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Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games
Finn POV (continued)
They have me sitting up now. In some kind of hospital. I don't remember how we got here, and yet, here we are. A woman with bright purple hair pulled back in a tight bun gives me a shot. My vision goes fuzzy, I feel like vomiting, yet I stay conscious. Different things are suddenly enlarged or have shrunk in my vision; the woman's head has shrunk to an unhuman size; a can of garbage in the corner is now towering over everyone too. I feel like it might come alive at any moment and start to eat everyone.
"Finnick Jr. Odair. 24 years old, born in District 4. Son of Finnick and Annie Odair." A man in a white coat and according to my distorted vision has tiny T-Rex arms holding a chart that he reads off. The man he talks to points in my direction.
I hear the squeak of wheels. Coming down the hall, I crane my neck to the left. The bed wheels by me being pushed by a man with white hair and pink eyes. The Capitol still likes their looks I guess. The bed has someone on it. But they are covered by a white sheet. I can tell right away that it's one of the girls. I can see a few strands of brown hair coming out. Oh no.
"Finnick Jr. Odair." T-Rex arms states as he stands right in front of me, my attention from the girls' body diverted.
"Call me Finn." I slur with a smirk.
He smiles back. "You're a lucky man Finn." Tell me about it.
"I'm here to take a personal statement from you about what happened before, during, and after your time down there with as much detail as you can remember. Then I will personally escort you back to your parents. They will be so happy to learn of your survival."
"Wait… they don't know yet?" Why wouldn't they tell them?
"They know that all the missing kids have been found, but that two did not survive. They just don't know which two yet. Publicity reasons. We don't want the unfortunate families bombarded with paparazzi. You understand?"
I nod my head. Though I instantly regret it because now everyone in the room is spinning. "Do…" I start.
"Yes?"
"Do I get to know who it is that, well, died?"
T-Rex arms shifts and frowns a bit. "We were going to use you and the remaining three to identify the dead bodies so we could be sure of whom they were."
"Okay."
He helps me stand up and holds my arm while we start walking, but the drugs take over and I have to run to the trash can. My stomach turns itself inside out which doesn't feel too good. When I finish, I turn around and see T-Rex arms waiting for me. "Ready?" He asks somewhat impatiently.
I nod my head and follow him down the hospital hallway. We pass a few rooms with glass windows and people inside them. Then one catches my eye. A guy, a few years older than me I'm guessing, sits on a table surrounded by six or seven Capitol nurses. He's got dark hair, the tips are almost a red color though. So he's had a Capitol influence. His small blue eyes look around taking everything in and squinting like he hasn't seen this much light for a long time. He looks freshly polished, and ready for action. This has to be Aragon. A man similarly dressed and orderly walks up to him and holds a chart. Aragon nods his head to whatever the man is saying, then he looks sad. This man must be Aragon's T-Rex arms. Telling him that he needs to identify the dead people. His eyes flitter out the window and lock with my green ones. I nod my head sadly to him; he doesn't even try to hide it, tears start falling out of his eyes. This is how I feel. Happy that we've been found, but sad for whoever might be lying in that room with a sheet over their head. With Aragon safe, that leaves Peyton, Jane, Techna, and Cynthia.
We continue down the hall. The next few rooms are empty, but there has been action in them recently. One of them has instruments thrown around everywhere, the hospital bed messed up, and a shattered glass on the floor.
"She was a fighter." T-Rex arms says slightly smiling to himself.
"Was?" My voice dropping.
"We had to sedate her, but that was a few hours ago. She'll probably be waking up soon if she hasn't already. We had to switch to a more secure room."
"Which girl occupied this room?"
"I'm not sure. I've been assigned to you and only you; she'll have her own attendant. Now the room is just down here." He leads me to an observation window looking into a morgue. Two bodies lay under white sheets. I'm not sure if I'm ready for this.
"What if I don't recognize them?" My voice cracking a bit.
"Then we bring in the other kids until they're identified. That will only mean the others from your district are okay."
