𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 - {𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨}

Chapter Ninteen

*Clove's POV*

Everything isn't feeling right.

My vision is blurred and I find it hard to form sentences in my head. They have stopped the mutts for now but I lie of the floor bleeding out. I think they have finally reasoned on me being dead. Maybe I'm worth more dead than alive.

I here some commotion outside the room but I can't make it out. Distant gunshots and horrifying screams.

The door opens and I think what is a Peacekeeper walks in.

This is it. They have finally come to kill me.

But I don't get killed.

Instead a beautiful blonde boy lifts me up gently and takes me out of this nightmare.

Slowly my eyes open. My head is throbbing. Suddenly, everything comes back to me in a rush. My whole body aches, and I find it hard to see.

I sit straight up, startling Cato.

"Where am I?" I look around.

"You're safe now Clover." Cato tells me softly.

I relax and lay back down. I notice that my head isn't on a pillow and I'm resting in Cato's lap.

"What's going on?" I try to focus on his blue eyes.

"We rescued you from the Capitol." He smiles and strokes my hair.

I smile at him. "Thank you." I half-whisper.

"Anything for my four-leaf Clover." He replies. "You should rest again. We'll be back in Two soon."

I nod and turn over.

"Clover, Clover wake up." I hear a distant but familiar voice say.

I open my eyes and see a concerned leaning Cato over me.

Slowly, I sit up. It takes every molecule in my body not to scream in pain. Cato notices my uncomfortable expression and helps me. I notice a pretty blonde behind him who reminds me vaguely of Glimmer.

We eye eachother down for a moment before Cato helps me through the hospital.

"Cato," I say calmly. "Why are we at the hospital?"

"Clove. You're hurt and you need a doctor." He responds in the same tone.

My breath quickens. "You know I hate hospitals."

"I know Clove, but you need medical attention." He explains.

I take a quick sharp breath. If I survived the Games, surely I can walk into a hospital.

Cato talks to the nurse and she quickly materializes to me. I get put in a wheelchair and taken into a room surrounded by scary machines. Someone pokes an IV into my arm. I scream in pain. One I've been holding in for awhile. A doctor explains how I am safe now, but I ignore every word he says. Other nurses and doctors surround me overwhelmingly. I yell at them until they sedate me.

When I awake I am alone. I see a button on the side table next to me. There is a note to press it when I'm up. I look around and see I'm in a new room. My arms and legs ache. In fact everywhere is starting to ache as my morphling wears off.

I see the morphling machine close to my bed. The tube has been removed from my IV. Maybe if I find away to reconnect it..

I find myself getting bored. I press the button but regret it instantly. Nurses rush in and ask me tons of questions. I don't answer them until they give me a new dose of morphling.

Once I'm feeling relaxed I start answering their stupid questions. Yes, I am alive. No, I don't want to kill myself. Yes, it hurts everywhere. Yes, I hate it here.

As they leave the room I ask if one of them can bring Cato in. Surprisingly a minute later he walks in with the blonde girl.

"Hey Clover. How are feeling?" Cato asks.

"Shitty." I reply.

"Makes sense. Hey, by the way this is Lory. Lory this is Clove." He says.

"Hi." She says coldly.

I just glare at her.

Cato, who seems oblivious to the whole situation, continues talking.

"So the doctors say you can leave the hospital in a month!" He says trying to cheer me up.

"That's great." I fake smile.

"Well I'm going to go." Lory says. She walks out and slams the door behind her.

"Sorry about her. She doesn't really like meeting new people." Cato apologizes.

"I can tell." I say. "So what have you been doing these past six months?" I ask.

"Just helping the kids at the Training Center, and drinking.." He trails off.

I just nod.

After a little small talk Cato claims he has to go. I say bye to him and start starting at the ceiling and count the cracks.

Over the next few weeks I count cracks. I ignore that it has been two weeks of lying in this hospital bed. I ignore that Cato hasn't visited after the day I met Lory.

After the one month mark passes I am informed that I am not leaving yet. I am told a lot of things. I don't listen to what they say, I just count the cracks. I don't eat my food and they start feeding me through a tube. I don't respond to what the nurses tell me. My therapist thinks I have gone mental. Maybe I have gone mental, but I just refuse to believe it. My therapist also informs me that I have PTSD and depression.

Once it's two months been they move me to a new room. This one doesn't have any cracks in the ceiling. But it has tiles. So I start counting tiles. Brutus and Enobaria visit me sometimes. Occasionally they can coax words out of me.

After three months I stop receiving visitors. The only time I have an interaction with another human is when my nurse comes in to pump food into my tube or give me my medication. Instead of swallowing the brightly colored pills, I hide them under my tongue. When she leaves I wrap them in a napkin and throw it in the garbage.

Before four months passes my doctor says I can go home. He says I will have monthly visits with my therapist.

I am taken on a wheelchair and taken outside. I get my first breath of fresh air. It's almost comforting.

Once I'm out of the hospital, I realize I have no where to go.