Its official, the 88th Hunger Games have come to an end. But, and I can't be more enthusiastic about this, THIS STORY IS FAR FROM OVER! And there are a lot of shocking things coming up, so before you start reading this story past this point, prepare yourself. I sware, you might just be reading and then scream! THAT SHOCKING! And please, let me know what you are thinking, I don't hear enough from you, and I have to guess what people are thinking, and I have given thought to stopping this story and killing off everybody real quick, because I have gotten some really negative things and not as many positive. So please, make up for the bad with the extremely good! And I thank you all for reading this story, because it means so much to me. And thanks so much to Allium Banner, my amazing co-author. The odds are in my favor because of her, and all of you. And Elizabeth and Luke. They visit me sometimes…in my dreams. OK, back to the story. Enjoy!

Chapter 17- Families

I am sitting beside Luke in the doctor's office. I sit there and he rubs circles on my back, trying to make me feel better. But nothing can make me happy right now. I just found out something terrible. And I was so happy just two hours ago.

It happened like this. Luke and I were waiting to be back at the Training Center, where we'll also have the appointment with the doctor. I look down at myself. Besides being dirty, I am perfectly fine. Luke is too, and this will be a quick visit.

The hovercraft lands in front of the Training Center, and I glance out, looking for the cameras. And sure enough, there are about a million of them around the center, so they will see us. I am not going to lie and be bored, because I am anything but that. We descend and Luke picks me up and we kiss, and I can hear the clicks of the cameras as they take a million pictures a minute of us. And then we stop and hold hands, walking and smiling and being the classic couple, stupid and oblivious to the fact that we are being watched. We can only see what is directly in front of us and each other, and that's all I need now.

The same kind blond boy Avox that helped me with my bag opens the door for me, and I nod my appreciation, still not being allowed to talk to them. A pair of Peacekeepers escorts us down the hallways and through the old gym; back to what I am guessing is the doctor's office.

It is brightly lit, and I have to blink a few times to adjust. A pale man and a tired looking woman sit around, the man smoking off a cigarette and then woman fiddling around on her computer. My brain flickers back to Miklisho, who always smoked. This man has chocolate brown hair and golden brown eyes depending on the light. Nothing like Miklisho.

Get him out of my brain! He's dead. But I had a feeling he would haunt my mind for a while. Just an instinct and I've always learned to trust my instinct. It's what my parents always taught me. Speaking of parents, where are they? I haven't seen them at all today. Maybe they went home and are coming back now? I don't know, but I hope I see them soon. Just to prove to myself that the Games are really over and all of this bliss is reality.

The man walks over to me, taking my hand in his in a strange form of greeting. "Ms. Hirsch, Mr. Mellark, such an honor to meet you. Congratulations on your victory. My name is Dr. Langford I'll tell you what I'm going to do, we are going to do an easy checkup, because neither one of you look injured in any way. And then we'll do a blood test and then you can leave and do whatever you want. I'm sure you're both extremely busy now." He says.

I completely zoned out. Did he say his last name is Langford? Marvin, the tribute boy from District 6, had the last name Langford. And it would fit. Everyone in District 6 is a medical worker, so he could be Marvin's relative for all I know. These Games are not letting me forget about them.

The woman stands and throws me a creepy nice smile. Then she does something so weird I can barely stand it. She sniffs my hair! "Wow! You're still so young. So fresh. I remember when I was your age. That was before I was pregnant though. My name is Mabel. I'm your nurse." She says. I have no idea how to react to that. So I simply say "It's a pleasure to meet you." She offers up a smile, and I feel better.

Dr. Langford leads me down the hallway and into his even brighter examination room. He has me do the most stupid things EVER! Maybe I think it's because I haven't been to a doctor for like….a year thanks to my cheapskate parents.

Anyway, he hands me a plastic cup. Not hard to know what he wants me to do. "Um…can you leave the room? I'm not comfortable with you watching me do this." I say. He keeps standing there. I go for the elastic of my shorts and pull them down, exposing my lime green underwear.

He keeps staring at me, with no facial expression change. I go to pull my underwear down and then I turn around, so he can see my butt, but not the front of my butt. Anyway, I really need to pee, so I am able to do the task easily.

