Mockingjay: Peeta's POV

Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-seven

Everyone is stunned; no one says anything. A sound rises from no one else but Snow. A cackling gurgling coming with a spew of foamy, red blood. He begins coughing and more blood flows out of his mouth. He bends forward; the blood falling before him on the floor. Guards block him from sight.

Gray uniforms of the rebels begin to converge on Katniss. I stay still. Unable to move. But the same force that helped propel me forward during the bombs makes me move forward toward Katniss. I feel a strange urge to protect her.

Katniss' head whips around to where the nightlock pill is kept on her arm. My legs move faster. I feel Katniss' teeth sink into the flesh on my hand. She pulls away and looks up in confusion. Our gazes meet. Blood runs from my hand, which is still clamped around the nightlock.

"Let me go!" she snarls, trying to pull away from me.

"I can't," I say.

Guard pull Katniss from my grasp. My hand still clamped on her sleeve. The stitching rips, and the small purple nightlock pill falls to the ground, only to be crushed by a guard's boot. Katniss begins kicking, biting, and clawing to get free. But they have a strong grip on her. The guards carry away from me. I hear her start to scream for Gale. I don't see him, but I hear him shout out her name. She gets carried from my view; I turn my gaze to the screen which has been projecting the entire thing.

A hand is placed on my shoulder. I turn slowly. Haymitch.

"What's going to happen now?" I ask.

"I don't know," he admits.

After that I'm not sure what happens. I daze out and go into a land where I don't know exactly what was going on. It reminds me of the hallucinations I experienced.

~M:PPOV~

I wake in a white room. The same white as the room I was kept in when I was injected. I start rocking back and forth. The door opens, and I begin screaming. And all a sudden that all stops. A calm runs through me.

"Hello, Peeta," someone says.

I look up. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"I"m Dr Aurelius. You're in the hospital."

I nod my head. A hospital. That would make sense. Snow is dead. Snow is gone for good.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asks.

I don't respond, only continue staring.

He sighs. "I just want to make sure you have the hijacking symptoms under control."

"I do," I reply.

"Then, you'll only be here for a few days."

~M:PPOV~

I get off the hovercraft. The cool air surrounds me. District Twelve. Everything is gone. I know what I need to do. I stop at my old house, dropping my small bag inside the door before leaving again. I set out on my mission. Looking for the one plant. I know what it looks like. A spot not to far from me. I head back to my house looking for a shovel and a wheelbarrow.

Back at the plants, I begin my digging. Trying my best not to damage the roots so I don't actually kill the plant. It takes me a while, but I get the plant up. Once I have five of them in the wheelbarrow I leave heading to Katniss' house.

I see Katniss' window and begin my digging on the side of her house. I hear footsteps inside the house, but I ignore it and continue you my digging. My arms are getting tired but I don't stop.

"You're back," I hear Katniss said.

"Dr Aurelius wouldn't let me leave the Capitol until yesterday. By the way, he said to tell you he can't keep pretending he's treating you forever. You have to pick up the phone," I feel her stare on me after I look away.

"What are you doing?"

"I went to the woods this morning and dug these up. For her. I thought we could plant them along the side of the house," I say gesturing to the hole in the dark earth.

I see tears shining in her eyes when she recognized the evening primroses. She nods quickly before hurrying back into the house.

I continue my planting. I believe Dr Aurelius was right. He could help me get back to the most normal as possible. He's right I need to build a relationship, even a friendship, with Katniss. We need to help each other get through all this. All the shitty things that happened to us in the past two years especially.

The next morning, I make some bread. Once the first loaf in done, I wrap it and begin the journey to Katniss'. I used to bring her baked goods all the time. That is one thing I remember. I walk in with Greasy Sae and walk out as soon as the loaf is down.

I need to talk to Katniss. She was the only one who was actually helping me remember anything. The only one who could tell me what was real and not.

Soon, I'm pulled into a project with Katniss. I draw a picture of someone for this book she is working on. It is supposed to be helping us. Katniss writes in detail about each person, not missing a single thing.

I hope this will all work. We are getting better. We will help each other get through this. I will get better. I won't surrender to these made up memories again. 

Edited

I know the book ends with the "You love me real or not real" thing.  But that will be in the next book.  Most likely toward the beginning.  I'm going to talk about the book (the one Katniss and Peeta are working on) some more in my next book.