Broken Promises

chapter 13

Jason swiftly carries Athena up the tree. She groans from the pressure placed upon her abdomen but other than that remains silent. He apologizes and quickly lays her against his chest.  He looks at her and with his eyes asks her if he has permission to lift her shirt. She inclines her head slightly and he gently folds her shirt back. The gash isn’t as big as Jason had suspected, but it still is quite deep for such femininity as Athena. He doesn’t understand how she’s still conscious. He checks in the backpack and doesn’t find anything of any use.

“What about the front zipper?” She groans while applying pressure to her abdomen. He examines the pack to find a small zipper near the bottom. He unzips it and coincidently finds a first aid kit. That’s surprisingly convenient he thinks to himself. He applies some antibiotic ointment to her wound and closes the backpack. That’s the best he can do for now.

“Jason, that barely did anything.” She growls under her breath.

“Give it some time.” He pulls her close to his chest but her body objects and she lies awkwardly on his ribs. This isn’t very comfortable for him but Athena slowly begins to drift into sleep.

“Athena, wait.” Jason shakes her suddenly.

“Ow Jason!” She has enough energy to smack him on the head. He smiles slightly to himself. She can be so predictable sometimes.

“I need to tell you something.” He whispers in her ear.

“Well just say it!” She shouts back at him.

“I love you.” He says confidently. She looks at him blankly. So she doesn’t remember she said it back to him earlier. His insides ripple with saddened emotions. She doesn’t love him and she never has. A single tear streaks his cheek.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She whispers as she wipes the tear away. He’s left speechless that in his uproar of hormones; he sweeps down and kisses her. She grabs the back of his head and forces her lips onto his harder. This is the first time that Jason has ever felt such lust towards Athena. He can’t let his emotions get the best of him. She pulls away and slowly begins running her fingers through his hair. He dozes off to the serene feeling of her small fingers twisting around and around.

“Wake up!” Athena shouts, inches from Jason’s face. He awakens startled and almost falls out of the tree but she’s firmly planted on his lap, rendering his fall.

“What a great way to wake up.” He mutters sarcastically before yawning and rubbing at his eyes. Athena rolls her eyes.

“Whatever. You need to find food. I ate some while you were sleeping. Oh and I applied more medicine.” She finishes with a vain raise of her shoulders.

“Seems to me like you were a busy girl this morning Athena. Can I check your cut?” She nods and he lifts up her shirt. He inspects how deep it is and nods approvingly.

“It’s getting better and it seems like you have a lot of energy so that’s good.” She rolls her eyes once more. He treats her like a fragile doll. She crosses her arms and huffs loudly. She averts her eyes to the trees.

“What’s wrong Athena?” He turns her chin to face him and she shrugs her shoulders defensively.

“Oh, nothing.” She climbs down the tree carefully before she doubles over from the pain that zips through her whole body. Jason comes running over to her side and helps her stand once more.

“Are you alright? You need to rest Athena.”

“No, really I’m fine.” She brushes the pain off and tries to walk as straight as she can. Athena finally stops because she knows her body can’t go any further. She falls over and tries to muffle her cries of agony as best as she can. Jason rushes over and lifts her bridal style. She’s immediately back up in their tree with extra bandages on her abdomen. Jason rests his chin on the top of her head. She smiles slightly to herself. He begins playing with her hair and she smiles even wider at the beauty of the day until both of their thoughts are shattered when she sees a bombardment of tributes coming their way.

Athena gets a closer look at the tributes and realizes that they’re wearing ridiculous outfits and bright colored wigs. Clowns. She’s seen them in the textbooks provided at school. In what was known as “America”, they were meant to be funny and used as a form of entertainment. These clowns look hideous and drugged. The dark circles under their eyes add a horrific effect to their tattered clothing. Jason immediately grabs his sword and is about to jump down the tree when Athena grabs his arm.

“No! You can’t go by yourself.” She stares into his alarmed eyes and they convert into something softer, like compassion.

“Athena, I promised I would protect you and I will risk my all for you. You mean everything to me and I would be nothing without you. I have to go.” He kisses her cheek lightly leaving her with the lingering warmth.

“Let me go with you then.” She tries.

“Athena, you can barely walk without hurting. It’s not safe.” He jumps down into the crowd of clowns. Athena is left alone in their tree with nothing more to do than watch. The damsel in distress is watching her prince fight for their lives.