EDITING Willow's Beginning (Book#1)

The Waiting Game

No. No it can't be. I can't possibly be in labor! This-this baby will be early and I will be in pain and I-I...

"Katniss!" My mom yells, " Honey we need to go to the hospital."

"What? No! When you got here I asked YOU to deliver this baby."

"Honey sweetie I want to, but the other day you said you were 37 weeks , and you and the baby would have a better recovery and survival rate if you were at the hospital and had a doctor specialized in labor and delivery."

"Why?"

"Because your baby is going to be premature. Katniss no more questions for now we need to leave. Peeta can you pack a bag? And do it quickly please."

He says okay and exits the door with his crutches, but he is trying to hide something. A flashback! I completely forgot about them. Him seeing me in pain could be just enough to send him into overload, and he would never forgive himself for going off during the birth of his first child. I lay on the floor for a few minutes as the contractions go through me, so when I finally get up Peeta rushes into the room the bag his hand. That's when I notice he is shaking. Not a lot, but enough for anyone who looks at him can see that he is. I ask him to put it in the car and he leaves within two seconds.

"Mom-" I start

"I know baby, I'll get the morphine." Later after my mom came she told me that in a research study she did, that morphine helps save people from mental disturbances, ranging from a complex seizure to Peeta's flashbacks. And of course pain.

Within a few minutes, I make it to the car and Peeta chooses to give himself the drug. Then we drive off. By the time we get there I am covered in sweat and I've had at least three contracts. My mother goes to call for a doctor and Peeta stays with me.

"Katniss?" He asks

"Yeah."

" I am sorry." I can hear the guilt in his voice.

"For what?"

"This. I Wanted a baby, so you have to go through all this pain just so I can get what I want. That not right."

"Peeta. I want this baby as much as you do. It's okay."

He was going to answer but my mom came back,with a wheel chair for Peeta and a doctor with a gurney. They open the door and load me on.

The doctors says," I am Dr. Cullet. I will be in charge of this delivery, can you rate you pain in a scale of one to ten?"

"Two." But then a contraction comes and it feels like I am being stabbed with a dozen knives." Six! Six, I am at a six!"

I try to breath through it but the slightest movement only adds more pain. They get me into a room and the doctor checks me.

"Katniss!" The doctor says shocked.

"What? Is it bad? How's the baby!"

"Did you by any chance have sex in the past three days?"

"Before the contractions started. Why?"

"You are bruised up. It will make the delivery harder but not impossible. Your around four centimeters and you can start pushing when you are ten. We will put in an I.V. for extra nutrients and things for you and the baby. Will you be having an epidural?"

"No. I want to do this natural."

"Yes ma'am."

He gets the I.V. in and before he leaves he says,"Well Katniss... Looks like we will be playing the waiting game." I mange to chuckle and then he leaves.

I feel my eyes start to droop. I close my eyes to rest but Peeta comes in and parks his wheel chair on the left side of by bed by the window. He gets my hand and holds my hand then kisses it. He whispers into my ear, "You got this babe." While rubs my stomach.

I close my eyes and those are the words I carry into my sleep.