Reuniting Our Lives

Hospital

*Peeta's POV*

I don't know what to do. Katniss is laying lifeless on the forest floor and all I can do is lash out on the trees. I've already broken my hand from punching everything in sight, I'm sure of it. I scream for help over and over again, and soon realise that nobody is coming to our aid. I have to carry Katniss to the nearest place to get her help, even though it may be too late.

After many painful failed attempts to pick her up, I manage to get her limp body slung over my shoulder, holding her legs to my chest with my less injured hand, moving as fast as possible without causing either of us more pain. Within what I guess to be about 20 minutes, we've reached the closest house in the Seam, and I can only hope that they'll open their door this late at night and be able to help Katniss.

I pound on the door, hoping for any kind of response. A wailing child, woken up in the middle of the night. A woman, shrieking at the sudden loud noise coming from the front door. A grumpy man, shouting at me to leave him and possibly his family alone. I heard absolutely nothing, and moved onto the next house. And the next. Then I remembered that since the end of the war, the Capitol had started building necessary buildings in each district. All I had to do was remember where it was that they built the medical centre.

Another 30 or so minutes went by, and I found myself walking through sliding doors that opened automatically, and fluorescent lights hanging above me. The harsh lighting caused me to squint, and forget briefly what I was doing. A nurse came up to me, seeing Katniss slung over my shoulder, and her face was flooded with concern. I came back to my senses, and screamed for help, even though the nurse was only two feet away from me. They brought out a rolling bed, took Katniss from me, and rolled her away, hopefully to help her.

"Sir. Sir, if you'll follow me, we'll go get your hand all fixed up," the nurse said to me. I was still in a daze, but I followed her since I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know where they took Katniss, and it was only now that I really noticed the pain in my hand. I looked down to see my wrist bent in a different way, swollen beyond what I thought was even possible. I followed her down a hallway, into an elevator, down another hallway, and into a dimly lit room. She instructed me to put my hand on a table, and put a heavy vest like thing on me and left the room. After that, I spaced out until she removed the vest from my torso, and she led me to another room where I sat by myself, rethinking the entire night.

What started out as wedding planning had turned into a flashback, one that I couldn't even remember. The next thing I knew, Katniss was on the ground in a tangled heap, cuts all over her, bits of tree branches in her hair, and she was barely alive. Barely alive because of me. I don't even know if I touched her, but we were both here in this hospital because of me. Stupid, worthless me. I started sobbing until I heard a soft knock at the door, and I quickly wiped away the tears that had streamed down my face.

"Mr. Mellark, we took some x-rays of your hand, and there's no doubt that you broke it somehow. We can't put a cast on yet because the swelling is too high, but we're going to put this brace on until the swelling goes down. Here." The nurse hands me an ice pack, which I immediately put on my swollen wrist. "I'll be back in twenty minutes to put the brace on for you. Until then, keep the ice on." She turns to leave the room, but before she can, I catch her with my screechy voice.

"How's Katniss? Is she alright?" I ask. The nurse looks at me with a look of sympathy, and I know that something is wrong. She must've died on my way here and they couldn't revive her. Or they did, and she died in surgery. Either way, she's dead. Because of me.

She puts her hand over mine that's holding the ice pack on my wrist and says, "We're doing everything we possibly can for her. Last I heard, she was in surgery, but I don't know anything more than that." I look down at the floor as another tear escaped my eye.

"Can you find out more? I can't bear the thought of her being in pain, and I don't want to lose her," I say, tears streaming down my face yet again.

The nurse hands me a tissue and says, "I'll do my best." She turns to leave yet again, but before she does, gives me that same sympathetic smile from before, then closes the door behind her, leaving me alone in the room. All I can do is hope that Katniss makes it through.

*Katniss' POV*

I see myself lying on a table with doctors surrounding me, blood soaked clothes and medical instruments all around. It reminds me of when I saw Peeta surrounded by doctors after we won our first Games, and it makes me wonder why I see myself.

"She's dying. She's losing too much blood and her heart is too weak. We can't do much more for her."

"No, she has to survive. Get the defibrillator on standby."

"Doc, that won't help her. Her heart is too weak to work anymore."

"I don't care! Get it on standby right now, or get out of my operating room!"

"She's going, doc. We have to do something soon."

"Hold my tools, I'm doing this the old fashioned way."

He grabs my heart and starts squeezing it at a steady heart rate as a nurse pumps air into my lungs. The whole thing is gory, and as much as I want to look away, I for some reason can't.

"Come on, Katniss. Help me out here. Stay alive."

It's those words that make me stop. 'Stay alive.' It can't be Haymitch though, because he was at home, probably sleeping. What time is it, even? That's when I start to recognise him. The head doctor, the one that has my heart in his hands, is one of my doctors from District 13. I can't remember his name, but I recognise his face, even with half of it covered, and the other half ridden with concentration, frustration, and determination. I slowly get closer to my body, as if falling from the ceiling into my body and everything goes black.

A/N: I'm soooooooo sorry for not updating and not making this a whole lot longer, but I got really busy with work, and depression, and stuff, but then I got bored today and didn't want to get out of bed... So voilà! Another chapter! I've gotta shower and go shopping, so I'll update when I can. Hopefully by Christmas 😂😂

~Rachel