Katniss P.O.V.
I haven't been able to stop shaking since we've arrived at the hospital. I also haven't been able to leave the bathroom. Right now, I'm bent over the toilet ridding my stomach of everything I've eating within the last day.
I start thinking about how much I wish Peeta was holding my hair back and telling me everything's going to be okay, and I start crying that much harder. My stomach finally finishes emptying itself, so I go over to the sink to rinse my mouth out. I eventually go into the waiting room and sit down. The door to the waiting room opens and I look up to see Mom walk in.
"What are you doing here?" I ask her. "I told you to go on." Mom sits down beside of me.
"Do you honestly think I'd go to the Capitol now?" Mom asks me. "I'll just have to reschedule. So what happened?"
"I don't know," I say with a shrug. "Peeta wasn't feeling good and he came home early. He went straight to bed after he picked Willow up from school. I tried to wake him up to tell him I was getting ready to leave, and he just wouldn't wake up." I start sobbing and Mom wraps her arms around me.
"Where's Willow?" Mom asks.
"Haymitch has her," I tell her. "He's walking her around, trying to calm her down."
"Does she know that something's wrong with Peeta?"
"No," I say as I shake my head. "I scared her with my screaming though." I stop and take a deep breath. "I didn't mean to scare her. I was trying to wake Peeta up." My stomach flips again. "I'll be right back," I say before I hurry back to the bathroom.
I don't get sick though. I just stand there and grip the edges of the sink, watching my tears hit the counter. I hear a small tap on the door.
"Mommy?" Willow calls. I take a deep breath and dry my face before walking out of the bathroom. "You okay, Mommy?"
"Yes, baby girl," I tell her. "I'm okay."
"Why are we here, Mommy?" she asks. "Is somebody sick?"
I swallow hard and nod my head. "Daddy isn't feeling too good, baby girl."
"Will Daddy be okay?"
"He'll be fine, Willow," Haymitch quickly tells her. I start feeling weak so I lean up against the wall. "Willow, why don't you go into the waiting room?"
Willow looks up at Haymitch. "By myself?"
"Grandma's in there," I tell her. Willow nods and does as she's told. Haymitch walks over to me and I lay my head on his shoulder. "I c-can't loose h-him, Haymitch!" I cry. "I l-love him so much!"
"I know," Haymitch says quietly.
"Our k-kids can't loose h-him! I don't w-want them to grow up without th-their Daddy!" I start feeling lightheaded and I can't catch my breath.
"They're not going to, Katniss," Haymitch says. He holds me close, but it does little to comfort me.
Oh how I wish Peeta was holding me right now.
"I n-need to sit d-down," I sob as my knees start giving out. We go back to the waiting room and I see Willow sitting in a corner occupying herself with a book she's found.
"A nurse came in not long after you walked out," Mom says quietly so Willow doesn't hear. I sit down beside of her and Haymitch sits down across from us, leaning in so he can hear better.
"What did they say?"
"They're taking Peeta back for surgery right now," Mom says.
My heart drops. "Surgery? Why? What for?"
Mom looks at me and sighs. "Had Peeta said anything about his side hurting?"
"No," I say as I shake my head. "Why? Mom, what's going on?"
"Peeta's appendix has ruptured," Mom tells me.
"Oh my gosh," I say as my hand comes up to cover my mouth. "I-Is he going to be okay?" The baby starts kicking and I lay my free hand on my stomach.
Mom shrugs and shakes her head. "I don't know, Katniss," she says. "It all depends on if they can get in there and get the infection out in time."
"What if they can't?" I ask worriedly. Mom just looks at me. "Mom, what if they don't get it out in time?"
She takes a deep breath. "Then there's nothing they can do, Katniss." I start to stand up, but Mom stops me. "Katniss…"
"I-I need to see him," I say desperately.
"Katniss, you can't," Mom tells me. "He's already in surgery. Listen, somebody's going to come in every few minutes to tell us how he's doing. But for now, all you can do is sit here and wait patiently. Okay?" I nod my head, even though it's really not okay. I should be back there with Peeta
He means everything to me and our babies. I can't raise them by myself. I'm not strong enough to do this without Peeta.
"Mom, what should I tell Willow?" I ask her.
"I'd tell her a little bit of it," Mom says. "That way she'll be expecting it if something were to happen."
I bite my lip and look over at our sweet baby girl. How am I supposed to tell our five year old daughter that she might loose her Daddy? "Willow," I say softly. She looks over at me. "Come here, baby," I tell her. She comes over to me, and I sit her in what's left of my lap.
"What's wrong, Mommy?" Willow asks as she gently wipes my tears away with her little hands.
"Willow, I need to talk with you about Daddy for a minute."
"Is Daddy still sick?"
"Yes, Willow," I tell her. "He's really sick."
"Will him be okay?"
I look at her and swallow hard. "I don't know, baby girl."
Huge tears form in her bright, blue eyes. "Is him going to die?"
"I don't know, Willow," I tell her as tears fall down my face. Willow starts sobbing and I hold her close to me. Willow pushes me away and hops down out of my arms. She runs over to the door and pulls on the handle.
"Willow," I say as I stand up.
"I want Daddy!" she squalls as she opens the door and runs out of the room.
"Willow!" I call out as I follow her. She doesn't make it very far before I catch up to her.
"No! Daddy!" she screams as I pick her up.
"Willow, listen to me," I tell her. "You can't see Daddy right now." She starts bawling into my shoulder. I look down the hall to see Haymitch walking towards us.
"I'll take her," he says as he takes Willow from me.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Haymitch. I've got her so upset."
"You did the right thing," he says "Go sit down. Calm down."
"What about Willow?"
"I've got her," he says. "Don't worry about her. She'll be fine." I nod and start back to the waiting room, listening to the cries of my baby girl get softer and softer. I go in and sit back down beside of Mom.
"How are you feeling?" she asks me.
"I'm okay," I say. "Except I'm really stressed out and preparing myself to loose my best friend." I start shaking again.
"Katniss, if something does happen to Peeta, promise me something," Mom says. I look at her and nod. "Promise me that you won't leave Willow and the baby like I did with you and Prim when your father died." I close my eyes and nod my head.
"I promise," I say. The door opens and a doctor walks in.
"Mrs. Mellark?" he asks. I nod and he walks over to me.
"How is Peeta doing?" I ask shakily.
He gives me a sad look. "Your husband's heart has stopped."
It takes those five words for my world to start falling apart.
"We've done everything we can, but he's not responding." The door comes flying open and a nurse comes rushing in.
"He's okay!" she says quickly. "He's breathing now." I start bawling and Mom pulls me in sideways.
"It's okay, Katniss," Mom says as he rubs my arm.
"I'll be back to give you updates," the doctor tells us. I nod and they leave the room.
"Mom," I choke out once we're alone.
"Katniss, Peeta is going to be alright," she says. "He's survived worse."
"But I've always been there to help him," I say. "I can't help him this time."
"Yes you can. You can help him by staying calm and not getting so tore up that you go into pre-term labor again. You and I both know how he'd feel when he wakes up and realizes that you had the baby without him." I shake my head.
"If he wakes up."
"When," Mom says. "When he wakes up."
I swallow hard and nod my head, praying to God that Peeta wakes up.