The 69th Hunger Games

Chapter 10

It was an all white room. No window or decorations, just the beeping machine beside me. It was a hospital room. I was in a hospital room. I swallowed, my throat sore and dry. I had a needle in my right arm and a bandage on my left. My head was pounding and my right ear was ringing. The white light; the bang. It all came flooding back. Had I survived? I must have. I was no longer in the arena. Alton was dead.

"You're awake." Cecelia walked into the room.

"What-" I croaked.

"Shh.. You won't be able to speak for awhile. They had to give you a breathing tube. Makes your throat sore." I swallowed again. "You're probably wondering what happened." I nodded. "It was you and Alton, both refusing to kill the other. The Gamemakers sent down a huge bolt of lightening and you both flew backwards. After you both went unconscious, they declared you both won and you were lifted here to the Hospital." Alton was alive? "He's next door. Still out." how could they have two victors?

"Hey! We thought you'd never wake up!" Woof walked in. "Alton's up, though he's pretty banged up." I sat up even though my head wanted me to keep still. "You need to stay in bed." he warned. I shook my head, standing up and grabbing my i.v. stand. He rolled his eyes and led me out of the room.

We walked into Alton's room which was identical to mine except the person lying in the bed. He had a bandage over his eye and an arm in a sling. I stood next to him, grabbing his hand.

"We'll leave you two alone." Woof said, grabbing Cecelia and leading her out of the room.

I swallowed hard, my throat still dry and scratchy. He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb, staring down at it. He brought it up to his lips, kissing it softly.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed!" a doctor with thick glasses and graying hair walked in. She shooed me out of the room. "Get back to bed!" I looked back at Alton one last time before leaving. He rolled his eyes and I gave him a small smile.

I was ordered to sleep as they pumped me full of some liquid that healed my wounds. It made me feel warm all over and I could almost feel it working. Sleeping was the hard part. Everyone I closed my eyes I could see their faces. Cathius' dead eyes. Termalyne's blood filled mouth. Olive's last breath. And then the faces of the ones I killed. I would wake up screaming and the doctors would rush in. They would check my wounds, but it wasn't physical, it was mental.

"We're going to give you something to sleep." I just stared at the ceiling, my heart racing from the nightmare. A chill ran through my body then everything went numb. I was trapped in a nightmare. The drug kept me from waking up.

We were back in the woods, Alton and I running through the trees. Up ahead, Termalyne, Cathius, and Olive were standing together. I shouted out to them, but they couldn't hear me. The ground opened up beneath them, pulling them into darkness. They screamed for me, reached for my hands, but I couldn't save them. I watched as they fell into nothingness. The ground opened up more and Alton fell in. I grabbed his arm, holding onto it as he dangled above the giant hole. I tried to pull him up, but I was too weak. His arm slipped from my grasp and he fell down. The hole closed up and I was left alone. I called out for them, but all I could hear was the echo of my voice. A darkness crept in around, consuming me. The anthem began to play and pictures filled the sky. Elias' face, then Mathus, and Tomas. Then a picture of my mother and father, their faces pale, their eyes staring into space. The darkness vanished and I was back in the hospital.

I was restrained to the bed. Woof sat in a chair against the wall.

"You were thrashing around in your sleep. The docs had to make sure you wouldn't hurt yourself." he stood up and walked over to me. "They said you're well enough to be discharged."