A/N: Been a while! Sorry! Been a stressful few months! Hope you all enjoy this chapter though! -JayOnFF
I wake up in a cold sweat. "Peeta," I say to myself. Did he make it? Is he alive?
My leg throbs as I climb out of the hospital bed, slowly into the wheelchair beside it. I don't know where he would be in the hospital wing. I try to follow the signs hanging from
the ceiling as I wheel myself through the halls of the hospital.
How long was I asleep for? How dare my mother put me to sleep in the first place. And Haymitch! Once I find Peeta and Prim, those two are going to hear it from me.
I finally find my way to the emergency hall, where I'm sure they're being kept at. I roll my wheelchair towards the counter where a woman dressed in District 13 clothes sits.
"Where is Peeta?" I ask, somewhat rudely. I realize how that came out the second I said it. "I'm sorry. Do you know where Peeta Mellark is?"
She smiles sweetly, seemingly understanding of my outburst of rudeness. "Mrs. Everdeen. I'll take you to his room. They just got done operating on him."
"Is he okay?" I ask as she walks around the counter. She smiles.
"He has a long road to recovery," she starts. She starts pushing my wheelchair down the hall. "But he will be okay. In time. From my understanding, he took quite a beating physically and mentally in the Capitol. Not to mention the gunshot wound."
"Thank you," I say, trying my best to let the good news wash away my anxiety. "What about Prim? Is she okay too?"
"Primrose is okay too," she starts. "I'll let the doctors tell you exactly what is going on with each, but she has a lot less physical trauma than Peeta. They're giving her fluids to help her regain her strength, and antibiotics to get her body to fight the sickness she has."
"Sickness?" I ask. Suddenly all of my worries are back and ten times worse.
"It isn't anything to worry about. Since being captured, their bodies haven't had nearly enough nutrients to stay strong enough to fight any illnesses," she says as we stop outside of a room. I can hear beeping coming from beyond the door. "It is very expected that they would both come down with illness after being in such unsanitary conditions as well."
From what I saw on the cameras of each soldier on that rescue mission, she is not wrong. The amount of blood I saw in each room, on the walls and floor, along with water from bursted pipes… It definitely isn't the cleanest place to keep prisoners for two weeks.
She swipes a card inside the door handle, and slightly opens it once it clicks. "He is inside this room. The nurses in there will explain to you what is going on with each of them, and the treatment they will be undergoing during their recovery. But there isn't anything to worry about. I have the utmost confidence that the three of them will recover quickly. They have the best doctors in District 13 working around the clock to make sure of it." She smiles one last time. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you often, Mrs. Evereen."
With that, she turns and starts walking back to her desk. She is a very sweet woman. She seems to actually care about if they get better, and believes they will. I hope she's right.
I roll myself into the room and close the door behind me. "Mrs. Everdeen, we were expecting your visit," a man in gray clothing says. One of the nurses, I am assuming.
Not sure of what I am supposed to say, I just say hello and move a couple more feet into the room. I can see Peeta, Prim, and Effie now. Their beds are next to one another's, with a few feet between each to separate them.
Nonstop beeping and whirring noises come from each bed. I'm flooded with emotion as I look at each of them. Effie looks so thin, and her pale skin shows she hasn't seen sunlight in weeks. She has dark circles under her eyes and bruises on her arms and legs. She looks like a mess. The doctors have tubes going into her arms and legs, pumping clear liquids into her.
Prim looks the same as Effie, like she hasn't slept in weeks. She looks even more malnourished now than she did when we lived in District 12, before Peeta and I won the Games. Her left hand looks bandaged. She has all of the same tubes as Effie, along with a tube flowing into her mouth. That one scares me the most. It sounds uncomfortable every time she tries to breathe.
Seeing Peeta in this condition sets me off. Tears stream down my cheeks, and I can't control them. The nurses thankfully let me be. They've bandaged up everything they could, but everywhere that there aren't bandages, I can see the bruised skin. He has a cast on his right arm too.
