The bracelet around my wrist said I was mentally disorientated which, due to my concussion, was basically true but most of my issues at the moment revolved around Peeta who, since being rescued from the arena, had been unconscious and hooked up to a lot of machines.

Haymitch says that the doctors had to put him into a medically induced coma, whatever that means, but that I should talk to him because he could hear me. This is what I spent most of my time doing, sitting beside Peeta's bed, just talking to him and that's where I am now.

"Hey, Peeta" I whisper, kissing his dry lips, "Gale drilled a hole in your pearl for me; not a big hole and pearl still looks perfect. Prim is going to plait some strands of thread to put through the hole so that I can wear it on my wrist. I think it'll look a damn sight better than my hospital bracelet." I laugh before sobering up a little and sighing. "I miss you" I admit quietly, taking his hand and resting my head on his chest so that I can hear his heart beating. "MJ is getting big, you should see me now, Peeta, I can't see my toes; Prim has to help me put my shoes on. You have two more months to open your eyes" I murmur "I don't want you to miss the birth of our child, I don't want to go through it without you."

I carry on talking to Peeta about nothing in particular really, telling him how Haymitch has been made to give up drinking and is now down in rehabilitation where he'll stay until he's deemed fit to return. I tell him how he'll make a good father and how much our child will look like him. I haven't told him about twelve, I'm going to wait until he's conscious to tell him because I don't know how he's going to take it. His parents and brothers haven't seen since the bombings, they're presumed dead; the same as Madge Undersee and her parents.

"I love you, Peeta" I tell him groggily as I let the beat of his heart lull me to sleep.

When I wake, I'm back in my hospital bed with Haymitch sitting beside me. I'm not surprised to be back here, this often happens when I fall asleep; they don't like me sleeping in that position so they move me back to my room; it was a little disorientating at first but now it had become such a regular occurrence that it didn't bother me anymore. "I ate your pudding" he told me with a smile "but when they saw it was missing, they took my entire dinner away and gave me dry bread instead."

"Serves you right for stealing" I mutter "anyway, I thought you were in rehabilitation" I state, sitting up and accepting the water Haymitch passes to me.

"I was but they sped up the process" his face darkens as if he's remembering something not very pleasant. "Plutarch thought that you'd need me to lean on whilst they work on Peeta."

"Is that why I'm back in here?" I ask "what are they going to do? Are they waking him up?"

Haymitch shakes his head "not yet, Sweetheart, they're taking the breathing tube out to see how he handles breathing on his own. Your sister said that she'd come and let us know when they're done."

"Good" I sigh, leaning back against my pillows and grimacing a little. "Reckon you could shove a pillow behind my back, Haymitch?" I ask "I can't get comfortable and my back aches."

"What do you want me to do?" He asks "conjure one up from thin air?"

I roll my eyes and mutter "forget it, Haymitch, I'll suffer" before rolling on my side, curling up with my back to him. I hear him leave and decide to try and sleep so that I don't have to worry about Peeta but he's back before I can even close my eyes.

"Sit up, Sweetheart" he tells me in a gentle tone and I do because I know that he's trying hard to be nice to me. He'd returned with two fat pillows, one of which he positioned behind my back and the other under my knees. "How's that?" He asks.

"Better, thanks" I reply.

Haymitch nods "I did a lot of reading up about pregnancy before, and during, the games" he tells me. "Asked a lot of questions and did a bit of research."

"Why?" I ask, wondering why he'd bother to do this.

"Cinna was hell bent on keeping the both of you alive which meant that, in the most unfortunate circumstance, Peeta wouldn't be returning. I wanted to help reduce your suffering; I know that it wouldn't have made up for his loss but-"

I place my hand atop his, quietening him "thank you" I say "for the gesture but you do know that I'll be hanging around you more now."

"I hope so" he replies, surprising me "you may be insufferable, Sweetheart, but you've grown on me; both of you have. You're like the children I never had." I'm pretty sure he added the last part to assure me that his intentions were none other than that of a friend or a parent.

"Love you too, Haymitch" I tell him. "I missed you during the games; wished that I could talk to you, have you insult me, just for some normalcy."

He chuckles and shakes his head "the feeling was mutual."

"How's Finnick doing?" I ask. Finnick had been rescued as well, only Johanna and Enobaria had been left behind and picked up by the Capitol. Finnick was on the verge of a breakdown because the Capitol also picked up Annie Cresta, the woman he's in love with, and was holding her prisoner. We didn't know what they were doing to her, she was already mentally tapped from her games. Finnick was worrying that they were torturing her and, if we ever get her back, how she'd be affected by it long term.

"Not good but not terrible" I'm told "his head doctor visits him often; he's not making progress but he's not getting any worse, either. You should visit him."

"I do" I say "but he's always sleeping when I go."

