The Purest Snow

Chapter 5: Clemensia's Visit

Coriolanus Snow woke up in the hospital bed, surrounded by Tigris, Rosella and the Grandma'am.

    "Hi Coryo," Tigris said gently. "It's us."

    He tried to smile. "You missed bomb time."

    "Yeah. Why'd you have to leave us out?" Rosella smiled.

    "It was even worse... knowing you were alone..." Tigris said.

    "I wasn't alone. Lucy Gray... she saved me. She could have run but she came back. For me." Coriolanus choked out.

    "She's a good person." Tigris said. Rosella nodded in agreement.

    The Grandma'am wasn't quite so sure.

    "She is, Grandma'am. We were walking in with our tributes... to see the arena. It was supposed to be a tour. The bombs hit. It was hard to see... I don't know exactly what happened. But I was stuck under a beam. Someone told Lucy Gray to run, that they could get out but she didn't. She came back and lifted off of me. She saved my life."

    "Well, like as not she decided the Peacekeepers would gun her down if she ran, but still, it shows some character. Perhaps, as she claims, she is not really district." The Grandma'am offered.

It was as good as it was going to get, but Rosella still wasn't pleased. "Even if she was pure district, it doesn't mean she's can't also be a good person," she mumbled. The Grandma'am chose to ignore this.

"How's everyone else?" Coriolanus changed the subject.

"Oh, Coryo... I'm so sorry. The twins... the Ring twins... they died. Androcles and Gaius are in the hospital. Gaius lost both of his legs." Tigris explained.

"And the tributes. Otto and Ginnee from 6. Facet and Valvereen from 1. Sabyn from 2, and Sejanus's friend, Marcus... he got out. He's missing." Rosella added. Coriolanus felt his heart hurt. Not only had she felt it was important to mention them, but his sister knew the tributes by name.

"Lucy Gray?" Coriolanus asked.

"I went to see her... and the others at the zoo. I spoke to the veterinarian there. She seems good, but a zoo is hardly the place to treat injured human beings." Rosella said. She turned to see that the Grandma'am was speaking to the Doctor, and leaned in close to her brother. "Um... my friend Mitch, from the band... his mom's a doctor and he's in med school... I asked him to help. He came with me and we gave Lucy Gray some ointment... for her hands. They got burned. He thinks they'll be fine." Rosella whispered. "She's been doing okay with food too. She still has some granola bars and stuff from the stuff we brought her the other day."

"Oh, Ro," Coriolanus sighed. "Thank you. You're amazing. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Coryo..." she said, giving him a gentle hug.

"The Doctor says we should go home and let Coriolanus rest," the Grandma'am said.

"I'm gonna stay the night." Rosella said quickly. "You two go."

"You don't have to do that..." Coriolanus started.

"I want to. I have some reading to do anyway. Go. Good night, Tigris," Rosella said firmly. She hugged her cousin. "Love you. Get some sleep, I'll take care of him." Leaving no room for negotiation, Tigris and the Grandma'am obliged.

Once they were alone, Rosella turned to her brother. "Coryo. We need to get Lucy Gray out. You have to win this. She'll have a voice, as a victor. We can change things. We can't stop these games, but we can stop them from ever happening again."

Coriolanus nodded.

"Also, I think you're in love with her. So it would be mildly problematic if she died tomorrow." Rosella smirked.