When We Fall~Finnick Odair {Book 3}

Chapter Fifteen

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Autumn didn't know where she was headed until she found herself at the doors of the hospital wing.

She swung them open and walked in. The nurses and doctors ignored Autumn as she made her way through as she was a farmiliar face. She found herself in front of the room Peeta was being held in, entering without hesitation.

She walked over to the windows of the observation area, staring through the glass and into the psyche-ward room.

Peeta was screaming and thrashing about in the medical bed he was strapped down too. Autumn let out a shaky breath, fighting back the tears as she saw what had become of her friend.

Autumn didn't understand why the Capital did this only to Peeta. Autumn knew she would've been just as easy as a target if the Capital made her look at Finnick the way Peeta looks at Katniss in this moment. But Katniss was the Mockingjay and that's who they were truly after.

"Let me in," Autumn told the man at the control panel. He knew better than to talk back, obeying Autumn's orders and pressing a button that opened the cell door.

She hesitated, but entered. It reminded her quite a lot of when she was held in the Capital, except it was cleaner and there weren't Peacekeepers standing in every corner of the room.

Peeta instantly calmed when he saw Autumn enter, a look of excitement washing over his face.

"Autumn!" He yelled out, smiling for the first time since he entered District Thirteen.

Her eyes widened in surprise. The Capital has made her a friend in Peeta's eyes. That meant she may be the only person that could get through to him. But why had they done that? The Capital must've known that Autumn would be on the side of District Thirteen, so why did they give her this leverage over Peeta?

Perhaps it was because they saw her as nothing but a broken mind and there was no good she could do for the buy in front of her. Or, perhaps, they had intended to do the same thing to Autumn as they did to Peeta, but ran out of time as the rebels arrived in the Capital.

"How are you doing, Peeta?" Autumn asked, walking over to him and sitting on the edge of his bed. She did not feel an ounce of uneasiness this close to him.

"What are they doing to you?" Peeta ignored her question. "Are they beating you? Is that where those bruises are from?" Peeta nodded towards Autumn's face where the old wounds of the Capital sat.

Autumn creased her eyebrows together and shook her head. "These injuries are from the Capital. That is where you and I were held and beaten. District Thirteen saved us. Finnick and Katniss saved us," Autumn told him.

Peeta's face fell and he looked like he was about to cry. "What have they done to you?" He whispered. "What have they done?" He screamed. Autumn stood up from the bed, suddenly frightened. "They've brainwashed you! This isn't real! The Capital is our friend! District Thirteen is the enemy! Finnick and Katniss have to die!"

Autumn's jaw dropped in horror, her hand flying up to her face to cover her mouth. She began backing away from the deranged boy, unable to stay in the room with him any longer.

"Finnick never loved you!" Peeta yelled as Autumn rushed out of the room. "He destroyed District Four! You have to kill him and Katniss!"

Autumn ran into the observation room, pushing the door to Peeta shit behind her. She leaned her back against the door and wrapped her arms around her torso. Autumn closed her eyes as tears began to drip down her face.

Autumn flinched as a pair of arms wrapped around her body, pulling her into an awkward embrace. Autumn opened her eyes in time to be let go of, staring at the solemn face of Katniss Everdeen.

"I'm so sorry, Katniss," Autumn spoke. Katniss simply shook her head, walking over to the large window that peered inside to Peeta's room. He was still screaming.

Autumn walked up next to Katniss, watching as Peeta thrashed about on his bed. She couldn't believe how much the Capital has changed this boy.

"He saved me," Autumn spoke in the silence. "He was so brave, Katniss. So brave."

Katniss looked over at her friend, watching as silent tears continued to stream down her face. Autumn stepped closer to stare at the ruined boy behind multiple layers of bulletproof glass.

"They would take him and I into a room. In the center of the room was a bucket of water," Autumn started.

"You don't have too-"

"I need to tell you," Autumn spoke, glancing at Katniss before looking back to Peeta. "For him." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "Peeta fought against the serum. The test results weren't conclusive when he fought against it, so they dunked my head in water and wouldn't let me come up for breath until he stopped fighting. The serum ruined his mind. It did this to him. But he sacrificed himself so that I could sleep better at night. He gave into the nightmares so I wouldn't have to experience drowning all over again."

Autumn cried, placing her hand on the glass as she stared at Peeta. They had gotten very close in the Capital. Autumn considered him one of her best friends, now. She wished they had gotten to that title under better circumstances, though.

"What have they done to you, Peeta?" Autumn whispered. "What have they done to us?"

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Author's Note:

I'm back once again!
I'm hoping to go into full throttle and start throwing out chapters left and right here, so get ready!
I really want to apologize that I take so long to update guys. But when I see comments of readers that love the book and want me to update, I suddenly get a burst of motivation so thank you for that.

Also, we will be cruisin' through Mockingjay Part One pretty quickly here because not much happens in that movie, so Mockjay part two will begin in this book soon!

Thank you so much for your support!

~Jay