Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 79

Katniss

"We're all alone, watching shadows on the ceiling. I've gone numb but I can't forget the feeling." -We The Kings

I bolt upright, gasping. The pain stops for a minute. Peeta, who stirred a little bit but never fully woke up, sleeps peacefully again. I take a couple of deep breaths and push my hair back from my face.
I feel better, just a little shaky.
I'm just about to lay back down when it hits me again.

The pain is indescribable. I've felt some serious pain, but this... It's different. I don't know what else to do but wake Peeta up.
His eyes fly open at my touch.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?" He asks.
"I'm okay. It hurts really--" I say, getting cut off by the immense pain once again. It lasts for 15 seconds this time. When it finally ends, I finish my sentence.
"--Bad." I finish.

"Oh my God. What time is it?" He asks frantically.
"It's almost 3AM." I reply.
"We need to go to the hospital."
"No. It's okay, Peeta, it can wait until morning." I try to reassure him.
"No! It can't wait until morning, we're going now. Let me help you get dressed." He says.

I reluctantly oblige, letting him dress me while I braid my hair shakily.
I feel the color drain from my face as I sit in the bed. The pain tears through my body.
"Shit!" I say.
"We're going. Now. It can't wait." Peeta says.

The trip to the hospital was long. I don't remember much, just pain.
I'm so tired by the time we arrive, Peeta's practically carrying me.
"We need a doctor." Peeta says as soon as someone can hear.
A nurse from the triage desk rushes over, and seeing my bulging stomach, tells someone to fetch a wheelchair.

Peeta helps me sit down and the extreme pain envelopes me again.
"Who's her doctor? Like, her normal one and her OB/GYN?" The nurse asks Peeta seriously.
"Doctor Wilson is her normal one. And the other... It's Doctor Lucia." He answers.

"Wilson's not here. He's not on-call tonight either. Lucia's here, though. I'll have your wife admitted as soon as I can." The nurse explains.
"Someone...help." I manage to croak out through the pain.
The nurse crouches down to my level.
"We're getting a room ready for you as fast as possible, Mrs. Mellark." She says.

Peeta puts his hand in mine.
"Squeeze when it gets rough." He says.
I don't hesitate to do so.

--

A half hour later, I'm fully admitted. The pain happens more frequently now.
Doctor Lucia walks into the hospital room looking tired but alert.

"Can you describe the pain for me?" She asks.
"It hurts. Really bad. And it comes from where the baby is." I say.
"It is your due date. Did your water break?" She asks.
I feel the color draining from my face.
"Katniss? Did your water break?" She asks seriously.

I nod, almost undetectable.
"It did? When?!" Peeta asks, "You didn't tell me?!"
"I didn't know!" I argue back.
Lucia places a hand on Peeta's shoulder.
"Sometimes it's hard to tell if it was actually your water breaking. It's not uncommon for women to think they've simply wet their pants." She explains calmly.

Peeta, who looks as pale as I probably do, nods.
"So," Lucia smiles, "Looks like Willow will be making an appearance sometime in the near future."
"Please, I need to get this over with. Can't we just do this now?" I ask.
"Oh, no, Katniss. That's not how it works. You need to be at least 10 centimeters dilated." She replies.