Decision

[Emily]

CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ CATCHING FIRE.

Not much sneezing at all, mostly angst and self-indulgence.

Comments and feedback are welcome as always.

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Twenty lashes. Twenty. I run my hand gingerly over Gale’s face. He’s sweating profusely and shivers hard at my cold touch. I instinctively shrink back, afraid I might hurt him again. It’s all my fault the Peacekeepers are here. It’s all my fault he’s lying here, unable to move, flinching at the slightest touch.

I need to do something. Standing still makes me nervous and I keep seeing Gale being whipped and I can’t do anything but watch because I am frozen in place. A hand clasps my shoulder and I almost jump. But I recognize it as my mother’s delicate hand and turn around to face her.

“Change his towel every ten minutes. I’m going out to see a patient.”

“Okay,” I say simply, as I always have. She turns to leave, then stops suddenly. Is that pity in her eyes? If so, who is it for: Gale, who bears the marks of punishment, or me, who bears the guilt of bringing it about? My mother smiles sadly at me.

“Take care of him.” She walks out, carrying a basket in that dainty way of hers. I realize she looks a lot like Prim from the back, without a shirt tail hanging out. I almost smile to myself, but a loud gasp of pain from Gale brings me back to my senses.

His fists are clenched around a clump of sweat-soaked sheets. He pants heavily. I take a few moments to brace myself for the bloody cuts. I look at the blood seeping through the thin white sheets and feel sick. His cuts don’t look anything like my leg when the Gamemakers sent fireballs at me, but they make my stomach turn from the thought anyway.

“What’s up, Catnip?” Gale’s usually smooth, low voice is hoarse and cracks at every other syllable. I smile a little at how ridiculous he sounds.

“Wait,” I tell him. “I’ll get you another towel.”

“No.” He has encased my hand in his firm grip. His hand is rough from so many years of toil, but now it is clammy and covered in cold sweat. I’m usually the one with sweaty palms.

“Stay,” he commands me in a croaking voice. He knows as well as I do that I don’t take orders from anyone. I fight the hotness rising to my ears and wrestle my hand out of his as gently as possible.

“I’ll get you another towel.” My heart is pounding. It’s not right. Peeta and I are the “star-crossed lovers.” He would be killed if I betrayed that. I can’t be swayed.

I replace Gale’s towel, making as little contact with his skin as possible and hope he doesn’t notice. But of course he notices.

“Katniss.” He presses my hand to his face before I pull away. “Don’t be scared.” Damn you, I think. He always knows what I’m thinking, sometimes before even I know what I’m thinking.

“Your face gives everything away.” He manages a pained grin that quickly turns into a grimace because the cuts on his back are searing. Then his breath hitches and he sneezes hard into the air. I take my hand away.

“EHKk-shUH!”

“Gross,” I say, smiling. “Cover up.”

He yanks my arm and motions for me to bend down. I recognize the glint in his silver-gray eyes and I know he’s the mischievous Gale that would purposely scare away my deer. He beckons me closer. I feel my heart beat faster, but it’s not the bad kind that makes my palms sweat and my heart clench. A warm feeling fills me.

I lean closer. Gale’s ragged breathing is so close. Why didn’t it feel this awkward when we were hunting in the forest and practically sitting on top of each other in the bushes? This is wrong. I can’t do this to Peeta.

Gale is surprised, shocked even, when I pull my face away, and my hand reaches for his boiling forehead instead. His mouth opens to ask why, but his voice is caught somewhere in the back of his throat. He coughs harshly, wincing from the raw pain in both his throat and his cuts. The congestions rattles in his chest.

First I’m motionless, then I think of what my mother or Prim would do. Hesitantly, I place my hand on his chest and rub in slow circles. His bouts of coughing gradually weaken. The whole time I try not to meet his gaze because I know I’ll be trapped under his spell again and I won’t be able to pull myself away. He always manages to drag me into his pace. Even now all I’m thinking about is Gale, his being whipped, his muscular chest, his ragged breathing, his piercing silver eyes.

I continue rubbing steadily until his breathing evens. I finally let myself look at him and I find that he is asleep. Gale’s a light sleeper; most of us in the Seam are. I remove my other hand from his grip as gently as I can without waking him, but he doesn’t even twitch. He’s more tired than I thought he was.

