The Fires No Longer Burn

Chapter 15: Katniss

My head is in so much pain. Probably from all the confusion.

I can see Peeta shouting at the doctor on the other side of the door.

I lead my eyes to the plastic bracelet resting on my arm.
My name is Katniss Everdeen.
My home is District 12.
It is 2065, supposedly.
I was issued here on June 26th.
Peeta and I are secretly together. Or that is what I thought.

Why has time skipped forward seven years? What has happened in the seven years I've been asleep?

My fingers grasp my temples as I close my eyes. I can't even form a reason as to how I got here.
I rest my head on the paper pillow. Rolling my head to the side. I can't think straight.

"She doesn't know our love anymore. She doesn't even remember our children. How am I supposed to tell them? Oh kids, your mother doesn't remember you and I don't know how long she'll think this." I manage to hear Peeta say.

I grimace at the thought, I could never have children. Yet alone his children. What is he talking about?

Focus on something, anything. I tell myself. My fingers pick at the blanket. My whole world is a confusion. I know that very well.

"I've lost my wife. All those years of effort to keep our love a secret even when it is public now a waste. I've lost her, five years of freedom. Gone."

I moan in pain. Let me fall asleep, let me wake up and let this all be a dream. All this confusion just evaporating in my head as I sleep.
Who is Peeta to me? What have a gained in seven years? Has my family changed? Any of them dead?

I open my eyes again as Peeta enters, sniffing. "Katniss." he starts, approaching me.
"What is the last thing you remember?"

"The last full thing I remember, you made me jump off my balcony of my bedroom. So I could see you. Then you led me to my lake, where we weren't sure how to continue our relationship. There was more but it is all a murky blur." I explain.

Peeta clenches his hands and leans on the bed. He can't speak. He's probably angry. Scared? Upset?

Everything is a mystery to me, there's a whole lot of events I must have missed.

"Peeta?" I croak, gaining his attention. "What have I done?" I croak again and release some tears. "I've messed up somehow. Why is it 2065? I remember it being 2058."

Peeta squishes his face and buries it away from my view. I can hear him quietly sobbing.

If it really is supposed to be 2065,

what have I done for the last seven years?