TIME MOVED SO SLOW.

Aella thought she was trapped in some twisted reality. Each second that passed felt like a minute, each minute felt like an hour and each hour felt like a day and she was just stuck in that endless cycle of torture.

They had no idea what was going on in the outside world and for Aella, it was so painful. She was beginning to reach the point of insanity. She actually thought she was getting to the point of no return. That sharp edge of the cliff was right there... within an arms reach. She knew if she fell off it that would be it. No amount of therapy or medication or reals and not reals would be able to bring her back. Finnick wasn't getting any better and their hours were dwindling.

She had lost count of how many breaths Finnick had taken since Katniss and Gale had left to finish what they'd all started. All she knew was that he was still breathing for now but each stuttering gasp, every delayed second was nothing short of agonising. She couldn't stand the waiting, the not knowing.

Katniss and Gale could've very easily of been dead three blocks away and none of them would ever know. The War would rage on for however many days, weeks, or months more and no one would know they were in Tigris' basement. They wouldn't know Finnick was holding hands with death and Aella was stuck watching him.

Her remaining companions could do nothing to console her. In those clothes Tigris had borrowed her still crying in agony herself there was nothing that could be done for her. That's when she decided that if by the next morning no news had arrived, no help had arrived, she would leave herself to find that help. She would leave Finnick in a last minute bid to save his life. It didn't matter what it cost her—didn't matter if she ended up dying—as long as she managed to find someone who could get him help she didn't care.

But never came to that.

When the door latch opened and light flooded in however many hours later Aella expected it to be Tigris with more food for them. She didn't expect to see an abundance of rebel soldiers piling in, rushing down the stairs and assessing them all.

It was all one huge blur to her and Aella was grateful for Cressida who spoke for her when she couldn't even get her words out. She'd choked on whatever she tried to tell them and sobbed in relief instead.

She hadn't been able to hold back her tears. Not as they all gathered round she and Finnick and assessed them and their injuries. If Aella hadn't of been so relieved she would've recognised one of the men who led the team as the man who had taken her to Commander Paylor when she first landed in the Captiol with Peeta.

In what felt like seconds to her, rebel soldiers had arrived, scooped Finnick up on to a stretcher and were carrying him up the basement stairs. All Aella could do was watch them and follow on shaking legs while she cried and cried. Pollux and Peeta had held her up between their arms whilst she had sobbed. She knew Cressida had helped her out of the bunker and that she had squeezed Tigris within an inch of the woman's life, thanking her over and over again for her generosity. Aella had taken her hand and had sworn that she wouldn't ever face any repercussion and that she would personally see to it that everyone knew what Tigris had done for them in their days of need.

Peeta had practically carried her out of the small apartment and into the desolate street. The sun had beamed down on them through an all blue sky but there was heavy layerings of snow on the ground. The chill frost of winter had kissed Aella's skin but she couldn't feel it. She was running on autopilot.

She watched the soldiers carry Finnick into the back of a truck that had been modified as some kind of hospital on wheels, laid on a stretcher covered in sheets. She tried to climb in after them only for two men to barricade the doors, refusing to let her in.

The men apparently had a death wish as they stood there and refused to move despite Aella's begging for them to let her on. Cressida and Peeta argued with them and Pollux stood with his hand on Aella's shoulder but the men continued to refuse, not giving a good enough reason as to why she wasn't allowed to travel with her fiancée.

When they went to close the doors and shut her out completely she almost lost it all. She had been so very close to killing them and when she snarled at them their faces blanched.

Her hands—shaking and trembling ferociously—gripped the truck doors and she fixed her icy glare on them both. Absolute fire danced in her eyes, the literal definition of a death glare.

"Do you have any idea who he is?" She snarled quietly, gesturing to Finnick behind them on the stretcher.

The shorter of the men swallowed thickly and stuttered, "He-he's Finnick Odiar."

