It's A Jungle Out There

Chapter Twenty Four

There's only a few more chapters left! I can't believe it! I can, however, confirm that there will be sequel! It will be called 'Broken Winged Birds That Cannot Fly' and will be a continuation of wherever this story leaves off in the next couple of chapters ;)

Chapter Twenty Four

A fresh wave of nausea washes over me and I throw myself at the toilet. My fingers dig into the porcelain bowl as I hack up my guts for the third time this morning. I don't have any food in my system so I'm basically choking up stomach acid. How Glimmer used to be able to do this on a regular basis is beyond my comprehension, just because she wanted to be thinner.

"Katniss, are you alright?" Prim's voice floats in from beyond the bathroom door.

"Yeah," I call back, stumbling to my feet and flushing the toilet. I wipe my lips with the back of my hand and wash them before opening the door for Prim. "I think I'm coming down with something. The flu is going around, I think."

"Maybe you've caught something from the hospital," Prim suggests.

"You don't catch things from the hospital, Prim. Everything is sanitised," I say. "I use the soap they provide when I come in and when I leave. It's nothing. It's sickness." I weave around Prim as she enters the bathroom and throw myself onto the sofa in the living room. I've been at home for a week and half now and for at least a quarter of that time I've been sick. I keep trying to figure out where I could have caught the flu from but nothing comes to mind. It's probably just in the air or something.

"How's Peeta?" Prim asks as she returns from the bathroom.

"Good," I mumble into my pillow. I've seen Peeta every day, despite the fact that I feel like shit. I met his family, too. Well, most of his family. His mother wasn't there but it wasn't too big of a loss. His dad is really sweet. He brings Peeta tins of soup every time he visits because he knows that's all Peeta can eat right now. When Peeta goes home, his Doctor wants him to try to eat some vegetables and other solid foods. He can take it at his own pace, though. His brothers were cool, too. They're both goofballs but they obviously care about Peeta, which is what matters.

"You know that he wouldn't mind if you missed one day," says Prim. She crosses her legs on the armchair and balances a stripy glass of water on her knee.

"He knows I'm sick," I tell her. "But he needs me."

"I think you're better staying at home rather than barfing over him," Prim reasons. "Besides, if it is the flu, you might give it to him."

"It's weird, it doesn't feel like the flu," I say.

Prim is silent. She stares at the carpet with a frown. I wonder what she's thinking about . . ."Katniss," she says quietly."What?""Are you pregnant?"

I feel like I've been punched in the gut. Her words leave me winded. "What?!" I exclaim. "No!"

Prim drinks from her glass and shrugs. "It's just a theory," she says. "You said it doesn't feel like flu and you've been barfing every morning for a week and a half." Her blue eyes widen. "Oooh, is it Peeta's?"

"I'm not pregnant, Prim!" I snap at her. I grumpily turn around on the sofa and snuggle into the cushions. My stomach is churning still but I'll just sleep it off. Usually once the morning has passed the sickness wears off. I'm not pregnant. I haven't had sex in a month and a half. Marvel put a condom on, I watched him do it. The idea of getting pregnant by such a sleeve makes the sickness worse and I push the thought away.

"You know what they say," says Prim, "there's no 100% form of contraception besides not having sex at all."I scowl into the cushions.

"What the hell, Prim? Where are you learning this?" I demand to know.