One Lucky Winner

Chapter 84 ~ Thomas

The last thing I want to do is eat, but I need to do what Katniss says. She knows much more about medical stuff then I do. I look through the contents of the mix. It has peanuts, raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, cashews, and M&M's in it. I slowly eat it, dreading it.

"How much do I have to eat?" I whine.

"The rest of it," she replies. I groan and continue, predicting that this will probably come up later.

I get bored, so I start picking out the M&M's and avoiding the raisins and the almonds until she catches me.

"Eat it all."

"I don't like raisins and almonds."

"Eat it all."

I grab a raisin from the bag and throw it at her. It hits her forehead; she looks up from the arrows she was cleaning and gives me a look, although I can tell she's hiding a smile. "Eat."

"I am," I say, and surely enough I do finish it. I throw down the empty package. "Done. God, that was disgusting."

"Good," Katniss says, handing me the pills. I quickly take them.

"Let me look at your wounds," she says, sitting by me.

I take off my coat and roll up my sleeve. For some reason, the fabric is irritating to my skin. It seems like my skin is crawling.

Katniss takes off the bandage that was wrapped around the burn I got from Tony on Day 1. She examines it closely.

"Is it still infected?" I croak to her. I regret saying that, though, because it takes me back to when Minho was still alive. I vividly remember Newt and I asking Hermione if Minho was going to die and if his wounds were infected. That situation is just like this one. It's so haunting. They're all dead now.

"It's...getting a little...better, I guess." She glances at me and then back at my burn. "It'll be fine."

I lean against a tree and close my eyes while she re-bandages my burn. When she's done, I open my eyes. "Thanks."

She feels my arm with the back of her hand. "Geez, you're really hot."

I take advantage of that word choice. "So are you."

She gives me a look, but, once again, I know she's hiding a smile. "Let's see your other one. The bite." I don't want to look at that one. That's the one that hurts the most.

I groan and sit up. "Do I really have to take my shirt off? I'm freezing."

"You're cold?" she says in alarm.

"Yeah."

She shakes her head. "Just lift it up, then."

I do as she says and close my eyes again. She takes off the bandage, and then I hear her gasp loudly.

I quickly open my eyes. "What?"

But I don't need an answer. I already know. The bite is grossly infected. It's black, and I'm not exaggerating at all. The skin surrounding it is purple. It's swollen to an abnormal size. It's stinging and throbbing, and she's not even touching it. I'm so confused. It wasn't like this yesterday at all. It was fine yesterday.