Blooming in the Spring

Chapter 10

Running and running and running and I can't breathe and my entire body hurts but I must get to him. Peeta. Peeta dropped the tracker jacker nest. Peeta thinks I'm trying to kill him. 

I see him, stumbling over her puffy and bloated body--evidently also under the influence of tracker jacker venom. I cry out to him, pleading for him to run and I think he hears me but he looks confused and he isn't running. 

"Go, Peeta!" I gasp as I barrel into him, trying to force him to move. It won't be long before--

Peeta has hardly turned on his heel to run when another boy appears behind me, his eyes wild and dangerous. He will be after Peeta for sure. I can't let him. 

I use every bit of strength left in me to hurl my body at Cato, a knife clutched tight in my grip. I feel the sharp dagger break through skin and he cries out but he is too strong and tosses me aside like a ragdoll. In a fit of anger, he plunges his sword deep into my leg. There is screaming, I presume coming from my own mouth, and then there is nothing. 

I wake, gasping for air. 

I am dazed and a bright stream of sunlight blinds me, worsening my confusion. 

Cato. My leg. I shoot forward, reaching out for my leg--absolutely sure I will find nothing but metal and plastic below my knee. Instead, I'm met with thick layers of gauzy bandages and my head spins. 

In an instant, gentle hands are on my shoulders, easing me back down to my pillow. 

"Shh, shh," a voice consoles me. "You're okay, you're safe."

Not just a voice. Peeta's voice. 

I attempt to say his name but my voice is hoarse and crackling so instead, I reach out to him, desperate for his touch and his comfort. My arms are weak and my entire body hurts more and more with every passing second. 

"I'm here, Katniss," he whispers, placing his palm gingerly on the side of my cheek. 

Memories of the previous day--was it a day or even longer?--slowly start to flood back into my mind but everything is hazy and confusing. I remember the woods, the pond. The water lilies and the little frogs. Picking katniss roots and berries with Peeta. Peeta, who warned me not to climb too high. The tree. The branch. Pain and then nothingness. 

"Are we home?" I say, though I cannot muster up more than a faint whisper. Peeta nods, brushing a strand of stray hair away from my face. This confuses me. My leg is evidently wrapped up and I hardly believe Peeta would be capable of assessing the damage done to my body himself. "How?" 

"I took you to the hospital in town right away, but they thought you'd be better off at home," he says.

I raise a brow at this, though my head feels so fuzzy I can hardly process what he's saying anyway.

"What, are you a doctor now?" I ask, my eyes blinking heavily with sleep and a half-hearted smile on my face. 

"Katniss. . ." he trails off, and I watch him try and find his next words. My heart skips a beat and I'm suddenly worried, though I'm not entirely sure why. 

"Peeta?" I ask, studying his face. He looks at me again, about to say something, but we're interrupted by a knock on the door. I watch him hesitate for a moment like he's deciding whether or not to tell me something--I assume having to do with the new visitor at the door--but ultimately gets up and crosses my bedroom instead. 

My gaze does not leave him. I watch as he moves to the door, watch as he turns the knob, and watch as he opens it slowly and unsure. I watch as he opens the door to reveal her on the other side. A woman I feel I hardly recognize but who sends the deepest ache through my body.