The Strings To My Heart

10

Haymitch's POV

"Did you hear that?" Effie asked for the second time. "I swear I heard glass shattering." She shot me a concerned look and together we raced down the hallway.

"Katniss? Peeta? Prim? Annie? Finnick?" I shouted.

"There," breathed Effie, pointing at Katniss's bedroom door. It was slightly ajar, and a warm lamp was on inside, casting the whole room in an orange glow.

"Katniss?" I asked quietly, waiting for a response with bated breath. There was no response, but I heard muffled shuffling. There was someone in there, no doubt about that.

"Hello?" a small voice asked. Whoever spoke sounded like they were a thousand years old. Their voice was strained, cracked, and tired. Yet it was familiar, too...

"Katniss?" Effie asked incredulously. "Is that you?"

I glanced at Effie, and she nodded. Together, we gently pushed open the door and stood in silence.

"Haymitch? Effie?" Katniss asked. She looked slightly surprised, but her voice was emotionless.

The room looked normal, except the lights were all off. A ray of gray light streamed through a window that overlooked the alleyway. Katniss was hunched on the bed, eyes closed. Next to her was a broken glass of water. The shards sparkled in the dull light from outside.

And next to the shards lay a tiny, indigo pill.

Nightlock.

And we knew instantly that if we had ignored Roody for three seconds longer, or if we had not come at all, Katniss would be dead.

"Katniss..." Effie whispered. I could feel it, too.

Katniss was broken.

Effie nodded at me, and slowly walked across the room to where Katniss sat on her bed, staring into the floor. Effie sat down next to her. She didn't hug her, or even put an arm around her. She just sat next to Katniss. And it was then that I realized that this situation went much further, much deeper, than I had imagined.

"Hey," Effie said quietly.

"Hey," was Katniss's hoarse reply.

Effie sighed, then said, "Roody came to get us, you know. He's a good dog. Sweet, too. He was barking up a storm, and then nearly bit off Haymitch's shoe. We quickly realized something had happened, so we came on over."

Katniss said nothing, and just nodded.

Then, Effie said, "Katniss, I need you to come with us. You're too unsafe right now. This is for your own good."

"Where?" was all Katniss asked.

"The hospital," I said. Katniss twitched when she heard my voice instead of Effie's, but remained silent.

"Come on, darling," Effie whispered. She took Katniss's hand and led her out of her room. I shut and locked the front door (it was still wide open) and we headed out the back.

Without even asking her permission, Effie grabbed Katniss's car keys from her pocket and opened the garage door. We piled into her car: Effie driving, Katniss at shotgun, and me in the back.

We drove out of the alley and into the streets. Seeing as it was about five am on the day after Christmas, the streets were empty of cars. Effie drove quickly, and sped through a red light at the intersection between Main Street and Davis Road. When we finally reached the hospital and the car rolled to a stop in the snowy parking lot, Katniss spoke her first sentence since we saw her today.