36. Somber Reunions

       Blinding whiteness surrounded me. I sat up, seeing nothing but a fog around me. Curious, I stood up. There was no definite place as to where I was. I was even dressed in all white, an elegant gown. For a minute I thought I was in a gown that one would be put in when being admitted to a hospital, but it wasn’t that.

            “Hello?” My voice echoed. I took a few cautious steps.

            “Hello yourself,” a voice chuckled.

            I jumped and turned. It was only Daniel. He looked in top shape, like he had before the Hunger Games. There were no burns or anything on him. He was the Daniel I would always remember. Like me, he was wearing all white.

I knew I wasn’t dead. This was all a dream, all in my head.

            “You’re invading my dreams now?” I teased. “Wasn’t popping up in the arena enough?”

            “Nope.” Dan smiled. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Bri, you beat the odds.”

            “I can’t take all the credit,” I said modestly. I messed with the fabric of my gown, it was silky soft. “I had a little help from time to time.”

            “Still…”

            “I know. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to make it after you were gone.” My voice went soft. “I thought something bad would happen to me, so bad that I’d lose everything. I had lost you already.”

            “In a sense you had, yes,” Dan considered. He came to stand right in front of me. “But I’ll never be gone.” He gave me a sad smile.

            “What? What’s with this look? You know I hate seeing you down.” I pouted.

            “I thought it would be you and me, and even Sutton that made it out alive.” He shrugged. “I didn’t expect to go that far into the Games. I mean, I had hopes that we’d make it until the end. Of course, that changed when you lost me. But you made it, Bridget. You won. You saved more than one life, and I have no doubt their families will be grateful for that.”

            “I miss you so much.” Suddenly overwhelmed with sorrow, I latched onto Daniel, burying my face in his chest. “I wish you were alive still.”

            “So do I,” he sighed. He rubbed my back.

            We never said anything more after that. In an unknown area, all dressed in white, Daniel and I stayed locked in an embrace, one which I didn’t want to break off anytime soon.

***

            I scrunched my closed eyelids. My fingers raked something…sheets. Bed sheets or hospital bed sheets? It was hard to tell if there was a difference. My guess was that I was stuck in a hospital bed, in recovery, soon to be released. I wondered if Sutton and Seraphine were held captive to a hospital bed. If the medical staff deemed them crazy for their outbursts, maybe they’d think a padded room and straitjacket would seem more appropriate for those two. But they aren’t insane, unless you count being insanely worried about me, I thought.

            I fluttered my eyes open to realize I was lying on my side in a dark room. I blinked my eyes warily, trying to adjust to the dark. I couldn’t tell what was in the room. I felt something slide down my arm. My tribute token—Dad’s anniversary bracelet. I still had it on. Good, because if I realized that was missing, I’d go into a panic attack. Nobody wanted to see that, and I didn’t want to experience it. I had enough intense emotional ups and downs during the Games. Now was time for me to settle down…if I could.

            I sat up and slipped out of bed. The balls of my feet thumped on the floor. I put my arms out in front of me, constantly waving them to make sure I knew nothing was in my way. I knew a door was in front of me when I smacked the wall. I rubbed my slightly throbbing nose. Was a hospital room always this dark?

            I got the door to slide open and immediately I was basked in light. I recognized everything, but I almost hadn’t. I wasn’t in a hospital; I was the floor District 7 was assigned after the opening ceremonies, where we all stayed for two weeks until the morning of the final Games.

I took a few steps out cautiously. I looked down at what I was wearing: a silky dark green nightgown that hovered at my knees. It beat out a hospital gown by far. I yawned; the lights making me want to go back into my dark room and back to bed.

            “She’s up!” said a relieved female voice. I couldn’t mistake Harper’s red curls. She was in a rather somber outfit, dressed in all black. Despite how melancholy she was dressed, she flitted to me to hug me. “How’re you feeling?”

            “Okay, I guess.” I shrugged. I noticed Harper had blotches of mascara down her face. “Have you been crying?”

            “A little bit.” Her lower lip quivered. “A lot has happened, and I don’t handle emotional things very well.”

