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16

"Always"

In the twilight offor hies, and h cloud banks, follow faint tracks, catch the scent of cinnamon, of dill Once I feel his hand on h in to surface into the sterile hospital room in 13, I remember I was under the influence of sleep syrup My heel had been injured after I&039;d climbed out on a branch over the electric fence and dropped back into 12 Peeta had put me to bed and I had asked hi off He had whispered so I couldn&039;t quite catch But sole word of reply and let it swihdulls the extremes of all emotions, so instead of a stab of sorrow, I merely feel emptiness A hollow of dead brush where flowers used to bloo left in nore the pain in the left side of my body That&039;s where the bullet hit My hands fuhere

It wasn&039;t hi before me on the square, the burned one froer It was someone farther back in the crowd There was less a sense of penetration than the feeling that I&039;d been struck with a sledgeha after the unfire I try to sit up, but the only thing I e is a moan

The white curtain that divides my bed from the next patient&039;s whips back, and Johanna Mason stares down at me At first I feel threatened, because she attacked me in the arena I have to remind myself that she did it to save my life It was part of the rebel plot But still, that doesn&039;t mean she doesn&039;t despise me Maybe her treatment of me was all an act for the Capitol?

"I&039;, brainless" Johanna walks over and plunks down onacross rins at my discomfort, I knoe&039;re not in for some warm reunion scene "Still a little sore?" With an expert hand, she quickly detaches the s it into a socket taped into the crook of her own "They started cutting backto turn into one of those freaks from Six I&039;ve had to borrow from you when the coast was clear Didn&039;t think you&039;d mind"

Mind? How can I mind when she was almost tortured to death by Snow after the Quarter Quell? I have no right to hs as theenters her bloodstrea yourself out and paint flowers on your body Not such a bad life Seemed happier than the rest of us, anyway"

In the weeks since I left 13, she&039;s gained soht back A soft down of hair has sprouted on her shaved head, helping to hide so, she&039;s struggling

"They&039;ve got this head doctor who co uy who&039;s spent his life in this rabbit warren&039;s going to fix me up Complete idiot At least twenty times a session he ree a s to say, especially to a victor As if such a state of being ever existed, anywhere, for anyone "How about you, Mockingjay? You feel totally safe?"

"Oh, yeah Right up until I got shot," I say

"Please That bullet never even touched you Cinna saw to that," she says

I think of the layers of protective arjay outfit But the pain came from somewhere "Broken ribs?"

"Not even Bruised pretty good The impact ruptured your spleen They couldn&039;t repair it" She gives a dismissive wave of her hand "Don&039;t worry, you don&039;t need one And if you did, they&039;d find you one, wouldn&039;t they? It&039;s everybody&039;s job to keep you alive"

"Is that why you hate me?" I ask

"Partly," she admits "Jealousy is certainly involved I also think you&039;re a little hard to s With your tacky romantic drama and your defender-of-the-helpless act Only it isn&039;t an act, which makes you more unbearable Please feel free to take this personally"

"You should have been the Mockingjay No one would&039;ve had to feed you lines," I say

"True But no one likes h To get me out," I remind her "And they&039;re afraid of you"

"Here, maybe In the Capitol, you&039;re the one they&039;re scared of now" Gale appears in the doorway, and Johanna neatly unhooks herself and reattachesdrip "Your cousin&039;s not afraid of me," she says confidentially She scoots offwith her hip as she passes hihter as she disappears down the hall

I raise my eyebrows at hih, but it turns into a wince

"Easy" He strokesstraight into trouble"

"I know But someone blew up aback, he leans in closer, searching my face "You think I&039;m heartless"

"I know you&039;re not But I won&039;t tell you it&039;s okay," I say

Now he draws back, almost impatiently "Katniss, what difference is there, really, between crushing our ene them out of the sky with one of Beetee&039;s arrows? The result is the same"

"I don&039;t know We were under attack in Eight, for one thing The hospital was under attack," I say

"Yes, and those hoverplanes ca them out, we prevented further attacks"

"But that kind of thinkingyou could turn it into an argu kids into the Hunger Ga out of line," I say

"I don&039;t buy that," he tells me

"I do," I reply "It must be those trips to the arena"

"Fine We kno to disagree," he says "We always have Maybe it&039;s good Between you and ot District T"

"Really?" For aof triumph flares up inside me Then I think about the people on the square "Was there fighting after I was shot?"

"Not much The workers from the Nut turned on the Capitol soldiers The rebels just sat by and watched," he says "Actually, the whole country just sat by and watched"

"Well, that&039;s what they do best," I say

You&039;d think that losing a an would entitle you to lie around a feeeks, but for so al, the internal pain&039;s severe the first few days, but then it slacks off considerably The soreness fro on for a while I begin to resent Johanna dipping intosupply, but I still let her take whatever she likes

Ru rampant, so they send in the team to film me in my hospital bed I show off ratulate the districts on their successful battle for unity Then I warn the Capitol to expect us soon

As part of round each day One afternoon, Plutarch joins ives me an update on our current situation Now that District 2 has allied with us, the rebels are taking a breather fro to the wounded, reorganizing their troops The Capitol, like 13 during the Dark Days, finds itself completely cut off from outside help as it holds the threat of nuclear attack over its enemies Unlike 13, the Capitol is not in a position to reinvent itself and becoht be able to scrape along for a while," says Plutarch "Certainly, there are enificant difference between Thirteen and the Capitol are the expectations of the populace Thirteen was used to hardship, whereas in the Capitol, all they&039;ve known is PanenizePanem , of course, but the rest is nonsense

"It&039;s a saying froe called Latin about a place called Rome," he explains "Panem et Circensestranslates into &039;Bread and Circuses&039; The writer was saying that in return for full bellies and entertainiven up their political responsibilities and therefore their power"

I think about the Capitol The excess of food And the ultier Games "So that&039;s what the districts are for To provide the bread and circuses"

"Yes And as long as that kept rolling in, the Capitol could control its little eht now, it can provide neither, at least at the standard the people are accustomed to," says Plutarch "We have the food and I&039;m about to orchestrate an entertainment propo that&039;s sure to be popular After all, everybody loves a wedding"

I freeze inSo between Peeta and lass since I&039;ve been back and, at et updates about Peeta&039;s condition from Haymitch He speaks very little about it Different techniques are being tried There will never truly be a way to cure him And now they want me to marry Peeta for a propo?

Plutarch rushes to reassureFinnick and Annie&039;s All you need to do is show up and pretend to be happy for thes I won&039;t have to pretend, Plutarch," I tell hi a flurry of activity as the event is planned The differences between the Capitol and 13 are thrown into sharp relief by the event When Coin says "wedding," she ned a new compartment Plutarch means hundreds of people dressed in finery at a three-day celebration It&039;s ale over the details Plutarch has to fight for every guest, every musical note After Coin vetoes a dinner, entertainment, and alcohol, Plutarch yells, "What&039;s the point of the propo if no one&039;s having any fun!"

It&039;s hard to put a Gaet But even a quiet celebration causes a stir in 13, where they seem to have no holidays at all When it&039;s announced that children are wanted to sing District 4&039;s wedding song, practically every kid shows up There&039;s no shortage of volunteers to helphall, people chat excitedly about the event