Rising Storm

Chapter 15

Katniss

"Get up!" Prim says. "It's nearly noon." I roll away from her as she yanks open my curtains.

"It can't be," I say. "Peeta usually stops by around eight with breakfast."

"He did," she says pulling my blanket off me. "But with you being so tired and queasy lately, he wanted to let you sleep so maybe you can get over this cold." I sit up and pull my hair out of last nights braid.

"Did he leave anything?" I ask.

"Cinnamon rolls," she says gesturing towards the table by my bed. I lean over and begin to eat one of the icing covered rolls, basically inhailing it and sucking the sugar off my fingers. I do the same to another and am reaching for a third as Prim grabs the plate away.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"You already ate two and you vomited three times yesterday," she says. " Lets see if you can keep down what youve eaten for an hour or so before you eat anymore of this."

"But I feel fine right now," I say.

"Katniss," she says. "Just listen for once. Besides, you'll spoil supper with these sweets." I roll my eyes and pull on my leg before walking towards my bathroom.

"I'm going to go take a shower," I say. "Can you get me some clothes out for me?" She nods and I slip through the door and shut it. I strip out of my sweaty night clothes and hold onto the shower bar as I remove my leg and start the shower. I've gotten quite used to this routine since I've been injured. Its awkward, having only the use of one arm as well as one leg trying to bathe myself, but I've figured out how to balance pretty well to get the job done.

As I get myself dried off and begin to brush out my hair, I notice something I hadn't before. I tentatively touch the subtle roundness of my cheeks as I brush my hair away from my face. I shake it off to my new diet of Peeta's sweets and the other foods that are now so readily available. I just hadn't thought I'd eaten much to actually build up fat in my face.

As I finish getting myself dressed, I hear a knock on my door at turn to see my mother standing there.

"Are you feeling better after that extra rest?" She asks. I nod.

"Yeah, I guess I just needed to sleep it off," I say walking to the side of my bed and pulling up the disarrayed covers.

"I'd still like to look you over and see if there's anything I could give you to make you feel a little better," she says. I stare at her for a moment, knowing she's up to something. But after a moment I sit down on my bed and she has me lay back and presses on my stomach tentatively, focusing on my lower abdomen. After a while she sighs and walks away from me and looks out the window.

"Primerose said you had quite the appatite when you woke up," she says softly.

"Yeah, after not being able to keep anything down for a few days, of course I was hungry," I say.

"You'll have that," she says, still looking outside,"As soon as the nausea passes, you clean out the cupboards. An endless cycle for the first season or so." She looks down. "It was like that for me at least."

I get up and walk over to her. "What are you talking about?" I ask. "I'm just sick right now. Its a cold. I'll get over it."

"Katniss," she says gently. "You aren't sick. You're far from it. And I've let you down so much in your upbringing that you dont even know whats going on with your own body."

"What is going on Mother?" I ask. "You've been looking at me weird all week. What do you think you know?"

"I know about you sneaking out at night," she says. "To see Peeta. It was only a matter of time really. But I'd hopped you'd have waited. You told me you'd never make my mistakes yet here you are."