We Could Have Been Great

Chapter 8

Cato's arms dart out and he manages to catch her before she falls.
Clove mentally kicks herself: when did she become so annoyingly clumsy?
The jerking movement jolts the knife and the wound starts bleeding quicker, dripping down her side and clinging to her hand which she presses against the cut.

Clove's grip on Cato slips and her knees buckle, dizziness overtaking her.
"Woah, you okay?" Cato asks, helping to keep her upright.
Clove just nods, unable to force the words that are stuck in the back of her throat out of her mouth.

They take a few more steps forward but Clove's breathing and eyelids are heavy and they have to stop again when she stumbles for a second time.
"Okay. You're not going to like this. And it may hurt for a second but we are getting nowhere at this pace," Cato rambles and under his breath he mumbles, "you're bleeding too much. God they never prepared us for this."

He lets go of Clove's waist for a second and she sways in place for a moment. Cato places one hand under her knees and the other back around her waist. As gently as he can, he lifts Clove up into his arms. She lets out a small noise - a mix of pain and annoyance.

She wraps her arms around herself loosely, her face flushed and her body shaking. Clove leans her head against Cato's shoulder, turning her face into his jacket. She is overcome with a sudden tiredness, struggling to keep her eyes open.

The Games seem to have gone on for a million years.

Her head jolts against Cato's shoulder as he quickly walks towards where the plane is landing. He overtakes Katniss and Peeta and waits as the hovercraft descends. It seems to take an eternity and Katniss and Peeta catch up to them, standing a safe distance away.

Cato taps his foot impatiently, fidgeting and pacing back and forth. He looks down to check on Clove.

Her eyes are closed.

Panic unfurls in his chest and he gently shakes his arms hoping the movement will wake her up.
"Hey, Clove. Hey, no, you need to keep your eyes open, the plane is almost here. Please stay with me okay? Stay with me," his voice is edging on desperate and he internally kicks himself for sounding weak in front of the cowards from 12.

Part of him however, doesn't care as his worry for Clove grows and grows until he practically runs onto the hovercraft the second it lands and the ramp descends.

Cato calls out for someone to help and the door at the back of the craft swings open.

A couple of doctors bustle out, heads bowed. They are followed by a lady who screams Capitol from head to toe. Her hair is strangely done up, her makeup is insanely pale and her clothes - although they are scrubs - are bright, garish and sparkling.

The doctors swarm Cato and a couple of them try to pry Clove out of his arms but he turns his body away from them. He bares his teeth. They back away. Everybody saw what he did in the Games.

What he had no choice but to do.

The doctors look scared, leaving him well alone and that should please him. He should feel satisfaction knowing that he now intimidates the whole of Panem.

But he doesn't.

There is no time to dwell on it.
Clove's life is on the line.
He's already almost lost her far too many times.

She's almost left him way too many times.