Chapter Twelve
"Oh, Katniss. I want to show you the new hospital." Grandma spoke, resting her hand on Mom's. Rye and I were in the living room. He was playing a few new toys Grandma had bought to keep us entertained. And me, well, I listening to their conversation.

"Mom, I don't know," Mom spoke, her voice slightly wavering. "I don't like seeing dying people and I don't know what to do with the kids. They'll be bored out of their minds. They need to run and play."

"Don't worry, I'm not taking you to see anyone," Grandma quickly replied. "I just want to give you a tour. There are some additions to the place that I want you to see."

"I think we could get Haymitch to watch the kids. It'll be okay." Dad added.

"Haymitch is still passed out and it's nearly 10:30," Mom argued. "I'm not going to be the one to wake him. I've had a knife slashed my way one too many times already."

"Annie could watch the kids," Grandma answered. "She's gotten better since the rebellion. Having Fredrick helped the most, since he's just like his father in most ways."

There was a pause, the only sound being Rye playing with his trucks on the floor, crashing them together. "Alright. I'll get the kids ready." Mom agreed.

Quickly, I grabbed one of Rye's trucks. A sound of protest began to come from him as Mom appeared. "Go get ready. Grandma wants to give us a tour." She said.

"A tour? Of what?" Rye asked, brushing his blonde curls from his face. Mom bent down, picking him up to set him on his feet.

"We need to give you a haircut," she spoke, trying to calm his hair. Then she looked back down at his face. "We're going to see something at the new hospital."

"The hospital? But I'm not sick." He argued, making Mom lightly laugh.

"I know, Rye. We'll only be there for a little bit," She smiled. "Now go get dressed. It's going to be a long day today."

Rye and I rushed to our separate rooms. Grandma had plenty of space in her house. Mom said it's because she trains new nurses for District Four, but I haven't seen any nurses here at all. Did they go home for the weekend too?

I jumped into a pair of ripped blue jeans and a short-sleeved shirt. This was my favorite outfit. It was obvious from how torn the knees were on the jeans and a few stains on the green shirt. Mom quickly braided my hair into two braids then planted a kiss on my cheek.

I wandered into the kitchen, lingering around, waiting for everyone else to get ready. Grandma's house might be in District Four, but it gave off a vibe of District 12. Her tablecloth had a look of 12. She had a picture of Grandpa that was patterned in coal dust. Man, that stuff sticks for life.

Haymitch came stumbling in, nearly toppling over the chair he plopped into. "Where are your parents?" He grumbled, eyeing me.

"They're getting ready to leave. Grandma wants to give us a tour of the hospital." I explained, running my hand over my braid.

He nodded in understanding then brushed his locks from his face. There was a tray of muffins on the table, so he helped himself to it. He began to pick at eat, eating small pieces at a time. Manners were never Haymitch's strong suit.

Dad came in, smiling at me and Haymitch. "Good morning." He greeted. He walked over, planting a kiss on the top of my head then sat down across from Haymitch.

"Morning," Haymitch replied. "So I've heard you're taking a nice tour of the hospital. How lovely."

"Katniss's mother wants to show us an addition to the hospital. It must be pretty special if she's trying to find a babysitter for the kids." Dad slightly chuckled, grabbing a muffin for himself.

"What? She doesn't deem me acceptable?" Haymitch asked, a smile creeping onto his face.

"More like she didn't think you'd be awake by now." Dad laughed before he took a bite of his blueberry muffin.

xxx

"Now, I know Annie should be coming for this kids soon and I wanted to save this for the end, but I thought you'd want the kids to see this." Grandma explained, rushing down the hospital hallway. We trailed behind her, trying to keep up, but we weren't used to speed walking. If you wanted to get somewhere fast, you ran.

The hallway was covered in beautiful pictures of flowers and butterflies. I found it strange to find such happy thoughts inside a hospital, the place where some find their bitter end. I turned forward again, not wanting to think of the people meeting their end at this moment.

Rye would stop at a picture on the wall, admire it for a few seconds, then sprint back to Mom's side. Then he would repeat the process again and again. I had no idea how he had so much energy to perform this repeatedly.

I was at the back, not really liking the idea of being inside this hospital. Sure, it was brand new and had helped many people, but it made my stomach hurt. The smell burned my nose and the unnatural cleanliness made me feel out of place. Before you could enter a new part, you had to coat your hands in hand sanitizer to help stop from spreading diseases. Isn't that a nice thought?

Soon, everyone stopped and softly gasped. I went beside Dad, trying to get a look at what we were supposed to see. I furrowed my eyes, unable to find what was so amazing that we had gone silent. Soon, my eyes landed on it.

Primrose Intensive Care Unit

"They set this unit aside especially for young children that need special care," Grandma explained. "They asked me if they could name it after you, but I thought you would like it named after Prim more. Do you mind?"

"I think it's perfect." Mom softly spoke, her voice slightly shaking. Her hand reached out, touching the plaque. Underneath it, there was a picture of Aunt Prim and a description of her.

"Why don't you two head back outside?" Dad whispered to me and Rye. "Annie should be here now. Go have fun." He added, giving us a gentle shove.

Quietly, Rye and I headed back outside. It was almost noon and the heat had started to rise. It was crazy how warm it was here, yet it was winter. At home, it could possibly be snowing and here you wanted to go swimming.