            “Do you need to sit down?” I asked calmly.

            “She was sitting down before you woke up,” Jade piped. She came to hug me next. She put an arm over Harper’s shoulders. “I think you better join us again.”

            “I don’t need you guys to comfort me,” Harper sniffed, wiping her stained face. “I think I need to be alone.”

            “You can leave, Harper,” I said gently. “If you need to, go ahead. I won’t mind.”

            “But I wanted to be here to welcome you back.”

            “And you are. But if you’re feeling unstable, maybe you should leave for a while.”

            “I think Bridget’s right,” Jade said softly. “Besides, you’ll see her later.”

            “Right. I’m sorry about this, Bridget,” Harper whimpered.

            Jade escorted Harper to the door while I made my way to the couch to find Alden and Johanna sitting on it. I missed seeing my mentor and my stylist. I immediately plopped between them both. Jade came back to sit down next to Johanna.

            “Should I even ask why Harper’s upset?” I asked.

            “I think you know the answer,” Johanna said quietly. I was pretty sure I did: Harper wasn’t used to seeing me without seeing Daniel in this apartment. No wonder she broke down. I couldn’t imagine how she felt when Dan had been killed. She had been his stylist; she had grown fond of him.

            “Another question: why is my room pitch black?”

            “We figured you’d wake up with a headache,” Alden said, throwing an arm over the top of the couch.

            “I feel fine now, but that was considerate. How did I get back here?”

            “The staff released you not too long after they put you under. Alden and I came to take you back here. We couldn’t stand the thought of you being trapped in a hospital bed,” Johanna said, tossing her head. “The last thing we needed was for you to wake up and have a panic attack.”

            “What did they do to me there?”

            “They healed your bitten leg but left your shoulder and face alone.”

            “Which I don’t understand why,” Alden hissed. “They are more than capable of healing all of your injuries.”

            “Interesting, but good,” I mused quietly.

            “Good?” he squawked. I jumped. “Are you insane? That ruins your image! I’d rather you get healed and look flawless.”

            “I’d rather look battle-ridden.” I shrugged.

            “I don’t understand.”

            “I don’t expect you to.”

            “I get you, Bridget. I know what she’s getting at,” Johanna said to Alden. Jade and Alden looked at her, puzzled. “She wants to have scars to remind herself of how strong she really is.” I gave a bob of my head. “See? I know Bridget.”

            “I bet the girls won’t like it when they see the scars,” Alden spat. “I don’t approve of it at all. It’ll ruin the outfit I have for you.”

            “Speaking of the post-Games interview, when is that?” I asked.

            “Later tonight,” Jade piped.

            “What time is it now?”

            “Only noon. You’ve got a while before you have to meet the girls again,” Alden assured me, patting my leg. “You should’ve heard them the entire time you were gone, Bridget. It was a nuthouse. All of them were worrying so much I was about to put them in an insane asylum.”

            “Hey, I was worried like they were and you didn’t seem to care,” Jade snorted.

            “That’s because I wasn’t around you as much.”

            “What did you guys do while I was in the arena?” I prompted.

            “Mainly Jade, Harper, and I got together, watching. Johanna was too busy trying to help you out in any way she could,” Alden explained.

            “It wasn’t as easy as I hoped it would be,” Johanna huffed. “I hadn’t known the medicine was so pricy, and I didn’t expect something to happen to him.”

There was my answer to the why-did-I-get-a-sponsor-too-late question.

            My heart ached. I slumped against the couch, holding back tears. I gripped my tribute token. I reminded myself I was going to be home soon. Maybe if there was enough time, a train would take me, Sutton, and Seraphine back home to our districts tomorrow. I’d like that more than anything. I was fed up with the Capitol; I wanted to be back home in the woods, with Dad and Troy.

            “You really did it, though,” Alden said. He rubbed my arm. “You beat the odds. You escaped the arena in one piece and managed to bring along two other people!”

            “Having three people wasn’t what we originally set out to do,” I croaked. I was talking as if Daniel was in the room with us. It had been our plan; I couldn’t take all the credit for the idea.  “It just sort of worked out that way.”

