Chapter 14
The night goes bye, there's no hope that Katniss will come. Suddenly I'm thirsty. I haven't drank anything in, what I'm guessing is days. I try to move toward the river, but I can't it's just like the hallucination. I'm soo weak right now, I can't move.
I try to move but there's too much mud and leaves on me. I guess now I'll starve to death, covered in mud. At least I'll be out of pain soon.
The sun rises, I don't want to sleep though. I'm still not sure if the spider will come again. I watch the sun move like I did in my hallucinations. I hear footsteps, so I close my eyes, hoping I camouflaged myself well. I open one of my eyes, just to see who's here. Katniss. She's walking through the stream. That's a lot smarter than crawling through the mud.
She looks like she's looking for someone. I decide she's looking for me. Either to make an alliance, or to kill me. The second choice is more likely. I close my eyes, and hear Katniss come closer.
"Peeta, Peeta." Katniss whispers. She's is looking for me. I decide she's here to kill me. Rule change of not. She wouldn't want me for an ally. A bird starts mimicking Katniss, and I hear her sigh. Katniss moves out of the river. I know she's close, so I give myself away.
"You here to finish me off, sweetheart?" I ask.
I hear Katniss move quickly. "Peeta? Where are you?"
I decide to mess with her, and don't reply. Katniss steps closer to me. "Peeta?" I feel her foot on my chest.
"Well, don't step on me." I say. And Katniss steps away. Katniss is quiet probably confused. So I open my eyes. Katniss is right in front of me, her eyes widen and she gasps. So I laugh.
"Close your eyes again," orders Katniss. So I stop laughing and close my eyes. Katniss kneels beside me. "I guess all those hours decorating cakes paid off."
I keep my eyes closed, but smile. "Yes, frosting. The final defense of the dying."
"Your not going to die." says Katniss.
"Says who?" I ask.
"Says me. We're on the same team now, you know." she tells me.
I could tell her I don't want to be on her team. But I do. And the rule change states that we can both win. "So I heard. Nice of you to find what's left of me." I say.
Katniss pulls a water bottle out and offers me a drink. "Did Cato cut you?" she asks.
"Left leg. Up high." I wince thinking about it.
"Let's get you to the stream, wash you off, so I can see what kind of wounds you've got." she says.
"Lean down a minute first, need to tell you something." I say, words forming in my head. Katniss leans down. "Remember, we're still madly in love, so it's all right to kiss me anytime you feel like it." Katniss jerks her head away from me and starts laughing. Did I actually say that?
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." she says.
Katniss tries to help me up and it's useless. Katniss then, tries to drag me and I try my best to keep myself from crying out. It hurts too much. Katniss starts pulling the mud and plants off me, and I start to cry. I wish I didn't camouflage myself this good. Katniss finally frees me.
"Look, Peeta, I'm going to roll you into the stream. It's very shallow here, okay?" says Katniss.
"Excellent," I say.
"On three. One, two, three." says Katniss, and then she starts rolling me. This hurts worse than when I tried to move. I'm going to die, I think there's no way I'll survive this wound. Katniss stops rolling me. I guess my screams got too loud.
Katniss is quiet of a moment. "Okay, change of plans. I'm not going to put you all the way in,"
I nod. "No more rolling?" I ask.
"That's all done. Let's get you cleaned up. Keep an eye on the woods for me okay?" she says. I nod. Katniss starts pouring water on me with her water bottles. She has three, she had to have gone to the Cornucopia to get these. Once my clothes are visible Katniss helps me out of my jacket and shirt. She has to cut my undershirt off me because it's plastered into my wounds.
Katniss props me up against a boulder. Katniss washes all the dirt off of me. Then, Katniss starts to dig the Tracker Jacker stingers out of my skin, causing me to wince. Next she takes some leafs out of her pocket and puts them in her mouth. I raise my eyebrows at her causing her to laugh. Katniss spits the was of chewed leaves out onto her hand and places it on one of my stings. I sigh in relief and Katniss smiles. She does the same for my other stings.
Katniss takes my shirt and jacket and wash them in the stream, then she lays them on a boulder. Katniss takes a container out of her backpack and applies what's in it to the burn I didn't know I had. Probably from that fire. Katniss takes out a first aid kit and takes some pills out. "Swallow these." she says. I quickly swallow them.
