Finnick and Annie

Reunited

I lost track of time. It could have been an hour or ten, or maybe two whole days that we'd been waiting in that room. My mind wondered aimlessly and I had no way to stop it. I pictured every possible scenario. "We tried, Finnick. We were too late. She's dead." No. "We're sorry, Finnick but we were outnumbered and we only had time to rescue Peeta. That is why we went there after all..." No. No. No. "They never came back. They shot down the hovercraft as they were leaving the city. They're all gone." Stop! Damn it.

Maybe all my suffering had made me pessimistic and cynical. Maybe I was too afraid to get my hopes up but I forced myself to hope. So what if she had died? I couldn't be sure of it yet, and if I were going to spend the rest of my life living in misery then I'd spend the remainder of my blissful ignorance daydreaming.

I thought of Annie. I thought of her dark hair, perpetually ruffled by the strong sea breeze or dripping wet, splattered on her face. I pictured her lips; soft and pink like petals from Snow's stinking roses, except hers were pure and natural and sweet. I allowed myself to think of her eyes, bright like emeralds, but warm and soft and filled with kindness and curiosity.

I thought about what I'd tell her when I saw her. "I missed you so much." Not good enough. "I thought you were dead." Too depressing. "I love you." Too simple. I'd run to her and spin her around and kiss her. But what if she was in a hospital bed? I'd sit by her side and hold her hands and-"

"They're back. We're wanted in the hospital. That's all I know." Haymitch's voice brought me back to reality and all the pleasant thoughts flooded out of me and sunk into the soft grass.

They're back. Go find her, you idiot! I couldn't move. Haymitch didn't know if they were okay. Maybe he did know but he couldn't stand to be the bearer of bad news. Morbid images replaced the nice thoughts of Annie. Her green eyes cold and unmoving, staring into the distance. Her lips dry and blue. Her hair covered in blood. I couldn't move.

Katniss pulled me to my feet. She looked annoyed. She dragged me towards the elevator and I followed along like a lost dog. The concrete walls seemed to be closing in on me. I couldn't breathe. I was two hundred feet under water. It was crushing me. I watched as the last bubbles escaped my lips.

"Finnick!"

The hospital wing was chaotic but in the cacophony of doctors and nurses and moaning patients, her voice rang out clearly. The turmoil was nothing but white noise.

I turned to see Annie. Her hair flew around her as she ran towards me in nothing but a white sheet. Two steps. That's all I took before she reached me. She crashed into me with such force that I felt like the air had been knocked right out of me. I could've stopped breathing right then and I wouldn't have cared.

Our arms curled tightly and perfectly around each other. It would have taken Gale and Boggs and everybody else in the room to pull us apart. I tried to step aside to steady myself but my foot got caught in her bed sheet and we stumbled against the hard, cold wall.

Our bodies shook with sobs and trembled with excitement. She ran her cold hands over my face yet they filled me with warmth. I curled my sore fingers around her tangled waves and kissed her. I kissed her like we were alone in the room. I let her know with my lips what I could never have put into words.

Hot tears burned my skin, hers or mine, I couldn't tell. She was sickly thin and the warm blush had been sapped from her cheeks but in that moment she looked more beautiful than ever. She was alive. Nothing else mattered.