Back Together (Part I)

There are people all around me. Congratulating and hugging me. They keep talking about how impressive I was, about the cleverness that kept me alive. I stop listening after a while. I don’t care about them. All I want to do is forget, I want to go home. I feel my mind heavy. I guess it’s just the exhaustion of this whole week. I look around trying to find Finnick but I can’t see him anywhere. I start to get worried. I start shouting out for him, but there is so much people surrounding me. They all want to talk to me! They all want to greet and congratulate me, and all I want to do is run. It is all so overwhelming. I’m feeling dizzy. Everything is turning black and I can feel my legs failing me. I know I’m going to faint.

-          Annie!

I hear his voice calling. I fight the blackness and try to find him, but its helpless I’m already falling.

-          My God! Annie!

I can see him rushing through the crowd towards me. He is here. I’m going to be ok. He locks his eyes on mine and I surrender to darkness.

Beep….Beep….Beep

It’s a strange sound what wakes me up. What is it? I don’t want to open my eyes; I’m so tired I just want to sleep. Beep….Beep….Beep. That noise! I won’t be able to sleep with that “beep” thing going off every second. I open my eyes and a white light makes me squint. Where am I? What’s this? It takes me a while to get used to the strange light. I start looking around, am I at a hospital?

-          Finnick

His name flashes through my mind and I panic. I start looking for him. I can see a door right next to the window. I try to get up but I can’t I’m tied to the bed.  What is going on!

Beep..Beep..Beep..Beep

The sound is going faster and faster as I keep battling against my ties.

-          Help!

I try to scream but no sound comes out. I’m scared.

-          Finnick! Help! Help!

A whisper is all I can manage. I can feel the fear spreading, it’s taking over me, just like before.

-          No, no! Please! Someone!

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I feel the tears streaming down my face. I start to sob. Suddenly the room starts shrinking. It’s going to crush me.

-          Help! Help me!

I am screaming now, but still no one comes. Fear has taken over me one more time, and now, my old friend, darkness, is joining fear. I try to fight against them but it’s pointless.

-          Finnick…

I manage to whisper his name one more time before succumbing to fear and darkness.

-          Dr. what’s wrong? Why isn’t she waking up?

Finnick. The darkness is slowly fading. He is here. What happened? Why didn’t he come to me before when I needed him?

-          What’s happening? Her heart is racing!

I can tell he is worried. I want to hug him and tell him I’m fine. So I start to fight against whatever they gave me to keep me sleeping. I try moving mi hand with no success. Try something smaller I keep on trying with my fingers, my toes, my eyes. No success at all. I’m frustrated. I can hear, but I can’t move. I keep fighting with no results.

It’s been like an hour since I woke up into this nightmare. I feel Finnick right next to me. I can tell the doctor is gone now.

-          Please wake up Annie. I need you. Don’t go. You’ve made it so far. Please don’t leave me.

His voice is killing me. It’s like a plea. He sounds so vulnerable, so broken. I feel a new force in me. I start fighting against the numbness harder. He holds my hand. His touch after all this time makes every inch of my body shiver. I clinch to this new sensation and start to wake up. I move mi thumb slowly against his hand. And I hear him hold his breath. 

-          Can you hear me baby?

I make the same movement again. He squeezes my hand and gently opens it and places his check against my palm. I start to feel my arms, my legs. I try moving my toes and I can do it without any extra effort. So I try opening my eyes. Again this white light hurts me, but this time I don’t squint. I look down to my hand only to find Finn almost lying in my lap holding my hand as if it was all that was left from me. I am so happy that he is here, that we are together once more. I slowly move my free hand and place it in his head and run my fingers through his hair. I feel him go stiff for a second and he immediately turns around to face me. His eyes lock into mine and for a couple of minutes we just stare at each other.

-          Hi

I whisper, and I can see the immediate relive in his face. He smiles, and oh! How I’ve missed that smile. I smile for the first time since the reaping. He puts his arms around me, my favorite place in the world. I burry my face in his chest and start crying, he holds me even tighter.

-          It’s ok. You are safe now. We are together now.

He tried to keep me calmed. But it was just too much for me to handle. We spend the next half an hour hugging. Holding each other and realizing that it is real; that we are really together. I move over and let Finnick into the bed.

-          Are you tired?

It’s the first thing he said since my tear brake out. It’s lovely to hear his voice again. It is strong again, but there is still a hint of concern in it. I shake my head.

-          Really?

He is playful. I nod. He grabs my chin and pulls me near. We are forehead against forehead. He smells beautifully. I feel his breathing racing and the beeping machine starts beeping faster. He laughs. We are so close for the first time in so long. It felt like years to me even though it was only 2 weeks. I close my eyes savoring the moment. I suddenly hear a noise that makes me turn my attention to the corner of the room. I can hear Finnick sighting at the distance, something is wrong.

The corner starts to change. I see the arena in front of me. I’m paralyzed with fear. I can hear Finnick calling my name trying to get my attention. I know it’s not really there, I know I’m just imagining the whole thing; but it feels so real! A black shadow passes right next to me and gets lost within the arena. I can hear the screaming. I see Micah. I feel glad!  He is alive! He is staring at me. I feel a pinch in the stomach. He is about to get killed. I try to yell at him to run, to save himself. No sound comes out of my mouth. He gives me a tender smile and then his head is ripped of his body. I close my eyes and when I open them again the arena is gone. Finnick’s staring at me. I can see he is scared.

-          I… I saw… he… the… dead…

I try to explain but I´m just mumbling.

-          What?