Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 54

The Doctor walks in, followed by a nurse. I can't help but think of Prim.
"Okay, Katniss, we're going to do the blood test and then in a half hour we'll come tell you what we're gonna do." A nurse explains.
She inserts the needle into my vein and draws the amount of blood she needs. I close my eyes when she puts the needle in. Then she puts a cotton ball on the spot and wraps it up.
"See you in a half an hour!" She says, cheerily.
"Yeah." I say dully.

"Katniss, look at me." Peeta says.
I turn my head to face him. He stares into my eyes, as if trying to figure out what I'm thinking. In reality, I don't know what exactly I'm thinking about. Death, I guess, but something more. Afterlife. Peeta. Getting married. Learning to live again. Recovery. That's what I'm thinking about, just to name a few.
"What are you thinking about?" He asks. Trying to get out of the question, I act as if I'm zoned out.
"Katniss?"
"What? Oh. Sorry." I say. Good, he believes it.
"What are you thinking about?" He asks again. I have to confess it, don't I?
"Well, I'm thinking about you. And getting married..." I say, trailing off.
"Katniss." He says, insisting that I'm not telling the truth. And I'm not.
"Well, I was thinking about that. But I was thinking about, uh, I was just thinking about recovery and stuff. And death, I guess. I don't know." I say quickly. I don't want him to hear that last part.

"Katniss. You have to stop thinking about-"
"No, Peeta. I don't. And I can't. You and I both know that whatever's wrong with me can kill me! We can't just make our whole situation one big euphemism and act like it's not true. Because it is true, Peeta. I could be dying." I cut in.
He falls silent, knowing I'm right. We spend the rest of the wait in silence.

Doctor Aurelius comes in, and I immediately search his facial expression for signs of anything. Disappointment, happiness, remorse... But there's nothing. He's totally and utterly neutral. For a moment I think everything's normal and fine, that I'm just having some persistent relapses. But then Doctor Aurelius beckons Peeta out of the room and into the hallway. Peeta, not both of us.
I watch the door shut and Doctor Aurelius put a hand on Peeta's back, guiding him away from the room.

I don't get to hear the news.

--

Peeta

I'm surprised when Doctor Aurelius only wants to meet with me. He leads me away from the room, I guess so Katniss doesn't hear.

"Doctor Aurelius... Is everything alright?" I ask.
"Well," He says with a confused look plastered onto his face, "We aren't sure. You see, the blood tests aren't enough to determine exactly what's going on with the relapses."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"We would need to do something where we would be able to see her brain activity during a relapse." He explains.
"And how would you do that?" I continue.

"Alright. Well, regrettably, the only way to do this is to cause a relapse for Katniss. We would inject a special fear inducing, but safe, serum into Katniss. It takes a minute or two to kick in, but when it does... There's no doubt she'll relapse. We'll have her on brain monitors the whole time, and we'll see how her brain functions." He says.

"Wait, hold on! You want to cause a relapse for her? If you're not careful, she could kill herself. Or she could die from it! You think that would help her?" I ask, upset.
"Peeta, she's in a safe hospital. We're prepared for anything. She's in good hands. I assure you, she won't be dying anytime soon. This procedure will help us find out what we can do, which will tremendously improve her situation. If we don't go through with this... we may never know." He insists.

"What about her?" I ask.
"Pardon?" He replies.
"I mean, what about her? You're putting her into a relapse. Yeah, you're saying she won't die, but come on. Doctor, she's going to be terrified beyond belief! That's not what she needs. At all." I say.
"Well, we can administer medicine that will make her sleep?" He suggests.
"No... No. She'll have nightmares. At least if she's awake, she can know that I'm there." I say.