Percy’s POV

“ Why didn’t you wake me up?” Katniss voice suddenly came. Uh-oh. “ You were supposed to wake me up hours ago!”

   “ Chill,” I say. She raises her fist and I say coolly, “ You know, doctors heal people. Not add their injuries.”

   “ Since I am neither a doctor nor a healer, I couldn’t care less,” she says, swinging her fist at me. Luckily I caught it before it could land a blow on my pretty face

   “ Is this how you treat your boyfriend?” I ask her. “ My, my. Our audience would definitely be surprised to know how abusive you are to your boyfriend.”

   “ Since when am I – “

I shut her with another kiss. Then, slowly, I inch my mouth to her ear and mutter, “ You might want to watch what you say. If you don’t remember, I kind of made a public announcement about it.”

   When I pull back, her eyes were wide and her mouth was gaping. “ Oh.”

“ Yeah.”

“ Well, then,” she says, looking awfully flustered. “ Um…”

“ You can make it up to me by giving me another kiss?” I suggest. “ Ow!” I say as she pinches me in the midriff.

“ I’m done kissing you for now,” she says and when I open my mouth to retort, she cuts across, “ Firstly, you taste of puke and secondly….” her voice trails off. “ Um…”

“ You only have that first reason, sweetheart,” I say mockingly.

“Uh, you are impossible,” she says, looking incredibly frustrated. “ Since you are having lots of fun making fun of me, I suppose you are feeling better and no more fever?”

“ What? Oh, oh yeah. I am definitely feeling better now. Healthier. I feel great,” I say, smirking. Her eyes narrows down to a pair of slits. “ What? I’m telling the truth!”

   She puts her hand on my forehead. “ No. You are not getting any better,” she says.

   “ What?! I don’t feel feverish anymore. You are just making that up!” I protest as she pulls her sack of food. “ Wait. What are you doing?” I ask as she pulls the broth container and pouring half of the winter bird into it.

   “ I am going to force you to eat this,” she says, showing me the mushed winter bird mixed with a little bit of water to make some broth. “ Tada. It’s a broth!” she says, grinning at me wickedly.

   “ No, I am not going to eat that!” She didn’t falter. In fact, she scoops a large amount of the broth with the spoon. “ No – (gurgle, gurgle)” I say as she forces the glob into my mouth. I had some difficulty in swallowing the disgusting thing.

  “ Do you want me to warm the broth up for you?”

  “ It doesn’t matter if it’s warm or not. I am not eating it!” I nearly howled. She ignores my howls and pleas and continues on feeding me to gooey stuff.

  “ There you go, all finished,” she said after the last spoon. “ That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

  “ Easy for you to say,” I say darkly, wiping my mouth. “ Do I have to take those awful fever pills again?”

  “ Yep,” she says, grabbing my injured arm. I wince a bit. “ Let me see this first,” she rolls my sleeve up and takes a good look at the wound. I hear her gasp and assumed it had somehow gotten worst.

   “ So?”

  “ Well, it has gotten a little bit worse,” she says, trying to make her tone breezy. But I could tell she is freaking out.  “ But, um…”

  “ Just say it, Katniss. I have blood poisoning.”

  “ Yeah. You have blood poisoning.”

*********************

“ So….blood poisoning.”

“ Shut up, Percy.”

“ Do you still think I’ll make it out alive?”

“ If you don’t want to shut up, I’ll kill you.”

“ You won’t do that.”

“ Why are you so sure?”

“ Because you’re trying so hard to keep me alive, sweetheart.”

Silence.

“ You’re not going to die on me,” she suddenly blurts out. I raise an eyebrow at her. “ I mean…you’re my..um..”

   “ Boyfriend.”

   “ Whatever. Boyfriend. Best friend. Ally. Pick whichever you want,” she says, her cheeks flushing. “ I’m going to do my best in keeping you alive.”

   “ You just said you wanted to kill me.”

  She screams in frustration before wringing my neck. “ Okay, Jackson. I am so going to kill you now!” she hisses in my ear. I smirk at before wriggling out of her grip.

