Reuniting Our Lives

Nightmares in Hospital

I'm laying down in a pitch black room, and I can't help but expect the worst. I try to sit up, but there is something holding me down. At first, I think they're ropes due to their cylindrical shape, but as I reach my arms up, I feel scales against my skin.

Suddenly, I see hundreds of tiny glowing eyes staring at me, each of them a different shade. The eyes of the one nearest to my face are the most frightening, and the most familiar.

As the room lightens up, I see that the bodies of the reptiles are different as well. The one with the familiar eyes has a white body, and it's then that I can confirm that the eyes belong to the late President Snow.

His snake form keeps lunging at my face, no doubt trying to scare me with its venomous teeth that look razor sharp. With blood dripping from its fangs, it lunges at me one, two, three times before sinking its razor blades into my skin. All of the other snakes follow suit. I feel the venom pour through my veins in slow motion, and can feel each of my organs shutting down until I feel my heart begin to slow dramatically.

I wake up trying to scream, but it comes out as a whisper scream. I remember that I'm in a hospital and that I can't speak due to my injuries. I won't blame them on Peeta. It wasn't his fault.

All I do is bring my knees to my chest and sob into them. I hold onto myself for dear life, trying to regain my sanity. Without Peeta, it's an impossible task. I just sit there for who knows how long, trying to regain my composure.

I start to hear screams outside my hospital room, and that's what gets me to stop. Listening intently, I hear a voice I've been longing to hear, even though I may be a bit scared by the person when he's in a different state.

"You have to let me in there! If she had another nightmare, she needs me! She's been in there for almost an hour trying to console herself, trying to speak, and you and I both know that isn't good for her!" Peeta takes a breath before speaking again, trying to calm down. "Please, just let me talk to her. I haven't seen her in three days. I just, I just need to see her," he says in a whisper while sobbing. It breaks my heart to even hear him that way.

Finally, the door opens, and in comes my boy with the bread, with sorrow and pain in his eyes. I know that he's beating himself up mentally for hurting me, but that's the last thing I want. It was my fault for bringing up something that could trigger a flashback, and I should be the one at fault.

He walks over and I stretch out my left hand to him. He takes it, and wraps his other arm around my back, rubbing his hand around in circles to finally get me over the nightmare. Once I am, I scoot over so that he can sit with me on the bed. He wraps his strong arms around me and I lay my head on his chest, finally looking forward to some peaceful sleep.