I drag the sled into the house and carefully ease Peeta down onto the ground. My mother pushes me to the side and looks him over before shooting a look at me. "How did this happen?" She asks 

"He wouldn't tell me," I say. "I knew he was hurt, but he acted like it wasn't a big deal."

"Katniss, I can see his bone," She says and I look back at her, shaking my head. "It's a very bad wound. A few days old at least." 

"It would have to be about three, four at the most," I say and she looks at me. 

"How would you know?" She asks. I look down at my hands and she shakes her head. "He isn't just your friend is he?"

"It's not what you think," I say. "We go dancing, I trade with his father and he visits me here to study the plants hand help me with the trees. We're friends." 

"Prim, get me the whiskey from the cabinet," My mother says before looking at me. "You need to hold him. He can't move too much. He's already lost too much blood and if he moves around, he'll only lose more." I crouch down on the ground near his head and and pull it into my lap. Peeta groans and I run my hand across his cheek gently. 

His eyes open a little and I let out a sigh of relief. "K-Katniss?" I nod and reach forward so I'm able to hold him down. I hear the lid of the whisky bottle unscrewing and I grab onto his hand. "Katniss, are you there?" 

"I'm right here," I say. "We're in my mother's house. " I look over him and shake my head. "Just hold onto me, Peeta."

"Am I dying?" He asks and I glance at my mother, her face just a grim state. "Katniss?"

"No," I say. "You aren't. But in a little bit, you're gonna wish you were dead, so you just hold onto me and if you need to pass out, you pass out, okay?" His head moves around, groaning. "Peeta, you need to hold on okay? You aren't leaving us. Not like this." I feel his hand grip onto my arm and I nod to my mother. "Okay, do it." Prim pours the clear liquid into the sour wound and Peeta cries out, his fists closing tightly on my arms, no doubt leaving bruises. I clench my teeth as I feel some of that burning in my chest and try not to let my mother see how much his pain is hurting me. His grip loosens and I look down at him. He's breathing heavily as my mother starts to pack the wound with herbs. 

"I should have come right away when it happened," He pants and I just shake my head, brushing his hair from his face.

"Don't worry about that right now," I whisper, "You don't worry about that until you're back up on your feet, okay?" I look up at my mother. "What else can I do?" She stands up and sighs, shaking her head. "Mother? What can we do for him?"

"I've drained out as much of the infection as possible," She says. "For now, that's  all we can do." I look down at Peeta and sigh, running my fingers gently down his cheek. He reaches up and grabs my hand.

"It's gonna be okay," He says and I shake my head, a sad laugh escaping my lips.

"I'm supposed to tell you that," I whisper. He looks up at me and I try to keep a brave face. 

"I knew," He says and I shake my head. "I knew the day I met you." I shake my head and press a finger to his lips. 

"Don't you dare lay here spouting that end of life crap, okay?" I whisper. "You aren't dying. We will talk, when you are well again." I carefully hold up his head and slide out from beneath him, glancing at my mother as I lay him, back down, his eyes still delirious. I doubt he'll remember any of this anyway. "I'll be right back, Peeta." 

"How long have you known?" she asks and I shake my head. "Katniss, how long?" 

"I didn't," I say. "And if he really did, I don't know."

"Katniss," She says and I walk around her to look at the bloody bandages.

"I smelled blood," I say. "I knew he was hurt. I knew his mother had a temper. I should have known better." I shake my head and clench the rags in my fist. I glance over at Peeta and see that his breathing has finally evened out and his eyes were closed. "How bad is he?" Prim looks up from her notes. I glance at my mother and she just has a grim expression. "How bad?!"

"He has almost no pulse in his leg, Katniss," Prim says. "It's pale and cold."I close my eyes and look back at him. 

"So what now?" I ask and my mother gently sets a hand on my shoulder. 

"Katniss, I think you should sit down," She says. "You need to calm down, take a breath." I glare at her and slowly, sit down on one of the chairs. 

"What are you going to do to save Peeta?" I ask. "Because I've seen you work on a person or two and I've never seen you just pack a wound  and tie it off like that." My mother walks around me and sits down next to me.

"You saw how deep the cut went right?" He asks and I nod.

"I've butchered an animal before," I say. "I'm familiar with what it it looks like when you cut into a leg like that."

