In Another's Eyes

Chapter 13

Peeta

"What do you mean possible hemorrhages?" I ask as Katniss looks down.

"I mean that this is a very, very high risk pregnancy," Dr. Montgomery says laying aside Katniss' test results. "She's at risk of the placenta detaching prematurely and serious blood loss. Coma or death is the worse case scenario." Katniss plays with her fingers her eyes down.

"What are our options?" I ask and Katniss looks at me.

"We either abort our child or I take my chances," she says. "And I'm not killing our baby." I look at Dr. Montgomery.

"Is that true?" I ask.

"I'm afraid so," she says. "If she decides to not terminate the pregnancy, we can keep a close eye on her, but she's never going to be truly safe." Katniss nods.

"I know that," she says, "I'm well aware of my condition." I stare at her and she just ignores me as she continues. "And I thought for a long time before you called us in here and I decided that I'm willing to take the risk and have the baby." I keep staring at her and the Doctor looks back and forth between the two of us.

"I'll leave you two alone," she says. She walks out and I reach out and touch Katniss' cheek.

"What do you mean you know?" I ask her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's why I lost my baby when I was younger," she says. "It's not safe for me to have a baby. I wanted to get my tubes tied but Gale wouldn't allow it. So when I found out I was pregnant, I decided I was willing to take my chances."

"Katniss, this is your life you are talking about," I say and she glares at me.

"It's her life too, Peeta," she says. "Each of us already lost one child. I'm not going to purposely get rid of this one because of what might happen. Now I've thought this through and it's my body and you can't do anything to change my mind." She looks down at her swollen abdomen and then at me. "Peeta, you know I'm right about this."

"This isn't a matter of right or wrong," I say. "It's whether you are willing to die for a child that we might loose anyway." She gets up and grabs her clothes. She starts to pull them on and grab her arm. "Katniss, you need to think about this."

"Peeta, this may be my only chance to have a baby," she says. "And I'm not going to give up that chance. I'm not going to give up Charlie."

"Charlie?" I ask. "Baby, you can't name it already. You don't even know if it's a boy or a girl."

"Charlotte or Charles, it doesn't make a difference," she says. "I want you to know what I want to call our baby in case something does happen. So I decided on Charlie, so it would work for a boy or a girl." She smiles at her belly and sighs. "This is just something we have to let happen. I can't get rid of another person I love. I lost too many already." I nod reluctantly and let her finish getting dressed.

"I'm just real worried about you, Sweetheart," I say. "I'm not saying I don't want us to have this baby. I just want you to be okay."

"I will be as long as we don't stress out over this," she says.

"Is that what happened last time?" I ask. She frowns and sits back down on the exam table.

"My mom thinks that was part of it," she says. "It was early in our marriage. We didn't fight much back then until I actually got knocked up. But then, it was him wanting me to quit my job and school and I didn't want to. We fought every night for the week up until I actually lost it. Then he left me alone, for maybe a month or two. Then he wanted me to try again. He didn't care about me risking my life for-" she's cut off by her cell phone. She looks at it for a moment before answering it.

"Hello?" She asks. "Yes, this is she." Her face suddenly gets a look of shock and her hand goes to her mouth as tears slip down her cheeks. "Yes, of course. I just need to make arrangements at work. Just, thank you. Thank you very much. See you on the sixteenth. Goodbye." She hangs up and just looks at me with so much relief.

"What was that about?" I ask.

"They," she says shakily as though she still can't believe it, "They found Gale. In Arizona, though I haven't a clue what he was doing there. They need me to testify in Louisville on the 16th."

"It's over?" I ask.

"Not yet," she says looking down at her belly again. "He might try to fight it. Claim the baby is his or I framed him or some other sneaky shit. You don't know what he's really like. You never met that sick son of a bitch." I shake me head and take her hands in mine.

"But he ran Katniss," I say. "We got him. We finally got that bastard. He can't hurt you no more." She nods and starts crying.

"I don't gotta worry about him coming after me anymore," she says and I pull her into a hug.

"That's right," I say. "You are finally free, Kat." I kiss the top of her head. "You're finally free."