Chapter 74

Peeta

"I've become so numb, I can't feel you there; Become so tired, so much more aware." -Linkin Park

The first scream makes my blood run cold.Then there's silence.Another scream.

Gale and I bolt up the stairs, trying to get to her. We burst into the room to find her on her knees, her head on the ground, and very bloodied.Haymitch hurries in after us."Katniss!" Gale says, crouching down next to her head.This brings on another round of screaming.

She murmurs inaudibly and I get down closer to her mouth."Make it stop. Make it stop." She says over and over."Make it stop." I repeat louder, trying to understand."Katniss, what do you want to stop?" I ask her.She just keeps saying it over and over again.

"Gale," I call out. "Get the phone. Dial the hospital, ask for Aurelius or for Wilson."Gale hurries downstairs and runs back upstairs, phone in hand, dialing the number."Hi, yes, I need to speak with Doctor Aurelius or Doctor Wilson." Gale says.I hear the receptionist's voice on the other end."It's really urgent." Gale says.

A few moments later, Gale hands me the phone and I wipe my slightly bloodied hand from Katniss on my shirt. "Hello?" Aurelius says."Doctor Aurelius, it's Katniss. She's in bad shape." I say."Bad shape?" He says, his voice stiffening up."Screaming, bleeding, muttering the same words over and over, hunched over on the floor." I list her conditions quickly.

"Bleeding? How badly?" Aurelius asks seriously."She got herself pretty good around her forearms and chest. I think that's where it's mostly coming from." I say.He's silent. "Bring her in. It's better to be safe than sorry.""I definitely agree." I say under my breath as he hangs up.

I place a gentle hand on Katniss's back, the only place that doesn't seem bloodied. She flinches for a moment and tenses up, but when I speak she eases her body."We're going to make sure you're okay, Katniss. We just need to get you and the baby checked out. It's okay." I assure her.

Rigidly, she allows me to pick her up. She still breathes heavily although she's slowing down. Once comfortable in my arms she goes limp. "Katniss?" I ask, making sure she's still hanging on.She groans quietly in response. I  carry her small stature down the stairs.

While we head to the hospital, I can't help but look at all the blood. It's on my hands and arms. Both my shirt and Katniss's shirt are stained a deep crimson, although it's only coming from her body.

--

The hospital doors are fancy, opening at the slightest sense of motion anywhere in front of them. When they open and shut behind me, Gale, and Haymitch, eyes are immediately trained on us.Especially myself, who holds a remarkably injured and pregnant Katniss Everdeen-Mellark.

A receptionist notifies a team of nurses and Doctor Wilson, who hurry into the waiting room where we stand. They wheel out a gurney, and as soon as I can, I place my wife gently onto it.She calls out quietly something that vaguely sounds like my name. As soon as I hear it, I'm there, holding her hand.

A nurse tries to find the source of her heavy bleeding, only to realize that there are multiple. Her forearms and chest are the main ones, but her cheek is slick with blood, and so are her legs. As the nurses take in the sight of Katniss, I do too.

She looks pale. Too pale.I don't know if it's because of the stark white lighting or because of the blood loss, but she doesn't look right."Get her into an exam room, stat. We need to see what's going on." Wilson says.

The nurses oblige and begin to wheel the gurney. I stay right next to her side, holding her hand until Wilson stops. "Mr. Mellark, we need you to let go of her hand so we can get her to an exam room and then further her treatment. We cannot have you back there. It's just the standard protocol. You must stay out here until she's in better condition." He says.

I shake my head. "No. I'm coming back there.""You can't." Wilson replies.The gurney moves again and I go to follow it, only to be held back by Gale and Haymitch. "Let me go!" I snarl."Peeta, you can't go back there. Just let them do their job and fix Katniss. Then you can!" Haymitch replies. I watch helplessly as they wheel her out of my sight.

Everyone's on edge. I sit in one of the waiting room chairs, my leg bouncing up and down nervously. Haymitch, who had his flask confiscated an hour ago, sits staring at the room sourly. Gale sits in the chairs across from me, head in his hands.

"We did this to her." Gale says."I know," I reply guiltily. "We did.""I-I didn't think that it would do that to her... I didn't know how sensitive she was." Gale adds."You have to start thinking in detail. Sometimes the smallest things in her head can just make her snap. If you're not careful, it can turn into this." I say, gesturing to the hospital around us.

Gale just nods. Our attempts at being friendly with each other are small and only minimally effective.

It's yet another hour before a tired-looking nurse comes out into the waiting room, looking for me."Mr. Mellark?" She asks when she comes over to me."Yeah, that's me." I reply.She smiles. "Hi.""Hi." I reply, doing my best to be nice."Your wife, Katniss, she's okay now. She lost some blood, but Doctor Wilson and I ruled out a transfusion. A few days on bed rest will suffice." She says.

"Are you a doctor?" Gale asks.The nurse turns around to face him."I'm an intern. Doctor Wilson's my attending physician. After I complete the program here, I'll be offered a job. So, yes and no to the doctor thing." She replies.

Gale looks unsure but nods."Can, uh, can I see her?" Gale asks."Mr. Hawthorne, is it?" The nurse asks.Gale nods."Mr. Hawthorne, right now it's family visiting only for the sake of her health, so the only one who can visit Katniss is Mr. Mellark. I'm sorry." She answers.Gale is silent. I can see the hurt forming on his face, and I guess the nurse can too.

"Later, Mr. Hawthorne. You can see her later. Tomorrow morning." The nurse says."Mr. Mellark," She gestures for me to follow her. I rise and walk side by side with the nurse.

