The First Annual Hunger Games Contest Book Entries

In the Spirit of Judgement Challenge 7: Part Two

The procedure was not quick. It lasted nearly an hour. The procedure was not painless. I screamed and kicked until my hyperventilated breaths forced me to passed out.

When I came back to, I was already back in a standard hospital room. The lights were dimmed and the TV was on. It was a news station and I could faintly hear my name being said briefly along with other tributes like Denver, Lilith, and of course, Atlas. I exhaled an exasperated breath and heard a sleepy chuckle from my left. I turn slightly, wincing at the pain exploding at the nerves along my spine and squinted into the faint darkness.

Electric blue moved slightly and I sighed, feeling drained from all my madness. Nerias stood and walked over to my bed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ears. He smiled sweetly at me and sat on the edge of the bed.
"You did fantastic kiddo. They took enough to help him tomorrow and maybe for some of the Games."

I smiled weakly and felt my stomach churn, like my smiling was making it feel sick. Nerias bore his eyes into mine and he leaned down. He searched for the right words to say for a second and he hesitantly said, "You know Emily? The girl you met when we got here? Well, I went to take down the doll I bought a while ago like I promised."

I felt the bile rising up my throat ever so painstakingly slow. I forced myself to swallow and shuddered as I felt it slide down. "That's nice.. Did they find out what's wrong with her?"
"Yeah, they did.."
"Oh, was it just a stomach bug?"
"Appendicitis.. She's been in surgery for a couple hours.."

I looked up at Nerias and breathed deeply. No matter how corrupt the Capitol was they were still people like us and they suffered like we district people did. For Emily, she probably will end up corrupt but for now she's simply just a child. A naive child who doesn't know any better. A child like I was before I was dragged down this practical death sentence for lack of better words.

I clutched my stomach in my hands and felt the bile rising again. I leaped out of bed and staggered to the bathroom, pain sweeping up and down my body like the nerves were making sure I knew exactly what I did to myself.

Slamming the door shut, I fell on my knees in front of the toilet. I held my stomach more and hunched over the seat, feeling like the epidural needle did more that just poke my spine.

I was finally allowed to leave once after Nerias banged on the door and heard my disgusting sounds of guttural retching and the doctors forced jello and some strong blue liquid down my throat. They convinced Nerias that I had a simple "stomach bug" but that it wasn't due to the spinal fluid withdrawal but more like my body was finally used to being exposed to all the Capitol elements that my District 6 body was not used to.

They gave Nerias pills to help settle my stomach and let me go on my merry old way. Once in the car I made the driver stop 7 times so I can run out and throw up along the side of the road. Whoever had to clean my mess up, I hope you know this is how I feel about the Games, about the Capitol, about my stupid luck.

We finally made it back to the living quarters at around one or two in the morning. Nerias already had signs of dark circles under his eyes. His hair was pointing in every which direction, his tie was undone and hanging around his neck, his sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up just below his elbows.

We made it to the elevator and Nerias offered his wisdom to me, saying to hold my breath as we rode up the 6 flights and hold the bile in me until we were safely up in our quarters. I did, but only because I felt like I had nothing else to throw up.

We reached the flat and the slick doors opened smoothly. We stepped onto the hardwood floors and looked around. I gasped as I took in my surroundings.