When I open my eyes, the lighting is dim. I can see no windows, nor a door. I remember the arrow in my hip, and I look under the bedclothes. There is no mark except for a small white line along the ridge in my skin that is the bone. I am startled to find myself naked, but I soon relax, the bedclothes are comfortable and warm. There is some sort of band across my waist. I pull at it but it doesn't come free. My nails seem long and sharp, and when I look at them, they have been filed into perfect points. A delicate and detailed pattern has been painted onto them, but my vision is still a little limited and I can't quite make it out. I can smell a mix of antiseptic and roses, and touch my silky hair and bring it to my nose. My hair smells of roses.
A section of the wall opens and in walks an Avox girl carrying a tray with soup and water. I try to sit up, but the band around my waist restrains me. She puts the tray across my legs, and presses a button. The bed folds upwards and raises me into a sitting position. The Avox gives me a slight nod and leaves the room.
I sip the soup tentatively. It is at a perfect temperature. I pick up my spoon and begin to drink the soup and the water. I only just manage to finish the small meal, and then Emille, Bailey and Amelia walk in, followed closely by Lalon.
"Where's Camilla?" I say. My voice is quiet and I have to repeat myself.
"She didn't have to come to see you, she was... She was Cato's stylist." Lalon says, watching my face carefully. The memories of the last minutes in the arena hit me and I feel the hole in my heart where there was once love. "I'm sorry." Lalon says quietly.
I swing my legs off to one side of the bed, and reach for the floor with my feet. A hand is planted on my chest and I am pushed gently back down onto the bed.
"No, you're still weak." Lalon says. Emille looks on with a worried expression by the door.
"I'm fine, see, I only have a scar now!"
"No, rest. We'll be back tomorrow." Lalon says. Bailey presses a button, and the bed goes back to normal. I try to sit up to watch them leave, but the band won't let me. I lay back down on the bed, my head propped up by the fluffy pillow. I hear a hiss, and the door closes and I am on my own again. Then I feel a prick in my arm, and everything goes black once more.
* * *
When I come round again, Lalon and Emille are sat at my bedside. "The doctors say you're free to go." Lalon says. I feel the smile creep across my face. "You'll have the coronation ceremony as soon as you're out."
I sigh, the memories of the arena flooding back to me once more. I close my eyes, to try and stop the tears that are pricking at my lids.
"I want to leave now." I say, my eyes still closed. I try to keep my composure, and act like the victor that I am.
"Are you sure you're up for it?" Emille asks.
"I just want to go home." I say, the images and memories of home filling my mind. The mountains. The houses. My family.
"Ok. I'll notify the doctors and send a message to Snow." Emille stands, smiles and sweeps out of the room.
"Clove, it'll be ok. I know how you felt, we all did. We could see that by what we saw of you. Of course most of the time the cameras were on Katniss and Peeta, but don't worry about that. You won." Lalon smiles as if it is some great achievement. I mean, it is, but without Cato, my life has little meaning. I sigh and sit up. I might as well get this over with.
"And here she is; the victor of the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Clove Ravenhill!" I hear the crowd screaming my name, and I plaster a fake smile on to my face and make my way on to the stage. I am dressed in blue fabric that shimmers as I move- like water. I am the water that quenched the fire.
Caesar is grinning from ear to ear. I am distracted throughout the interview, thinking of home and Cato. Then I hear his name. "I'm sorry, what?" I ask.
"I said, how do you feel about the loss of Cato?" My mind flits in between reality and the world inside my head, until all I can see is the piercing blue of Cato's eyes. Pain pierces my heart, my mind, every cell in my body, and my vision goes blurry. I can't see, just the blue. I can hear the crowd's confusion and Caesar's voice calling out faintly. I can't feel anything, I am numb. Suddenly, the blue I can see is diluted by purple, which slowly turns to red. Red, blood red. I can vaguely feel some hands, carrying me somewhere. The red changes to black and I can feel the wet of my tears against my skin and I can hear the beating of my heart. Staccato and rapid.
* * *
The room I am put in is much like the hospital room I was in after the games. Very sterile, very white, and very bright. My breathing is very loud, it fills the empty room. I try to move a strand of dark hair off my face, to find my hands are strapped down. My wrist has a metallic bracelet encircling it. I can make out 'mentally unstable' engraved into it. So I'm to be held in the Capitol until I'm deemed metally fit? Tears prick at my eyes again and spill over. I can't wipe my eyes, and I'm blinded by them.
The door opens, and a familiar voice sounds. "Clove?"
A blurry face comes closer, and a hand wipes my eyes and slowly my mother's face comes into focus. "Mother?" Her worried face stretches into a smile. "Why are you here?"
"Clove... You're home. You're in district 2. When you fell off your chair and started crying and screaming the line was cut off. Then you were sent straight back home. You're in the hospital."
I'm home. Home. I may be in the hospital, and I may be mentally unstable, but I'm home. My family are safe. I can start to relax again, and I can start a new life.