"You must have a lot of questions," my mother says as she walks into the room. I do have a lot of questions… Like why you decided to put me to sleep. But I don't bring that up yet.
"The woman at the front desk explained some things, but said that the nurses would explain it in full detail for me," I say.
"I would be happy to," the man says as he takes off his gloves. "I'll start with Effie Trinket. Based on the injuries she sustained in the Capitol, I'd assume President Snow really had no interest in harming her. The bruising on her body was most likely caused more than a week ago, as most are fading already. While we wait for her to wake up, we're pumping fluids into her, as you can see here," he says as he points to the tube in her arm. "No broken bones, no seriously life threatening injuries. I expect her to sleep a lot for the next few days, and be very sore for a week, but once she's recovered some more, we'll have her do physical therapy to strengthen her body again. Nothing indicates that her recovery won't go as expected."
"That's good news," I say, slightly relieved at this news.
"Primrose Everdeen has some other issues that we've come across during the initial diagnosis and scans. She has slightly less amounts of bruising on her arms and legs, and fluids being given to her as well. She has two broken fingers, which look to me like they were caused by direct force to the hand. I don't expect that recovery for the hand will be difficult. Our biggest concern with Prim is her breathing. She has high-risk pneumonia, which is not surprising considering the living conditions she was in. Along with this, she has hypoxia, which means her body doesn't have enough oxygen in her tissues," the nurse continues. "Because of the hypoxia, she is having some issues breathing fully. To try to help her body recover, we've decided that intubating her would be best for now, so her body can have some time to focus on just fighting the infection. The endotracheal intubation will assist her breathing, putting less strain on her body. We'll keep her sedated until her lungs start working at full capacity again."
"How long is the recovery time on something like this?" I ask, suddenly overwhelmed with worry again.
"Well, obviously we all hope for the best and plan for the worst, so if all things go as well as we hope, in less than a week she'll be awake," he starts. "Now, our worry is that if she doesn't begin recovering within a week, we'll have to switch from the endotracheal intubation to a tracheostomy. There will be a lower risk of an infection, and it will support her airways better if she can't recover on her own in time. But I am pretty confident that we won't need to do that."
"Okay," I say slowly. My mother pats me on the shoulder before she talks.
"I know it's a lot to take in Katniss, but all three of them are in excellent hands," she says.
"I hope so," I say quietly. I believe her. If she didn't believe it, she wouldn't be so calm right now. I just have to process this all before I can fully believe it.
"Would you like a minute Mrs. Everdeen?" the nurse asks. I shake my head no. I need to know how Peeta is doing. "Okay. Well, Peeta Mellark has lost a lot of blood from the bullet wound. Thankfully, no arteries or bones were damaged, or we might have lost him. The bad news is he has a very long road to recovery. And that is just physically. In the Capitol, he was tortured often based on the damages to his body. A lot more than Effie or Primrose. We can't know the extent of torture each of them went through without asking them, but from our observations and tests, this is what we think to be true. The most serious injuries Peeta has other than the gunshot wound are two broken wrists, along with a few broken fingers. Just like with Primrose, these were caused by direct force, and possibly from being in chains. Peeta's hands are very damaged, and the physical therapy he'll need to go through to regain full use of his hands will be long. It looks as if he tried to use his hands to defend himself against a whip while being tortured. His back is even more evidence of that. Lacerations on his back from a whip are a big concern as well. He has bruises almost everywhere on his body. Other than that, the only concern I have is him getting more sick than he already is. We need his body to focus fully on healing, so if it's too busy fighting sickness, that prolongs the recovery time immensely."
"They will recover Katniss," my mother says as she hugs me. "It will take time, but they will."