"Then understand when I say that it isn't just a small cut," She says. "It cut into his bone, not just down to it." I look at her and feel sick to my stomach.

"You have to take his leg?" I ask. She nods and I look straight at her. "Then why did you stop?" She doesn't answer and I grip onto my broach. "You don't, you don't think he's going to make it, do you?" She looks at my shaking hands and I look at Peeta laying on the floor.

"The infection is very severe," She says. "So for right now, we keep him as comfortable as possible and if he's still here in the morning, we take the leg." She reaches out and grabs my hand. "I don't want to cause any more pain to him if I can help it. I won't remove his leg right now for him to die of infection through the night from the original wound. That is just cruelty." I get up and walk towards the stairs. I take a deep breath and slowly mount the stairs. 

"Where are you going?" Prim asks and I look back at her a moment. 

"I'm changing into my bedclothes," I say. "I'm going to sit vigil with him for as long as he needs me. I also want to get something more comfortable to lay on. If he is dying, he shouldn't have to die in the dirt." I hear the steps creak behind me and see that Prim is following me up, I duck into my room and pull the large quilt and a few blankets from my bed. Prim walks up to me and carefully starts folding the blankets. "What are you doing?"

"Is it true?" She asks. "That he's your soulmate?" I look at my hands as I unbutton my blouse and grab onto my braided hair.

"You saw it happen out there," I say. "I was able to allow him to use my body, my strength as a vessel for his power," I say. "Magic energy can only be shared if there is a soulbond to share it through." Prim nods and grabs my hand. 

"I'm gonna  go start making a bed downstairs for you two," She says and I look over at her. "You should get to spend as much time next to him as possible." 

"Thank you," I whisper, shucking off the shirt and striping off my pants, leaving me in my underwear. I pull on the white nightgown I usually wear to bed and look in the mirror. There's burn marks on it from nights that I wake up from nightmares and there are a couple of tears in the hem from being worn out. Not exactly what I would have picked for the first night sleeping next to my soulbond, but considering it may be my only night to spend next to him, I might as well take it. 

I walk down the stairs and see the little pad that Prim had folded up next to the fire place. I come over and Peeta stirs a little as I sit down on the floor next to him. My mother and sister walk past me and to their rooms, leaving me alone with him in the dark. Reaching over, I carefully touch him and he opens his eyes, looking at me. 

"Are you Demeter?" He asks and I chuckle. 

"No and she's gonna have to go through me to try to take you to that great beyond," I say. He chuckles, shaking his head.

"I was just messing with you," He says. "You're actually my guardian angel, my lovely little fire flower."

"How do you feel?" I ask quietly and he winces a little. 

"It's not good is it," He says and I look down shaking my head.

"No, but that wasn't I asked," I say and he sighs.

"It's better than it was," He says. "I'm really cold."

"You lost a lot of blood," I say quietly. "But the bleeding stopped for now and they cleaned out as much of the infection as they could. Do you want me to start a fire?" He nods and I reach over him and place my hand into the fireplace, letting flames spark up the pile of wood there. He grabs onto my arm and I notice he's staring at the bruise on my arm.

"We should talk," He says I shake my head.

"We will," I say softly . 

"I know I'm dying because I was an idiot and didn't come to the forest sooner," He says and I look sternly at him. 

"No, you are going to live," I say. "Tomorrow, they are going to take the leg off, which will take away the risk of further infection and you'll start being able to feel better again." 

"I feel sorry for you," He says. "You're as agile as a deer and you get to have a cripple or a dead man as your husband."

"Don't you dare sit here and feel sorry for yourself over something that your mother did to you," I say and Peeta looks up at me.

"I should have left, as soon as I met you, leaving should have been the first thing on my mind," He says and I lean over him, shaking my head.

"You're a good man, Peeta," I whisper. "That's all that matters right now." I brush the hair from his face and sigh. "We will talk about everything when you get better. For now, just rest. When the sun rises, we'll start healing you." I lean down and kiss his forehead. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"I love you," He says and I blink at him. He reaches up and gently touches my cheek. "I know you don't want to talk like this, but I need to say it aloud, just incase I can't later." I nod and rest my head against his.

"I love you, too," I whisper before sitting up to keep watch over him through the night, whispering prayers to anyone who might listen