Alright, totes forgot to put this here.

Final chapter of Inferno before the epilogue, which is coming... Slowly.

Thank you Chelzie for polishing this up, and Ro Nordmann for the banner which I can't put on this damn website.

Peeta

Everything is dark… Or maybe it's bright. No, it's grey, everything is just grey.

I do know one thing… I have to piss.

And I don't anymore.

My gut feels like it's on fire, then it's numb, then it's on fire again.

"Here it's safe, here it's warm…" a soft voice sings while my left hand starts to tingle. "Here the daisies guard you from every harm…" It's Katniss' soft, mournful voice. As she sings, her voice cracks and she clears her throat. "Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true, here is the place where I love you…"

I curl my fingers around something warm. "Peeta? Are you awake?"

I nod my head slowly. "You'd better watch those words, missy…" I croak.

There's an added pressure on my chest and then moisture as I hear the all too familiar sound of Katniss' tears. "I was so afraid…I thought I'd lost you, too…"

I finally find it in me to open my eyes. "Shhh… don't cry. It's going to take a lot more than this for you to get rid of me."

She looks up, her eyes puffy and red rimmed. "Who says I want to?"

I smile, "No one… Because I'm not giving you up, ever."

She wipes her eyes on the back of her hand and tries to smile.

I learn quickly that there's nothing worse than Dad tears; I discover this when my father comes in and starts sobbing the second he lays eyes on me. "Fuck, I must look like shit."

"Peeta," my mother scolds, "Language."

"Ma, I was shot, I've earned a few…" I try to pull myself up but everything in my lower body says no.

"Peeta, use the remote," Katniss says, handing me a plastic corded thing. "And the one on the other side is for the TV."

I realize someone important is missing. "Where's Finnick? Is he in one of these beds?" My heart monitor starts beeping erratically.

"Finnick is at home with Annie," Katniss tells me. "She wanted to get here but she can't drive, and the entire city is basically shut down."

"Yeah, you should have seen Dad trying to figure out how to get into Philly with all the highways shut down. You couldn't have picked a better time to get shot?"

"Cian!" Siobhan scolds.

I'm the only one who seems to be laughing at this. The entire room has decided to be PC all of a sudden.

Everyone but Katniss leaves around eleven at night. Since I'm so fucked up, the hospital is taking sympathy on the poor girl and letting her stay by my side as long as she sees fit.

"How are you feeling?" she asks with her head back on my chest.

"I have a plastic tube in my dick and I piss and shit in bags, and there's a thing in my nose. I can't hold you because, well… I was shot."

"That good, huh?" she asks.

I start to play with her loose hair. "Well, I have you here, so I can't really complain…"

"Shut up…" she sighs, "And get some sleep. I'm going to head home soon to shower and cry in a corner."

I grip her shoulder tightly. "Katniss, don't cry. I'm fine, just a few extra holes in me."

Katniss sighs, "I thought I'd lost you, Peeta. I was sure that you were gone… that it would be Gale all over again. I already lost my best friend, I can't lose you, too…"

"And you won't. I'm too stubborn to die," I promise.

Katniss sighs, "Yeah, Finnick said that, too."

"Man, you look like shit…" Finnick has never been the best with greetings.

I roll my eyes. "Shut up. If you were in this bed, I'd at least come up with something mushy to say."

Finnick crosses his arms over his chest. He's in street clothes, which might be a good sign. "So…" I start.

"Haymitch got her; she confessed to everything and they found a partial print at the fire that killed that Hawthorne guy-"

"His name was Gale. Don't ever call him 'that Hawthorne guy' in front of Katniss."

Finnick nods. "Right, sorry. But the print matches her."

"So who is she?" I ask.

"A fox faced little nobody that likes to watch everyone scramble."

"And the two kids that were shooting at me because your redheaded ass must repel bullets?" I ask, honestly dreading the answer.

"Well, the one isn't going to walk out of the hospital on two legs. The other's probably going to have a limp for the rest of his life and has lost the use of one of his lungs."

I nod and look out the window. I didn't kill. Thank fucking god, I didn't kill.

It takes me almost a month to get out of the hospital. It's a month of agonizing physical therapy that is put off once an infection strikes that almost does me in. It starts a few days after I wake up, after my family heads home, feeling safe that my guts aren't about to spill out everywhere.

Katniss first notices that something's wrong when she kisses my forehead after Maury finishes for the day. "Peeta, you're burning up…" she tells me, pressing the back of her hand to my face. "How are you feeling?"

"Kind of groggy…" I tell her, tugging on her hand. I've been trying to get her to climb into the bed with me all damn day. It's wide enough to maybe fit the both of us. I just want her in my arms again.

Katniss tugs away. "I'm going to go and get the nurse. Okay?"

I sigh. "I'll be here."

The nurse staring at my stitches leads to a doctor staring at them, which leads to a cocktail of medications to stop the infection from killing me, five days of high fever, aches everywhere and Katniss not being allowed in the room because of my 'fragile state'.

I know I have to walk out of this hospital for her. She's already said goodbye to someone here, and I can't make her 0-2.

Finally, I'm released the day before Thanksgiving. Katniss and I decided that at least for the next few weeks, it would be easier for her to just live with me. I need help getting around and I can't get into her apartment until I ditch my crutches.

"So my parents are coming up for Christmas," Katniss tells me while rubbing a damp washcloth across my bare back. I can't bathe or shower easily so we have to get creative. "If we can't have Christmas at my place, I was wondering if they could come here?"

Katniss has a shockingly gentle touch and is more attentive than I would have previously given her credit for. "Yeah, sure…" I smile, thinking of our first Christmas together. "Speaking of which, what do you want?"

Katniss kisses the top of my head. "You're already out of the hospital. I got what I wanted…"

I sigh, so she's one of those. Impossible to shop for, won't tell me what she wants. "Fine, I'll ask Prim what to get you."

Katniss sighs and hands me the washcloth. "You stubborn ass," she tells me. "Wash your front, I'm going to get your legs…" I watch her with that determined look on her face. She bites her tongue while she thinks, even as she helps me stay clean.

She's sacrificing her time to care for me. Instead of an afternoon that could be spent on the couch, she's taking care of me. While I was in the hospital, she spent nights at my side instead of out with her friends. "Katniss, I love you," I blurt out, just as my eyes start watering.

Katniss looks up and smiles. "I know," she teases.

"Wait, how? Do I talk in my sleep?" I ask, because I've honestly been dreaming about her every night since August.

Katniss shakes her head no. "Finnick told me."

I sigh. "Of course he did…"