Against the Current (Finnick and Annie)

Chapter 14~Finnick

I groan. It feels like I was fried alive. Now I know how those fish felt. When I open my eyes everything is blurry before it goes back into focus. I lift my head and look around. I have no idea where I am. For all I know the plan failed and I'm in the Capitol, and they're healing me so they can torture me for information. That sounds like something they would do.

Slowly I take in my surroundings. The room is full of machines and beeping. I squint my eyes. On the far side of the room it looks like Beetee lying on a bed and in the corner is Katniss. So my chances are looking good. Katniss was the rebellion's priority. If she's here then maybe the odds are finally in my favor.

"Beetee? Katniss?" I call. I wait but none of them respond. The only sound in the room is their breathing and the constant beeping of the machines.

I sigh and sit up. I wince almost instantly. I should not have done that. Everything still hurts. Whatever painkillers they're giving me are obviously not enough. I look down at my arm and see all sorts of tubes and wires coming out of it. I immediately avert my eyes. I never liked needles.

I notice that I'm not restrained to the table. That's a good sign. If I was in the Capitol then for sure I'd be heavily guarded. That means we made it. My mind begins to clear further and that's when I realize Johanna and Peeta aren't here. My heart rate picks up. I don't know who died that night. Everything got out of hand and burst into chaos. Maybe they're in another room. I just have to hope.

A door on the other side of the room opens and I immediately go on the defensive. I'm not safe yet. I look for a weapon but there's nothing but a clipboard on the table beside me. I grab it tightly in my hands as the person walks in.

"Oh!" The nurse exclaims in shock when she sees me awake. I narrow my eyes at her. She closes the door and approaches me slowly like I might explode at any moment. I guess me holding this clipboard isn't helping.

"Finnick, I'm Tara," she says in a slow, calm voice. "I'm from District Thirteen. You're okay and safe. We're in a hovercraft and heading to Thirteen now."

She walks closer to me and holds her hand out. "Can I have the clipboard?"

I hesitate for a moment but eventually hand it to her. "I want to see Haymitch and Plutarch."

"I need to check you first. You suffered a lot of injuries, and I need to monitor you for a while."

Tara gently takes my arm to check the tubes, but I pull it from her grasp. "No. I want to see them now."

She looks a little nervous as she takes a small step back. Tara nods her head a little. "Okay. Tell you what. I'll just do a quick check and then you can see them, but you have to come back here after."

"Fine," I agree. Tara forces a small smile and begins checking me. I must have more injuries than I thought because this takes a while. I know my whole skin is still healing from the fog and there's that knife wound in my leg. Then there's electric shock I suffered. I also have a lot of little cuts and bruises, not to mention everything wrong with my mind. Now that I think about it, I don't even know how I'm alive.

"Are we almost done?" I ask Tara after what seems like forever.

She looks at me disapprovingly. "You have a lot of injuries. Don't stay out too long. Your body is still weak from the electric shock of the force field."

I nod. Tara removes the tubes and wires. I stand up and instantly my legs give out. I catch myself on the table and Tara rushes forward to help me.

"I'm okay," I insist as I stand up shakily. I haven't even walked a step and I'm already breathing heavily.

Tara looks at me unsurely. "Maybe--"