"And" he sighs "Plutarch tells me that Coin is getting frustrated with you."

I scowl at this. Alma Coin is the woman who runs district thirteen; she gave me a week to get over the worst of my injuries before getting Plutarch to talk to me about being their Mockingjay. I'd refused point blank. I wanted Peeta by my side, alive and well, and I wanted Cinna. That was when they'd told me that they had no plans, as of yet, to send a rescue mission to the liberate Cinna and the others; that's when I turned around and walked out of the room.

"Well you can tell Plutarch to tell her to fu-"

"Katniss" Haymitch warns "these people, no matter how annoying they are, have taken us in and given us a home."

"They just want to use me" I retort in annoyance, my hand rubbing my chest as the heart burn begins; a new symptom that only really occurs when I'm stressed or annoyed which, right now, is pretty much all the time. "The mockingjay is the face of the rebellion, they just want me to stand there and look pretty whilst everyone else is doing the work. I want to fight!"

"They're not going to let you fight, Katniss, you're almost eight months pregnant!"

"Then they can let me fight once the baby is here" I tell him "I want to be more useful than just a piece of clay they can mould and shape and use as and when they like!"

"Ok, Sweetheart" he sighs "let's focus on you and the baby and then re-address the mockingjay issue after the birth. Ok?"

"Fine" I say grumpily.

"I'll go get you something for your heartburn" he says before disappearing.

The next time I hear footsteps, I think it's Haymitch returning but it's not. "Katniss!" My little sister says breathlessly

"What?!" Ask, momentarily alarmed by the state of her. "What happened? Is it Peeta?"

"He' breathing just fine on his own" she tells me, climbing onto the bed and hugging me "mother was in there and she told me that his eyes flickered for a moment; the doctors don't want you to know that yet because they think that it was just a reflex and they don't want you to get your hopes up too soon."

"But" I press, knowing that she wouldn't be telling me this if there wasn't hope.

"But his vitals have improved and Mother thinks that it shouldn't be long before they wake him up."

I beam at her, he'd been under sedation for almost a month. "How long, Prim?"

"A week, maybe two" she says "maybe even less; they want to be sure that the worst of his injuries have healed before they wake him up, you know, so he doesn't hurt himself by moving."

She pulls me into an awkward hug, her eyes watering in delight; knowing that her news would make me happy. "That's brilliant" I sigh into her hair. "Hey" I ask, pulling back "have you seen Haymitch? He was supposed to be getting me something for my heartburn."

"Oh yes! Sorry," she hops off the bed and pours me a new cup of water before dropping a tablet into it "he asked me to give it to you; Boggs caught him as he was coming back. Coin wanted to see him." She hands the water to me "drink it slowly" she instructs.

I sip at the medicated water, as instructed, until it's empty and I feel the tablet working. "Do you know why?"

Prim shakes her head "sorry but I'm guessing that it has something to do with you. Do you want me to take you to see Peeta?" She asks.

"Of course" I say, letting her help me out of bed.

Mother and Prim have been so supportive of me, Peeta and the baby; as I'd suspected, Prim had already guessed my situation before Peeta had announced it so it hadn't come as much of a shock to her. She'd told me that our mother had been surprised but not angry and they'd both watched the games along with Gale who, apparently, had been glued to the screen just making sure that I was ok.

When I arrived in District thirteen and in recovery, they were never far away. Mother insisted on being in the room when they checked on the baby, observing intently, not missing a beat; she was the one who'd discovered that there was something wrong before the Doctors, she was the one who ensured that my baby survived. This, of course, brought us closer together. How could I continue to push her away when she saved the life of mine and Peeta's child? She also gave me my Father's wedding ring which I'd slipped onto his finger when I got the chance; I knew that it would be difficult for her to part with but she said that it would be her honour to give it to such a boy as Peeta, seeing how he'd looked after me in the arena and knowing that my father would have approved of him.

Peeta's room looked almost bare; he was down to two machines now, one monitoring his vital signs and the other keeping him hydrated through a drip. They'd also removed a lot of the bandages, he was still a little bruised and cuts were still healing but he looked a lot less scary now that he looked more like himself. I stared at him for a while; my eyes scanning every part of him that I could as I told myself that he now looked as though he could be sleeping rather than someone who could be dying.

Peeta wasn't dying, not any more.

"There you are, Sweetheart" Haymitch says, sounding a little harassed. I'd been in with Peeta for a while; Prim had to go to a class a few hours ago, leaving me alone with him.

"He's going to be ok" I tell our mentor "they're hoping to wake him up in the next couple of weeks."

"That's brilliant news" he says, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Katniss, Coin wants to see you and she says that she's not taking no for an answer. She says, and I quote, 'I will sedate her and get them to wheel her hospital bed up here if I have to'."

"Guess I have no choice then" I sigh.