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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act three.

(chapter sixty-nine, juniper hale needed more morphling)

hospital ward, 75 ADD.

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"HALE, IF YOU'RE HAVING another flashback or whatever the hell, I'm going to hit you." 

The darkness that submerged Juniper Hale was diminishing as the low lights of the hospital ward flooded her vision. And as they did, a pain that she couldn't ignore was stabbing her in the chest, trickling throughout her entire being. Her head thudded and her fingertips twitched, even more so when Juniper opened her eyes to see Johanna Mason peering down at her. 

"What? No." Juniper clenched her jaw as she tried to sit up in the bed, but as she did, her ribs gave out an aching cry that had her hissing. "What are you doing?" 

Johanna was perched on the side of Juniper's bed, a morphling bag in her hand with the drip still attached to the socket taped to her arm. And as she sat beside the woman, Juniper began to notice little things about her. Some of the bandages on her flesh were taken off. There were tiny fluffs of hair growing back onto her head, something she hadn't seemed to notice before. And she had grown back some more weight. She was still severely underweight, but she looked slightly better than what she did. 

"You've been out of it for two days." Johanna scoffed. "Those nurses must really not like you if they gave you a sedative that strong." 

"What?" Juniper winced. "Two days?"

"Oh, yeah," Johanna told her. "It's been such a joy without you." 

"Wow, thanks," Juniper grumbled as she cradled her side. As she got up fully, she saw the pain in the woman's face. "What is it?" 

"I just thought I'd tell you that we've got some head doctors coming around now," said the Victor from Seven. "I've got one who comes around every day, supposed to be helping me recover. He's a complete moron. At least twenty times a session he reminds me that I'm totally safe, that nothing can touch me." 

Juniper thought of Dr. Aurelius and scoffed, saying, "I've got one. I've only had one session with him and he just did paperwork." 

"Well, he must think you're somewhat crazy because he's cut back your supply of morphling."

The Hale woman furrowed her brows before looking up at the morphling bag that was hooked on the stand, clenching her jaw when she realised it was a much lower dose than what she had previously. That must have been why her ribs were hurting more, why agony was trickling down her entire being. Juniper groaned as she laid back down, feeling annoyance fill her up. 

"They've cut mine back too," Johanna assured her. "I guess they don't want us turning into those freaks from Six." 

"I think they were onto something, though." Juniper closed her eyes as she tried to ignore the stabbing, groaning pains from the sudden lack of morphling. 

"What? The creeps from Six?" Johanna questioned. "I suppose... dose yourself up with morphling and paint flowers on yourself." 

Juniper huffed as she opened her eyes, asking, "Did they actually cut your dose down because they thought you were going to become an addict?"

"Partly." Johanna nodded. "But also because I eat every day, I'm gaining weight, I'm safe. All of that rubbish... honestly, the nurses here are terrible."

Juniper scoffed at Johanna's attempts of mimicking the nurses, but she wasn't wrong. Ever since they arrived in Thirteen, they had been getting meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and Johanna had put on a little bit of weight, even if she still looked underfed. At least some of her bones were now disguised by bits of fat on her arms and chest now. And her small fluffs of her hair were coming back. However, the scars on her head remained ever so visible. 

"What about you, Hale?" Johanna said. "Are you eating every day? Are you gaining weight? Do you feel safe?" 

"Does it look like I'm gaining weight?"

"I wouldn't know," the woman replied. "You've always been too skinny and not in a good way." 

Juniper narrowed her eyes, but, yet again, knew Johanna wasn't wrong. There was barely any food in District Ten and it contributed to her small stature. For twenty, she was not the normal size. But neither was Johanna for twenty-one as both women were about the same height. 

"Why are you here?" Juniper managed to croak out. "I'm sure you didn't just want to tell me that they cut off our morphling supply and that your head doctor is an idiot." 

"I was just making conversation." Johanna adjusted herself on the bed, causing Juniper to wince slightly. "Also... I've got some news on Mellark." 

"Oh, do you?"

"I snuck out at night to go see him and I heard Haymitch and little Everdeen speaking—" 

"Little Everdeen?" 

"I can't remember her name." Johanna waved her away. "But I overheard they've figured out a way to fix him."

Juniper raised a brow and became intrigued as she questioned, "What did they say?" 

"Little Everdeen came up with the idea of trying to hijack him back," Johanna said. "To bring up distorted memories of Girl on Fire and give him a big dose of some calming drug. Probably morphling... I heard they've already tried it." 

