Survivors Remorse (XX)
Part one | Part 11+
2 Days Later
Peeta sat on his bunk, twisting the new snell knot Finnick showed him down in the bunkers, when Haymitch came to get him. He needed something to do while the others were on the rescue mission.
“They’re back”
“Is she-?”
“She’s with them. Just waking up. They’d been gassed before pick up so it's wearing off. You can see her now”
Peeta had never moved so fast in his life as he flew towards the hospital wing, fingers clasped tightly around the pearl that he’d had attached to a necklace in his pocket. He felt jealousy whip through him when he heard Annie’s loud, joyous cry.
“Finnick!”
She looked a little smaller than he’d seen her on the tribute selection from the Quarter Quell, but she didn’t look like she’d undergone any kind of physical torture. When his eyes landed on Johanna he could see she’d not been as lucky. They’d shaved her head, not needing to parade her in front of cameras, and she was heavily bruised everywhere the hospital gown didn’t cover. Clearl,y they’d been starving the both of you, but it hadn’t made Johanna lose any of her fire as she tore the needles from her arm and snarled for food. Haymitch pointed the way to the room they had you separated in.
“Hey loverboy, I need to talk to you!”
“Not now” Peeta growled, slipping into the room to see you sitting on the bed, facing away from the door.
Your hair lay against your exposed spinal cord, the hospital gown drowning your tiny body. There were lashes and deep multi-hued bruises littering your back on almost every inch his eyes could take in. As he took in your entire visage, Peeta had to remind himself, this was not one of his nightmares where you’d fade away as soon as he reached out to touch you. No, this time you were really here. The nurse left the room quickly, when seeing Peeta and Haymitch enter the room. When Peeta calls your name, you raise your head quickly in a jerk reaction and slowly turn to look over your shoulder, watching him walk around the bed to stand in front of you.
“Love...it’s really you”, he breathed, reaching out slowly to cup your cheek, wondering why you wouldn’t speak.
Without any warning, you snarl and lunge for Peeta’s throat, blunt nails clawing up his chest as you snap your jaws towards his trachea. Haymitch calls your name again but you don’t listen, continuing to try and rip out Peeta’s throat, nails digging into the sides to try to keep him still. Peeta’s eyes are wide as he struggles to keep your mouth from meeting its goal, his hands on your shoulders keeping you at bay, barely. You’d managed to topple the three of you to the ground as you wrestled to get at his throat. To be so malnourished, you were still strong and he had a feeling, fueled by something other than adrenaline. Your dilated, marble pupils as you snarled and chomped at him, a clear indicator. This was what Johanna was trying to warn him of. They’d done something to your mind and both he and Haymitch were losing the war of pulling you away from his throat.
It wasn’t until Boggs had knocked you upside the head, knocking you unconscious in the process, with a metal pan did you finally loosen your grip on his throat. You slumped against his chest, Peeta wheezing as he looked around at the other two men and the 3 nurses flying into the room now that you were unconscious.
What the hell was happening!?
He didn’t care that you just tried to kill him, he gathered you in his arms and held on tight, despite the nurses attempting to pry you out if his arms. Haymitch huffed irritably, yanking a morphine needle from one and shoving them backwards out the room as he handed it over to Boggs.
“Give the boy a damn minute! She’s asleep, you can poke and prod her later!”, he snarled at them.
Boggs slid the needle into your neck and slid to a corner away from the two of you, allowing Peeta to weep with joy as he rocked you in his arms. He didn’t care what they did to your mind. He would fall for you a million times over and brave any storm to make it back to you. Whatever this was, he would weather the storm with you.
“We protect each other”, he choked through his sore throat, brushing your hair from your face, lying a kiss to your forehead. "I've got you. From now on, let me protect you love"
“Peeta...we’re gonna have to-”
“I know. I know. Just, please.....let me have right now”, he pleaded, arms tightening around you, as he looked up at Haymitch with tears spilling over his cheeks.
Haymitch hadn’t seen Peeta look so much like a child since the day they’d met. He gave a small nod and sank to the floor with him, wrapping his arms around the both of you and squeezing tightly.
“We’ll fix this. I swear”
Excerpt from Chapter 20-Burned Bread available on Wattpad at Maddinkart
