Forever (Sequel to Always)

Chapter 20

Katniss P.O.V.

Willow has just fallen asleep when the front door slams shut. Her cries start back up and it's all I can do not to loose my temper. I sigh and walk downstairs with Willow in my arms.

"Does that kid ever sleep?" Haymitch asks.

"She does when people aren't slamming doors," I mumble. "Do you need something?"

"No," Haymitch replies as he walks over and takes Willow from me.

"So you just came by to see the baby?" I ask.

"Yeah," Haymitch replies. "And I may or may not have gotten a call from Peeta to come check on you two."

I start laughing. "He's already called me three or four times, so I told him not to call again unless he really needs something."

"Where's he at anyways?" Haymitch asks.

"He's remodeling that building to turn into a bakery," I reply. Willow starts crying.

"Is she hungry?" Haymitch asks.

"No," I say. "Her diaper probably needs changed." He quickly passes her back to me and I start laughing. "I'll be right back," I say as I start up the steps. I take Willow into the nursery and lay her down on the changing table. She starts to fuss once she's no longer in my arms. "Hey, it's okay baby girl. Mommy's trying to hurry." She starts kicking her legs and I catch one of her feet in my hand.

"You need to be still," I laugh. I let go of her foot and she starts kicking again. I finally get her into a dry diaper and I pick her up off the changing table. "Is that better?" I ask her as I carry her out of the nursery.

I make it halfway down the steps when Willow takes one long, deep breath, and then goes limp. My heart starts racing.

"Willow?" I say as I begin to gently rock her back and forth. She doesn't move. "Willow!" Nothing. I take off down the steps as fast as I can. "Haymitch!" I holler. He comes over and meets me at the bottom of the steps.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"I...I don't know," I say as I start crying. "She just went limp on me. She's not responding to anything."

"Here," Haymitch says as he takes Willow out of my arms. "Go get your shoes on." I nod my head and go do as I'm told. I grab my car keys and hand them to Haymitch as he passes Willow back to me. We start walking out the door when I remember something.

"I need to get her diaper bag and car seat," I say.

"I'll get them," Haymitch says.

"They should be upstairs in the nursery."

"Okay," he replies. "Just take her on out to the car." I walk outside with Willow and walk over to the car. I get in the backseat and wait on Haymitch. When he finally gets to the car, he sets the car seat down beside of me. I don't put Willow in it though. There's no way I'm letting go of her now.

It doesn't register to me where we're going until we pass up Mom's house. My stomach flips. He's taking her to the hospital. I hate that place, but I have to do what's best for my baby.

In all the excitement, we've seemed to have forgotten about one little detail. "What about Peeta?" I ask suddenly. "I didn't even think to call him before we left."

"You can call him at the hospital," Haymitch says.

"But how's he going to get there?" I ask. "I had to drop him off this morning. This is our only car and he wanted me to have it in case something like this happened."

"We'll figure something out," Haymitch replies. "Right now we just need to worry about getting her taken care of."

"Yeah," I agree. Willow starts moving and I look down at her. She starts to cry and I run a shaky hand over her cheek. "Oh my gosh," I breathe. I start thinking that she'll be okay when she goes limp again.

I'm about to loose it when we finally get to the hospital.

"You go find a phone and call Peeta," Haymitch says as he takes Willow. "Tell him I'll come get him as soon as I can." I nod my head and Haymitch walks off to take Willow inside. I try to calm myself down before I go in, but it doesn't help much.

By the time I find a phone, I'm shaking so hard that I can barely dial the number. I break down crying the second I hear his voice.

"Peeta," I manage to choke out.

"Katniss? Honey what's wrong?" Peeta asks.

"We're at the hospital..." I stop to take a deep breath.

"Willow?" he says in a panicked voice.

"Yeah," I sob. He takes in a long, shaky breath.

"Oh no," he says quietly.

"Haymitch is going to come get you..."

"No, Katniss," Peeta says. "Don't let him leave you there by yourself."

"How are you going to get here?" I ask.

"I'll figure something out," Peeta replies.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But I'll figure it out."

I sigh and close my eyes as I place my free hand on my forehead. "I have to call Mom and tell her what's going on. I can ask her if she'll bring you over here." I feel someone tap my shoulder and I turn around to see Haymitch standing there.

"They need you to come fill out some papers," Haymitch says.

"Okay," I reply before I speak into the phone again. "I have to go, Peeta," I reply.

"Okay," Peeta says. "And don't worry about calling Ellen. I'll take care of it. You just try to stay calm and don't worry about anything else. I love you, Katniss."

"I love you too, Peeta." I say before he hangs up. I follow Haymitch to the front desk and sign a bunch of papers before a nurse takes us to a waiting room. I'm thankful to find it empty. I go over and sit in a chair in the corner.

"I'll go get Peeta," Haymitch says.

"No need to," I say. "Mom's going to bring him." Haymitch nods his head and sits down next to me. I don't even realize that I've started shaking again until Haymitch sets his hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asks. I shake my head as a few tears escape my eyes.

"My three week old baby is fighting for her life and there's nothing I can do!"

"Hey, she'll be all right," Haymitch says as he hugs me. "She started crying again before they took her." I look up at him.

"She did?" I ask. He nods his head.

"She'll be okay," he says. All I can do is hope that he's right.