The Hunger Games ~ Peeta's POV

Chapter 18

Ch. 18

I didn't know that it was possible to dream when you take sleep syrup. I guess I never thought of it, really. But I'm not exactly sure you could call a feeling of freedom a dream. I guess it was kind of like a lucid dream, sort of. I just let my mind wander, vaguely aware of the light tapping on the roof of the cave from the rain.

Suddenly, the last few minutes of my consciousness flashes before my eyes, and I remember what happened. Must... Stop... Katniss... Without a warning, I snap out of it, my mind overpowering the small remnants of the sleep syrup left over in my veins. I jolt awake, gasping for breath like someone's been holding my head under water for a very long time.

As my eyes adjust to the dim light of the cave, I see a figure next to me, slumped over in the corner, oozing with blood that's making a puddle on the ground. I want to laugh and cry all at the same time when I realize who that is.

I try to gently crawl over to Katniss to see what's wrong, going easy on my hurt leg when I realize something. If she came back to the cave alive, then that means that she got the medicine! Huh. That would explain the throbbing in my arm, and the syringe lining on the floor. I want to check out my leg, but I have my priorities. Katniss first, leg second.

I rip some of the fabric off of my extra shirt in the pack and wipe the red halo from her forehead with it, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Sadly, it just keeps coming as I hold it to her head for an hour or so, but starts to die down after a while. I dab the left over blood from her face with a wet cloth, and dress the wound as best I can with what little resources are left in the first aid kit. I tuck her into the sleeping bag as gently as possible.

Finally, when I'm satisfied with the makeshift bandage, I check out my leg. I pull the leg of my pants up, and find that the wound looks much better; the swelling has gone down to next to nothing, and I can move it much easier and much more painlessly.

My stomach starts barking at me for food, after so long without an appetite, so I wolf down three whole Groosling legs, and chug a bottle of water while I'm at it.

The Capitol anthem starts playing, an I peer out of the safety of the cave to see that Clove's dead. I wonder if Katniss killed her, and even though she's a very lethal person, it seems a bit unlikely considering how small she is next to Clove.

I lean against the wall of the cave as I wait for Katniss to wake up, and I watch her sleep, and listen to her nose whistles she breaths. It's very cute, actually, and I just sit there and watch her sleep until she starts to stir.

Her fingers begin to twitch and she clenches the fabric on the sleeping bag restlessly. My head pops up eagerly and I try to rouse her. I just need to see her eyes, hear her voice, know for certain that she's okay...

"Katniss," I whisper. "Katniss, can you hear me?"

Her eyes snap open and she looks frightened for a moment, and I'm almost sure that I lost her, but then her face softens. "Peeta," she whispers.

"Hey," I say, breathing a sigh of relief that she's okay. "Good to see your eyes again."

"How long have I been out?" she asks.

"Not sure," I say. "I woke up yesterday evening and you were lying next to me in a very scary pool of blood. I think it's finally stopped, but I wouldn't sit up or anything."

She raises a cautious hand up to her forehead to feel the bandage, and she looks kind of sick. I hold a water bottle to her lips and she gulps down the fluid wholeheartedly.

"You're better," she says in a raspy voice.

"Much better," I reassure her. "Whatever you shot into my arm did the trick. By this morning, almost all the swelling was gone."