11
Memories and Letters
I guess I passed out from blood loss after that, because the last thing I remembered was the deafening roar of the Capitol before I woke up in a white bed with needles in both arms. Everything smelled so...sterile.
I looked down at my body; completely stripped and naked. But not just of clothes, but of all dirt and blemishes and marks. All the scars on my hands and feet from years of trying knots and fishing were as if they were never there. Only the worst injuries left thin pale lines on my skin, but they barely hurt. There was this machine monitoring my heart beat, beeping along with every pulse, telling me I was alive.
I guess I won.
I didn't feel like a winner. I felt like crap, actually. My body felt heavy and weak, but nothing compared to the pain I was in at the end of arena. Right now it just felt like having the flu from back home. An avox came in through a sliding door in the wall, holding a bowl of chicken soup and a bread roll. I reached out for it with my right hand and noticed movement in my left. The shoulder was wrapped up and the rest was held in a sling, but I could feel my fingers again.
Well it was something.
Mags walked in, along with Tristan in tow. The sight of her was strange and yet managed to completely melt my heart. It was like seeing your mother as a child when you were sick.
"Did I do good?" I asked, surprised how small and hoarse my voice was. How long had I been in here exactly? Mags smiled at me warmly and nodded, taking my face in both her hands.
"How do you feel?" she asked in her grandmother tone.
I smiled back at her and soaked in how warm and soft her hands felt, "I'm fine."
"Excellent job out there, kiddo," Tristan rang with an encouraging grin, "We got you this." He pulled a string of shells from behind his back, wiggling it so that they clinked musically.
"My token! But...Celeste-she broke it."
They both laughed at me, but I didn't see what was funny. She did, didn't she?
"A string of shells isn't that hard to fix," Tristan chuckled, allowing Mags to tie it back around my wrist, "You're the real project."
I grinned half-heartedly, but then stared at Tristan. I couldn't tell if I was angry with him or not. I guess it wasn't his fault about Marina, but still...
I think he sensed what I was thinking about because his smile faded a little and he found something really interesting on his feet to look at. Mags tapped the edge of my bowl with her finger, "You should eat something, Finnick." I looked down at the food and was surprised to find I didn't want any of it.
"I don't wanna."
She grinned and tapped it again, "Eat. It'll help you feel better. Otherwise they'll get a servant in here to help you eat it, and that won't be any fun."
I took a few sips and wrinkled my nose at the smell. Everything was so nauseating, not even the bread seemed appetizing until I saw the green tint of the seaweed. Home. I was able to finish that, but nothing else. The avox took the tray away and left the room, silently as she came. Something cool was trickling into my IV and my eyelids got really heavy.
"Go to sleep honey, we'll see you soon," Mags whispered, patting my head. I faded out with their fuzzy faces still lingering beside me.
The next time I woke up the tubes were out of my arms and my sling was gone. I looked down and saw that all the remaining scars had disappeared and my skin glowed with a peculiar radiance. I got up and tested my legs, which were stiff from lack of use. When they seemed to be working, I tested my left arm. It responded perfectly, if just a little inflexible at first. My stomach growled so I threw on the robe left at the end of my bed and walked through the sliding doors, into a hallway teaming with people in uniforms. My stylists, Ophie and Glovis came walking briskly down the hall with beaming smiles just for me.