Killing calmness washed over Aella when she cocked her head marginally to the side and said, "So you know who I am?"

If she had that power, she would've killed both men with the glare she was delivering them. The tension was thick as silence fell over the street. Soldiers stopped to watch and they all shivered as they beheld the blue raging fire in her eyes.

Again, the man nodded, "Aella Barnes."

"Then move out of my fucking way." The woman herself snapped before she stepped up on to the truck and shouldered her way between the two men.

The two medics assessing Finnick didn't say anything about her presence as she sat on the edge of the stretcher and took his hand.

"We'll find you back at base, Aella." Cressida yelled from outside the truck.

Aella turned her head fleetingly to see she, Pollux and Peeta standing outside. She beheld their worried eyes and tight features before she nodded her head once and looked back to the man who held her heart.

Doors slammed shut behind her and an engine revved to life and before she knew it they were pulling away from Tigris' boutique.

The medics started Finnick on multiple IVs, talking between themselves about his condition but their words went in one ear and right back out the other. She couldn't listen. Not when Finnick was holding on to life with a faint grip. Not when she could feel the presence of Death looming over her shoulder with her scythe, waiting to take her soulmate with open arms.

She clutched his cold hand in both of hers, hoping to warm him somewhat, and held his hand to her lips. She pressed chaste kisses to the back of each of his knuckles and ran her thumb over the back of his hand over and over again. Occasionally she brushed his dirty hair from his forehead and caressed his cheek while praying over and over again.

"Come on, Fin," she breathed desperately, "it's me, your Ella. I'm still here but I need you to keep fighting for me, okay? We've almost made it."

She never once stopped to think—to realise—what their rescue meant. That the only reason she and Finnick were on that medical truck in the first place was because the rebels had finally liberated Panem.... That, for the most part, the war was over.

Instead, she continued to beg Finnick to keep fighting, to keep holding on and she prayed that they were close to wherever it was that they were going.

She continued to count his every breath even when the second medic had tried to look her over. She'd shrugged him off and refused to move. When they had arrived at whatever base had been set up in the Capitol Aella had held Finnick's hand while they wheeled him out of the back of the truck and towards large tents.

She'd walked straight through the rebel army healing and celebrating their win and hadn't even noticed. Their loud cheers had fallen into startling silence when one by one the rebels noticed the medics wheeling Finnick Odiar towards the tents that the hospital was set up in while Aella Barnes held his hand with tears in her eyes. Their grave injuries felt like nothing compared to their own, especially when they had been pronounced dead and then suddenly were alive.

They hadn't known what had happened to them but whatever it was it was obviously traumatic. So one by one each surviving rebel—from all thirteen Districts—rose their hands into the air in a three-fingered salute until they disappeared inside and the tent flaps closed behind them.

Aella had followed the medics as they wheeled Finnick through the large tents. It was busy and chaotic. Wounded people were absolutely everywhere. Distant cries and pained screams bounced off the hubbub of voices and if it hadn't of been for the deafening ringing in Aella's ears it would've felt like District Eight all over again.

They walked past the beds set up, past the triaging and the medics and nurses fighting to heal those who had been injured. They continued on until they reached the end of the hallway where a familiar woman stood in front of makeshift heavy duty tent flaps, separating the triage from the operating rooms.

Dr. Vann met the stretcher and the medics and Aella with wide and fearful eyes. They glanced over Aella's frame. She saw the mismatched pants and blood stained shirt she wore that was ripped in several places. Dried blood and dirt stained her pale arms, her fingers... it ran up her throat and into her dirty hair. She saw the small cuts on her face.

Then she looked at Finnick and she knew he was a breath away from death.

Dr. Vann's voice rang in Aella's ears as she asked her over and over again what had happened but every time it faded into white noise until—

"Aella!"

She hadn't even realised Dr. Vann was shaking her. She hadn't realised they'd stopped walking and were now before those curtains. She tore her silver-lined eyes away from Finnick's face and looked at the woman, her tears free falling down her face.