While we walk, she explains the situation."Okay," She says breathily, "So, here's the situation." I nod."Katniss needed stitches on her arms, and if the bleeding from one of the cuts on her chest doesn't stop within the hour, we'll stitch her up there, too." She explains.

"Okay." I say."We brought in Lucia to do an emergency ultrasound. The baby's okay, no signs of distress. Katniss is sleeping off a sedative we gave her to lower her heart rate and calm her down." She continues."So what are we doing from here?" I ask."Possible stitches on her chest, like I said, and bed rest for a day or two until she's a little stronger." The nurse says.

"The bed rest is happening where?" I ask."Bed rest is usually at home." She replies.My stomach churns with worry. I would rather her be here for those days, as much as she hates the hospital. I want her and the baby to be as safe as possible.

"Can I ask you something?"The nurse nods."Katniss... She's so unstable, she's all over the place, you know?" I say."Yes." The nurse replies."I know bed rest is usually at home, but would it be possible for her to stay here those few days?""Stay here?" The nurse asks, confused.

"I want her to be as safe as possible. I don't feel like she's as safe at home." I explain.She nods. "That's possible, yes.""Thank you." I reply. She gives me a smile.

We walk quietly into the room where my wife lays, pale and sleeping."She should wake up in a few minutes. The nurse says. "She'll be a bit groggy. Just try to keep her as calm as possible. Someone will be in to check on you two in a little bit."

"Thank you." I say, sitting down on a chair next to the hospital bed.The nurse walks away, leaving Katniss and I alone.

--

An hour later, the sound of heavy, rapid breathing accompanies the beeps of the heart monitor.She's awake.I lift my head, which was resting in my hands, and get a look at her face. Her eyes are open wide and she breathes as if she's in a panic.

"Hey, hey, shh..." I say, moving a piece of hair gently from her face.She lets out a noise that sounds like a small cry."Breathe." I say soothingly.She lets out another cry."You're safe, you're okay." I say.I run my fingers through her hair.

They've got the old Velcro restraints on her wrists again. "Peeta..." She says quietly."You're okay." I say."Peeta, I-I'm scared." She says like a little child."It's alright. I'm right here with you. You're safe, the baby's safe. We're all safe." I reassure her.

She nods a little bit before taking some deep breaths."That's it, love. Deep breaths." I say, "What's scaring you?""I don't want to bring a child into such a painful world." She says quietly.My heart skips a beat. I know the pain she's feeling. I'd be lying if I said I haven't had that feeling time and time again.

Why do we bring kids into a world of hatred and cruelty? I don't know. Katniss and I have both experienced firsthand the horrible atrocities the world has had to offer us. So why do we want to bring a child into a world where sending your kids to fight to the death for your entertainment is okay? I don't know. But we just do.

Maybe in hopes that these kids can right our wrong. They can fix what we've damaged. They can make new the ideas of peace and prosperity.

I nod my head."Me too." I say."You too? Then why are we having this ch..."

"Because, Katniss... we need it. We need something to show us that our lives are worth living. We need something to force us to move on. All those deaths, all those painful memories, we dwell on them. It's hard to move on. This little girl will force us to be there, be present, and be grateful. We need it." I say, letting whatever comes to mind spill out.

She makes eye contact with me, and I don't need her to answer."It's okay," I say. "You don't need to talk." She nods her head. I understand.She breathes deeply, her heart rate still elevated, but not as bad as before.

I place my hand on her shoulder and we look at each other for a while, just examining the details of one another's face.There's a small knock on out open door. The same nurse comes in quietly."Hi." She says with a smile, "Good to see you're awake, Mrs. Mellark." Katniss replies with a long blink, acknowledging being spoken to.

The nurse turns to me. "Okay," she says sighing, "I'm going to check those bandages on her. We'll determine if stitches are going to be necessary." Bandage by bandage, she unwraps each of the gauzy strips from Katniss's wounds, checking to see how much clotting has happened.

"Lucky for you, the wounds have for the most part clotted. The bleeding has gone down significantly on your legs and upper arms. Your stitches on your arms are working great. We just need to check your chest." She says.

Carefully removing the gauze pads stuck onto her chest, she looks at the wounds. She gently wipes them off, and waits to see how much blood comes to the surface. She looks disappointed."Stitches it is, then." She says.

A few minutes later, Katniss is clenching my hand and staring at me, away from her chest.The nurse applied a numbing agent to her chest, and I watch as she starts to stitch.

Katniss looks away, eyes locked on me.

The nurse expertly stitches each wound, one by one."You're good at this." I tell her."I work in the ER mostly. I get lots of practice." She says, nonchalantly."Got it." I reply.

A few minutes later, she's all done and starts to bandage up Katniss's chest. I feel a weight I didn't even realize was there lift off my shoulders once the needle and medical thread are put away. She's safe.

Katniss falls asleep not long after the nurse finishes, so I thank the nurse before she leaves.I gaze at the paper posted on the wall informing about hospital information. There's different information about protocol, stuff about doctor and nurse duties, and stuff about different Code situation.

The one that scares me most is a Code Purple: an intruder. I read that an intruder isn't always a bad person, it could just be a crazed person who wants to get in to see their loved one, but it's still scary to me. I never want Katniss in harm's way.  Reading about it, I learn the alarm sound is 3 short beeps in a row, over and over.

In fact, I've barely made it to the next Code situation when the alarms begin sounding. My blood runs cold when I hear 3 short beeps. Again and again.

Katniss wakes up prominently, startled by the alarms."Peeta? What does this mean?" She asks frantically."It's a Code situation. A Code Purple..."

**Hey guys! Sorry this update took forever! I meant to get to it faster, but I've been super distracted lately. Hope you all enjoy! Sorry for another somewhat-cliff hanger! :) Xoxo, Aly.**