eyes. He hated it. His hand gripped hers.

"I'm right here, alright? Pandora, do you hear me?"

Her brown eyes were glossy and wild. She knew his hand was on her hand but she couldn't feel it. All she could feel was the blood pouring out of her.

"Pandora?!"

Her eyes moved to Adric's face. It looked fuzzy but she could see his hair clearly. It looked like the color of light. Quickly she took in a sharp breath and groaned.

"Yes…I can hear you."

"I'm not going to leave you. I'm never going to leave you—okay? I promise you."

The wheels of the gurney sped towards the operating room. They crashed through the doors. All medics were prepared. Equipment had been prepped. The gurney stopped, someone locked the wheels to keep it stationary.

Pandora could hear people shouting, smell the sterile odor. Faces she recognized and ones she didn't swirled around her body. Adric's hand was still on hers when she slowly turned her face to side. What she saw should have caused something to stir inside her but she was surprisingly unmoved. She was staring at a wall with an observation window and standing dead center behind the glass was President Snow. He was watching her. She twitched her fingers and rasped.

"He's there."

"Who?"

Her face was still turned away from the chaos that was happening around her, still turned towards the observation window.

"He's—watching me—"

Adric worriedly let his eyes rise to the window. His face darkened with confusion as soon as he spotted Snow.

"What a pretty rose he always wears—" she feverishly whispered.

"Pandora?"

"Adric, I'm afraid you'll have to move now," Mironov whispered.

Pandora felt a tear roll out of her eyes as she continued to look at Snow, "It's all gone."

Her heart was slowing, she could feel it. At that moment she could only think of her family, of the people that she had left behind, faces flashed through her memories. A single thought occurred to her—she should have been braver. The machines started erratically beeping.

"Something's wrong," Adric said back to Mironov, "She's not making sense!"

"Because she's been stabbed! Please Adric you need to move away."

"Will we meet through the pine," her voice broke in the middle of her song.

Her vision was darkening. Darkening more than it had ever done before.

"Doctor her heartbeat!"

Her eyes shut just as her heart stopped.

"No!" Adric screamed.

Snow took a step towards the glass.

Mironov's eyes widened for the smallest second before he turned to the machines. The heart monitor had completely flat lined.

"Get the paddles ready!"

His hands fumbled for the surgical scissors. The blades quickly cut through her shirt and sweater. Her torso was a gory mess. Her head was lifelessly slumped to the side.

"Charge them to 200!" he quickly added rolling up his sleeves.

"What's going on!?" Adric's instinct was to get closer but Mironov spun around and pushed him away.

"Leave, Adric!"

"No—What's happening?!"

"She has no heartbeat! You need to let me work."

Adric felt his knees buckle for an instant. Instead of listening he jumped forward.

"I said leave!" Mironov growled.

Tears were forming in Adric's eyes, but before he could say another word some of the medics were pulling on him, dragging him away. He fought as best he could but he was fatigued and shell-shocked. All he could do was stare at Pandora's lifeless form.

Mironov grabbed the paddles and closed his eyes as he drew in a breath. He needed to be the calm one. He was running this show, this wouldn't be the first heart he jump started. He solemnly peered at Pandora's face before pressing the paddles against her chest.

Electricity punched through her body and made her back arch.

No heartbeat.

"400!"

He rubbed the paddles together and felt the electricity concentrating.

"C'mon, Pandora…" he whispered under his breath.

Again. No heartbeat.

"No, no, no. Don't give up."

The paddles dropped out of his hands.

Adric was clawing at the door, he was screaming something but Mironov couldn't make it out. His blue eyes filled with fear as he placed his palms against her chest and started to rhythmically press.

"1...2…3…4…5…"

He tilted her head up and blew air into her lungs.

Several times he did this and each time there was no response—only the flat line on the monitor screen.

"Doctor I think we need to call it."

He cupped his hand over his mouth and paused. He was trying to hold back tears.

"Sir?!"

"No."

"Sir she's dead!"

He heard Adric cried out and felt his bad leg ache.

One look at Pandora's face was all he needed to regain his confidence.