"And what happened?" Juniper asked. 

"He went into some stupor, got real confused," the woman replied. "Didn't speak for hours."

Juniper felt her chest tighten up as she thought of Peeta. She would have liked to see him, but after sneaking out at night days prior, she didn't think she wanted to. And suddenly, her heart began to twist. She didn't appreciate the kindness of Peeta Mellark before their captivity. All she could think about was how he shouldn't have won, how he was a nuisance. But now that he was gone, that warmth and kindness, Juniper suddenly missed it. She took advantage of it. She was cruel to him. She wanted to kill him. 

(And Peeta was probably sent by the others to retrieve her, but he noticed she had no intention of moving and so, he sat down beside her, copying her position as his feet dangled in the water)

("Is there anything people from Ten say?" Peeta asked softly, nearly distantly)

Johanna soon hopped off of Juniper's bed and disappeared behind the curtain, resuming her position underneath her own sheets. And as she did, the Hale woman tried to make the tightness in her chest disappear, the overwhelming feeling of regret. But it wouldn't go away along with the thudding pain of her ribs and the weakness of her body. For that, she could blame Dr. Aurelius. 

"Why did you order to give me a weaker dose of morphling?" Juniper asked when the man came to sit in the plastic chair that afternoon. 

"So you don't become addicted," Dr. Aurelius stated as if it was obvious. "And we can't have you on it forever. We need to slowly get you off it. I've also ordered to detach that drug that was making your brain fuzzy."

"How did you know my brain was fuzzy?" 

"One look at you and I could tell." Dr. Aurelius let out a forced laugh as he stared down at his clipboard. "I have no clue what it was. A form of a sedative, I assume. You don't need it so I don't know why they gave it to you." 

"I liked my morphling," Juniper argued. "I couldn't feel my ribs. Now I can and they hurt like hell." 

"You still have your morphling," Dr. Aurelius said. "But not a strong dose. And, to be honest, Miss Hale, you didn't need a strong dose. With a strong dose, you can't feel anything. That's not right." 

"And what if I don't want to feel, huh?"

Dr. Aurelius snapped his head up, suddenly interested as he asked, "And why don't you want to feel, Miss Hale?"

Juniper clenched her jaw as she scoffed, saying, "I don't need a head doctor. I'm fine." 

"Are you willing to share why you don't want to sleep?" Dr. Aurelius questioned. "Because you look exhausted." 

"I just don't want to sleep." 

The man stared at Juniper before nodding, retrieving his pen from his breast pocket and leaning further in the plastic chair, the Hale woman scoffing as she watched him begin to flip through sheets of papers. He stayed there for hours until a nurse came in with lunch. When she placed the tray on Juniper's lap, the doctor got up, said his goodbyes to the woman, and left. 

Dr. Aurelius came in every afternoon for the next following days. He would come just after breakfast, try and coax Juniper into speaking and when she never did, he would do his paperwork until lunch arrived. It was continuous for those days and Juniper couldn't seem to get rid of him, even as she complained to Lucy and the other nurses. 

No-one listened to her complaints.

But Juniper didn't want a head doctor in her life. She didn't want another Clampitt. She didn't want someone else putting all the blame on her, even if they were right. She could stand and accept whatever Clampitt had told her, but not Dr. Aurelius. If he ever showed her a clip or made her listen to a recording, Juniper didn't think she could stand it. She didn't want another head doctor. She didn't want another Clampitt. 

The Hale woman tried to take her mind off of Dr. Aurelius and Dr. Clampitt and began to notice the changes in her recovery. She yearned for more morphling. She wasn't addicted, of course, but her body was still weak, still vulnerable. However, her ribs were getting better. There weren't groaning anymore and it was more like a twinge than anything. The nurses still assured her it would take a few more weeks to get better. But Juniper was eating everyday and she was sure she had gained a few more pounds as well as Johanna. Of course, they were still unnaturally underweight, but they were better than what they were before. 

But with Juniper not having a stronger dose of morphling with the absence of the drug that made her brain fuzzy, it caused her head to not become hollow. It wasn't empty. She could feel every pain, every emotion rushing through her veins. Her thoughts were more louder than before and it was hard to not let them spill, especially with Dr. Aurelius. But he never pushed her for information like Plutarch did. If Juniper didn't speak, he just did his paperwork. The Hale woman could slightly stand him for that. 