            “The districts will be grateful since the Gamemakers spared three tributes instead of one. It’s a way to go out with a bang for the final Games,” Johanna said quietly.

“I don’t understand how they let that happen. I expected them to fight back.”

“You had a lot of support behind you. The people I was near were rooting for all three of you.” I never anticipated having so much outside support. “You’ll be remembered compared to past victors, you and those two girls, Bridget. You’ll probably become legendary, sort of like Katniss and Peeta.”

            “Maybe even bigger than them,” Jade murmured.

            “I don’t want fame to come from it. I’m happy with being able to live a full life now,” I mumbled. “But I guess that’s what happens when you save more than just your life on a televised fight to the death. Speaking of television, is the interview going to be live?”

            “Yes.”

            “Yay,” I snarled. “Just what I need.”

            “If you’re worried about your appearance, the girls and I have that covered,” Alden chimed.

            “Oh it’s not that I’m worried about—it’s about trying not to have a mental breakdown while being interviewed.”

            “Right, they show highlights of the Games…” Jade whispered.

            “Just hope Caesar doesn’t probe too far into your feelings,” Alden said.

            “Caesar’s smart enough to know peoples’ boundaries,” Johanna retorted. “If he detects they’re all stressed, he won’t provoke them into tears.”

            “He better not. She’s been through enough.” Alden’s arms slipped over my shoulders.

            “Are you hungry, Bridget?” Jade asked. “I can get you something.”

            “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to eat,” I considered uneasily.

            “What do you want? Something sweet?”

            “No, I want to stay away from the sweet stuff.” I shuddered, recalling the poisonous chocolate. Even though I knew the food wasn’t poisoned in the apartment’s fridge, I didn’t want to risk spitting it out or throwing it back up because of my paranoia.

*     *     *

            “…always a rough thing to watch when it happens,” Aria whimpered. She was combing through my freshly washed hair. Farah was mending up my nails; Nadine was being extremely gentle in the eyebrow plucking and waxing. She took more time than she had when she waxed me for the opening ceremonies. “We all nearly died of a heart attack every time something happened to you!”

            “We thought you weren’t going to make it when that boy stabbed you with his knife,” Nadine said. Farah blew on my nails, filing them continuously. I thought she was trying to file them down to nothing. “Lucky your mentor saved you.”

            “Yeah…lucky,” I muttered.

            “What’s the matter, sweetie?” Aria asked. “You sound off.”

            “Just tired.” I shrugged. “And hurt.”

            “Hurt?”

            “Aria! You should know better than to be oblivious about her feelings!” Nadine snapped at her. Nadine’s angel wings feathers rippled.

            “Oops, sorry, Bridget,” Aria said. “I forgot. I should stop talking now.”

            “No. None of you stop,” I croaked. “You’re helping me by keeping me occupied, but can we please not talk about the Games? I’m going to have to relive them on TV soon when the interview happens.”

            “Anything you want, dear,” Farah said, working on my other hand. “Did Alden tell you what you were going to be wear?”

            “No.” I wriggled in the fluffy bathrobe. Aria started blow-drying my hair, running her fingers through it, ruffling it. “He hasn’t said a thing.”

            “It’s too bad he can’t make alterations on it,” Nadine sighed. “He can’t cover up those nasty scars on your shoulder. How come the medics didn’t clean you up?”

            “They left those alone and the ones on my face. Nobody knows why. I didn’t want them to be removed anyway,” I added. Nadine and Farah looked up at me oddly. “Everybody is always polished and looking fresh after the Games. I want to be different. I don’t want to look like a doll when going out there; I want to look battle-ridden, to show that winning the Hunger Games was no small battle.”

            “Honey, you don’t need to show it to prove that the Hunger Games aren’t easy to win,” Aria said delicately. “People can watch and know that they aren’t easy to win.”

            “I thought you said you were going to stop talking?” Nadine snickered.

            “I can’t not talk. It’s annoying.” Aria shut off the blow-dryer and began combing my hair once again.

