We Are Cursed (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 2

Chapter 10 || Nico

Nico didn't like to watch Percy as he was choking up blood.

The idea of blood wasn't terrifying to Nico like it was to some. It was the person and what the blood was coming up for. He took a deep breath as he stood outside Percy's room. Will was inside, tending to Percy, and Nico had no idea how to approach the boy.

"Focus..." he murmured to himself. "For Percy."

Opening the door, he saw Will inside, wrapping up the wounds Percy had gotten a couple months ago. Nico cursed silently. Those marks weren't going away until the curse was gone and it was painful to watch the gashes.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh, hi, Nico."

Nico's eyes landed on Percy's sleeping face. In sleep, he looked so... peaceful. That's when a sharp cry of pain escaped Percy's lips as his chest shook slightly as he breathed.

"Has he eaten since yesterday?" Nico asked quietly. Stupid question. He already knew the answer.

"Nope," Will replied. "Percy will have to wait until a cure for the curse is found. Until then... he's gonna suffer."

Suffer... The words rang through Nico's head.

"So... how do you take care of him? You know... because there is no cure."

"Well, the sedative we use only lasts for two days at a time. So every two days, we give him some sedative in his IV."

"Ah..." Nico nodded, scanning Percy's body up and down. "What about his flesh wounds?"

"Well, they don't go away for a very long time, but we treat them like normal flesh wounds nonetheless. What helps is that they don't bleed as much as a fresh wound would. They still ooze blood, but it's definitely not enough for us to say it's serious."

"That's good," Nico cleared his throat.

"Here, I'm just about to do his bandages. Do you want to see the ointments I use?" Will asked.

In truth, Nico would give his life to get away from the information, but he needed it, so he simply nodded.

"Great! Percy has stitches on the gashes, so we need to put this antibiotic here. After that, we need a pain-soothing one. We don't use it all the time, only when he's in pain. It's bad for his nerves if we put it on too frequently. This next one is for healing in general. I don't know if it helps, but from what I've seen so far, maybe it does."

"That's it?"

"Aside from nectar and ambrosia... yeah. There's not much you can do for a patient who's unconscious and has a condition you've never treated." Will shrugged.

"Right..." Nico looked around the room. "But how do you prevent Percy from starving to death?"

"Oh, well... there's this liquid." Will took out an icebox, opening it. A blue liquid inside a bottle was taken out, still ice cold.

"What's that?"

"It's a liquid that you only need to add two drops of everyday into Percy's IV. Sure, it won't be as nutritious and filling as regular food will, but it has enough protein, vitamins, calcium, and fiber to last Percy through the day in those two drops."

"Wow..." Nico commented. "I'm guessing Apollo invented it?"

"Quite recently actually," Will said. "It works very effectively."

"And... how do you calm him down if he's... you know... acting up?"

"Just turn up the sedative in his IV for a few short bursts before turning it back to its original volume."

"Hm..." Nico nodded. "How do you check for regular and irregular signs?"

"You're curious, aren't you? Come on! Let's bandage Percy up first, and I'll show you."

Percy jerked slightly on the bed, his right forearm reaching out in front of him.

"Annabeth..." he whispered before it fell back down.

Nico knew it was wrong of him, but he took Percy's hand. It wasn't warm like he remembered it to be.

--FLASHBACK--

"Come on Neeks!" Percy laughed as they ran through the snowy streets of Manhattan.

"Percy, wait up!" Nico chased him to the candy store.

They burst in, looking around as the bright colors filled Nico's vision. He didn't like bright colors one bit, but when it came to candy, it was an exception. Percy grabbed a candy plastic bag and began to shovel blue candy into it.

"What are you doing?" Nico laughed, staring at the blue gummies.

"I'm gonna be a smurf," Percy said sarcastically. "Duh?! I'm gonna eat blue food!"

After they had gotten their candy, Nico looked at the ice skating rink.

"You ready to ice skate?" Percy asked.

"Uh... I've never been ice skating before..." Nico sheepishly said, looking away.

"It's okay!" Percy ruffled his hair. "Just take my hand. You'll be fine."

They both grabbed their skates and took off on the ice, gliding around in a flurry. It was cold, but Percy's warm hand guided him through the crowd of people.

--FLASHBACK OVER--

Nico watched as Will added the drops into the IV, bandaged up Percy's room, and began to turn up his sedative in short blasts. The restless Percy quickly calmed down, his body growing still.

It was dreadful to watch.

He would've liked some movement or sign that Percy was still alive. But no. That wasn't allowed in the world of cruel Fates. Will sighed, looking at Percy.

"I know he was acting really cold to you,
Thalia, and Annabeth, but back here... he's literally the happiest person around. He doesn't deserve this... no matter how cheeky and sarcastic he is."

Nico chuckled sadly. "You don't even know."

Will got up, after making sure Percy's vitals were normal.

"Uh... see you around, Di Angelo."

The golden-haired boy nodded awkwardly before getting out of the room, leaving Nico alone with Percy. Nico stared down at him, sighing as he brushed a piece of hair away from his face.

"You must've annoyed the Fates a lot to make them hate you so much. Didn't you, Kelp Brain?"

As if to answer Nico, he nodded slightly.