The Silent Killer (A Finnick Odair Love Story)

Chapter Fifteen

"Asphodel," Finnick murmurs, instantly causing my eyes to open.

The first thing I notice is that I'm no longer laying with my head on his lap. Instead, he also is laying down and I'm wedged safely between his body and the back of the couch.

"Good morning," he says, smiling at me. I bury my face in his chest, my throat aching. He laughs softly, then wraps his arms around me even tighter. "Did you sleep good?" I nod.

"In Thirteen, they have this rule that people can't live in the same room unless they're married or a family." I look up at him instantly, my eyes wide. "But we're going to ignore them." Slowly, I smile as I process his words. I nod.

"Get up, lovebirds," Haymitch grumbles, rapping on the door. "We're in Thirteen. And oh-Asphodel? Better hide those knives if you want to keep them."

Thinking quick, I shove the knives into my boots. Finnick hands me a jacket to put on to hide the vest. I breathe out a somewhat sigh of relief when everything is hidden.

"You still have it," Finnick says suddenly. I follow his gaze to the necklace he gave me. He hugs me tightly, gently kissing my neck. "You ready for this, sweetheart?"

Not really, I sign. Not only can I barely talk, but hardly any noise at all will even come out. But let's go.

But when I see the tube, I'm struck with a momentary panic. These tubes have be used twice to pull me out of an arena. I try to move forward, but my legs won't work for me. All I can focus on is that tube. The terrifying things that tube has pulled me from.

But this time, it's dropping me. So this can't be anything good. Thirteen can't be safe. The Hunger Games aren't over.

When Finnick takes my hand, an electric shock goes through me. I let him lead me to the tube and I close my eyes, trying to calm my breathing. I'm fine. I'm fine.

I feel the jabberjay feather with my thumb and though it brings bad memories, it reminds me that I've already been through worse than anyone can imagine. Twice. If worst comes to worst, I have my knives. Oddly enough, it comforts me.

I open my eyes only once the beam releases us. The ground beneath us is wilted, but I hardly care. I'm on actual ground. Plutarch and Haymitch lead Finnick, myself, and Beetee deeper into the district. How did Beetee survive? And where's Katniss?

"Nice to see you're alive and well, Asphodel," Beetee says, smiling kindly at me. I nod, as if to say Likewise. "Oh," he laughs, "no need for that. I know sign language, as well."

So you can understand this? I sign.

Only if you can understand this, he signs back.

He's about to say something else, but is cut off by the elevator doors opening.

District Thirteen is underground?

Once we're all deep down in the Earth, a woman with perfectly styled silver hair walks up to us.

"Welcome to District Thirteen. I am President Coin," she says, her smile so obviously fake. "Soldiers Lethe and Odair? Your compartments are right down this hall. Numbers 345 and 338."

"Actually, we'll only need one," Finnick says. "But thank you anyway."

"So you two are married?"

"No. But we have been to the worst place imaginable. Twice. I think we deserve this luxury," Finnick says sharply.

"There isn't a double bed."

"We'll manage."

Coin narrows her eyes at us, but obviously doesn't want to look weak in front of her new arrivals. So she agrees. Compartment 345 was originally Finnick's, but we share it. After shutting the door behind us, I look around the tiny room. One drawer with two pairs of government-issued clothes and one bed carved into the wall.

I take off my vest and put my knives back in it. Finnick folds it up neatly and puts it in the drawer with his clothes. He quickly goes and gets my clothes from my original compartment and organizes the single drawer perfectly. Both of our things somehow fit. Finnick takes off his gold bangle and carefully puts it on top of his stack of clothes.

Suddenly, he lets out a gasp and clutches his head. I run over to him, my eyes wide as I jump into action. I feel his head for any kind of bump and when I find one, I know instantly that the collapse of the arena injured him more than he's let on. I pull him over to the bed and help him lay down. He quickly falls asleep. I grab a stack of notepaper someone's left and write a small note.

Be back soon. I'm going to find a doctor. I love you. -Asphodel

I kiss his cheek and leave the room. I follow my intuition and run down several halls, judo flipping any guard that tries to stop me. Miraculously, I make it to the hospital ward. I find a doctor and grab his wrist. Running, I drag him behind me. He doesn't protest and when I pull open the door to the compartment, he goes inside. I leave the door open and point to Finnick.

"Oh!" he realizes. "You're Asphodel Lethe. Of course." He examines Finnick. "What happened?"

He gasped, grabbed his head, and fell asleep almost immediately after I laid him down, I write. He isn't unconscious, though.

"It looks like he has a concussion," the doctor says after a few minutes of checking Finnick over. "He might have slight brain damage, due to the aftermath of the arena. He most likely hit his head incredibly hard. He'll be fine, but it might be a bit hard for him to focus. When he wakes up, bring him to the hospital ward, alright?" I nod instantly. I write thank you on a piece of paper and the doctor leaves.

So I wait. I polish my knives, I braid my hair, I count the little scratches and bruises on my arms and legs. Finally, Finnick wakes up.

"Del?" he slurs, still half-asleep. I reach over and slowly run my fingers through his hair until he falls back to sleep.

This is going to be a long night.