"I need to know exactly what happened to him if I have any chance at saving him." Dr. Vann said calmly, her hands still gripping Aella's upper arms.

What happened... what had happened? Too much. Far too much for her to really even figure it out. She just knew that one second Finnick was protecting the ladder and the next he was underwater. She hadn't seen anything except his injuries when she pulled his unconscious body out of the water.

Aella opened her mouth to try and speak but no words came out. There was nothing there. There were no words she could find to explain how her worst nightmares had come true and gravely injured Finnick. All she could do was relive the memory over and over and over again, blaming herself more and more each time. Why had she let him protect the ladder? She should've said no, should've argued and pushed him up first. That way none of this would be happening. He would be okay and not so close to death.

Dr. Vann stared at her, saw the absolute paralysing fear in her eyes. They were so wide she could see the whites of them. Aella's skin was almost as pale as Finnick's, too. Whatever had happened it had been truly awful.

"Aella," The doctor said calmly, Finnick still taking shallow breaths beside them. She didn't want to scare her anymore than what she already was but she needed to know what had happened, "He will die if I don't find out what happened to him," she said, "I need to know what I'm treating him for."

Aella's knees buckled and a sob tore past her lips. Dr. Vann caught her before she fell to the ground but the woman finally spoke, "Mutts." It was one word forced out through shoulder racking sobs and heaving breaths but Aella managed to say it again, "Mutts," and then she composed herself long enough to inhale deeply and say, "they had razor sharp claws. We-we were in the tunnels a-and there was water up to our waists. We were cornered," another sob, another fight for a controlled breath, "I was climbing up a ladder a-and he was keeping it clear for me. I-I don't know what h-happened to him but th-they tackled him u-under the water,"

"I jumped in to save him and fi-fight off the mutts. T-they were like human lizards a-and it's claws slashed through his neck. U-under his jaw, down his th-throat and over his shoulder," Aella buried her head into her hands and sobbed again. People were watching her, unable to look away but she didn't care, "It missed his artery, I-I don't know how, but there was so much b-blood. He lost so much blood."

If Aella's hands and clothes were anything to go by Dr. Vann would be very inclined to agree. Dried blood stained her entire body. The doctor looked at the visible bandages on Finnick's throat, saw the blood staining through, "Was there poison on the claws?"

Aella shook her head and lifted her shirt, showing the woman a much smaller bandage on her pale abdomen. There was a moderate splotch of dry blood visible, "No." Was all she said before she continued, "I-I sewed the wounds together. It wasn't very sterile but I did what I could to stop the bleeding otherwise he...he would've died."

Dr. Vann shushed her comfortingly and pulled her into a quick but tight embrace. She ran her hands over Aella's wild hair, "Aella, shush my dear," she said, "you saved his life."

A sob racked her body, "It doesn't feel like it."

Dr. Vann took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "We have to get him stabilised, okay? I need you to wait for me while we work—"

She shook her head, raw fear and panic twisting her face, "No, I need to be with him."

"I've got him, I promise." The woman said.

Aella told herself not to believe her but she couldn't help but hang on to the hope that Finnick was going to be okay. She had to, otherwise she'd lose herself.

Her lip trembled when she said, "You promise?"

"I do but I really need to take him now, Aella, even these seconds are crucial."

She bit her lip and nodded before finding the strength to pull herself to her feet. She looked down at Finnick as he laid on the stretcher still unconscious but still alive. Reaching out, she placed her hands gently on his cold face, cupping his cheeks, and she leaned forward to kiss his forehead once before she whispered, "You're not leaving me, Fin, you hear me?" She said to him quietly, "You're stuck with me for life. I'll be waiting right here for you, I promise.... I love you."