   “ We’re making so much noise that the others are bound to find us,” I say, leaning against the cave wall. “ In fact, I’m surprised they haven’t found us yet, you know.”

  “ Do you want Cato to find you?”

  “ Pretty much. He could finish the job he had started. Ow! Hey!” I hiss at her when she kicked my broken leg. “ Was that really necessary?”

   “ If you talk trash again I’ll definitely kill you,” she says threateningly.

   “ Ooo…scary,” I mock her which was actually the stupidest thing to do. Good thing she didn’t retaliate. She just sighs and leans against me. I put my good arm around her and hug her closer. “ Don’t worry. I’ll make it out,” I say, squeezing her a bit.

   “ Yeah, you’ll make it out,” she mutters.

  We stayed like that for a while until I accidently dozed off.

   “ You’re still tired,” she says, sitting up. “ How do you feel?”

  “ I’m not tired,” I say, though my yawning seems to disagree. “ I’m feeling a little bit sleepy, though. And I’ve cramps in my legs,” I add, stretching my legs carefully. “ That’s better,” I say, grinning sleepily at her.

  “ Go to sleep,” she says, pulling her jacket off and use it to cover my legs.

  “ Won’t you be cold?” I ask. She shrugs. “ Come here. You can share my body warmth,” I say, unzipping my jacket. “ Come on.” She hesitates at first but then scoots over. “ Better?”

“ Kind of,” she says.

   We were silent for a while (wow…how many silent moment do we have?) until I blurt, “ I can’t sleep.” She looks at me, frowning. “ Can you tell me a bed time story?” I ask, making my voice squeaky like a child’s.

   “ Since when do you need a bed time story?”

   “ Since now. Come on,” I say. “ I know you have a lot of bed time stories. Prim told me,” I say.

   “ That little duck,” she mutters. I chuckle. “ Fine. Just one.”

   “ That’s all I ask,” I say, smiling sweetly at her.

   “ What story do you want to hear?” she asks, snuggling closer.

   “ Let’s see,” I say, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “ Most of the time I’m with you anyway so I probably know nearly everything about you.” She glares at me. “ Wait,” I say before she could interrupt. “ I’ve always wondered how Prim got her goat. How did you buy Lady from Gavin?”

   “ Who’s Gavin?” she asks, looking mildly surprised. I could see the gears in her head spinning, running the name ‘Gavin’ through. “ I don’t remember anyone named ‘Gavin’ in the Seam.”

“ Gavin is the Goat Man, Katniss,” I say. “ How can you not know his real name when you’ve bought his goat?”

“ He never seemed like a person who you would have a chat with!” she protests. “ Anyway, how do you know his name?” she asks curiously.

“ Well, as you know, I can be a very, very annoying person and I have a very, very big mouth and I just won’t stop until I get what I want,” I say, smirking. “ I used to hang around his goat pen, feed the goats and stuff. He threw rocks at me for that,” I say, recounting the tale. “ He yelled, ‘You are going to give them bloody colic, boy!’ and I said, ‘ I fed them whatever you fed!’. He designed a few traps for me after that, to keep me away.”

She laughs, the sound reverberating in the cave. “ Have you ever been caught in those traps?”

“ Yep. And it was an old trick, too. You know, the accidentally-step-into-a-circle-of-rope-and-get-dangled-in-the-air-head-down trap,” I say. “ He let me hang by my feet in a tree for the rest of the day. Then, Addy and Prim showed up and they managed to charm him. He let me go and warned me not to set foot at his place ever again.”

“ Addy and Prim?”

“ Yeah. That was before we moved out of the orphanage. Way, way before that,” I say. “ But being the stubborn and stupid person I was, I went to his place again the next day.”

“ Can’t blame Gavin for wanting to kill you,” she mutters. “ I would’ve done the same thing too.”

