kill for your love - the hunger games

(074) i love you. i love you. i love you

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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act three.

(chapter seventy-four, i love you. i love you. i love you.)

hospital ward / command, 75 ADD.

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THAT BAD FEELING DID not go away, not even as days passed, and Juniper Hale had no idea what it was. It infected her being. It changed the beats in her heart. Changed the chemicals in her brain. It trickled throughout her soul, which was slowly coming heavier and heavier as anxiety and paranoia filled her up. But Juniper tried to ignore it, tried to ignore the feeling that everything was changing too quickly. And so, she remained focused on Dr. Aurelius and Johanna Mason. 

With the former, Juniper would not mutter a word to him. Not about Clampitt, or the darkness, or anything to do with the Capitol. She didn't want to see the gleam in his eyes that meant he was finally getting somewhere with her. She didn't want him to get anywhere. She didn't want to talk about Clampitt to another head doctor. Therefore, when Dr. Aurelius came to visit Juniper, silence would envelop them as he did his paperwork. 

And with the latter, Juniper was intent on watching her. With the sudden realisation of who Johanna Mason truly was, it had caused something to stir within the Hale woman. She didn't know what it was, but she seemed to be watching the Victor from Seven with squinted eyes as if she wanted to pick up on every movement or flicker that Johanna did. She wanted to see what she couldn't before. She didn't want to see the angry, psychotic, harsh, brash killer that was the Victor of the Seventy-First. She wanted to see the quiet, slight, soft woman that was the girl from Seven. But softness was a rare occasion and Juniper knew she was getting her hopes up. 

But as Juniper Hale watched Johanna Mason and ignored Dr. Aurelius, the bad feeling didn't go away. It had creeped up into her brain, pounding at her thoughts so much that she was getting severe headaches. She knew Dr. Aurelius could see her winces as she massaged her temples, but she had bigger thoughts on her mind. 

She wondered if it had anything to do with the impending invasion of the Capitol. Squads throughout Thirteen were preparing as the days until attack became fewer. Katniss and Finnick's did brief workouts every morning and were on the shooting range full-time, making it so they barely could visit the two women in the hospital ward. But when they did, just before visiting time was over, Juniper could feel the bad feeling soaring whenever she saw the jittery look in Finnick's face or the hiding of a grin from Katniss. 

Juniper didn't know what the bad feeling was about, but if Finnick Odair or Katniss Everdeen ever managed to kill Coriolanus Snow, then she was sure it would go away. 

That was until one morning, the man from Four came rushing in with a guilty and somewhat angry face. His fingers were twitching and his brows were knitted together, especially when he looked over at the bed-ridden figures of Juniper Hale and Johanna Mason. 

"Why are you here?" Johanna teased slightly as she readjusted herself. "Shouldn't you be training for war?"

"Me and the others are shipping out this morning."