Hey
We haven’t gone on one of our ‘dates’ in a while? What do you say?
You’re right, we’re overdue for another one so of course. Are you free sometime this week?
|| Start Again
The world around her was sating to fade minute by minute to the point where she had no idea where she was. The last think she really remembered was running from the mutts and killing the pair from twelve. After that, well, everything was a distant memory to her. All of her weight seemed to double but her limbs felt numb and she couldn’t seem to move any part of her body. Her vision was a blur, her head was pounding. Everything was terrible. The only thing she could hear was the hovercraft and before she knew it, she was in a whole new environment. She was barely able to open her eyes but once she managed to, she noticed that everything around her was completely.
The first thing she was able to make out was that the room was way too bright. Literately. Everything was white, from the walls to the bed covers. Everything. She could feel all types of wiring attached to her body, mostly her arms. Her body was unable to move do to the stiffness. She could barely turn her head to look at the door. Clove didn’t see one sign of a doctor around and wondered what exactly was going on. How long had they actually been in here? That worried her a bit and she tried to manage in her head what had happened in the recent events. Now she remembered- the Games. Wait a second, if the Games were over, where was Cato? Was he okay? Where was he? All these thoughts had ran through her head and the last thing she remembered in the Games was standing by Cato. Was he even alive? What exactly was goi- What’s going on? Her vision started to blur once more and she could hardly make out her surroundings. Where was everyone? Looking down suddenly, she noticed a sort of liquid running through the wire in her arm and gasped lightly to herself. She knew if the Capitol was involved with this medication, things weren’t going to turn out well at all. If her whole body hadn’t have gone limp, she would have pulled the wire out of her arm. Dropping her head back, all she could hear was hushed voices all around her and she panicked even more. Things are going to get bad. Scratch that- things are bad. It couldn’t have been a minute or so until she felt her eyes starting to get heavy before she was unconscious.
A sudden gasp of air rose in her throat and eventually, she was breathing heavy. Whatever it was that they gave her was strong, that was for sure. Looking around slowly, she had to adjust to the lighting once again. It hadn’t been a minute when she heard the door handle click open before she saw a doctor come in. He gave her a smile but she didn’t return it; just a glare. She wanted to know what was going on. “Congratulation, Clove.”, the doctor said, and she just growled. “What’s going on?”, she demanded. He just looked at his clipboard before saying, “You’ll be out of here in a minute.” And she just raised an eyebrow.
The next time Cato woke, he wasn’t as taken back as he had been the first time. He was met with the familiar white walls, white sheets, even the white ceiling. After a moment, his eyes adjusted to the bright room and saw that he wasn’t alone as he had been before. The was a man standing near the foot of the bed holding a clipboard, and reading over something that was there. He narrowed his eyes and when he tried to sit up, the doctor finally looked up and shook his head. “Don’t even think about it, Matthews. You need rest, so rest,” the doctor told him. Cato rolled his eyes but realized that his muscles were still quite sore and resting didn’t sound like such a horrible idea. “Who are you and where am I?” he asked gruffly as he carefully laid back down. The doctor smirked and tapped the end of his pen against the bedrail. “I’m your surgeon, Dr. Grant, and you are currently in the Capitol. Now, that is all I’m really able to tell you,” he said. Cato let out a groan before a thought came to him and his body tensed as he tried to sit up again. “What about Clove, my district partner? She was with me, is she alright? Is she here, too?” he asked frantically before wincing in pain again and laying back down. Stupid stiff muscles. The doctor sighed and lowered his gaze for a moment before clenching his jaw and giving Cato a slight nod that Cato almost missed. “Mr. Matthews, I have told you everything I can. Now please, just rest and let us do our jobs, alright? A nurse will stop by soon with dinner. Just try to sit still and it’s best you don’t badger the staff with too many questions. If you have any pain or something feels wrong, just press the button,” he pointed to a small remote on the bedside table, “and someone will be with you shortly.” Grant cast him a look that was clearly a bit of a warning before heading toward the door and soon Cato was completely on his own. The Capitol. Of course. Where else would he be? It wasn’t like Two had any hospitals as advanced as this one seemed to be. But Cato was surprised to see that Grant didn’t appear to be a Capitol citizen as his appearance wasn’t like the others’. Maybe they didn’t want any bright colors or features to throw off the blandness of the hospital. But why had he nodded when he asked questions about Clove despite what he said about not being able to give him more information? He was so confused by all of this but Clove was supposedly fine and might even be in the same building somewhere. She was okay. And that was enough for him at the moment and he figured there was nothing he could really do at the moment besides take Grant’s advice and rest.
