Battle Scars

Chapter 30: Battle Scars

Chapter thirty: Battle Scars
Some time later, Mitch entered the room.
"Hey," I smiled weakly, looking up at him.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I don't think I'll ever be ok," I replied. "But for the moment I'm good. How are you?"
"Much the same," he sighed, and pulled me into a hug, kissing my forehead. "Jerome gave me some more ointment stuff for my stomach, Jason got me pretty good with the sword before I... Before I took him out." I knew how he felt. He just couldn't bring himself to say he killed him. I'd had two kills in the games. The first was Matt, but somehow I wasn't entirely upset about this. He had done the same thing to Ebony, and I'd showed him what it felt like. The other, of course, was Vikk. I knew perfectly well that he'd probably had the most kills in the games. Yet somehow, I felt terrible every time I thought about what I'd done to him.
"At least I had the chance to say I was sorry," I muttered softly. "I just don't understand what makes me care about kil... About taking him out." I knew Mitch would know who I meant. He was quiet for a few moments.
"You two are very similar, believe it or not," he said finally. "And I would know, I spent a lot of time with both of you." He sighed, and looked at me. "I think the reason you're so upset about this is you understand exactly what he was thinking. You knew he was only trying to get to the same place that you are now, and as soon as he realised his chance was gone, he would have felt like a failure. What would you be thinking if you were about to die then?"
"Like I'd let everybody down," I replied immediately. "My country, my family, Em... My father." I sighed at the thought of my father. "I'd be upset that I'd come that far only to be the last one to be killed. Mitch, Vikk doesn't know the outcome of the games... He died thinking that we'd have to kill each other." I sighed.
"But if he loved you," said Mitch quietly, "Maybe it's a good thing he wasn't left to destroy you. He'd be feeling worse than you are now. I know I would be." I thought over this for a while, and began to feel a little better.
"Maybe you're right," I said, looking up at him. "Thanks Mitch."
"It's not a problem," he smiled, and pressed his lips gently to mine. "I love you."
"I love you too," I returned. I laid my head on his chest, and listened to his heart beating. "I'm just happy we're both alive."
We were quiet for a few moments.
"Well," he sighed, "I came to tell you that we're back at the compound, and we apparently have five days to recuperate before we are interviewed. Your prep team are waiting for you."
"Of course they are," I chuckled. "Are you ready to be swamped in loving affection?"
"Yeah...no," he laughed, rolling his eyes. "Your team will probably kill me for giving you that scar."
"Ha, they couldn't kill you, you know what The Soviets are like. They're suckers for romance, every one of them. They'll love you."
"Yeah, you're probably right," he chuckled. "Come on, let's go."

Later that evening, Mitch found me in my bedroom at the compound, staring out the window.
"We just go from one prison to the next, it seems," I sighed, turning to look at him. He frowned a little when he looked at me.
"I thought you were getting your scars removed this afternoon," he said, looking at the faint, white line on my cheek.
"They tried," I replied softly, looking down. "They couldn't remove it. They could have cut my whole cheek off, but that obviously would have made a bigger scar." Mitch cupped my face in his hands, and pressed his lips gently to the scar.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. My eyes met his, and I saw that his were filled with tears.
"Mitch it's ok," I replied, kissing his lips gently. "In a way, I kind of like it being there, because it reminds me of how far we've come together."
"It reminds me everyday that I hurt you," said Mitch quietly.
"Well, I guess we've all got our battle scars," I replied, trying to console him. "Some of us just show them a little more openly than others. I know I hurt you deeply by not trusting you for so long, which is not something I can see on the surface, for the most part, thankfully. Please don't be upset about it, because I'm not hurting anymore. I know you'd never do it now." I wiped the tears from his face with my fingers, and he smiled a little.
"I'm on a mission to block any depressing thoughts for the moment," he said, after a while. "And you are too."
"Who says?" I asked, smiling a little.
"I do. You need to be happy, and enjoy something for a change. We both do. And being depressed won't help that. We have all the time in the world to be depressed later."
"Yes sir!" I laughed.
"Ha, that's what I wanted to see," he grinned. "Come on, Jerome wants to meet you."