Victory - Cato Hadley

chapter twenty

I run down the hallways of the hospital. I've immeditaley started running, when Brutus came and told me the news. He was a shocked as I am about Cato's sudden win. He told me where to go and that he would come shortly after.
"Is he okay?" I ask out of breath.
"Yes. Critical, but he's going to be okay" the doctor says. I look in through the window. He has bad bite marks on his neck, and probably over his whole body too. His blond hair looks dirty, and so does his face. He looks so fragile on this stupid hospital bed. I never thought I would see him like that.
"When can I see him?"
"When he wakes up" the doctor says.
"And when's that?" I ask.
"I don't know" the man says annoyed and walks away. I want to say something about his behavior, but I don't want to leave Cato now. He needs me, more than anything right now. I want to be there for him. He's now a victor too.

...

"He's awake" Brutus shouts. I've been staying in the waiting room for a few days now. It almost took him a week to wake up. I thought he wouldn't wake up for a second or two. I wasn't even sure if I wanted him to. He doesn't deserve all of this happening to him. I cant' even imagine the trauma he must have from getting eaten up alive. The feeling must've been horrible. 

Brutus and I sprint down the hallways of the hospital again, until we reach his door. 
"Can I have five minutes to myself?" I aks Brutus, who nodds to my surprise. He has been a lot nicer since all of this. 
I slowly open the door, stepping inside.
"I said I don't want to eat" he says annoyed.
"Ouch. Not happy to see me?" I ask, and laugh through my tears. He turns his head to me and his eyes grow wide, as a smile forms on his face.
"Athena" he says, trying to get up.
"No, no, no. You have to lay down" I say, and push him down again. 
He looks at me in disbelief. His icey blue eyes dagger into my soul, as his right hand puts a strand of hair behind my ear. I chuckle.
"I thought you were dead" I say. The tears are streaming down my face now like a waterfall. 
"Me too" he says, and weakly laughs. 
He then pulls me in for a hug. I've never been hugged like that. It's one of these with meaning, more meaning than usual. It's one of these, where two lovers get to see eachother again. 
"Does it hurt?" I ask him.
"A little" he says, the corners of his mouth twitching a little.
"You've always been a bad liar" I laugh.
"I know" he says, and laughs too.
"Promise to never leave me again. Okay?" I ask, holding his head with my hands.
"Athena, I can't-"
"Just promise me Cato. Please" I say.
"Promise" he says, and hugs me tightly again.

...

The past few weeks really have been crazy. Cato went into the games, almost died, and yesterday he got crowned as a victor next to Katniss and Peeta. I swear I wanted to kill Katniss. After all it was her arrow that sent him down there with these mutts. She never looked at me, the whole ceremony she looked away. All the time I was waiting for her to finally look at me. I need to know what she feels. Does she feel guilty? Does she feel proud? Or even happy? I need to know how she feels about what she's done. 

Cato and I are on our way home now. He's still a little weak from his treatments. He's holding me tightly in his arms. Not even thinking about letting me go again. I do neither. I finally got him back. We can now live a life without fear. Without fearing of having to go through this again. 

"Are you excited to be back?" he asks me.
"A little. Why?" I ask.
"I don't know. I just feel like it's wrong to go and live our old lifes again, you know?"
"Who said you have to live your old life again. You're a victor now. You have lots of money to spend and a fancy house. You basically need to do nothing now" I say. 
"I don't want all of this Athena. It doesn't matter to me anymore" he says. I straigthen up and lean onto my elbows now.
"What does matter then?" I ask.
"You" he says. I feel my cheecks getting hot.
"Please move in with me" he says, catching me off guard.
"You want me to move in with you?" I ask him in disbelief. He nods with a wide grin on his face.
"For real now?" I ask again.
"Yes Athena" he says, and chuckles.
"Why? I mean, why all of a sudden?" I ask.
His expression softens, as he puts a hand on one of my cheecks. 
"When the mutts were eating me up, all I could think about was you. And that I would never get to see you again. That I could never spend another moment with you. Now that I can, I want to do so. For every second for the rest of my life. Athena, I need you. And you need me. I don't want to spend seperate lifes anymore. I don't want to ever be seperated from you never" he says, making me tear up a little.
"Please say yes" he says.
"What about your brother and your father? What about my brother and my mother?" I ask.
"My father can keep living in our old house. I wouldn't want him near me anymore anyways. He lives in a good neighbourhood and has a lot of money. He doesn't need me. For my brother on the other hand, I was hoping that he could move in with us or your mother and your brother"
"You're serious about it" I say, and we both laugh again.
"Yes I am" he says. 
I look out of the window for a second before I make my decision.
"Okay," I say, watching as the smile on his face grows even wider. "I'll move in with you" 

He pulls me on top of him and kisses me softly. 
I'll move in with Cato. Cato Hadley. A voice in my head tells me, that it's too soon for us to move in together but who cares. We've both been on the edge of death, some closer than others, and fighting for our lifes. If you do something like that, you start to value the little things in life. The little moments you get, with your loved ones. It could be that Cato had died in this stupid arena. But he didn't. He survived. He's well alive and so am I.
So what could possibly come between that?