She first removes my boots and socks, and then, very slowly, inches my pants off of me. My imagination should be running wild right now, but the pain in my leg somehow makes it impossible to think in anything else besides it. I look at my leg; it's swollen and the gash is oozing both blood and pus. I smell something vile – like festering meat – and it takes me a minute to realize that it is coming from my leg.
Katniss's face is expressionless, but there's a thin sheet of sweat forming in her forehead, and she's turning a strange shade of green.
"Pretty awful, huh?" I ask, watching her closely.
"So-so," she shrugged like it was no big deal. But I wasn't born yesterday. "You should see some of the people they bring my mother from the mines…" she shudders lightly. "First thing is to clean it well."
She washes it, pouring bottle after bottle of water on my legs.
"Why don't we give it some air and then…" she trails off unsure.
"And then you'll patch it up?" I finish her sentence.
"That's right," she says trying to sound professional. "In the meantime, you eat these." She gives me a few dried pear pieces and goes back to the stream to finish washing my clothes. I shouldn't let her waste her energy on me. What's the point? I don't think it matters whether I die in clean or dirty clothes.
After she's done she looks trough the contents of a first-aid kit bag. Where did she get that? I wonder.
"We're going to have to experiment some," she admits. She starts by pressing the same leaves she used for my stings on the gash in my leg. Pus begins to run down the side of my leg and that same strange shade of green returns to her face.
"Katniss?" I ask trying to distract her. She looks up at me, meeting my eyes. "How about that kiss?" I whisper joking, but secretly wishing she would say yes.
It works..kind of; she bursts out laughing but she sounds a little hysteric.
"Something wrong?" I ask innocently.
"I…I'm no good at this." She stammers. "I'm not my mother. I've no idea what I'm doing and I hate pus," she concludes grimacing. "Euh!" she groans as she washes away the leaves and applies a second round. "Euuuh!"
"How do you hunt?" I wonder. If she's complaining about this how can she be able to shoot an arrow through an animal's eye?
"Trust me. Killing things is much easier than this," she pauses but then adds "Although for all I know I am killing you."
"Can you speed it up a little?" I ask; it's getting hard to keep my eyes open.
"No. shut up and eats your pears," she snaps.
She silently works over my leg, applying leaves and washing them away once they dry.
"What's next, Dr. Everdeen?" I ask trying to lighten the mood.
"Maybe I'll put some of the burn ointment on it. I think it helps with infection anyway. And wrap it up?" she adds looking uncertain. She looks me over for a minute and then reaches for one of her bags. "Here, cover yourself with this and I'll wash your shorts," she says handing me the bag.
"Oh, I don't care if you see me," I answer automatically. I guess living in a house full of boys has taken away my shyness and shame.
Katniss blushes. "You're just like the rest of my family," she says. "I care, all right?" she turns her back to me. I shrug. I guess I wouldn't be comfortable either if I had to see her naked in a situation other than a romantic one. Or would I? I take off my shorts, cover myself with the bag and throw the shorts to the stream. I'm surprised to see I'd regained enough strength for this simple action.
"You know, you're kind of squeamish for such a lethal person," I muse as she washes my shorts. "I wish I'd let you give Haymitch a shower after all."
"What's he sent you so far?" she asks.
"Not a thing," I answer. I'm glad he hadn't wasted the sponsor's money on me. What if Katniss needed it? "Why, did you get something?"
"Burn medicine," she sounds embarrassed. I guess she misunderstood my pause. "Oh, and some bread."
"I always knew you were his favorite." And I'm glad for that.
"Please, he can't stand being in the same room with me," she says.
"Because you're just alike," I mutter. You're both very smart. I hope that works in Katniss's advantage just like it did for Haymitch.
As hard as I try not to, I doze off. In my dream I'm laying down in soft, green grass on a meadow. Katniss is with me. She's laying down, too, resting her head on my chest. I wrap my arms tightly around her, holding her closer to me. But this is just a dream, and I'm going to wake up sooner or later. And I don't want to wake up. If this is the only way I can be with her like this, I want to dream for ever.
