Everthorne - short story collection

Gone

Warning. This is going to punch you in the feels so hard you won't know what hit you

And this won't be connected to any other story, and isn't my last story

Gale pov

Katniss has been sick recently. We haven't been hunting for a really long time. Being alone out in the woods without her reminds me of how it felt when she was in the games. Aweful.

I hunt for a while, and finally just decide to go to Katniss's house just to check on her.

I knock on the door. Her mother answers. I hand her a basket of strawberries I picked in the woods, because I know that they are Katniss's favorite.
"How's she doing?" I ask a little nervously.
"...well.... I had to hook her up to a bunch of things last night...and I really don't know what's going on.." She says.

I can literally feel the color drain out of my face. I can tell mrs Everdeen senses it.
"Do you want to see her?" She asks me.  I nod nervously.

As I walk into the living room where Katniss is lying on the couch, I'm not prepared for what I see.

There she is. The girl I love. My best friend. My hunting partner. Attached to fifty different wires and machines. Her skin is pale, and her body is limp.

"Oh my god." I say.

She wasn't this bad when I saw her just a few days ago. In fact, just a little while ago, I came to visit her, and she was talking and eating and just seemed a little under the weather. I guess this is much more than under the weather.

I stay for a while, until one of her monitors starts beeping. It's loud like an alarm.

Mrs Everdeen comes running. She tells me that Katniss's heart has stopped.

I hold Katniss's hand tightly as mrs Everdeen tries desperately to save her, but I know it's to late. The monitor finally shits off, signifying that Katniss is gone. Dead.
She won't be there to laugh with me or make fun of the capitols accent.
She won't be there to hunt with me ever again.
She will never smile at me ever again.
I will never kiss her ever again.
I remember our last kiss. I could never have imagined it would be our last.....

I feel numb. So numb that tears don't even come. I just stare at her perfectly angelic face while my heart breaks into a million pieces. Katniss is gone. My only love. My only friend.

I run out of the house and into the woods to our spot. I climb the tree that we sat in before she got sick. This was the tree where we shared our first kiss.

I climb and climb until I reach the top. Katniss is gone. Katniss is dead. I scream and scream NOOO
NO NOOO

I can't take it anymore.

I take out my knife and carve into the tree just a few words.

Katniss are you coming to the tree?

Then I tie a rope around my throat. My last thoughts are of Katniss before I jump.