Pregnant in the Quell

Chapter 20

The pain in my lower abdomen is indescribable. I don't want to be selfish and have all the attention on me, so I get Peeta up and make him comfy. All throughout this, I'm biting my tongue, trying to ignore the pain and not make a sound. Peeta instantly knows something is wrong, as I'm terribly quiet.
"Katniss, are you ok?" He questions.
I stop biting my tongue, and force out a few words.
"Yes, I'm fine. Still in shock from what just happened. That's all." I hope he believes the lie that came out of my mouth.
"Ok, well come here," He says, opening his arms for me. I instantly fall into them, accepting his embrace.
"Katniss?" Peeta says with a worried look. He looks down and notices blood seeping through the crouch of my wetsuit. I scream out in agony, for another pain strikes.
"Oh my God, Katniss!" He says, while I'm consumed in a rack of sobs.

It's not Peeta or I who talk, but Finnick.
"Katniss, I think you're going into labour"
I'm panting heavily, trying to find some way to relieve the pain. Just as another contraction hits, I hear a twinkling sound. I look up, and see a parachute floating towards us. I'm in too much pain to speak, so I just point to Peeta, and he gets up and grabs it.

He opens it violently, desperate to get what's inside. As soon as it's open, he chucks away the parachute, and reveals the precious items. One of them is a syringe filled with clear liquid. I'm praying it's an epidural to take away some of the pain. The next thing however, is odd. No one knows what it is. It's long and silver and has a sort of spout at the end.
As the contractions start getting closer together, I think to myself 'what would Haymitch send us that we desperately need?'
Water!
"It's a spiel!" I shout. Everyone looks at me, confused.
I know it's going to cause me a lot of pain, but I ask Peeta and Finnick to help me stand up to show them how to use it.

I think I'm about to pass out from the agony, until I get to a tree with a knife in my hand. Everyone looks concerned, until I start scraping into the tree with the knife, and insert the spiel into the hole. After waiting for about thirty seconds, water starts dribbling out of it. They all sigh in relief, and let me go first to have a drink. It might be warm, but it's still an alleviation down our throats.

All their attention is on the water, until I let out another shriek of pain. Peeta quickly comes over, helping me take my wetsuit off, leaving me just in my undergarments. He then inserts the syringe into my arm, letting the medicine pump through my veins. I immediately relax, as the epidural takes place. I breathe in and out deeply, when I feel the urge to start pushing. I know there's  probably one hundred cameras all zooming down on me. Of course the Capitol wouldn't let me have a bit of privacy in this one moment.

I scream as I start pushing, grabbing on to Peeta's hand making it turn white. I think to myself, I never want to have another baby again. That's 'till I remember I probably won't, because I'll be dead in this arena. After pushing for another distressed ten minutes, I hear the cry of a baby.
"Congratulations Katniss, it's a girl." I hear Finnick say. I'm not really listening though, because all that consumes me is love for this little girl. I hear Peeta sobbing with happiness in the background.

I'm stroking the top of her head, until I scream again. Everyone looks at me, and Peeta instantly runs over.
"Katniss!"
"Katniss, what's wrong?" Peeta's getting more worried by the minute, and starts to cry. I try to get some words out, to calm him down.
"I think, I... I'm having another baby," I pant to him.
"What?" He says, squeezing my hand.

I start pushing, for more contractions hit. This time, it doesn't take as long for the baby to arrive. You're meant to hear the cry, but this time it's silent. I instantly get panicky, hoping I will hear a little shriek soon. After five minutes, there's nothing. Everyone's silent, and there's tears streaked down Peeta's cheeks. Finnick confirms my new little boy is dead. Apparently, they call it a still-born.
"I'm so sorry Katniss," Finnick chokes out, tears of his own, filling up in his eyes.
"No. No... No!" I scream, handing Peeta the baby girl, so she doesn't get hurt. I claw the ground with my finger nails while sobbing. I feel as if half my heart has been ripped out my chest.

Mags rubs my back while I collapse on the floor. I hear Peeta quietly sobbing, mourning over our dead child.

I slowly pick myself back up and ask to have the baby girl. We'll think about names later. I sit under a tree in the shade, rocking her. She must be hungry, so I feed her breast milk. There's still tears in my eyes, but I've got to do everything I can to keep this little one alive.