Sugarcubes // Finnick Odair - Hunger Games Fanfic

I.

"On the 75th anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that not even the strongest amongst them cannot overcome the power of the capitol, the male and female tributes shall be reaped from the existing pool of Victors."

What?

I have just come from the quarter quell. Why is there another quarter quell announcement? My body tenses involuntarily, but my mind reels. What is happening?

The nurse looks at me. She pauses her fiddling with my IV bag and looks straight into my eyes. And then, in a tone that feels like she's been practicing saying this very thing, she says, "Not for you, Ms. Parstons, because of your recent scare, you are exempt."

What recent scare? Why am I exempt from something that has already happened? Why am I here? And where the hell is here?

"Where am I?" I ask, grabbing her by the arm as she turns to walk away. She looks from me to the place where I hold her arm, to the IV bag in a panicked state, as though she doesn't know what to say to my simple question. She doesn't say anything. I can feel my confusion rising. I know that I didn't imagine what has just happened. I know. I didn't suffer any blows to the head, and my imagination just isn't that good. The arena, the detail, Finnick, all of it was too real for it to be imaginary. So, then the question remains, why are these people trying to convince me that all of it never happened?

The nurse pulls her hand away from me, and I let her go, my hand falling limp at my side. She exits the door and seals the wall. I can hear footsteps on the other side of the door, like there are so many people bustling about, but nobody is bold enough to come in and face me. I turn my attention to the IV in the bag.

Suddenly, looking at the liquid flowing into my veins, my paranoia is back. What is these people, whoever they are, are pumping something into me that makes me hear Snow's voice? I know for a fact that this isn't real because I heard Snow's announcement. I heard it, and I was in my house in District 7. I rushed to Johanna's house, and I wrapped her hand, which was bloodied by the glass she had shattered. I went to Terry's house. Finnick called.

Something is going on, and I'm willing to bet quite a lot that Snow is behind this. That I haven't been saved by the rebels. And that this entire thing is some ploy, some Capitol trick until they can figure out just how to punish me for my treason.

I rip the IV out of my skin. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or a bad idea just yet. The needle is the only thing that is halfway sharp in my room, so I detach it from the bag, which now drips the unknown liquid onto the floor beside my bed and grip it in my hand.

Then, slowly, because I still remember the immense pain that traveled through my body when my axe was lodged in my stomach, I climb off the bed. It's a proper hospital bed, a good height off the ground. When I stand up properly, the bed comes up till my mid-thigh. I don't know why but noticing every detail around me seem vitally important. Maybe that has something to do with the hunger games.

Other than the dull sting in my arm, from where I pulled the needle out, I feel fine. The contrast of this sting in my arm to the pain I endured in the hunger games is so large that I forget about the sting in the first place.

I hear footsteps approaching the room, so I silently move behind where the door is supposed to be, though since everything is so white it's hard to tell the difference between door and solid wall and wait with my arm raised.

I don't really know what my plan is.

I have one syringe, but I could probably do more harm with just my hands, and even so, there's no way I can take on the amount of people that I can hear outside this door. I'm just hoping to induce as much fear that I can do something to the one person that comes in, so they give me some information.