Rose on Fire

Chapter 11

(Peeta POV)

I hear an ambulance probably 3 miles away. I don't want to go to the hospital, but I know I won't live if I don't go. Katniss, rests her head on my chest repeats over and over again, "Hang in there," she's said it about 100 times now. I can feel my breaths getting slower, and I know I'm not getting enough air, but it even hurts to breath. I stare at the white ceiling, I can can see blackness around the corners of my vision.

By the time the ambulance reaches our house I am barely in consciousness when the ambulance arrives. I'm lifted onto a stretcher, and I hold Katniss hand the whole time, using all my strength to keep her next to me. I feel so lightheaded I have know idea what direction I'm headed in. The medics on the ambulance start removing the already bleed through bandages. They start stitching up my side, and using hydrogen peroxide to clean out my side.

They have me hooked up to a morphine dripper, but I wasn't getting it fast enough to relieve the pain of the hydrogen peroxide, and the needle stitching me up. I squeeze Katniss' hand tight from the pain. I release her hand a little noticing her wince a little, I forgot how strong I truly am with all this pain I feel weak, everybody called me weak in the games.

Katniss, and I where talking about that one day, I remember her saying, "I can't believe you killed a guy underwater, with your bare hands, and they still call you weak." That's one of the reasons I love Katniss, it's because she can be beautiful, nice, strong, and smart, she can pretty much do anything. I realize how my breaths are getting shorter, and I won't make it much longer, I use all my strength to get a good gasp of air, and I turn my head from the ambulance ceiling to Katniss. I stare straight into her sky blue eyes, their bloodshot, and full of tears.

She has tear stains on her cheeks, she smiles at my movement, after a few seconds I know her smile, it hides pain. I almost cry myself, knowing this is probably it, I don't want her to see me die, as President Snow's last kill, I want to be married to her, I wanted to have kids, I wanted to watch Haymich's daughter, Emily grow up.

I look again one last time around the ambulance I see a heart monitor hooked up to me, and the medics almost done with stitching me up, blood still dripping through the seams. I know we're literally seconds from the hospital.

I look back up into Katniss' eyes. "I love you," I say, almost in a whisper. "I love you," she replies, she knows I'm probably saying my last words, "Stay with me." "Always," I reply with a real smile knowing I will stay with her even in death, I will watch over her. That's when I hear the heart monitor go dead.