That was all the time she had. The curtains were pushed back and then Dr. Vann and the two medics were wheeling him away from her and she could do nothing but watch, committing his face to memory just in case. She held her hands to her mouth as she watched them go before pushing her sweaty fingers through her tangled hair and locking them behind her head. She didn't bare blink, didn't dare move as the curtains were dropped and Finnick disappeared.

She had never felt pain quite like it as it exploded through her. In fact, the one time she wished to feel numb she didn't. It was pure agony watching him go and not knowing if she would see him again.

A loud, gut-wrenching, sob tore through her as she collapsed. She never felt her knees hit the floor but she did feel a pair of heavy arms wrap around her followed by another smaller pair. Two invading scents of both sandalwood mixed with pine cones and vanilla infiltrated her senses and she knew who it was beside her without even having to look up. Daniel and Clio held her and she leaned into them and sobbed her heart out.

• • •

It had taken a lot of negotiation to get Aella to sit down on a bed and let a doctor examine her.

Daniel hadn't had much difficulty getting her to the triage centre. By that point shock had settled in and Aella had become pretty much numb. Her legs had just moved on autopilot. The difficulty had been getting her to actually sit down and let the doctor check her over.

She had tried to fight. Her eyes had that crazed look in them—the same look they'd had the night she'd been rescued from the Capitol. It had taken almost everything out of Daniel to get her to settle down again.

The doctor had looked at the wound on her abdomen and determined that they needed stitching. Getting her to lie still enough while the strange man she didn't know injected local anaesthetic into her stomach was the hardest thing Daniel had done in a long time. She tried to get up on numerous occasions and each time Daniel had pushed on her shoulder and told her to stay still.

It had taken a great deal of effort and difficulty but after twenty or so minutes the doctor had gotten Aella's wound closed and dressed properly. He tried to keep her in bed and attempted to start her on an antibiotic drip but the second he'd turned his back to her she was getting off the bed with a grimace she couldn't hide.

Aella, Daniel and Clio sat and waited for news for two hours. And during those two hours Aella still hadn't realised what had happened.

Not until the numbness wore off. She ran through the whole ordeal again from start to finish. Recalling every team member they had lost and she didn't stop until she had said goodbye to Katniss before she'd set out to assassinate Snow and liberate them from his tyranny once and for all.

That promise of sending help echoed in her head like a broken alarm clock over and over again until...

Her spine straightened when it finally dawned upon her. With wide eyes she turned her head and looked at both Daniel and Clio as they sat in between her. When they had rushed to her after they'd taken Finnick to surgery she hadn't thought anything of it. They had always been there with her through everything but she had left them in District Thirteen... what an Earth were they doing in the Capitol?

Clio looked at Aella when she felt her eyes fall on her. They were wide and confused as she leaned forward but Clio said nothing. She sat quietly and let Aella figure it out, watching as she looked down to her hands and started counting her fingers.

When she reached ten she started again and again and again until she'd started to count her fingers for the fifth time. As if she couldn't truly believe that this was all real.

Clio grasped her hands gently and held them, "Aella, stop," she said gently, "it's real. This is real."

She dragged her wide and bloodshot eyes up from their intertwined hands to Clio's eyes and said, "H-how..?"

And then Daniel was there, kneeling between the two of them on the floor so he could see them... so he could be there for her, "Snow announced a mandatory evacuation notice to all Capitol citizens within a five mile radius of the City Circle but when they all gathered at the gates of the Presidential Palace he dropped bombs on them. The rebels made it just in time and they liberated Panem."

"No...I know." Aella shook her head in confusion before she said, "The evacuation...Katniss and Gale left to..." she froze, eyes drifting to the ground before she looked at Daniel and said, "Did she do it? Is Snow dead? Did Katniss manage to kill him?"

"No." Daniel shook his head softly, "The last of Snow's guards turned on him after he dropped the bombs on his people. He's under arrest pending execution."

Air stormed out of Aella's lungs as pure and unfiltered relief washed over her. It was almost enough to bring her to her knees. President Snow was under arrest... His reign of tyranny was over and soon he would be dead.