"I know," I say, tears forming in my eyes. I want nothing more than to hug him right now, but I can't. I don't want to risk hurting him. "I wish this never happened to them. I wish I could have done more to save them…"
"Blaming yourself isn't helpful to anyone," my mother says. "I want you to talk to Dr. Aurelius. He's an excellent doctor here at 13. He's helped me through all of this, and I'm sure he can help you too."
"Okay," I say, not really sure of what to say. "Could I sleep in here tonight, with them?" I don't want to leave their side.
"Of course," the nurse says. "We can bring another bed in here if you'd like, or you can sleep in the wheelchair by the beds."
"It's okay, I'm fine in the chair," I say. While the wheelchair isn't as comfortable as a bed would be, I'd prefer to be as close to Peeta and Prim as possible.
I roll my chair between their beds, facing Peeta's and touch his hand. Bruised fingers and swollen knuckles twitch when I do. I gently place my hand in his, and rub my finger on his palm. He doesn't wake up, but that's okay. He will eventually.
"Nurses will be in and out of the room all night, making sure they are okay," my mother says to me. "You might hear beeping throughout the night as well, louder than what you already hear. It isn't anything to be alarmed by, it is only to alert the nurses that they need to replace a bag for one of them."
I smile appreciatively at her as she walks towards me. I've missed my mother being a mother. I treated her so horribly after my father died. She never deserved that. But as a young child, you don't understand what it is like to lose the person you love the most. I wish I was more understanding then.
She kisses my forehead and steps back. "Good night Katniss," she says before walking towards the exit.
"Mom?" I say as she is seconds from the door. She stops and looks back. "I love you. Good night," I reply.
I swear I see a tear forming as she smiles. "I love you too Katniss. Get some rest."
And then she's gone, the door clicking behind her. I'm not sure where the nurse went, but it is just me now. I guess it's time to get some rest. It's been a long day.
"Katniss," I hear someone say. I slowly open my eyes and turn towards the voice. "Good morning, I brought you some breakfast."
It's Gale. I smile appreciatively at the small platter he managed to bring me. I'm sure it took a lot of convincing to get this food.
"Thank you," I say as I take the tray and set it on my lap. He pulls a chair over and sits down next to me.
"How are you feeling?" he asks genuinely. "Your mom told me about your breakdown yesterday."
"I lost it when Peeta went unconscious," I say quietly. "I'm embarrassed today for it. They all probably think I'm crazy."
He laughs before answering. "Aren't we all? I think you of all people have the right to 'lose it' every once in a while." I laugh a little too. "But really, are you okay? It's a lot to take in."
"I'm getting used to District 13 now," I say. I appreciate him caring. I'm glad he hasn't let any old feelings ruin our friendship. "Having them back helps," I say, looking at Peeta and Prim. "I wanted to thank you for that. For making sure they made it back."
"Of course. Prim's pretty much my little sister at this point. I had to make sure she got out of there," he says. He turns his head and looks at Peeta. "And him… He treats you right. After all you have both been through, I'm glad we got him out of there too. Plus, he saved Posy. I owe him so much for that. Plus, by the looks of it, he protected Prim in there as best he could. He took a lot of torture in such a short amount of time…"
I agree with a nod. He's going to recover though. That's all that matters.
"I regret not making more of an effort to befriend him," Gale continues. "I'm glad you've finally opened your eyes Katniss. He's a good guy. You both deserve to be happy."
"Thank you," I say with a smile. My attention gets turned to Prim seconds later. She sounds as if she's choking on the tube in her mouth. "Prim!" I scream. Gale stands up as a nurse walks into the room. This nurse is different from the one last night. She doesn't seem to be in a rush to stop Prim from choking. White foam slowly flows from her mouth.
"Relax," she says to Gale and me. "This is normal, it means we have to drain the saliva in her mouth. Nothing to be alarmed by."
Relax? I don't think I like this nurse as much as the last one. She uses another tube to suck the excess saliva out of Prim's mouth.
"That's normal?" Gale asks as she finishes cleaning up.
