𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒 ❦ The Hunger Games Third Book

T w o

CHAPTER fourty-nine| THE BOY

Billie Eilish~ Bury a friend
❝why aren't you scared of me? Why do you care for me?❞

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WARNING: MENTIONS
OF A SEIZURE

KATNISS HAD BEEN forced to wear a neck brace for a while. It did not look comfortable but for some reason, her raven hair tumbled passed it so elegantly that I had to remind myself that she was not comfortable every time I saw her turn her head. She looked at ease, although never peaceful, and as she glanced from me to yet another doctor there was a hint of relief within her.

The white brace was stripped from her neck by the Velcro straps as she watched me fiddle with my fingers. I wanted to offer her some kind of assistance or even just fill the space that she left open because she couldn't speak but I never quite did it; Dr. Grainger insisted that my uneasiness was a deep rooted problem that was created when I lied to the whole of Panem. I half knew that- it wasn't a fear, but I couldn't bring myself to speak to people without making sure that I knew what I would be saying was real.

Still, there was a strangely comfortable silence in the room as Katniss adjusted to the way she felt without with brace binding her neck together. At first she swallowed the thick lump in her throat and then she tried to breathe out of her mouth with little success; the wheezing reminded me of a toy that was deflating slowly. It made me want to wince, but I could not do something so obviously uncomfortable.

I stood up so that I could examine the bruises on her neck as the doctor put the brace on a nearby metal table. The area was tender and blue but it was not as bad as it was, and I could tell in Katniss's heart of hearts she was not at all angry at Peeta for what he did. I wished then that Finnick looked the same when he glanced at me- there was something within me that was so sure that he was angry with me. I had wondered what I had done; I wished some days that he would stop pretending and just tell me what it was that was so wrong with us now.

I wished that there was a way that I could show him that I could handle it.

Katniss recoiled when the Doctor touched her neck, and then the woman seemed to wince at her own actions.

"Ok, ok I'm sorry I know it is a little tender." She dissmissed as she tried to gently touch the bruises. I was yet to see why I was with the girl from 12 but I patiently waited in the white room with my eyes trained on anything but the walls- I hated the idea of the white walls more than Katniss seemed to hate the woman that was carelessly watching her try to function properly.