A/N Hello Lovelies! I know, I know! This one is really short, but I didn't want to add it to the next chapter. This chapter deals with some mature themes (non-sexual) Just a warning! Also, in case you noticed that the chapter numbers changed DO NOT FEAR! I originally had the interview in two parts, so I combined them. Nothing changed, so no need to re-read! I also deleted the chapter that was just me apologising for my lack of updates! I hope you all enjoy, keep reading, favorite-ing, following, and REVIEWING! Yours, Alise
Adley's POV
"Adley, mind if I get this thing off of you?" Dr. Frage say, chuckling at his own joke as his hands set to work at the contraption on my neck. I felt a weight lifted as he removed the metal. He handed me a glass. "Drink" I did. The liquid instantly relieved the pain and dryness in my throat.
"How are you feeling, Adley?" Frage asked. I shrugged.
"I'm okay." My voice croaked out, still getting used to having the wires removed.
"And how is the pain, 1-10?"
"Seven." He raised his eyebrow. In all honesty I just picked a number. I have nothing to compare this too.
"Lay on your back" I do as I'm told. Frage stands up and starts pressing down with slight pressure around my arms and legs. When he reaches my abdomen I wince, my knees involuntarily rising to block the intrusion.
"Just as I thought. I'm going to lift your shirt, okay? We just have to check to see how everything's healing down there." I nodded. He lifts the fabric of my white shirt up, I redden as the underside of my breasts are exposed. I look down and gasp. A long white and red scar runs from the top of my stomach to just below my pants. The area around it is swollen and bruised. Frage tenderly feels around the scar, and expecting it this time I am able to control myself.
"The swelling has gone down quite a bit, so that's good. It's starting to bruise, but that's pretty normal. We'll be able to remove the scar once the swelling goes down and the bruising diminishes."
"You don't need to remove it" I've always thought that a scar defines who you are, show's what you've been through.
"President's orders." He shrugs. "We should be able to remove it within the month." I look up at him, slightly confused. Why does the president care about my scars? "There's another matter we need to discuss, Adley. The extent of your injury… Well, When the girl caught you with the knife she cut through your intestines, we were able to repair those don't worry, but because of how far she dragged the knife, she also managed to hit your uterus." I stare at him, confused. I have taken anatomy classes, I know what he's saying, but my brain refuses to function. "The damage was too much, and fixing it would have brought on larger surgical complications, you wouldn't have been able to make it. We removed it. There should be no medical repercussions, but we'd like to see you once a month for the next year to monitor the internal healing, and then once a year until we're comfortable with it. Do you have any questions?"
I have thousands. But for some reason I can't seem to speak. I want to tell him to leave, to let me go home to district four, I want to go back and fall asleep listening to the waves crash onto the shore. I want to not think about this, whatever it is. I'm fourteen. I don't want to think about this. I know what it means, I'm not an idiot. Children is something I had never thought of. Even in District Four, children are often a mean of suffering, they take up more space more food, more jobs, and then you have to fear for their lives for six years, the pain getting harder with each year. I was grief stricken when my brother turned twelve, I had never thought of bringing something innocent into this horrible world. And now I guess I don't have to think about it.
I should be relieved. Now, at least, I don't have to sort out insufferable moral ambiguities. Now the decisions been made for me. I should be grateful, worry-free, this pain should be worth it. But I can't shake the feeling that the Capitol has ripped just one more thing from me. Doctor Frage looks at me, waiting for me to answer him. I shake my head in response.
"All right then, now that all this has been sorted, you can be headed home soon. We want to keep you here just a few more night to monitor the wound, make sure it doesn't get infected. I'll have a nurse bring in some hospital release forms for you to fill out." He looked over his clipboard before heading out the door and calling to a nurse. The nurse came in and handed me the papers. I silently wept as I signed on the dotted line, accepting this fate.