Yours [Prim/Cato]

Chapter 54 - Faint

My eyes slowly flutter open, and I'm surrounded by nothing but white surfaces. There's an IV stuck into my arm, and I hear lots of beeping.

I'm in the hospital, but there isn't one in District Twelve. The last I remember, I was in Twelve. I don't comprehend how I got to this hospital, or why I'm in this hospital bed anyway.

Once my eyes completely focus, I feel a painful throbbing in my head and struggle to sit up. Everything hurts everywhere. What happened to me? And where am I?

I slowly rotate my head to get a good look at my surroundings, and there's Cato, sleeping in a tiny chair perched closely to the bed. His hand is wrapped around the bed's railing tightly, making sure that no one would move me without him knowing. My mom is laying on a couch up next to a wall, sleeping with her back to me.

I struggle to sit up again, and my movement shakes the bed, which wakes up Cato.

His eyes flutter open and once he sees that I'm awake, he jumps up and is by my side in a millisecond.

"Rose, you're awake!" Relief is flooding his voice, and he hugs me tenderly, careful not to hurt me. He holds my face in his hands and kisses me over and over again. "I was so, so worried you wouldn't wake up."

"Where am I?" My voice is groggy.

"The Capitol. We had to bring you here to get the right treatment."

"What happened?"

Cato immediately angers. "A fucking Peacekeeper hit you with a fucking car. He was driving Effie over, dropped his gun below his seat, and the motherfucker let go of the wheel to pick it up. Once he turned onto the street, the car slid. He came out of nowhere and hit you. Stupid shitty ass fucker."

I was hit by a car?!

"It was the Mayor's fault. He allowed the asshole to complete training even though he knew the guy wasn't fully prepared."

My mother stirs on the couch and sits up. Once she opens her eyes, she nearly faints to the ground. "You're awake, finally." She smiles and reaches to hug me.

"What do you mean, 'finally'? How long was I out?"

"Just for a couple days. Nothing serious, though. The doctor's said they would update us on your status once you woke up, but they mostly kept you under so your body had the chance to heal."

"Well, where's Effie?"

Cato jerks his head harshly to the door. "I won't let her in. She let that fucker drive."

"Language," Mom scolds. Cato mumbles a 'sorry' and blushes. Wow.

"And what happened to the guy?" He must be in a jail or something for being so careless.

"I killed him," Cato says seriously.

I nearly choke on my saliva. "You... you killed him?!"

"Yeah," Cato shrugs nonchalantly. "Snapped his neck before he could get out of the vehicle. He hit you with a car. I had no choice."

Well I guess he wasn't joking when he said he would kill for me. I look to Mother to see if there is any doubt, but she shows no sign of it. So it's true, he did kill the guy. Poor Peacekeeper... next time, people will learn before they just let a maniac onto the streets.

"We were so worried about you," Mom says, taking my hand.

"How are you feeling? Are you alright? Do you need anything... food, water?" Cato asks in a panic.

"Water, actually?"

Cato hands me a glass of water ready for me, just as a doctor walks into the room. I see Effie peek her hair into the room before sneaking back out.