Dew of the Sea [Finnick Odair]

[29. Hello, Goodbye]

Rosemary

The banquet didn't turn out so bad, much to Rosemary's relief. The food was good, the desserts were even better, and the guests were okay. A few of Rye's friends did show up and it was hard for her to greet them without thinking about Rye sneaking out some nights to hang out with them and having the time of his life. It left her melancholy for the rest of the night, just thinking about her brother and how he would have fared had he been in her place.

Kline, Delly, and Peeta kept her occupied most of the time, which was a blessing. She knew most of the people who had attended the event, but not well. Madge Undersee, the mayor's daughter was nicer than expected. She was a year older than Peeta and was kind of a loner at school, but she fit in well with everyone once Mayor Undersee made her and her older brother, Baylor, hang out with them while the adults were talking.

When the evening was over and it was time to go home, Rosemary was relieved. She didn't have a good time, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. It was the next day she was dreading. Rye's funeral. She didn't even want to think about saying goodbye to her brother, even though, in many ways, she already had.

She took a dose of the sleeping aid that her doctor had prescribed her and went to sleep. Her sleep was restless nonetheless, with nightmares of Rye being poisoned in the Games. She woke up early in the morning, an hour before her alarm was set to go off. She was completely exhausted and there was no time to try to go back to sleep. The funeral was early in the afternoon, but before that, she had an appointment with the physical therapist that the Capitol had sent to District 12 for her.

She got dressed, ate, took her medication, and then quietly left the house. It was a short distance from the Victor's Village to the square where the physical therapist was staying and the light rain falling from the cloudy, gray sky felt refreshing given the humid heat of summer.

Soon, in two weeks, school would start back up for the year. Peeta, Kline, and Delly would head back to their regular routine while Rosemary settled into her new one. She would not be going back to school as her busy schedule as a Victor was soon to start in a couple of months, not to mention the extra work she had to do in the bakery and with her physical therapist. She was sad about it, and she felt bad for leaving Kline alone for the rest of their years in school, but at the same time, she was grateful that she didn't have to endure the staring from her peers or the nagging from Aggy or any of her classmates. Her emotions were all over the place at the moment and just one jibe from anyone was sure to end with hurt feelings.

Her physical therapist was allowed to take over the district's doctor's office for their appointments, so she just headed straight there. Hardly anyone could afford to see the doctor in District 12 anyway, not even the better-off families in the square, so it didn't matter much if they used his place. The office was owned by the Capitol, only for the reason that they could tell the country that they provided medical assistance in each district. The fact that no one could use them and most of the doctors weren't sufficiently trained did not matter to the Capitol officials.