Hey
-smiles- I’d like that. I don’t think we’ve done that in awhile…
We haven’t. And me, too. What would you like to do?
|| Start Again
The first thing he could feel was how difficult it was to breathe. He took several shallow breathes as he began to stir and immediately regretted the decision when he realized how bright it was as he opened his eyes. Where was he? Was this what death felt like? His limbs felt as though they were hundreds of pounds as he tried to move but stopped when he felt a gentle tugging against his skin. Squinting, he attempted to open his eyes once more and when he did, he could only see blurred shapes against the light before his eyes adjusted and focused on the scene around him.
It was a simple room. Everything from the walls to the tiles on the floor to the sheets was a pearly white. The only things he could see that weren’t were the bundles of wires leading out from under and around his blankets. What had happened, and why was he here? He tried to remember anything he could but his mind was currently drawing a blank as he sighed and leaned back against his pillow. Obviously it had been something bad if he was in this much pain. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to see the condition of his body under the blankets. How long had he been here? Days, weeks, months? And where were the people that had done this to him? Surely someone must have been ar- He felt lightheaded as he was hauled into the large droning hovercraft, surrounded by several medics who wore masks so the only visible parts of them were their narrowed eyes as they hurried to get ahold of him. They had done it. They’d won. Everything would be good now. He just had to hold on and then it was off to Two. His arms and legs stung from the bites and scratches from those damn mutts and he could feel something warm drip down from his forehead and over his face. The masked medics were talking much too quickly for him to understand but it didn’t matter; all he had to do was let them work and he’d be fine. As he tried to remain conscious, the last few words he heard were spoken with such urgency and anger that it caught his attention. “Shit, he’s awake! Someone give him more anesthesia this second!” they hissed. He was about to tell them no, it’s alright, he was fine, but before he could form the words, he felt himself being pulled into darkness.
He gasped as the memories flooded back and he winced in pain, his lungs aching as he tried to reach for something, anything. He had won the Games. He and Clove were the last two remaining tributes and were promised they could go home if they survived to the end. He remembered the mutts and the pair from Twelve. He remembered the feel of Twelve’s body fall limp as he snapped his neck and the blood spilling out of the other one’s throat. But what happened after they were taken into the hovercraft? Where was Clove? She should be here with him, right? He heard one of the monitors beside him begin to beep incessantly and when he heard the door handle click open, he couldn’t resist as the darkness began to flood his vision once more before he could even see who had entered the room.
Hey
They hurt me, Cato… -she mutters to herself, loud enough for just her to hear- Things haven’t really been new I guess, same old, same old.
-thinks he hears her say something but decides not to press it- Oh. Well, that’s good, I guess. Unless you think it’s boring or something. We should hang out now that I’m back.
Hey
You know. Training the shitty tributes, beating shouted at by Brutus cause apparently I knew where you were. You know. The usual.
Oh. That stuff. Sorry. But I’m back now so don’t worry about it. I’ll go tell Brutus to lay off and yell at the shitty tributes, ‘kay?
Hey
Er, sure… it wasn’t bad I guess…?
Um, okay. Good. So what’s new?
Hey
Well if you wanna know so badly. I’ve been doing your work as well as my own. Better fucking appreciate it.
My work? What are you talking about? And I’m sure I will as soon as you tell me what’s going on.
Hey
No. But you can’t just drop off the face of the world and expect nothing to change.
Oh. Well, sorry I guess. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal to ask how you’ve been.