It hadn't been the outcome they'd planned for during their journey to assassinate him but it was better than him winning this war and continuing to torture Panem for the rest of his days.

"It's over." She whispered though mainly to herself.

Snow wouldn't hurt her anymore. He couldn't.

It had been horrible and long and they had all lost more than what they bargained for but finally it was over.

President Snow had lost and the rebellion had won. The rebellion that had just been words on paper and then a dream and then one hell of a reality.

Aella didn't have any tears left to shed. She was beyond crying now, even beyond words really. She was just in shock but then she heard her name in the distance and turned her head to see Dr. Vann walking down the corridor to her.

She shot to her feet quicker than a flash but her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Dark swirling spots invaded her vision and her body went completely numb. She began her fall but not before  Daniel hooked his arms around her and caught her. He gently lowered her back to her chair, keeping his hand on her arm just incase.

After a few seconds Aella blinked vigorously, her vision slowly returning to normal.

"Easy there," Dr. Vann said, concern lacing her voice as she stood in front of Aella, Clio and Daniel. She noted Aella's still pale face and frowned, "did someone look you over, Aella?"

"Yeah." Daniel grumbled before he said, "It was more hassle than it was worth."

Aella ignored him and looked at Dr. Vann with wide eyes. She scooted to the edge of her chair, back ram-rod straight as she said, "Finnick?"

Dr. Vann released a heavy sigh and took a spare chair, dragging it over before she sat down and said, "He's alive."

The three of them released a collective sigh of relief. Clio slouched back in her chair and ran her hands over her face.

"Can I see him?" Aella asked tentatively.

Dr. Vann's face softened. Exhaustion was set heavy in her features but she gave Aella soft smile and nodded, "Of course you can, Aella."

The woman moved to stand up again but Daniel was much faster. He put a hand on her arm as Clio's hand shot out to her leg. Anything to stop her from almost passing out again. Besides, they sensed Dr. Vann had something to tell them first.

Aella frowned in confusion looking between Clio and Daniel before she said, "What..? Why can't I..."

"Aella." Clio said softly and she held her gaze for a second before gesturing to Dr. Vann.

Aella took the hint and she looked at the doctor with worried eyes, "What? What is it?"

Dr. Vann gave her an almost apologetic smile before she said, "Aella, Finnick is very poorly."

A lump formed in Aella's throat and she struggled to swallow it before she said, "He's not going to die is he?"

"Not on my watch." Dr. Vann said. She leaned forward and put her hand on Aella's knee, "You saved his life."

Her breath hitched as she said, "I did?"

"Yes, dear," Dr. Vann replied, "If you hadn't of stitched his wounds he'd of died days ago."

"Of course you stitched his wounds." Daniel mumbled under his breath as he looked at her but she still heard him.

Aella turned her head to him, "I had no other choice. I had to use a needle and the thickest cotton Tigris could find."

Dr. Vann nodded before saying, "He still lost a lot of blood. Even just then during surgery. I had to re-stitch his wounds properly. They look like they're beginning to get infected but I think that was inevitable."

Aella grimaced and said, "It wasn't exactly sterile. All I had was alcohol and match sticks."

"You did the very best you could, Aella, don't doubt that." Vann reassured her, "None of this is your fault."

It was much easier said than done. Of course she was going to blame herself for this. It was supposed to of been her holding the mutts back, that was her original plan. It should've been her lying on that bed, not Finnick.

She barely managed to nod before she looked at Dr. Vann and said quietly, "I want to see him."

"Of course," the woman replied, "though you should know what to expect."

"Expect?" Clio echoed.

Dr. Vann nodded, "We are transfusing him blood. He's lost a lot, looking at you, dear, at hazard a good guess and say so have you."

Aella shrugged. It was hard to judge but she knew she'd sat in Tigris's bathroom for well over an hour before the bleeding stopped. But she was still conscious, Finnick wasn't. So she said, "He's more important than me."