"Okay." I breathe out.
The first one is wheeled out in front by a medical team. This one is the one that past me in the hallway that had Jane's color hair sticking out. Breathe…..
"Ready?" He asks.
"Nope." I whisper to myself. But I nod my head, and put my hands on the ledge of window to brace myself in case-
The sheet is removed. A scrawny beaten down girl's body lays there. She is almost entirely skin and bones. Her body looks deflated; pale, but lingering bruises leave traces of purple, green and black. She looks aged. Her golden brown – now more of a dead brown like leafs in the fall – hair has lengthened no doubt considering how long she was locked up; longer than me.
"Techna." I say. "This has to be Techna. Cynthia has blonde hair." I remember seeing her mother get reaped in the 75th games tapes. Then again years later in a magazine article of Where Are the Victor's Now? Her hair hasn't changed.
"What about Janelle?"
"Open her eyes." I tell him. He instructs them through a microphone. They walk up to Techna's body and open her eyelids. A dull and very smoky green shows up. "Jane's eyes are dark brown. Techna's are green. Or were…" I don't know who Techna's mother was. Rumors went around that her dad Beetee's counterpart in the 75th games Wiress was. But that was shot down by Wiress's family very quickly.
T-Rex makes a few notes on his pad and in the microphone he says "Techna Kirk. 25 years old, born in District 3. Daughter of Beetee Kirk and Unknown." They pull the sheet over her again and put her back in line. Sorry Techna.
A crash from down the hall followed by many shouting voices makes both T-Rex arms and myself jump. Then I recognize one of the voices. So she's alive after all.
"Finn!" She rounds the corner and her eyes connect with mine, but she came around it too fast and the tile floor sends her crashing into the wall. She doesn't seem to notice though. She breaks into a run of un-humanly speed like she hasn't been held up these past few months. She launches herself at me and I catch her. "Finn! Oh my God Finn you're okay! When they told me that two didn't make it I was so worried!"
"Settle down. Yea I'm okay." Her team of doctors come running behind her.
"She needs to rest."
"She's not in control!"
"She's so fast."
"She won't listen." The doctors complain. I laugh inside. But she ignores them.
"You need to come with us young lady." A woman with a chart and actual T-Rex arms says forcefully yanking on her arm causing her to jump and wince. "You will help identify them later."
"Why can't I do it now?" She protests. "I'm already here aren't I?" She pulls her arm away and rubs it. I didn't notice before, but she's wearing clothing that covers more skin than everyone else.
"Can I have a minute with her?" I ask. My T-Rex arms nods smiling while her T-Rex arms glares at her. I guide her away from them.
"What is it Finn?" She asks.
"Your arms. Let me see them."
She stares at me. Then slowly pulls up her sleeves wincing every now and then.
I have to keep from gasping when she gets to just her elbow. Her skin is different. It's not its usual olive tone. It's burnt. Almost all of it. Newer scabs mix with older ones. It looks a bit like burnt plastic. I reach out to touch it, but she swats my hand away, then roles down her sleeve quickly.
"You have to get that fixed." I tell her.
"No…" She says quietly.
"Why not?"
"They already did this arm" she roles up her other sleeve showing pristine olive skin. "And the rest of my body. I want some kind of reminder." Her voice trails off.
"Jane, you're not going to want that for the rest of your life. Even if you don't have a physical reminder, you still have the memory." She doesn't look too sure. "You'll be happier in the long run. Trust me."
"I don't know Finn. We spent so much time down there, and if we walk away without a scratch, what will people think?"
I smirk. "Since when do you care what people think?"
"Since my father thought Peyton and I were a bad idea." Then she stops. "..Peyton…" Her face goes white. "Where is he?"
I suddenly feel a bit deflated. "I don't know."
Jane's eyes do something then. Her normally dark brown eyes, just for a brief second flash a gold color. Then she's gone; darting down the hall yelling his name. Her team goes running and complaining after her.
"The other body?" I ask T-Rex arms.
