Innocent Girl - A Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 15: What now?

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Where am I? Am I... dead? Did I...win?
Is it finally over?
"Almond... Almond... can you... me...?"
Is someone saying my name?

I can hear the steady beeping of a machine. Someone else is talking... saying my name. With a lot of effort, I manage to crack my eyes open. The light blinds me, everything is blurry and white, and a face is staring down at me. An unfamiliar face.
Suddenly, everything comes back into focus.
"Whe... where am I?" I croak, my voice coming out scratchy and barely audible. I try to lift my head, but the stranger forcibly dunks it back down it back down.
"Just relax, Almond," says another voice. Is it... Katniss? The stranger pries my eyes open even more, and shines a flashlight into my eye, than the other. It takes all of my willpower not to flinch and jerk away, or swat the stranger's hand away. Or scream at her not to touch me.
Funnily enough, myself before the games would never have even thought of doing that. I would have lay still and waited for her to go away. Then the woman pulls out a glass, and tells me to drink it. It's clear, and thinking it's water, and chug it down, my throat screaming for some sort of hydration.
I thought wrong. I sputter as it goes down my throat, the vile taste making my eyes water. I cough, and then groan as a pain shoots up from my side.
"You alright, Almond?" Asks another voice.
"O'course she's alright, Dean, she just had an axe lodged in her side three days ago and had to chug down a glass of horrible Capitol medicine in one go, with no prior warning," says Katniss sarcastically.
"Three days?!" I exclaim, shooting up and wincing from the pain. There, Katniss and Dean are both sitting against the white wall of the room, staring at me.
"You musn't do that!" Shrieks the woman, who must be a doctor, ushering me back to lay down. I sigh, but let her do so. I hear Dean stiffling a laugh.
"I'll... go inform the staff of your consiousness," the doctor, clearly embarassed at her outbust, and quickly leaves the room. Right as she leaves the room, Haymitch walks in.
"Good, I never liked being around the Capitol doctors here. So annoying and- Almond? You're awake?" He stops talking and stares at me, now sitting back up as soon as the doctor left, "Should you be sitting up?"
"Funnily enough, the doctor questioned the same thing. Except she was more vocal, and less questioning about it," quips Dean. I smile, Katniss snorts, and Haymitch glares at the younger victor, clearly not impressed with the lack of respect.
"How you feeling, Almond?" Haymitch asks, trying his best to ignore the two smirking people beside him.
"As good as it gets. I guess my side kinda hurts. Was I seriously out for three days?"
"If it helps, Dean was out for five," Katniss comments. I turn back to Haymitch, who as a surprisingly sober person is the only one who will give me a straight answer.
"Yes, you were out for three whole days."
"So... I guess I won."
"Welcome, Almond, to the world of victors," says Dean, with far too much enthusiasm. I stay silent, taking it in.
"I killed him," I say. Not as a question. As a statement. "I killed him..." Haymitch glances at Katniss, an unreadable expression passing between them.
"I'm sorry, Almond," Dean says in a low voice. I'm about to say something, but then the doctor from before comes in. With another man, who is dressed in a suit and tie, businesslike. He's definitely not a doctor, and thankfully, he doesn't look too exotic. As normal as you get with the Capitol.
"Good, the victor is awake," the man says. I frown, him referring to me as if I'm not here. The man turns to the doctor. "When will she be ready for an interview?"
"I-in a few days, sir. She'll be completely healed in a few days," she stammers, clearly intimidated. The man nods, not once looking at me. He notes something down, and then promptly leaves the room. Katniss rolls her eyes at the man, while Dean just stares at him as he walks out. Haymitch is unfazed, and the doctor is stunned. She does quickly compose herself though, and turns towards me.
"We'll have to do a check-up on you. Unfortunately, your... mentors, will have to leave," she turns to the three of them, and looks at them in what seems to be a threatening look, "Visiting hours ended fifteen minutes ago! Out, it's time to leave!" Dean groans in annoyance and Haymitch shoots me a pitying look as they leave. Katniss lingers a moment longer, but then the doctor shouts at her, "Get out!", and she too, leaves, with another unreadable expression on her face as she looks at me. I'm getting used to those. Once she leaves, the doctor begins another round of checkups on me, and then leaves me to rest. As if I haven't got enough of that already.
Now left alone in the dark room, I find that the silence is anything but comforting, even though it had been both before and during the arena. It almost scares me. As if everything I had experienced in the last sixteen days was going to jump out and attack.
Cedar beaten to death.
Alek dying at the hands of Dion.
Blossom killed in a blink of an eye.
Star dying, and killing Slate. For me.
Brilliant plunging his sword into Ceres' chest, and shortly after killing his former ally, Valerie.
A brutal battle between Brilliant and Dion, one that I ended, playing a part in Brilliant's death.
And a feeble attempt to stop Dion, so we could both live, which ended in the obvious of one of us dead and the other here.

I try to stop. I try to stop the vivid scenes flooding my mind, each filled with each of their dark, crimson blood covering them as they die. But I can't. It's like a replay, but one that I can't stop. I clutch my head. Am I whimpering? I'm not sure. I'm not sure of anything, not how long I sit there, not what time it is, not anything. All I know is that I'm reliving horrors, ones I'll probably never get rid of. I don't know how long it is before the nurse comes back in, finding me shaking and looking insane. I don't stop shaking the rest of the night, even when they fill my hospital room with noise so that I don't go through that again.

Morning seems to take forever to come. And even then, it's still a few more hours until Katniss, Haymitch and Dean can visit. So I sit around, occasionally getting up and walking around, (much to the nurse's annoyance), and just do nothing. Not what you would expect from the most recent victor. When the time finally comes, Katniss is the only one who shows up.
"Morning, Almond," she greets, walking into the room.
"Hi," I answer, trying my best to keep the quiver out of my voice. Katniss glances at me, worried, before she goes all businesslike.
"Your interview, replay, whatever you want to call it will be held in two days. Whether you're completely healed or not."
"Replay?!" Katniss shoots me a concerned look.
"Yes. Replay." I had completely forgotten about that part. My mind instantly goes back to last night's struggle. I shake, thinking of the vivid scenes that I had relived just before, and now I would have to do it again?
"Almond..." her face softens, as she trails off. In that moment, I realise that she understands. I don't even have to say it. But what can she do?"
"Where's Dean and Haymitch?" I ask, changing the topic.
"Haymitch has been requested a meeting with an important Capitol official. Dean... Dean is, on an errand." I frown a bit, hearing the uncertainty in her words, but don't question it.
"So, now that I'm out of the arena... after the replay... I just get to go home? What now?"
"Yeah... I suppose..." Katniss trails off, looking and sounding very distant.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" Katniss snaps her head to face me again, eyes wide.
"I-no? No." Even that sounds uncertain. What has happened?
"Well, maybe you should go back then. You seem off. I didn't get any sleep either."
"Almond..." My mentor looks a bit conflicted, but after a long hesitation, she gets up and makes her way to the door.
"Maybe you're right, Almond. I'll see ya tommorow, okay?"
"See you tommorow, Katniss," I say, smiling, and she leaves, stumbling a bit on her way out.