Once we were outside, we quickly saw Fredrick. "Fredrick!" Rye cheered, running to envelope him in a hug.

"Hey, Rye," he laughed, returning the hug. He looked up, his sea green eyes meeting my eyes. "Hey, Willow." He grinned.

"Hi, Fredrick," I answered. "I thought your mom was going to watch us today."

"She was," he answered, standing up and holding Rye in his arms. "But I thought we could have more at the beach."

"The beach? Let's go right now!" Rye exclaimed, squirming to get out of Fredrick's arm.

"Woah, there. Not so fast, shrimp," Fredrick laughed, tightening his grip around Rye. "You have to say the magic words."

"Please, let me go!" Rye giggled, kicking his legs.

"Actually, it was, 'Fredrick is the best,' but I'll take your answer." He grinned, setting Rye on his feet. Immediately, Rye took off to my side, his hand grabbing mine. His gray eyes lit up as he jumped up and down.

"Let's go now, Willow! Let's go to the beach!" He cheered, his excitement radiating off of him. Fredrick laughed beside us, turning around and starting to walk away.

"Come on, dorks. I'll show you my favorite spot." He called out. Before I could move, Rye yanked my arm, pulling me to follow Fredrick. I almost fell on my face, but somehow my legs were able to keep up with Rye.

xxx

We walked along the shore in ankle-deep in the water. The sun was beginning to set, casting pinks and purples alike across the sky. This was the softest sand I had ever felt and it was so white. The ocean was a deep blue and every once in a while, a little fish would swim past us.

In my hands, I carried all of the shells Rye and I had collected throughout the day. Rye carried our bucket that had a few fish that we had caught. Fredrick had the fishing poles he brought along perched against his shoulder.

"Well, the sand should be cooling off. Wanna build some sand castles?" Fredrick asked. Rye and I nodded our heads, following him to a nice spot in the shade. Fredrick explained to us how to build the castles. He showed us how to get the sand wet so it would stick and we used seashells as decorations.

I was exhausted from the sun beating down on us all day and splashing in the water. It felt nice to lay on the sandy shore and make cute, little sand castles. It didn't take much effort and it helped us bond. "I've had a lot of fun today." I declared.

"Me, too." Rye agreed, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he patted the sides of his lumpy castle.

"Me, too. I haven't had this much fun in years." Fredrick smiled, his castle already taller than my castle and Rye's combined. His hands had this process memorized. You could tell by the way they gently pressed and scooped on the sides carving smooth edges.

"This has been the best part of the trip." Rye stated, shaking his blonde locks from his eyes. His hair was sprinkled in sand and salty water.

"Where else have you gone?" Fredrick asked, his eyes lighting up.

"District 7." I answered, tossing my braid over my shoulder. My skin was now a tint of pink from the sun today. It doesn't hurt to touch it, though I'm sure tonight it will burn. Maybe Grandma will have some aloe to treat it. She is a nurse after all.

"Did you meet Johanna?" He asked, a smile growing on his face.

"You know Johanna?" Rye asked. Fredrick hummed, nodding his head. "She's super funny." Rye giggled, placing seashells on his amateur castle.

I shrugged my shoulder, smiling myself. "She was kinda scary at first, but she's really cool. I wish we could have spent more time with her."

"Johanna comes down here to visit a lot. She's a close friend of our family," he explained. "Plus I think she likes the warm weather. She's not a very big fan of the ocean though."

"Why?" I asked, tilting my head.

Fredrick paused, thinking his words though. His eyebrows furrowed underneath his bronze hair. "During the rebellion, the Capitol used water to scare her, so she doesn't really like being around it." He briefly answered. But that was all I wanted to know. I didn't need or want to know how they scared her with the water, especially if it still scares her to this day.

"Does your mom have nightmares?" Rye asked, a soft frown on his face. I became tense, keeping my eyes down. I felt my cheeks heating in shame of my brother. I couldn't believe Rye just asked that.

"Yes. When I was younger, she used to wake up scared that I was missing." He answered.

"My mom does that sometimes. She screams people's names sometimes, too. I get scared when she does it." Rye replied, beginning to poke at his castle.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Fredrick spoke. "Our parents went through a difficult time and although they want to forget, sometimes their mind won't let them. The next time that happens, just know that your mom loves you so much and doesn't mean to scare you."

I looked up, seeing his eyes trained on me. "How do you help your mom when she has nightmares?" I asked.

"Well, usually she would just need to see my face and she would feel better."

"That's all?" Rye asked.

Fredrick lightly chuckled, nodding his head. "Yes. She loved my dad very much and we're very similar so when her eyes would land on me, she would realize that me and my father were both okay."

"Where is your dad?" Rye questioned.

"Rye." I quietly scolded.

"It's okay," Fredrick replied, gently touching my shoulder. "My dad, Finnick, passed away during the rebellion so I've never met him. He's safe now."

"With Aunt Prim and Dad's family?" Rye asked.

Fredrick nodded, a soft smile on his face. "Yes." He answered. Something inside me stirred. I crawled over to him, pulling him into a hug. Rye joined in, his little arms wrapping around us. We sat like this for a while as the sun began to hide beneath the water.

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