            While the girls talked back and forth keeping my mind off the Games, I watched their work. Nadine was the last to finish her work; Farah was the first to finish. Aria gave me two braids, one resting on each of my shoulders. It was a nice change from straight or curly hair. Only one flower was put in, it was tucked into my right ear.

            “Who wants to get Alden with me?” Aria sang behind me.

            “I’ll go,” Nadine offered.

            “I think I’ll stay,” Farah said.

            “If you say so.” Together, Aria and Nadine flitted out of the room to fetch Alden.

Farah looked up at me with those shockingly yellow eyes of hers. Crazy colors were a common thing in the Capitol, because her hair was cropped short and bright purple, concealing her horns on her forehead. Farah certainly liked bright colors.

            “You guys are all sweet, you know that?” I told her.

            “You’ve been the best tribute we’ve ever worked on.” Farah shrugged. “We never got many like you. We certainly never got a chance to make them over again. You’re special to all of us, Bridget. I hope you realize that.”

            “I do. A lot of people have told me that in some way. But I don’t feel special.”

            “You don’t need to feel that way to be it.” She grabbed my hands tenderly. “You’re special because people remember you, whether by your looks or your actions.”

            Aria, Alden, and Nadine came back, all carrying a dress bag. Aria did the honors of unzipping the bag. The dress was neon green with ripples in it. The only strap was a short sleeve strap on the right shoulder, which left my left shoulder exposed for all the cameras to see. In Nadine’s hand were black shoes with small, thick heels. I cracked a smile. Alden never failed to disappoint when it came to my outfits. He never made me look bad, even when I was in the arena. Not one outfit that he gave me ever felt uncomfortable either.

Farah and Aria helped me dress while Alden had his back turned, and Nadine scurried off to come back with some eye shadow and mascara. If that was all I was going to be wearing during the interview, I was okay with that. The less makeup, the better.

            “Nobody will see this coming, I’m sure,” Farah gushed. She helped me straighten out my dress as I stood up. Nadine knelt beside my shoes as I slipped them on. Aria was beside me to help steady me.

            “This is more of a vintage look for Mother Nature, showing both the beautiful and the ugly since we can’t show a perfect image anymore,” Alden murmured. “It’s one of a kind.”

            “Just like all of you,” I whispered. My prep team was in near tears when I said that.

Aria grabbed me into a hug, nearly crushing me to death. I rubbed her back, I could feel her sobbing. Nadine rubbed my scarred shoulder, careful to not rake her long nails on my skin. Farah gave a solemn smile at me.

            “Are you ready to go?” Alden asked me. I looked at my all-female prep team.

            “Yeah.” I looked to him. “I’m ready.”

            “We wish you didn’t have to go,” Aria whined.

            “We should all get together sometime for a reunion!” Nadine squeaked. Farah nodded, amused by the idea. Alden chuckled. I wasn’t sure if a reunion would be a good idea for me. Maybe sometime in the long run I could consider that offer. For now, that was out of the question. I wanted my life to return to semi-normal and stay that way for a while before I could visit my prep team.

            I realized that everyone, all the mentors, prep teams, stylists, all the Gamemakers, the escorts—they’d all be unemployed now. They’d have to find new jobs. They couldn’t exactly work when the Hunger Games ceased after this Victory Tour finished.

            The Victory Tour…I still had a while before I’d have to endure the final leg of the Hunger Games journey. I’d have some time to recuperate from the Games before traveling from district to district. It’d be interesting to see which district they’d leave last, being that there were three victors for this year.

            My prep team was all huddled together, holding each other, already missing me. I looped my arm through Alden’s as he escorted me out of the room to the waiting area of the stage.

            “Are you okay?” he asked me.

            “Mhm. Why?”

            “You’re crying.”

            I wiped under my eyes to see that Alden was right. I was going to miss my all-female prep team. I was fond of them, just like I was fond of Alden, Harper, Jade, and yes, even Johanna.

            “I’m fine,” I breathed. Alden didn’t look too convinced when I told him that.