He takes the cup and immediately pulls out a needle with an empty syringe. "This won't hurt a bit." He says. I nod my head and offer up my arm. I close my eyes and barely feel the pinch of the needle. There's a slight suction, and then it's out. He slides a band-aid over the small puncture.

"I'll do run the tests and make sure everything is alright. And then I'll be back. Mabel is going to do your other checkups." He says. I nod again, not saying anything. Mabel walks in and gets right to my checkup. She pulls on her stethoscope and places it against my upper chest, near my neck, and tells me to breathe deeply. I do, and she repeats the process on other parts of my chest and back.

The stethoscope is cold against my skin. I flinch a little each time it lands on my flesh. I can't help it. I hate cold things so so so so so so much. It's like my biggest hatred. I'd rather kill twenty people then freeze to death.

Then Mabel pulls out a little flashlight and tells me to follow the beam with my eyes to make sure my sight wasn't affected at all. I flick my eyes with the beam. She nods, and writes some things down on a notepad. She pulls out a speaker connected to some earphones. She tells me to slip them on and raise my hand, left or right, when I hear a beep in one ear. I go through the motions, left, right, right, left, right. "Alright, that's it. You're all good. Everything is fine. The Games haven't affected anything. We'll have to check your blood and urine samples, but it looks like everything is just perfect." She says cheerfully. I was starting to worry that something was wrong. Dr. Langford walks in with Luke behind him. "Oh. Hi Luke." I laugh, wondering why he's in here.

"I brought Luke is because I have some news that involves both of you." Dr. Langford says. I look at Luke and he looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "It seems from your blood test, Elizabeth, that you are a bit….well, not like when you first came to the Capitol. Well…it seems that your…well, your pregnant."

My breath stops for a moment. I am gasping, panicking as I soak up what he just said. "No. That's not possible. Luke and I never had sex. We were waiting until we were married. I can't be pregnant." I shout. Luke wraps his arm around my shoulder. "I mean, please take a sample again. I really can't be pregnant. It isn't possible."

"I'll offer up a sample too, so you can see if I am the father." Luke says. Mabel takes a blood sample in a syringe from Luke, and Dr. Langford does mine again. They walk out again and I collapse into a chair. "Luke, I can't be pregnant. We never had sex. And you can't have a baby if you're not having sex, right? Right!" I exclaim. Luke doesn't have a chance to answer before the doctor and Mabel are back.

"Well, Ms. Hirsch, it seems that it is very possible that you are pregnant. You are. Though, I'm afraid to say…well…Mr. Mellark, Luke if you prefer me calling him that, isn't the father of your child. It's….it's someone else you knew….one Mr. Miklisho Maccoll." He says, chewing his lip. I lean into Luke and start crying my eyes out. This is more horrible then I could have ever thought. I knew there was a reason I couldn't stop thinking about him. And now, I would be starting a family of my own. I had looked up to my parents- my dad, who would love me no matter what, and probably kill Luke if he was the father, and he'll probably kill Luke now that Miklisho is dead. And my amazing mother, who was pregnant at me without being married, and at age 16.

I always thought I would be a mother eventually. But barely at age 15...that was a whole new level of shock.

Luke's cell phone rings. He goes into the hall when I let him go, saying I'll be fine, and I can hear his side of the conversation. "Mom...oh my god...that's terrible...oh mom...HOW COULD THEY BE SO STUPID!" He is saying. Katniss is on the other end of the line. He walks back in, teary and red faced. "Luke. What is it? What's wrong?" I ask. "That was my mom. It...um, well, today is a sad day for my family...Liz, my mom went to the doctor today to see if the baby was a boy or a girl...and when they ran the test, they put in the wrong kind of gel, the kind she has an allergy to, not sure what kind, but it's deadly, and well, since it was over her stomach...well, the baby died before they could say if the baby was a boy or a girl.

Nothing could ever be as shocking as this.

So, what did you think? Did any of you actually scream? That's the shock level I was going for. And sorry if this chapter was a little short. I had to state my point, but I couldn't think of this very easily. It hurt me physically to write that Elizabeth was finding out Miklisho's baby was now inside her. How did that happen? Hmm…..? What do you think? Review and let me know! And if you have any questions, please, ask them in a review or a message and I promise I will reply ASAP! Love all of you! Keep up the reviews! And may the odds be ever in your favor! -MrsLukeCastellan