But what she couldn't stand him was that he had ordered limitations to her drug intake. It wasn't enough to have her going through withdrawal, but Juniper could still feel the difference and she didn't like it. But every time she complained, the nurses would assure her she was getting better. That all of the captured Victors' were getting better.

Finnick came in every so often and his tears had dried. He was now ecstatic with a bright gleam in his eyes. Whatever depression, whatever weeping he had done, it was surely over as he spoke to both Juniper and Johanna with a bright grin. And then he would go back to Annie, who neither had seen since the cells. The man from Four assured the two that she was doing much better. Juniper didn't doubt that. 

Then Lucy would come in to update her about Peeta. There were no improvements, even with the re-hijacking and the girl from the boy's childhood. He was still whispering that Katniss was a mutt, who was still in Two, and would fall into stupors whenever the nurses tried to do Primrose Everdeen's, Katniss's sister, idea. Lucy would fall silent after that and would leave to go talk to Haymitch. 

It was about two weeks and a day since their rescue and nothing of importance had happened. Peeta was still infected with tracker jacker confusion. Johanna and Juniper were slowly regaining their health. Annie was still with Finnick. Dr. Aurelius came by every morning 'till evening. And Katniss was still in Two.

Until she wasn't. 

People had purposely avoided telling Juniper and Johanna what was going on within the war. No-one told them anything, didn't show them anything. But there were whispers throughout the hospital ward that the woman from Seven always repeated to the Victor from Ten, overhearing it when she went out on her night walks that were strictly forbidden. Rumours were floating that Katniss Everdeen had been shot in District Two. Of course, no-one actually believed it until the girl was rolled into the hospital ward on a gurney. 

Juniper raised a brow as she watched the nurses roll the unconscious Victor into the ward, passing her as they disappeared behind the curtain to her left. And as they did, the Hale woman couldn't help but raise a brow, especially as she heard the nurses mutter to themselves. 

"At least she doesn't have any broken ribs..."

"Yes, but the impact ruptured her spleen." 

"Poor thing, surgeons couldn't even repair it." 

Juniper buried herself further into the depth of her blankets, waiting for the nurses to disappear. It took them a long hour, checking on Katniss and entering tubes into the sockets taped on her arms, but after they left, Juniper perked up. And as she did, the curtain to her right ripped open. 

"Is that Everdeen?" Johanna Mason's lips turned up into a smirk. There was a soft down of hair that had sprouted on her shaved head, which helped to hide the scars.

"It looks like she was shot after all," Juniper murmured and as she watched Johanna go around her bed until she was at the other curtain, the woman asked, "What are you doing?"

"Going to say hello."

Juniper let out a small sigh before swinging her legs over the frame of her bed, standing up slowly as Johanna ripped away the curtain on her left. And as she did, the Hale woman got a good view of Katniss Everdeen in her unconscious state. 

She had a morphling drip going into her arm with her olive skin a ghastly grey. Her black hair was splayed out on the pillow as she slept and Johanna scoffed as she sat on the bed, picking up her wrist to look at the band clasped there. Juniper, instead, peered at her morphling bag that was hooked on the stand. She was getting a much bigger dose than the two other Victors' were. 

"Aw, poor thing," Johanna cooed. "She's got bruised ribs and a ruptured spleen." 

"Nurses said they couldn't repair it," Juniper said absentmindedly as she stared at the morphling drip and bag. She was getting a much bigger dose.

"Not much of a shot, is it?" Johanna chuckled before noticing that the woman didn't acknowledge her comment, adding, "What? You don't actually feel bad for her, do you, Hale?"

"She's getting a bigger morphling intake," Juniper murmured. "Look." 

"What?" Johanna scoffed. "You're joking. This is where all our morphling is going? Into her?"

"Well, it is everyone's job to keep her alive." 

Johanna sneered, but her face relaxed as if something genius popped into her mind. The Hale woman sat down on the bed with her, by Katniss's legs, and stared at her with a raised brow. 

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Hale?" Johanna mused as a wicked smile played upon her lips. 

"I'm certain I'm not." 

"Well, sharing is caring, is it not?" Johanna smirked and with an expert hand, she quickly detached the morphling drip from Katniss's arm, plugging it into the socket taped into the crook of her own. She sighed as the drug began to enter her bloodstream. "I'm sure she won't mind." 

Juniper debated whether or not to scold Johanna Mason for taking Katniss Everdeen's morphing drip, but she couldn't seem to. Her own ribs were hurting slightly. Her body was weak. And she needed something to cloud her head, to stop the thoughts even if it was temporarily. 

