Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 106

Katniss

"We don't need anything or anyone. If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?" -Snow Patrol

I feel my eyes opening slowly. The world feels unreal, as if I'm in a dream. The warm glow of the fire in the fireplace dimly illuminates the living room. I blink slowly, trying to make sense of the world. My back doesn't even hurt... Was all of that just some dream?

Where's Willow?
Fear intrudes on the calmness I had just been feeling. It slices everything good I was feeling in half. It's as if my brain has finally woken up, and now pain bites through my shoulder and back. The thought of my daughter, the way she cried and cried, consumes me more than the pain.

Immediately, I sit up. Pain slashes through my body. Gentle hands push me back down. I must murmur something sounding like my daughter's name, because I'm met with a soft reply.
"Willow's alright. I checked her out. Only a few little bruises on her legs. That's it, Katniss. She's asleep upstairs,"

Someone kneels next to the couch I'm lying on.
"Peeta?" I ask like a small child asking for their mother.
"Yeah, I'm here," he says. He's the one kneeling next to me.
"I'm glad you're here," I tell him.
I must sound so stupid.

"I'm glad you're awake," he says.
"The world feels so... so funny," I say, feeling waves of calm wash over my fear and the pain in my shoulder again.
Peeta laughs.
"What are you laughing at?" I ask. I can't control myself, so I start laughing too. My voice sounds a little slurred.

"You," he smiles.
"Am I drunk?"  I ask him.
"Not quite, babe," he says.
"Hey," I reply. "You never call me babe. What's going on? Am I dreaming?"
Agains, another laugh escapes his mouth.

"You're pretty drugged up right now. That's why you feel all weird. Morphling, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics... The whole 9 yards," he explains quietly. "And you're probably not going to remember this. That's why I called you babe. You hate it, and I've always wanted to call you that. Might as well do it now, when you won't remember."

"I married a smart, smart boy," I say, giggling. And I never, never giggle.

"Maybe you should try to sleep a bit," Peeta suggests. He runs his fingers through my hair and I lie on my side facing him.
"I can't sleep. Not after everything that's happened," I tell him.
"I bet you could fall asleep, babe. Just close your eyes for me," he says.

"Peeta, we have talk about everything that happened," I say.
"Shh," he says. We make eye contact for a few moments until I decide that sleep would be nice.
"I'm so tired," I slur, under the influence of all my medicine.
"Shut your eyes, Katniss," Peeta instructs.

"Don't leave," I say.
"I would never leave you. You took a knife in the back for our daughter. I couldn't just let you go," he says.
"I love you," I tell him, my eyes still closed. "Real."
"Always," he replies. "You know that. Always."

--

I wake again a few hours later. The sun has only just begun to rise and stream through the gaps in  the curtains that  Peeta drew closed last night.

"Hey," he says. He's still right next to the couch that he laid me down on yesterday.
"You didn't leave?" I ask quietly.
"I told you I wouldn't," he says.
"Yeah, but I thought you'd get tired," I say.
"I did, but I slept on the floor right here just in case you needed me," he explains.

"Peeta," I tell him. "You didn't have to do that."
"I needed to make sure you were okay. You got Willow back for us, so the least I could have done was make sure you're okay after it," he replies.