𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 ☘︎ 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐉𝐀𝐘 ☘︎ 11

A week passes before the doctors decide to try anything with me, and during that week, I do nothing but listen to Vick, Posy, Rory, Gale and Katniss as they come in several times a day to talk to me. My mother also visits.

The doctors come in to check up on me but they never speak or do anything major.

The rest of the time, it's just Haymitch, Plutarch or Boggs, coming to give me updates about Austin. None are good.

But today, finally, the doctors are doing an actual test to see if I can speak. Plutarch comes too, sitting in the chair beside the bed with no comment.

She takes off my brace, being careful to remove it gently, then she touches my swollen neck. I flinch back. "Okay, okay, I know, I'm sorry, I know it's a little tender."

She presses various points on my neck then she says slowly. "Okay, let's try your voice now. My name is Willow Hawthorne. I'm from District Twelve."

I try. "My..." My name comes out as a rasp. And it hurts to even do that much.

"Okay, take your time, you've still got a lot of swelling in your vocal cords," she gently prods my neck.

"My... name- is... Willow- Hawthorne," I choke out. It hurts to even do that much. I turn to Plutarch. "I want- I want to talk to him."

He shakes his head. "He needs time. But, um, we're trying something new today. You know, he's been calmer with the doctors but they're strangers to him, so today we're testing his response with someone he knows from home. Someone he trusts."

☘︎☘︎☘︎

I stand with Haymitch and Plutarch on the outside of Austin's room, looking in through the two way mirror. Suddenly, I hear a guard grunt "send him in" and then the door into his room opens.

Surprise flanks me as my little brother enters the room. Rory appears all but scared, however I see the slightest hesitancy in his look as he glances towards the mirror. "Hey," he says to Austin rather unsurely, sitting on the end of his bed.

"He's too close," Haymitch says.

"Just leave it," Plutarch replies, not lifting his eyes from the conversation going on in the white room.

"Where am I?" Austin asks in confusion.

"We live in District Thirteen now; it's a real place, the stories are true," Rory goes along. "You were rescued."

My heart breaks at what he says next. "My family hasn't come to see me," he looks down. Then he gets it right on the money. "There was an attack on Twelve."

"Yes," Rory nods. Even this is emotional to him.

"My family?" He looks up at him.

"The bakery didn't survive," Rory looks down, his eyes squeezing shut.

I watch as Austin's face goes from sad to angry. "It's Willow. It's because of Willow."

Rory tries like the rest of us. And fails like the rest of us as well. "It wasn't because of her-"

"She tell you to say that?" Austin asks mutinously.

"She didn't tell me anything-"

"She's a liar, Rory," Austin looks down, burning holes in the covers.

"Austin, what you're saying isn't real, this isn't real," Rory tries.

Then he realises. "She sent you here to talk to me, she knows you're here now, she knows- YOU CAN'T TRUST HER!" Rory jumps off the bed in fright as he starts to yell. "SHE'S A MONSTER! SHE'S A MUTT! A MUTT THE CAPITOL CREATED TO DESTROY US!"

He foams at the mouth as he yells. "Get him out of there," Haymitch warns as he continues to yell.

"SHE'S A MONSTER! SHE'S A MUTT!"

He shouts one last thing to my brother as the door opens.

"YOU HAVE TO KILL HER, RORY, YOU HAVE TO KILL HER!"

And he continues to yell to no ears as Rory leaves. He continues to tear my heart out and smash it in two.

"Willow," Plutarch puts a hand on my shoulder as I watch in shock and dismay. "This is just a conditioned response. It's not him."

I can only think of one intelligent reply.

"No, it's not him."

☘︎☘︎☘︎

The next few weeks is designated to me getting better, and when I can finally speak well enough, Coin calls me into a meeting.

"Will you excuse us?" She asks Boggs and a few others who are in her room when I arrive. They leave immediately. "Have a seat," she offers me, and I sit down beside her. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

I look her straight in the eye. "Snow has to pay for what he's done. I want to help the rebels in any way I can."

Coin nods. "It's hard to see Austin this way-"

"That's not Austin," I interrupt coldly. "Send me to the Capitol. I'll do anything."

"I can't-" Coin begins, putting a hand to her mouth. "I can't send you there. We can't get into the Capitol until we control District Two."

"Then send me to Two," I insist. "You want me to fire up our troops? Call out to the loyalists, you've seen what I can do."

She sighs, agreeing reluctantly. "Yes I have."

☘︎☘︎☘︎

The night before I'm going to Two, I just sit in my compartment in Thriteen until Rory comes and joins me.

"Did you see me... when I went in to see Austin?"

There's no point in lying. "Yeah."

He sighs. "You're never going to let him go, are you?"

"Never," I shake my head. "Even if he stays like that forever."

He puts a hand on my shoulder. "What's going on in your head?"

"I don't know," I say honestly, standing up. "You better get some sleep."

"You too," he says, pulling me up.

I reluctantly follow him to my bed, and as soon as I hit it, I fall asleep. And then the nightmares come yet again.

☘︎☘︎☘︎

The journey by hovercraft takes a couple of days, and in that time, I sleep at random intervals during the day. On one such occasion, when I wake up at a time I don't know, I hear Gale and Beetee talking about weapons in a little alcove behind me.

"...This one's designed to blind, the smoke clings to the eyes..." Gale's saying, as he and Beetee pour over plans and weapons.

I begin to slowly walk over to them as Gale says something I can't help but listen to. "This is an application of your hummingbird trap. We scare people in one direction to what they think is a safe haven."

"A two tiered explosion," Beetee murmurs.

Gale nods. "We allow people enough time to rush in, help the wounded and then-"

"A second bomb," I say, outraged. I'm right up next to them now, and I stare at them with hatred as Gale bites his lip.

"Yeah, a second one goes off right here," he points to one of the plans on the table.

"I guess there are no rules anymore about what a person can do to another person," I say, standing up near my brother.

Gale stands up, all his fury now directed at me. Despite this, however, he speaks in a controlled manner. "I don't think Snow used any rule book when he hijacked Austin."

I fall down, remaining silent. He got me there.

But that still doesn't mean what he's doing is right.