"I said no!"

He pursed his lips and laced his fingers together. He wasn't going to give up on her. He was going to bring her back even if it meant breaking her sternum to do it.

His balled hands pummeled her chest.

The first did nothing.

Neither did the second.

But when his fists came down on her for the third time a spike beeped on the monitor.

A rush of air filled Pandora with a dry shriek. Her eyes opened so suddenly that it caused her whole body to jolt and her hands to grab the gurney sheets with a spasm.

At that moment everyone in the operating room gasped in shock. A few of the medics jumped back. Mironov even yelped in surprise, but a smile quickly spread across his face.

"I need blood now! B positive!...Pandora?"

She was shaking.

"Everthing's fine. I'm going to fix you."

It was beginning to be Mironov's motto. Her head slumped back down onto the sweaty gurney and her eye lifted to the ceiling.

"Knock her out."

"Is that smart? She just came back from the dead, sir!"

Mironov strapped on his surgical masked and placed his hand on Pandora's cheek for a split second, "If we don't then I won't be able to sew up the wound, she'll be in too much pain. This is my operation room, my rules. When I tell you to do something you simply do it. Knock her out."

The medic scrambled for the drug and medical towel. She drenched it only a little before placing it over Pandora's mouth. Pandora furrowed her brow but was barely able to lift a finger before blackness washed away the whiteness of the surgical room. It was different than dying she deliriously thought, different because she didn't feel at peace when she went under this time—different because there were nightmares waiting beyond the blackness for her.

Mironov was able to fix Pandora, as he promised, but she remained unconscious for several days after. Her face had been punched and battered so much that when she did open her eyes with clarity for the first time the cuts were still visible. There was stiffness in her arms and drowsiness in her feet that she remembered from her times after the arena. She didn't realize she had been rehabilitating in her apartment until she was finally able to sit up for the first time and stare out of the windows.

Medics alone had streamed in and out of her bedroom during those days. The only other thing that stuck out in her mind was a crystal vase of white roses that were freshly placed near her bed everyday—presumably from President Snow. After two full weeks of recuperation, the medics soon disappeared.

She was alone.

Her body was turned away from the doors when she heard a familiar set of feet. She sat on the edge of her bed—her back hunched, her eyes coldly stared out of the windows. He let the door creak open for several seconds before stepping forward. He stopped near her line of sight but she didn't look up at him.

"How are you feeling?"

Her eyes were stony. She crossed her arms without reply. The brand on her arm was almost healed over. The mark of the rebels—it would be scarred on her forever.

Adric moved his lips but he realize he didn't know what to say.

"Are you thirsty? I think maybe you should be drinking more than you have."

Again, she was silent.

"Pandora, you have to speak some time. You've been through hell and back, I know. I just—you can't live like this. Talk to me."

She blinked but there was no sign of emotion in her face.

He knelt to her side and tried to place his hand on her knee but she gently gave it back to him and tilted her head away.

"Please let me help. I'm your friend."

There it was—Adric's favorite thing to say to her. This time it didn't make her uncomfortable or angry, it simply was said. She lifted her brown eyes for a heartbeat and parted her lips.

"You—" Adric's eyes widened in surprise that she spoke. "You're my friend?"

"Yes. Always."

Not once had she looked at him but now she decided she needed to, "And you would do something for me?"

"Whatever you want."

"You still have Nyx Starson in your custody?"

"Yes. He's being interrogated for information—but he's holding up. It won't be long before someone mentions the word execution. Within a few days it will probably be announced."

Thoughtfully she traced the branding on her arm and kept her lips straight. The bracelet Dash had given to her long ago wasn't around her wrist anymore. It was on the side table. She hadn't bothered putting it on again. Suddenly it was felt to heavy.

"I want to see him. I want to see him for the execution."

"Pandora—why? He tortured you, he nearly killed you, you shouldn't have to see him ever again."

"I know."

Adric moved away, "Then why would you want to see him?"

Slowly Pandora met Adric's gaze and coldly lifted her chin, "Because I want to be the one that kills him."