"You're both equally as important as the other." Dr. Vann reminded, "He'd be unhappy to see you still poorly when he wakes up."

"Once I know he's okay I'll let you do whatever you want to me." Aella replied dully, "I just need to see him first."

"Okay," Vann nodded, "it's a comprise?"

Aella nodded wordlessly and Dr. Vann made a gesture to one of her colleagues further down the hall. A minute later a wheelchair was being rolled toward her and she looked at it with a deep frown, "No." She protested, "No."

"Aella you almost passed out a few minutes ago standing up." Daniel tried to argue.

Aella looked at him and gave him her icy glare that Daniel knew not to argue with. She was still fighting with her remaining strength, "I'll walk. My legs work." And then she was getting to her feet and there was nothing any of them could do to stop her.

Instead, they rose with her and watched her carefully for any signs she was about to pass out. Her world did spin and she did get pins and needles in her fingers but it resolved quickly so she didn't say anything about it.

"Let's go." She said stoically, looking at Dr. Vann for her to lead the way. The woman complied, guiding them out of the triage centre and left toward the makeshift wards. Flurries of nurses still worked vigorously, running back and forth from room to room like a well oiled machine as they worked like a team to tend to the wounded. Aella glanced around as they walked, sometimes seeing past the thick tent flaps that separated the hospital rooms from the hallway but she didn't see much.

Pained groans and moans, soft cries and agonising shouting echoed through the tent and Aella fought to ignore them but the further she walked the more she was having flashbacks about that hospital she visited in District Eight.

Dr. Vann led them to the end of the long tent to where the flaps were closed and she pulled back the thick plastic with a small smile before gesturing for them to follow her through. It was less busier and much less quieter than the chaos they'd just walked through and Aella's nerves eased. She could actually hear herself think.

"Finnick is being nursed in the private sector." Dr. Vann informed them, "It's much calmer and there's less wounded here so he'll be receiving one-to-one care constantly."

Aella swallowed as she processed the information and nodded. Finally, after what felt like far too long she pointed to the left just ahead of her and said, "He's in here."

One side of the heavy plastic flaps was tied back while the other was left open and when Aella reached the entry way she stopped for a brief second. Finnick's room—tent—was quiet and calm. There was a strong scent of disinfectant in the air but it was large enough. Makeshift shelves and trolleys lined the walls filled with medicinal supplies and in the middle of the room was a bed with a body lying on it. Behind that body was a small vitals monitor which Aella glanced at but could hardly make sense of.

She didn't move. Daniel half expected her to go rushing in and jump on the bed. Take his hand, kiss his face, anything. He didn't expect her to freeze in the doorway when he was right there.

Neither did Clio and she said, "Aella...are you okay?"

But she simply nodded her head once and walked slowly inside. The room she was standing in became forgotten to her. Clio and Daniel and Dr. Vann didn't exist anymore, neither did the nurse who was standing over by a trolly doing something. It was just Aella and Finnick and she looked at him...really looked at him.

Pristine white sheets were drawn up to his chest, his arms were laid out and Aella counted three IVs in his arms. All three IVs were connected to something, one of which looked like blood. They'd washed him she noticed. Something she hadn't had the chance to do while they waited for their rescue. His skin was clean and no longer stained in blood. He looked fresh...better.

They'd dressed him in a white gown and thick bandages covered his wounds. They were proper bandages, not the makeshift ones Aella, Cressida and Pollux had made. They ran from underneath his ear, along his jaw, down his throat and disappeared under his gown. They were clean. There was no bleeding coming through for the first time.

His face... god he was so beautiful. Even so close to death he never failed to take her breath away. It was like falling in love with him all over again. How had she gotten so lucky with him? How in this god-awful world they lived in had she managed to fall in love with a man so beautiful and pure as Finnick Odair? They'd given him a fresh shave, just the way Aella liked him, and they'd washed the blood from his hair. They'd cleaned his face and made him look normal...made him look alive.