"You better share," Juniper grumbled as she scooted closer. "There's two of us here." 

"Of course, Hale." Johanna had her eyes closed as she took deep breaths. She might be gaining weight and building up her strength again, but she still needed the morphling. Juniper needed the morphling. "This is better than sneaking out at night, trying to find the supply cupboard." 

"That's why you go out?" Juniper scoffed. She had heard Johanna going out nearly every night and coming back when it was early morning. The Hale woman would have done the exact same thing if it wasn't for the twinges and pokes coming from her ribs. 

"Of course." 

Johanna was attached to the tube for a while before Juniper pushed her out of the way. With a shaky hand, the Hale woman detached the morphling drip from the Victor from Seven, plugging it into her own socket that was taped to her arm. And suddenly, any thoughts she had in her head were slowly dispelling as she let out a sigh, the pain in her ribs diminishing. She despised Dr. Aurelius for lowering her intake. 

But suddenly, the door to the ward they were in opened and the sound of boots scuffling across the floor caused both of the women to jump. But instead of it being a cross, middle-aged nurse, it was a man who seemed to look identical to Katniss. He had dark hair, grey eyes, and olive skin, being well over six-foot-tall. The man must have been from District Twelve, what was left of them, and he narrowed his eyes at the two Victors' who were feeding off of Katniss's morphling drip. 

"What are you two doing?"

Juniper raised a brow as she whispered to Johanna, "Who the hell is that?" 

The Mason woman blinked once, twice, and then a third time before letting out a gasp, smirking as she said, "Don't you know, Hale? This is The Mockingjay's cousin." 

Juniper eyed the man and let out a sigh when she realised she had seen him on the television once or twice when it was the Seventy-Fourth. When they were interviewing family back in Twelve when only a few tributes were left, this man had popped up as Katniss's cousin. 

"Oh," Juniper murmured, noticing the way his face became clouded with anger. "I suppose he wouldn't enjoy us syphoning off of his cousin's morphling supply."

Juniper seemed to notice that the man was cautious of the two Victors' as he neared Katniss, gently taking her hand in his. And with a first glance at him, the Hale woman gathered he was not Katniss's cousin. The way he stroked her hand was too affectionate, too loving for a cousin. Juniper felt a chuckle begin to build up, which both pained her ribs and caused the man to wince slightly. He was afraid of them. 

"Right... well..." Juniper began to say as she unhooked herself and reattached Katniss to the morphling drip. "Let's allow the cousins to have some privacy, Mason." 

Johanna scoffed before hopping off of the bed, Juniper following as she snapped the curtain behind her. The Mason woman went back to her section as Juniper, slowly, climbed underneath her own covers. Johanna's curtain flung shut as well and Juniper was alone with only a sliver of strong morphling in her body. But that wasn't enough to cloud her brain, to make her mind go hollow. It was just about enough to numb her ribs.

("It was psychological torture... and, oh, did it work.")

(No-one prepared for her to lurch forward, rage emitting off of her in waves as she raked her nails down his face)

("You sick bastard!" Juniper screeched. Blood was gushing down Orion Hale's face as he stumbled backwards, holding his eye)

("... how did you find out about that?")

("Yes, your punishment. Miss Mason's was being electrocuted in water. Mr. Mellark's... well, you'll find out eventually. And Miss Cresta's was being away from Mr. Odair," Clampitt explained. "But yours... my task, your punishment, was to break you.")

(And Juniper could feel her heart rate skyrocket as she felt the Peacekeeper take ahold of her bicep roughly, grasping her)

("So?" Johanna laughed. "Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. No point in moping about something you can't change.")

(But the sigh of relief turned into one of confusion as she walked further into the makeshift house, seeing her father sat in a small chair next to a boarded window, peering through the cracks gently as a piece of paper was crumpled up in his grasp)

(His grip on the paper became tighter, but the girl didn't question it)

("June, no," her father told her harshly, lifting up her head and grasping her cheeks with his big hands. "Don't you dare apologise... this is Snow's fault. This is my fault.")

(But he was riddled with guilt and regret)

(He couldn't look at Juniper without wincing. Every time he looked at her, he felt nauseous. He had to look away whenever he glanced at her eyes)

("Can we agree to not lie to each other, Miss Hale? If I do not lie, you do not lie. It will make things much simpler and much more understandable.")

Juniper Hale needed more morphling.