"You must be hungry." she says.
I shake my head. "Not really. It's funny, I haven't been hungry for days," I tell her.
She offers me some meat but I don't have an appetite for it. Katniss lets out a breath. "Peeta, we need to get some food in you." Katniss pleads.
I shake my head again. "It'll just come right back up." I say.
Katniss convinces me to eat a little bit of dried apple. But I'm just tired. "Thanks. I'm much better really. Can I sleep now, Katniss?" I ask. I haven't got any real sleep since the Tracker Jackers. "Soon, I need to look at your leg first." says Katniss.
I can tell Katniss is trying to be gentle as she removes my boots, socks, and pants but it still hurts. Once the cut has been reveled, I think I'll throw up. I look at Katniss and try to read her face.
"Pretty awful, huh?" I say.
Katniss shrugs. "So-so." I can tell it's a lie. "You should see some of the people they bring my mother from the mines. First thing is to clean it." I can't help but feel like Katniss is uncomfortable.
Katniss begins to pour water on me. The moor water is poured on, the worse my cut looks. Katniss treats some more burns and one more Tracker Jacker stings.
"Why don't we give it some air and then..." Katniss trails off.
"And then you'll patch it up?" I can tell Katniss is out of her element.
"That's right, in the mean time you eat these." She gives me some dried pair halves then goes to wash the rest of my cloths. After Katniss lays them out to dry, she looks through the first aid kit. I watch Katniss. I don't let my eyes drift away from her.
"We're going to have to experiment some," says Katniss. She puts some of the leaves in her mouth. Katniss presses the stuff to my cut and leaves her hand on top of the spit. Pus starts running down my leg and I hear Katniss swallow. I look up at Katniss. She looks like she's going to get sick.
"Katniss?" I say. Katniss's eyes meet mine. I mouth the words, "How about that kiss." Katniss starts laughing. "Something wrong?"
"I... I'm no good at this. I'm not my mother. I've no idea what I'm doing and I hate pus. Euh!" says Katniss. Katniss take off the first round of leaves and and applies the second round. Katniss groans.
I grin. "How do you hunt?" I ask.
"Trust me. Killing things is much easier than this, although, for all I know, I am killing you." she says.
I laugh. "Can you speed it up a little?" I ask.
"No. Shut up and eat your pears." she says.
The swelling in my leg has gone down and we both learn that Cato cut me all the way down to the bone. I really wish Katniss would kill me now. I sigh.
"What next, Dr. Everdeen?" I ask.
Katniss rolls her eyes. "Maybe I'll put some of the burn ointment on it. I think it helps with infection anyway. And wrap it up?" Katniss says looking through her backpack.
"Here, cover yourself with this and I'll wash you're shorts." says Katniss.
"Oh, I don't care if you see me," I say.
Katniss lets out an annoyed breath. "You're just like the rest of my family, I care, all right."
Katniss turns to face the river. I take my undershorts off, cover myself, and throw the shorts into the river.
I watch as Katniss turns around to face me slowly. I smile. "You know, you're kind of squeamish for such a lethal person," Katniss starts washing the shorts. "I wish I'd let you give Haymitch a shower after all."
"What's he sent you so far?" she asks.
"Not a thing." I say. "Why? Did he send you something?"
"Burn medicine." she says. I nod. "Oh, and some bread."
"I always knew you were his favorite." I say.
Katniss shakes her head. "Please, he can't stand being in the same room with me,"
"Because you're just alike." I mutter. Katniss doesn't say anything, and I drift off.
My eyes open, when Katniss shakes my shoulder. "Peeta, we've got to go now." she says.
I rub my eyes. "Go? Go where?" I ask. I've become fond of this area.
"Away from here. Downstream maybe. Somewhere we can hide you until you're stronger." she says. She helps me dress. All my cloths are dry. Katniss doesn't give my socks or boots back. Katniss pulls me up onto my feet. Now that there's weight on my leg, it's worse then ever. I think Katniss can tell. "Come on. You can do this."
We walk for a little while. Katniss sets me down and pushes my head between my knees. I need to get some sleep. Katniss pulls me up. She guides me to a cave.
Hopefully, I can get some sleep soon. Today has been exhausting.