And that was so relieving.

She sighed softly, placing her hand on his delicately while she ran her other through his clean locks. She was almost too afraid to touch him. He was so clean and she was still covered in their blood, sweat, dirt and tears.

She stood by the head of his bed and leaned down, pressing her lips to his forehead for a few seconds before she dropped her forehead against his and closed her eyes. She took deep breaths through her nose, still smelling citrus fruit and the ocean breeze even in a room the smelt like sterile equipment and disinfectant.

She rose slowly, content with running her fingers through his hair when she said softly, "Hey, love, it's me. Your Ella. I'm right here, okay? I told you I wasn't going anywhere. I'm right here."

Aella hadn't even realised Dr. Vann was standing on the other side of Finnick until she spoke, "I know he looks poorly but—"

She shook her head, "He..." lost for words for a second she paused before saying, "he looks alive again. He has some colour back already."

Clio and Daniel shared a fleeting glance behind Aella's back. They didn't want to know what Finnick looked like before if Aella was saying he looked alive again.

But Aella continued to look down at Finnick with so much love and adoration in her eyes that it made Dr. Vann tear up. She'd seen it from both ends now. First when Finnick stayed by Aella's side day in and day out after the Quell and then again after her rescue. Now she was seeing Aella standing by his when he was poorly.

She ran her fingers gently across the back of his cheek, seeing a very faint dash of colour there. His skin was still white as the sheet underneath him but it was better than that grey colour he'd been when she'd watched Dr. Vann take him into surgery. She looked up at the woman, a soft smile on her face as she said, "Thank you...even for cleaning him up. He looks.... He looks much better already."

"You're more than welcome, Aella." Dr. Vann replied.

From Aella's side, Clio cleared the lump in her throat and said, "What are the drips for?"

"One is for blood," Dr. Vann began by saying, "one is a mixture of pain relief and sedatives and the third we're alternating between antibiotics and warm fluid."

Aella was grateful for that, she didn't want him to be in any pain, but she also wanted to know how long they'd keep him sedated, "When will you wake him up?"

"We'll give him a few days to rest. He's been through a lot and while the blood and the antibiotics and the fluid gets into his system it'll be better to let him rest."

"Okay." Aella nodded softly. She could do that. She could wait a few days before she saw his eyes again, before she watched him smile or heard his voice. He deserved a break. He deserved to be comfortable and pain free.

"I know he'd of been unconscious since the accident but at least this way we know for certain he's pain free and that's what's important." Dr. Vann said.

At the reminder Aella swallowed thickly. She had to close her eyes to try and shake the memories away. His pain-filled cries echoed in her ears, the way he screamed her name before he was dragged underwater....

She nodded her head, "Right."

Clio frowned and she placed her hand on Aella's shoulder seeing the troubled look in her eyes, "Aella?"

"He-he wasn't unconscious," Aella stuttered before adding, "not completely anyway."

"Oh, love." Clio sighed, wrapping her arms around Aella comfortingly.

Aella melted into Clio's arms and said, "I had to knock him out before I stitched him up. He was too agitated."

"It's okay now." Dr. Vann said comfortingly, "He's comfortable."

Aella looked down to him again and nodded, "Yeah." She said.

Finnick was safe. She was safe. They were going to be okay, she knew it. He was strong and he'd fight it. She didn't doubt it for a second. But for the time being she'd have to be patient and wait for his body to heal before she got to see him again.

It gave her a few days anyway. A few days to process and understand everything they'd just been through together. A few days to figure out how she'd tell him that they had been parents for a very brief time.

That last one she didn't think she'd ever figure out but for now she was just going to be grateful that he survived and that he was getting better.

•    •    •

A/N; No more sad Aella from here on out. Our girl is back and her fight is almost over...