Return to the Sea (Gale Hawthorne x OC)

Chapter 18

After Gale left no one else came. Primrose came in every once in awhile to check up on me. She kept her distance at first, then when she noticed nothing was going on, she opened up.

After about a day she told me about her cat, Buttercup and how he hates Katniss. Then after another hour, they took me into a new room. This one had orange lights and monitors up on the walls. Prim still checked up on me and after awhile she took the strap off.

That made me feel so much better. My ribs hurt less and I could finally breathe properly. Then Prim left.

Hero was just sitting in a chair watching me intently while Dele and Marshall were playing a card game on the floor. The door opened and Gale walked in. He sat in the chair Hero was at which made Hero disappear.

"Why?" I ask.

He looked up from staring at his shoes. "Why what?"

"Why are you helping me? Why are you here?"

"I guess I just want to make sure you recover after everything you've been through." He says.

I scoff. "So your giving me pity?"

"No, no. I'm not. I promise. I don't know exactly but when I do I'll tell you. Alright?" His soft grey eyes bore into mine.

"Alright." I looked away.

Then Prim walked in with some broth and water. She sat it down on my lap. She said a quiet hello to Gale and scurried out. I scrunched my nose up in distaste. Gale chuckled at my reaction.

"I should get going." He stood up.

I nodded and watched him leave the room. Then I went down to staring down my broth.
                                        ***
After about two, three days, the doctors let me walk. Gale was there and so was Triton. When I stood up dizziness came over making me loose balance and stumble a little. I quickly caught myself and went back to trying to walk. When I took my first few steps, everything was fine. The doctors left and so did Triton to my disappointment.

"Come on. Someone wants to meet you." Gale said.

I gave him a questioning glance as I walked past him out of my room. He led me down halls and halls. Some people passing by gave me wary glances while others gave me encouraging smiles to which I smiled back.

Then we went up a elevator and to this room. He knocked on the door and once he heard the okay, he walked in with me trailing behind.

"Ceto, this is President Alma Coin." Gale introduced.

Standing in front of me was an older woman with silver hair. Her eyes were an amber.

"Ceto, it is so nice to finally meet you." Coin grabbed my hand and held it with both of her's.

Something about her seemed off.

I gave her a tight lipped smile and retracted my hand. Her smile faltered a little but she fixed as soon as it happened.

My fingers started to twitch so I closed them in fists and crossed my arms behind my back. They were just looking at me.

Pressure.

That's all I felt.

Then I bolted out of the room and down the hall. Pain shot through my body as dizziness clouded my mind but I pushed it back. My leg hurt the most though. Which caused the limp to happen. I heard fast footsteps behind me which I recognized as Gale's. I learned it from him walking around my room or outside the room.

I ran down the stairs and once I reached the bottom floor, I disappeared into the crowed. I looked back to make sure no one was chasing me then slowed down to a walk. My ribs hurt from the rapid breathing and my leg still hurt.

I made it down another hallway and entered a room.  I looked back out to make sure no one was there for the last time. I turned back around and noticed I was in a dark room. But I wasn't alone.

Katniss, Hamitch, Plutarch, and who I just met, Boggs. They heard the door close and looked at me. I was still breathing pretty hard. I saw that Plutarch was about to say something so I held up my finger to stop him which he did. I slid down the door and held my ribs trying to calm my breathing.

"Tip. Don't run full speed with healing ribs. Hurts like hell." I took a deep breath before standing again. "Hi KitKat. Nice to see you."

I walked up next to her which made the entire room tense. I ignored it and looked through the window they were looking at. Peeta was strapped down like I was but so much worse. He had straps holding down his ankles and wrists and one going across his stomach.

I shake my head and let out a breath.

"Send her in." Plutarch said through the comms thing.

Prim walked through the door and looked at Katniss. She then made her way to Peeta. Katniss grew tense as she saw Primrose walk closer.

"Hey." Prim's small voice said.

"Prim." Peeta said.

"How you feeling?" She sat on his bed.

"She's to close." Hamitch voiced.

Plutarch looked at him. "It's okay."

"How'd you get here." Peeta asked, ignoring her question.

"You live in District 13 now." Prim informed. "It's a real place. The stories are true. You were rescued."

Peeta shakes his head slightly. "My family hasn't come to see me. There was an attack on 12."

"Yes."

"My family?" Peeta's eyes started to glisten with tears.

"Bakery did not survive." Prim told him.

Peeta took a shaky breath. Then his gaze hardened. "It's Katniss. It's because of Katniss."

"It wasn't because of her." Primrose denied.

"Did she tell you to say that?"

"She didn't tell me anything."

"She's a liar, Prim." His voice got deep. "It's a trick."

I started to worry for the safety of the young girl. And I could tell Katniss did too.

"Peeta, what your saying isn't real." Prim shook her head.

"She sent you to come talk to me." Peeta voices out. "She knows your here now. You can't trust her!"

"Get her out." I simply say.

Boggs left to go get her as Peeta lashed out. I turned my back to the glass, not wanting to see that. Plutarch talked to Katniss but I didn't care to hear.