Instead, I Watch Myself Get Shot On

Of Course You Are. The Tributes Were Necessary To The Games, Too. Until They Weren't," I Say. "and Then We Were Very Disposable - Right, Plutarch?

Buttercup, Miserable Even With Prim’s Constant Attention, Huddles In The Cube And Exhales Cat Breath In My Face.

I Know What Blood Poisoning Is, Katniss," Says Peeta. "even If My Mother Isn't A Healer." I'm Jolted Back In Time, To Another Wound, Another Set Of Bandages. "you Said That Same Thing To Me In The First Hunger Games. Real Or Not Real?" "real," He Says. "and You Risked Your Life Getting The Medicine That Saved Me?" "real." I Shrug. "you Were The Reason I Was Alive To Do It.

Aren't They The Very Reason I Have To Try To Fight? Because What Has Been Done To Them Is So Wrong, So Beyond Justification, So Evil That There Is No Choice? Because No One Has The Right To Treat Them As They Have Been Treated?

It's The First Gift That's Always The Hardest To Pay Back.