Promises of a Sacrificial Lamb |Destiel x The Hunger Games|

-24-

I feel sick.  My stomach tightens, churns so violently and makes my vision spin that I have to grab a nearby tree root to keep myself stable.  Breathing is an arduous challenge.  I can't believe this is happening.  We shouldn't have left the tree.  I shouldn't have turned my back.  I should've just stayed by his side the whole time.  Maybe I could've seen the snake coming, could've fended it off before it attacked.  I could've done something to keep this from happening, because now I don't know how to fix it.

Maybe the snake wasn't venomous.  We still don't know for sure.  I want to believe with all my might that it wasn't, but I have a sinking feeling that it won't be nearly that simple.

The people of the Capitol got bored.  Now I'm terrified to think that we may be their source of entertainment.

I start when Cas suddenly takes in a trembling breath, using his hands to push himself to a more upright seat.  "Help me up,"  he says with a faint grimace.  "It doesn't hurt as much anymore.  We should keep looking for a place to stay."

Worry floods through me.  I don't know if that's a good idea.  I don't want him to hurt himself even more.  "Cas, maybe we should—"

"I said help me up!"  he snaps.  His voice is determined, his expression even more so, but the frightened glint in his wide eyes says otherwise.  "I'm not just gonna sit here and wait for something to happen.  I'll feel better if we keep moving."

As afraid of the consequences as I am, I hold onto his outstretched hands and carefully haul him to his feet.  He hardly puts any weight on his left foot—it seems to me like it does still hurt—so he leans into my side as we trudge through the dark rainforest.  He hobbles along next to me, a firm grip on my arm.  It looks like every single movement is torturing him even more than the last.

I can't stand it anymore.  He's in too much pain, wincing and muttering whenever he accidentally steps with his left foot.  I take his arm, sling it over my shoulders, lift his weight off the ground as much as I can as my other arm wraps around his middle.  I don't care how exhausted or drained I am.  I'm walking for the two of us, even if it takes all night.

And it does.  Sunrise approaches in less than an hour, lighting up the forest with peaceful hues of pink and orange, and we still haven't found a suitable place to set up camp.  I don't know how much farther Cas can limp along, even with me doing most of the work.  He's heavier than he was before.  His breaths are awkward and labored.  Nothing else has happened, though, so despite his fatigue, maybe he'll be okay.  Maybe the snake wasn't venomous after all.  Maybe we lucked out.  A flicker of hope starts to spark inside of me as we push past a dense line of shrubbery.  Maybe he'll be okay.

But that weak spark instantly burns out when Cas collapses so abruptly that he slips out from my grasp and falls to the ground.  I thought I was petrified enough until I see him convulsing.

Reality crumbles to pieces.  Pure terror takes control of me.  I plummet to my knees, down at his side.  He's still shuddering.  I don't think he's conscious.  I don't know what to do.  I clutch his rigid shoulder, roll him onto his back.  The convulsions worsen.  I grab his face, pat his cheek, desperately say his name because I want him to stop shuddering and wake up and be okay and—

My heart stops when he goes still.  There's an agonizingly long pause where I almost lose my mind before he sucks in a sharp breath and opens his bright blue eyes.

There is relief.  But only some.  An unsteady sigh racks my aching body as I slide my shaking hand away from his face and down to his shoulder.  He only stares up at me with fear and confusion gleaming in his gaze.

"What happened?"  he asks.

It's clear now that the snake was venomous.  The realization stabs me in the chest with a dull blade.  And the fact that he doesn't even remember what just happened to him only makes the pain worse.