I look at his masculine face and willed myself not to touch it. My legs want so desperately to go closer, my hands are aching to touch him, and my heart is racing so fast that I think anyone within a one-mile radius can hear it thumping in my chest.

Run, run now, Katniss.

I run. I duck past uniformed Peacekeepers, dodge questioning stares. I come face to face with the electric fence. It’s probably on now, but I don’t hear the distinct buzzing that signifies that it’s on. I toss a rock at it anyway, willing nothing to happen. By some miracle, nothing does.

I vault over the fence, then maneuver through the trees and foliage easily. I stop at an old gnarled tree. I climb it easily, and I ease myself on a thick branch covered with leaves below so I can sit in peace. I can see everything from the Victor’s Village to Gale’s house.

I shut my eyes and images of Gale being whipped and Peeta being taken away flash in my mind. I can’t keep wavering like this. I have to make my decision soon.

[Salamander]

Argh. I love it. It's kind of brutal and sad, and everything that made this part of the book hard to read, and I really love it. Injured and feverish and sneezing is just about heaven. Thank you so much for sharing.

[VividBubbles!]

I always did love Gale. I love Peeta too but I just have a special place in my heart for Gale. I wish they had concentrated a little more on Katniss and Gale's relationship in the movie. This was really great!

BYE!

[hails]

I always did love Gale. I love Peeta too but I just have a special place in my heart for Gale.

Same! I actually didn't like Peeta (much), I thought GalexKatniss had more of a chance. And this story is just beautiful....so beautiful...

[Dusty15]

Oooh I love me some sick Gale! :-D

Thanks for sharing!

[EmeraldThread]

This makes me soooo happy!!! Most people I talk to don't understand my love for Gale, and this...this just makes it a little bit okay.

I've been trying to write a Gale fic myself, but I got about 3 pages in before I decided it wasn't working and temporarily abandoned it.

SO. I am pleased. He sneezed so cutely and the writing and the everything just...I don't know. You're awesome, that's it.

[Emily]

Gahhh I be melting into grammarless pile goo. /shot. I LOVE YOU GUYS, EVERY ONE OF THE 146 VIEWERS. -happy dance- yes, I am a Gale-Katniss fan. Can't say I wasn't expecting her to choose Peeta cause Gale was way friendzoned, but I wanted it to happen so badly anyway. why do my pairings never happen

Salamander: YES, it was just kind of the hard reality and fresh wounds and going through so much pain in one go that made Catching Fire so depressing in the beginning. Don't even get me started on the love triangle in Mockingjay, I swear I could go on forever about why Katniss needed Gale and not Peeta. Thank you for reading and commenting!

VividBubbles!: They totally left out Gale! It was almost like he was just a pretty, disposable character and Katniss and Gale have a MUCH deeper bond than that. The movies never live up to the books. thanks for reading and commenting!

hails: D'aww you make me blush. I didn't want Gale and Katniss to just end, so I picked the most vulnerable time for Katniss to be totally seduced by her best friend thank you for reading and commenting!

Dusty15: To be honest, I was inspired to write this after reading your Gale fic (I think it was yours) which was ages ago, haha, I only just typed it up recently cause it was collecting dust in my notebook. Thank you for reading and commenting!

ElementsofGray: I-I-I-I-TOO MUCH PRAISE AT ONCE, CANNOT HANDLE. I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND YOUR LOVE FOR GALE. Nobody understands we who root for the underdog. I hope I see your fic sometime! if you need a beta reader or encouragement...hello thanks for reading and commenting!

-rolls in happiness-

[EmeraldThread]

YES!! I was so disappointed when they just kind of chopped Gale out of the book in the last series. I would gladly take him for my own if Katniss doesn't want him.

I hope I see your fic sometime! if you need a beta reader or encouragement...hello

Thank you sooo much for the offer! I decided instead to post it as a drabble sorta thing, just because my whole attempt felt kind of lame as a drawn out story. XD But if you'd like to read it, it's there!

Also, Dusty15, I've reread your Gale fic about 50 times in the past week because it's so unfathomably lovely.

I wish I had more words for you guys' sick!Gale fics, but they won't form in my head. TOO MUCH LOVE.