Linking Arms

Chapter 16

Katniss

Peeta and I walked in the hospital, hands clasped together as we do. The warm air from inside immediately hits me and sends a chill down my spine. I look to my right, at Peeta. His eyes are filled with disconsolation and are still a light shade of red from his. . . emotions earlier.

We spot Mrs. Odair from down the corridor. I can tell she looks quite shocked to see Peeta and me, uh-well, together. Peeta squeezes our interlaced hands as we get closer to her. I squeeze back to let him know that everything will be alright.

"Peeta," Mrs. Odair breathes. "glad to see you here."

Peeta nods as a greeting. Mrs. Odair then turns to me, a little less friendly I suppose.

"As to you," she paused, scanning me up and down. "Katniss."

I gulp. "Mrs. Odair, I'm here to support Finnick. I know we're broken up, but I think it's irrational to not be here as a friend."

Mrs. Odair looks taken aback from my mature gesture. She gingerly nods. "Nice to hear."

"So what's the news?" Peeta coughed impatiently. You could obviously tell Peeta didn't just come here for some chit-chat. "Is it good or bad?"

"Both," Mrs. Odair sighed.

"What?" Peeta and I say in unison.

Mrs. Odair leads us back in the lobby. She sits down on one of the cushion chairs in the corner of the room, and gestures Peeta and me to do the same. We follow and she takes a deep breath. She leans forward and sets her elbows on her thighs, allowing her head to hang low along with her similar dirty blond hair like Finnick's.

"I don't know any simpler way to say this, but," she deeply inhales. She shuts her eyes as if she's trying to force her tears away. "Finnick's in a coma."

Mrs. Odair starts to cry and presses her hands against her face. She excuses herself and walks into the ladies room. My eyes start to water a little. I try my best to quickly blink them away. I'm strong, I can deal with this.

"Katniss?" Peeta said.

I sniffle a little and rub my nose with the heel of my hand. "Y-Yes?"

"I don't know what to feel." He said, his tone a bit lost.

"It's okay," I chuckled and squeezed Peeta's hand. My tears start to fight their way through my resistance. "I don't know what to feel either."

***

Peeta

Katniss and I sit at her abode, on the porch swing outside with an old blanket and two cups of hot chocolate and marshmallows. Her mother was kind enough to let me stay the night in the guest room. And yes, she knows Katniss and I are dating.

"I'm not going to school tomorrow." I announced.

Katniss looks straight out into the fading sky filled with the color of her eyes. She smiles. "I'm not either."

I sigh as the wind picks up, sending goosebumps through my forearms. Katniss slides a partial amount of the blanket to me. I smile my thanks, and we sit in the comfortable silence between us. Katniss scoots closer to me and carefully lays her head on my shoulder.

"Why do I feel such a connection or link between us?" Katniss questioned. "We just officially met only a few weeks ago."

I take a sip of my hot chocolate and caress Katniss's silky chocolate hair. "You're wrong, Katniss."

Katniss lift her head up from my shoulder, tilting her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I met you a few years ago. When you're frame was frail, and full of hatred for everything. The time when your father passed. I wanted to give you my happiness even though you barely knew me. But I knew you. I followed you home from school everyday Katniss, everyday. . ."