“ Shut up,” I say, laughing. “ Let me finish. We came to an understanding that day. Sort of. Well, if you call shouting at each other while trying to avoid getting skewered with his pointy rod is an understanding. But he was quite friendly that day. Friendly for him. Because usually he would just chase me with it. No need to talk, just chase.” She is laughing so hard now. “ I told him I want to help him take care of his goats and he, again said, ‘You are going to give them bloody colic!’ and I said, ‘ Not if you showed me how to care for the goats!’. I think it might have occurred to him that he was taking care of the goats alone and that getting an assistant was probably the best thing to do.”

“ So you became a Goat Man too.”

“ Yeah,” I say, drowning in the memories. “ He died not long after you bought Lady from him,” I tell her.

“ He died?” she asks, looking surprised. “ I…I didn’t know.”

“ No one actually knew except for Addy and I. We took care of his funeral since he had no family of his own. As for the goats, most of it got sold off to the butcher. Some I gave it for free to the miners so at least they can have fresh milk, cheese and all.”

“ How did you know I bought Lady from him?” she suddenly asks.

“ Lady is my favourite mama goat,” I say. “ I got really upset when Gavin told me he sold the goat. He didn’t tell me who he sold her to, though. So, when I found Lady at your house, I thought, ‘ Well, at least she wasn’t thrown into Greasy Sae’s mince meat soup or something.’” She nods. “ Wait, you’re the one who should be telling me a story. Why is it the other way around?” I demand.

“ Well, you are a talkative person,” she says, smiling sweetly. “ I just realized, you are one of those people who given any topic could turn it into an hour long chat.”

“ Am not.”

“ Are too.”

“ Am – “

I was cut short when the trumpets blare all around the arena. I look at Katniss and see that she wears the same shocked look that I know is on my face.

“ Another announcement?”

“ A feast, maybe?”

“ Hello, there! Why, I am just so proud that all of you are still in the Games. Some of you are quite well-fed while the others..well, you must remember what happened, right? The burning of the food supply at the Cornucopia? – “ Claudius Templesmith’s voice booms overhead.

“ Can’t believe that that was you and Rue,” I mutter to her. She smirks, poking her tongue at me.

“ – and now I am going to invite you to a feast – “

“ Thanks. We’re not that hungry,” Katniss says out loud. “ Ow!” she yelps when I jab her in the ribs. “ What?”

“ Do you want them to set a pack of mutts loose on us?” I hiss at her. “ Just listen to the man!”

“ – oh, I know you are well-fed, dear and you are probably not interested about this feast. But, yes there is a but in this, this is not an ordinary feast. Not an ordinary feast, you ask? Yes, not an ordinary feast. At this feast, each of you need something desperately.”

“ Something desperately,” I repeat. I look at Katniss and her face has this eager look on it that somehow scares me.

“ Each of you will find that something in a backpack, marked with your district number, at the Cornucopia at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you, this may be your last chance.”

I grip her arm when I finally understood what he meant. “ You are so not going to the feast,” I say in a menacing tone.

“ What?” she says, laughing. “Why would I go?” I glare at her. “And anyway, who said I was going to?” she adds, shaking my grip off. “ Relax, Percy. I’m not stupid enough to run into a trap where it’s a free-for-all buffet.”

 “ And I thought I was a good liar,” I say, sighing. “ You do know that your body is giving off signs that scream ‘I’m lying! I’m lying!’”

“ Okay, fine. I’m lying. I really am going to the stupid feast and you can’t stop me,” she says, her nostrils flaring, her face flushed with anger.

“ Oh, come on, Katniss!” I argue. “ You can’t be that stupid to go to the feast, right?”

“ But I can’t be stupid enough to let you die in this arena!” she spats.

“ I won’t die!” I say, feeling a twinge of gratitude that she is keeping true to her word : that she will do her hardest to keep me alive.” And I can’t let you die, either!”

“ Then what do you want me to do, Percy? That wound needs serious treatment!” she says, pushing my sleeve up. “ See this?” she asks, showing me the hideous wound. “If it is not treated, you would be dead in a couple of days. Remember what happened to Amara? The girl from your orphanage? Do you want to die like her?” I didn’t answer. “ I am not going to let you die on me.”