"Very," she says. "It's hard for her to swallow the saliva build up with the endotracheal intubation in her mouth. The saliva will build up and we have to clear it out often. The foam you saw was nothing more than saliva, and the gagging is normal when that happens."
"Thank you," he says.
"I'll give you guys some more space, but we will be waking Effie Trinket in a few hours," the nurse says. "There are more tests we need to do when each of them wake up, so we'll need to take her to another room, but if you'd like to visit later on today when she's awake, I'll have someone call you here again."
Her tone has become more friendly now than before. Maybe she didn't mean to sound rude earlier. "Sounds good," I reply before she leaves the room.
"You have some visitors that want to see you as well," Gale says after a few seconds of silence. "Finnick and Johanna are pretty worried about you."
"Do you know where they would be?" I ask. I would like to leave this room for a little, and it's been a while since I've seen them. We do have a lot of catching up to do.
"Probably in their rooms still. Coin hasn't implemented a schedule for any of you yet," Gale says, referring to the Victors. "I think she will eventually, but wants to ease you guys into living here first."
"Do you have a schedule?" I ask. He made it seem like only the Victors don't. He nods.
"I requested one," he says. "I felt useless, sitting in my room all day. It was nice to spend time with my family, but the rebellion hasn't stopped yet. I want to help as much as possible."
He steers my wheelchair through the halls of the hospital, taking me to the living quarters. "Do you like it here? In District 13 I mean."
"It's better than District 12 and the Capitol… I like it, but it isn't home. Three meals a day for my family though, I don't have to worry about any of us starving. That's all I really wanted in life before, so yes, I think I do like it here."
He's right. We shouldn't have to worry about anyone starving again. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if we never had to worry about that… If I never had the need to hunt, to survive. I don't think I would have won the Games. I don't think I'd have been friends with Gale.
Oddly enough, it was almost like every adversity we went through was for a reason.
"The Victors and their families have their own living quarters," Gale says as he pushes a button on the large, metal elevator. "It's not as big as the rest of the floors, but it is nice to be surrounded by people we've all met before. Well, most of them anyway."
"I'm surprised Coin made these accommodations for us," I say quietly. She doesn't seem to be the type.
"Well, you are her best hope at winning this war. She needs you all," Gale says quietly back. Probably doesn't want anyone to hear us. "And if we're being completely honest, she doesn't actually seem to care for any of us. I don't trust her, not yet at least. I think we should keep our guard up around her."
"I agree," I say, thinking back to the first interaction I had with Coin. She didn't seem to like me at all. I don't blame her, I was pretty rude to her as well.
"Should probably not talk about it anymore though, we don't know if anyone is listening," he says. If Coin is anything like Snow, there are microphones and cameras in place everywhere. I hate to assume the worst of people, but at this point, there are not many people I can trust.
The floor we end up on is surprisingly very nice. Well, for District 13. I was definitely expecting much worse. The lights illuminate the hallway with multiple doors on either side. There are maybe seven doors on each side. Not that it is even necessary. I doubt there are fourteen Victors, even including their families.
"Welcome home," Gale says as he rolls my wheelchair out of the elevator and into the hallway. "Rooms on the left are the families of the Victors. Since everyone believes I'm your cousin, my family gets to live there too," he says laughing.
"The perks of having a celebrity cousin," I say sarcastically.
"Rooms on the right are Victor's rooms. They're a little bigger than the other rooms, but you guys did win the Games… I guess it's the least they could do for you."
"Which one's mine?" I ask. Gale walks me towards a room all the way down the hall. The last door on the right.
"You're the last one here, so this will be your room," he says with a smile. "I'm not really sure what they'll do with Peeta once he's cleared to leave the hospital. I'm guessing he'll live with you, but I'm not too sure on District 13's policies on unmarried couples living together."
"They'll have to make an exception," I say jokingly. He finds it amusing.
I didn't realize it, but having Peeta and Prim back has taken so much weight off my shoulders. The only thing left to worry about now is winning this war. I wonder when my duties as the Mockingjay begin.
