The Reaper | F. Odair

Twenty-three

Warning for this chapter: Mentions of sexual assault

"So Peeta has a better chance at recovering from this? More than Aaron?" Finnick spits.

Dr Aurelius sighs, pushing his glasses up his face. "Unless you can find someone from 10 here that may know Aaron -- yeah. He's got a better shot."

"Why can't you speak to her?" Finnick mutters, "why can't you just talk to her?"

"Because when I tried she kept repeating to not touch her." Dr Aurelius explains with a bluntness as he looks into the one-way mirror. "She tried to kill you, Mr Odair. She attacked a nurse and the rest of us. I don't even know if it's safe to send Miss Cartwright in even with Peeta being restrained."

"Please--"

"Why don't you try her father?"

Finnick frowns, "I don't think that's a good idea." he mutters, looking into the room as well. The girl was asleep on a hospital bed, leather bindings on her ankles, wrists and neck. They did the same with Peeta, but they were both still asleep from the drugs they were pushing into their bodies to keep them that way. "Alex and Aaron don't get along..."

"What about her mother?" Dr Aurelius asks. Finnick's silent, Aurelius seems to understand. "Look, you could go around and see if any of the refugees from 10 may know her personally, but until then I don't want to risk one of my nurses going in there."

"You're a coward--"

"No one has ever cured hijacking!" Dr Aurelius suddenly shouts, Finnick backs down. "Now if you may excuse me, I have other patients to see." The man seethes, turning around and leaving the small room.

Finnick could only stare as the man shut the door. They'd practically given up on Aaron and Johanna, resorting to just healing their injuries. Johanna was mostly okay, she hadn't been brainwashed like Aaron and Peeta, but they were treating the pair like crap. Finnick's eyes drag his head to look at the window, his eyes sadly resting on the girl ahead of him.
How could someone look so peaceful after going through that sort of hell? Finnick slowly sits down on one of the chairs in the room, leaning back and sighing. What if Dr Aurelius's treatment on Peeta doesn't work? What will they do then? His eyes drift around as the door to the room opens again, the boy looks towards the person coming in and a weak smile pulls to his lips.

"Prim."

"Finnick."

"How's Katniss?"

"She's watching them do Peeta right now." Prim says, shutting the door behind her as she adjusts the tray of medical supplies she has against her hip. "I didn't want to watch."

"They're just giving up on her." Finnick suddenly says as the girl walks towards a table near him.

Prim puts down the tray and frowns, "they aren't."

"They won't send anybody inside. He suggested sending her dad in there of all people."

"Does Aaron not have a good relationship with her father?" Prim asks.

Finnick nods with another sigh, "she loathes him."

"Why don't I try?" Prim asks, Finnick blinks as he pulls his head up from leaning back in the chair.

"You're not from district 10."

"So?"

"He only wants someone Aaron may have known." Finnick explains, "there's only a couple dozen refuges from 10 here, the rest are in the district itself."

Prim huffs, looking at the door and then towards the two-way mirror. "They're cowards." She says, walking straight for the door to the room Aaron is in.