"Female." He says. "They were both female." Relief suddenly floods my being. So Peyton's okay. But that means… the other body is uncovered. Her blonde hair has lost its light.
"Cynthia." I tell him.
Into the microphone he says "Cynthia Wilkins. 32 years old, born in District 8. Daughter of Daniel and Cecelia Thorne." Then he flips a switch and the observation room goes dark. "Finn, if you need someone to talk to, I know a great deal about loss."
"I'm fine. I didn't know them personally. Still, it's sad to see them go." I feel my eyes water up. "At least they can be with people they lost."
"So tell me about Corisa."
I tense. And he knows it. "What about her?"
"What was she like?"
I laugh. "Manipulative, evil, devil child, deceiving little bitch."
"How did she die?"
"You should know by now from your little report book." I point to the chart book he and all the other T-Rex arms out there holds.
"I want to hear it from you."
Damn. "She was strangled." I lower my voice. Nerves begin to rack my body uncontrollably. I sink down to the floor and pull my knees to my chest. My heart pounds in my head.
"Who strangled her Finn?" He kneels down to my head height.
I have a lump in my throat I can't swallow. My insides are going cold and are shivering in memory. I can feel her nails on my skin. I shut my eyes tight. 'Finn…..' Her voice in my head. I have to block it out. My hands fly out to my ears and I press them against my ears in an attempt to keep her voice from penetrating my being. I start shaking. Her voice gets louder. Finn… Finn… FINN!
"Finn!" My eyes fly open to see T-Rex arms shaking me. "Finn what happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"You sat down, then put your hands over your ears and started shaking. Your nails drew a little blood from your head."
"Bad memory." He looks at me curiously. But I continue. "I strangled her when she gave me a bit a freedom. That's all that happened." I get up and start to walk away, legs feeling a little shaky. "When do we get to go home?" I turn my head to ask.
T-Rex arms checks his book. "Someone is coming for you… about now."
"I'm on time? Wow, never thought that would happen." A familiar voice says from down the hall. When I spot him, I smile. His hair has turned a silvery white color over the years, but overall, he's never looked better.
"Haymitch." I say.
"Kid." He nods to me. "Where's Blondie and MJ?" Also known as Peyton and Mini-Johanna.
But before I can answer I hear the familiar thunder of footsteps that can only be Jane's team with a lone pair of footsteps much quieter at the lead.
"Here she comes. Peyton I'm not sure." I point towards the hallway opening. Then before it reaches us, it stops, and changes directions.
"Peyton!" She yells. But something's not right. Her voice is on edge.
I take off running towards her voice. I round the corner and see her outside a room looking in. Peyton lays shiny and new on the table. He's awake. And his gray eyes see us. I wave to him. Jane is smiling in relief. One really can't ignore the way she glows when she's near him. She starts laughing, and I join her. We're okay.
"What do you want?" His voice is ice like, and cuts through our happy atmosphere like a knife. We turn to look at him.
"Peyton?" Jane asks voice shaky.
He looks her up and down. Turns to me. "Finn. The guy who's fucking my sister."
My face goes red for a moment.
Then he turns to Haymitch. "Old drunk who sleeps until noon every day and vomits everywhere."
Haymitch looks like he's about to scold him, but a doctor holds him back.
"And Jane." He turns to her. "You like me. I liked you. We're neighbors. Cool. Can we go home now?" He turns to the doctor.
"Liked?" Jane asks emphasizing the use of past tense.
"Well I don't like you right now so isn't it appropriate that I use past tense? And I thought you were smart." He laughs to himself and walks down the hall.
We all stare after him. Then I turn to Jane. She stands mouth open, eyes show hurt, but she composes herself.
"Jane." I start.
"It's probably just the shock of being okay. Right?" She looks at me. "Right Finn?" I can't lie to a girl who has been the closest thing besides Maggie to a sister I've ever had.
"I don't know Jane. I really don't know."
So Jane, Peyton, and Finn are all right. Wonderful! For now... as always, please review!