Gale leads me into my own living quarters first, showing me the small home I'll be living in for the time being. It isn't huge, but it's enough. A bedroom to sleep in, a bathroom with a shower, and a small living room area. It's perfect for me and Peeta.
We don't spend long in my living quarters though. After maybe five minutes, Gale pushes my wheelchair to Finnick's room, where the rest of them are, and knocks. I'm a little nervous, to be honest. It's been a while since I've seen them, and I still don't know them all that well. But they're still friends, so I try to ease my nerves.
Finnick opens the door and lights up when he sees us. "Come in, it's great to see you guys," he says as he opens the door fully and moves to the side. The flirtatious man I've seen on television is gone. If it hasn't been clear to me yet, it is now. His whole entire persona was fabricated for the Capitol's entertainment. "We're all glad you made it safe to 13."
"Thank you," I say as Gale leads me in. The same layout as my quarters, just more lively with people. Annie Cresta, Johanna Mason, Haymitch, even Beetee and Wiress are here. Chaff and Seeder are off in the corner conversing, and another male Victor is on the couch next to Johanna. I can't remember who he is.
"Katniss!" Johanna says as she stands and makes her way towards me. "You look like shit," she says with a smile that tells me she's joking.
"Thanks," I say sarcastically. "If Peeta were here, he'd kill you right now," I teasingly say.
I meant it in a joking way, but the mention of his name creates a tension in the room. "How are they doing? Did you get to see them?" Johanna asks, suddenly more serious.
"Well… The three of them are alive," I start. "From what I understand, Effie will be okay. She's going to be taken off of her anesthesia today, actually. Prim is having trouble breathing, I think they said she has pneumonia and hypoxia, so they have a tube in her mouth to help her breathe. They seem to think she'll be okay and recover fast though."
"That's great news," Finnick says.
"Peeta has a long road to recovery, they said. They broke both of his wrists and a few of his fingers, so he has months of recovery time before he can even use his hands…" I say. "But they're all alive. That's the most important thing."
"They are going to be fine," Haymitch says as he walks over as well. Almost everyone is surrounding my wheelchair now.
"I know, it's just… Hard to see them like that," I say. He pats my shoulder, the most consoling way he knows.
"They're safe now," he says, fully confident. I don't have any doubt in my mind either. "We may not have won the war yet, but we got them back. Celebrate the small victories too."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Chaff says as he hands Haymitch a flask of something, most likely alcohol.
Haymitch shakes his head and smiles. "I've given that up. I've decided to sober up. For the kids, and for myself."
Chaff twists the cap of the flask back on and puts it back in his shirt pocket. "I'm proud of you, 'Mitch."
"I'm proud of all of you," Finnick says to everyone surrounding me. "Every last one of you. The amount of pain and suffering we've all been through… The things we've done… The things we've seen… But we've all stayed strong. We've all continued to grow as people, regardless of what Snow has put us through. Like Haymitch said, this war isn't over, and when the time is right, we have to continue to fight. We have to fight for each other, for everyone we love," he looks at Annie. "And we will soon. But until that time comes, I want you all to know that I am proud of you all."
Finnick is right. We've all sacrificed so much to be here today. Every face in this room has a story. I'm not alone in any of this.
Today has given me a lot of hope. We're winning this war. For Peeta, for Prim, and for every single person in this room right now, Snow will pay.
I'm ready to be the Mockingjay.
A/N: Not much action, I know! I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. I tried my best with the medical terms and conditions, I hope I used them all correctly. So, Katniss is ready to be the Mockingjay? I want to move this story along, and felt the best time to introduce this next stage was her surrounded by her loved ones and people she can relate with.
Next chapter will be some more information on our three rescued prisoners, and some more background before the war is fully underway. Feel free to review, follow, and like this story if you're enjoying! I'm still writing, I will finish this story eventually! -JayOnFF