“ I won’t die, Katniss,” I insist. “ I’m getting better, really.” Okay, that was a total lie. I think the fever is coming back and my vision is clouding a bit. Oh, wow. I think my temperature is going up again. Maybe higher than before. “ I promise I won’t die. Only if you promise you won’t go.”

She glares at me. Bingo. I know I’ve trapped her successfully. “ Fine. I won’t go. But you will have to do what I say. Drink your water – “

I grab the canteen and pour half of the contents into my mouth.

“ – wake me when I tell you – “

“ Why should I wake you up when there is nothing going on and the fact that you need the sleep?”

“  - and eat everything that I give you no matter how disgusting it is!”

“ The last part is kind of hard to – “ I falter under her steely gaze. “ Oh, whoopee! I’m feeling rather hungry. Do you still have some of the winter bird?” I ask innocently.

She rolls her eyes before pulling her sack of food. “ There’s still half of the bird. Do you want to finish the whole thing?” she asks, looking at me with her eyebrows raised.

“ Oh, no. I can never finish the whole thing,” I shudder at the thought of finishing the bird. “ Maybe a teensy weeny bit would do.”

She raises an eyebrow before dumping a quarter from the half of the bird into the broth’s container. “ You are going to finish this,” she says in this really mean way, her eyes glinting maliciously.

“ How is it a pretty girl like you can be so mean and scary?” I mumble under my breath, poking at the piece of meat.

“ I have my way,” she smirks. “ Finish that or I’ll be off to the Cornucopia in a blink of an eye.”

I glare at her before slowly nibbling the meat. “ I hate you.”

She laughs. “ Stay here and finish that. After this you’ll have to eat your medicine. I’m going out for a while.”

I grab her arm. “ You are not going to the feast, right?” She rolls her eyes.

“ Yes, Percy. I just need some fresh air.”

I let go of her arm unwillingly.

*********************

It’s been nearly fifteen minutes.

Where the hell is she?

You don’t think she’s run off to the stupid feast, do you?

 I stare at the remnants of my meal. I couldn’t finish it because I nearly threw up after several bites.

She better not run off to the stupid feast.

I drag my butt across the cave floor to the opening.

“ Katniss?” I call out softly. “ Katniss!” No answer. “ Get your ass back here, Katniss!”

“ Will you shut up?” a hand clamp across my mouth and pulls me back into the cave. “ Are you stupid or what?” she hisses at me.

“ I thought you ran off to the feast,” I say, sighing in relief.

“ Give me some credit, will you?” she says, looking extremely annoyed. “ Sheesh, I’m not that stupid, Percy.”

“ I knew that,” I say sheepishly. “ What’s that?” I ask her, noticing something in her hand.

“ Oh, it’s nothing,” she says breezily. “ Have you finished your meal?”

“ Well, I couldn’t finish all of it. But I think I ate quite a big chunk of the quarter you gave me, you know. Just saying,” I say, putting on my special poker face.

“ Right,” she says, giving me this look. “ Well, go to sleep. I’ll take the first watch,” she suggests, picking up her jacket and covering my legs.

“ I’m not sleepy,” I say quickly. You can’t actually blame me for not trusting her, right? “ We can have a chat while we wait for morning.”

Her eyes narrow down to a slit. “ You’re pushing it, Percy,” she says in this really scary voice. Before I could comprehend what she meant, she pulls out this piece of cloth and covers my mouth and nose with it. She caught be my surprise.

Instinctively, I took a deep breath before the cloth fully covers my respiration. Bad move, though because I got a full whiff of some sort of chemical from it. Instantly I feel sort of dizzy and woozy. I try to push her hand away but my brain was getting sluggish, my reaction slower and my vision darkening. I could only make out her dark outline.

The last thing I remember was hearing her say : “ Sorry, Percy.”

I’m going to kill her.

A/N: You know what could speed up the updates? Comments...you can tell me what I lack, any ideas you have, critics most importantly...