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A POOR EXCUSE FOR A HOSPITAL GREETED ZEA WHEN HER EYES FINALLY DECIDED TO OPEN. The fluorescent overhead lights had her wincing as she slowly sat up, the hands of Panlo and a veterinarian guiding her steadily.
It took a moment for the memory of what happened to come to her, and when it did, it stung. The bombs. Velvereen. Just that morning they were talking and making fun of Panlo, Velvereen concocting schemes to get Lamina and Zea 'alone'. Now, she was in the care of an animal doctor, her legs throbbing and head pounding.
The voices of Panlo and the doctor were muffled, her hearing fine but mind not. Who's going to die next? She asked herself, vaguely aware of the doctor handing Panlo back her painkillers, tasking him with distributing them.
"Zea," Panlo set a hand on either arm of hers, murmuring, "Do you want me to carry you?"
She answered by setting her feet down on the linoleum tile, allowing him to only take her hand as she placed all her weight down with a grimace. "Take one when you get to the enclosure, one more at night."
She nodded at the vet, only half listening—Panlo would be in charge of the pills and she was at his mercy.
Each step was excruciating, but she needed to take them. The games were in two days, and she would need to get used to moving about, even with the pain. Beside her, Panlo frowned the whole way out, her pain palpable. They were whisked onto a small vehicle the man driving referred to as a "golf cart". Despite her mood, Zea asked all sorts of questions of the man, deducing that whatever 'golf' was, it was too boring for her. Gone from her voice was the usual excitement and charm, only a monotonous curiosity lacing the words.
The man dropped them back off at the Monkey House, their seats quickly taken back up by Tanner, who seemed perfectly fine other than a mark on his brow.
She avoided the gaze of her fellow tributes, heading to the back wall and dropping to the ground, eyes fixed on the dirt. Panlo unscrewed the top of her medication, shaking out one and holding it out. Clearly, he thought she was in enough pain to need the whole thing. He might've been right. Her hands reached up to her head, harshly tugging out the braids that matched those of Velvereen.
"Do you want me to get Lamina?" He asked as used her fingers to brush through her hair. She shook her head, "I'll leave you to rest then—" her hand reached out, wrapping around his wrist and trapping him.
"Could you stay, Panny?" Her voice was softer than ever, the question a childish squeak; the tone reminiscent of the nights where she would beg her father to check under the bed or in the closet. She couldn't bear the company of anyone else, not when the last two people she dared befriend outside of Nine were now dead. She'd rather the comfort of home that Panlo brought than the nervous tingling in her stomach Lamina did. It was a smaller risk to hold on to Panlo than to grab onto Lamina, only for her to be torn away.
