Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 43

Peeta

"My defenses hit the ground, and they shatter all around, so open and exposed."
-Lindsey Haun

Haymitch should be calling at any moment to give me updates on Katniss. I think about if I will get to talk to her or not, and what I'll say if I do.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, I get the communication request from him.
"Hello?" I say, answering the request.
"Hey, Peeta." He says. He sounds exhausted.
"How is it all going? Is the medicine working alright for Katniss?" I ask.

Haymitch is silent at the other end. I'm starting to get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
"Haymitch... Is everything okay?" I ask.
"That's what I called to talk to you about." He explains. The feeling in my stomach grows and darkens.
"What's going on?" I ask slowly.
"Let me explain." He says.
"Okay."
"Alright, Peeta. You know what's wrong with her brain, right? You were told? Well, her condition is put in huge danger if she has a flashback or a relapse. It can become life-threatening if it's a severe one." He says.
"Oh my God. Is she alright?!" I ask, growing louder.
"Please, Peeta, let me talk for a moment." He replies.

"The news of the War beginning was told to her during Lunch hours in the Dining Hall. She must have gotten out of there before being overtaken, but she was found in the hallway outside after she was heard screaming a little bit. She was tremoring and sweaty and pale as a ghost." He says.
"Okay... But that sounds relatively normal..." I say.

"Okay, I'm just going to cut to the chase. Peeta, Katniss's flashback was so bad, it put her in a coma." He says.

I'm numbed by an overwhelming sense of pain.
"A coma?" I ask, quietly. My heart is racing.
"Yes. It's like something in her just snapped." He replies, sadly.
"When will she wake up?" I ask.
Haymitch takes deep breath.
"Well, Peeta, they're not sure." He explains, "They say it could be anytime, really, but when someone's in a coma... There's always that fear that maybe they won't wake up."

"You're saying she won't wake up?" I ask, the words catching a little.
"No no no, Peeta! I'm not saying that. I'm saying that there's always a possibility that she might not." He says.

"Are you in the room with her?" I ask.
I remember hearing somewhere that when someone is in a coma, they can hear and know who's there.

"No, but if you want to say something to her, I can go there." He says.
"Alright." I say.
Soon enough, Haymitch's got the headset on Katniss, and gives me the go-ahead to talk.

"Katniss? Hey. It's Peeta. Haymitch told me what happened... And that you're in a coma. I just want you to know that I still love you. And I want you to know that I need you here with me, so if you have any power or any say in waking up, please do it. Please wake up and come back to me. This war is going to be over soon. You have to execute Snow for everyone, like you wanted. And then we can move on with our lives. We can be safe. Please, Katniss. Just wake up. I love you. I need you here with me." I say.
I would give anything to hear her voice. All of those months of being with her and hearing her talk and laugh and just being her... I took for granted.

I disconnect after thanking Haymitch. I don't go and join the others at camp. Instead, I sit alone, leaning against a hard wall near our camp.
I feel like I'm unraveling, coming undone, shattering. One little tap and I could fall into a thousand little fragments of myself. I sit under the evening sky, watching the sun set over the skyline of the Capitol. I search the sky for that perfect color, that perfect orange. When my eyes find it, I try to latch onto it, thinking of the time I told her about this color. And she had told me about hers.

But the sun doesn't stop setting for anyone. It continues, leaving everything in its wake in darkness until it decides to rise again. I watch as the beautiful orange transforms into a bruising deep purple, and I think of Katniss again.