Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Forty-two

"Marissa," Finnick whispers, lifting Marissa's limp hand to his lips and kissing the ring he proposed with, which has now become her wedding band. "You have got to stop ending up in here, honey. You are going to make me look fifty with all these stress lines."

Marissa lies still in the hospital bed, unconscious after hearing that Johanna had been hospitalised. The doctors have ruled that she is just slightly dehydrated and has been put on a drip to help her recover. They assured Finnick and presumably Plutarch and Boggs that she's more than fit and able to be a part of the squad on their mission and that she will be up and about again in no time. Finnick is glad that she's going to be okay but has to admit he was a little disappointed when he was told she can join the mission. He knows that she wants to help fight and destroy Snow, but he cannot stand the thought of her being in so much danger.

"I wish we just had normal lives," Finnick sighs, his thumb now caressing the top of Marissa's hand. "No Games, no war, just us and our families. We could spend all day down at the beach in District Four. Our wedding would've been at home like you wanted. We would've had a  proper honeymoon and we wouldn't have to worry about being killed 2 weeks after getting married."

Finnick laughs bitterly after he says this and then kisses Marissa's hands again. "Our lives are really a mess aren't they."

"I don't know, I think you guys have done pretty well considering everything," Peeta Mellark's voice rings through the quiet room. Finnick jumps in surprise, not realising that Peeta had entered the room. "Look at me."

Peeta sits down on one of the chairs in the room with a resentful frown. His wrists are still bound and two security guards are standing by the door as a precautionary measure.

"You'll get better," Finnick says surely. "Things just take time."

"No," Peeta shakes his head firmly. "No. I'll never be the same again. I don't even know who I am anymore."

"I said you'll get better. None of us will ever be the same, not really," Finnick reiterates. Peeta shrugs his shoulders and then sighs.

"So, what happened then?" Peeta nods his head over at Marissa, who lies still.

"The doctors said she's dehydrated," Finnick tells Peeta. "She'll probably wake up in a minute."

"So, she'll be okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. The doctors said she'll still be able to go to the Capitol so that's great too," Finnick says through his teeth.

"You don't sound very pleased."

"Of course, I'm not. Do you think I really want my wife going into a battlefield for no reason? She could stay here with Mags and Annie but she won't," Finnick seethes. Peeta doesn't flinch away despite the anger Finnick directs at him.

"Well, why are you going, Finnick?" Peeta asks him. "Do you think Marissa wants you to be in a battlefield? Do you think she wants you to be a soldier in a war?"

"No."

"No, but you want to take down Snow just like she does. Why is it any different for her?"

"Because I love her," Finnick snaps. "I'm her husband and I'm supposed to protect her, not let her fight in a war."

"Marissa doesn't need protecting," Peeta says. "I remember her in the Games. She was fine. Aren't husbands supposed to support their wives?"

Finnick doesn't reply, he just stares at Marissa in silence.

"She'd just go anyway," Peeta continues. "She doesn't listen to rules very often."

"And what if she ignores an order out there and gets herself killed?"