Little Ray Of Darkness {HOO/Solangelo}

Chapter II

Nico once again found himself running around the infirmary doing tasks for Will. It was always 'Nico do this!' 'Nico get that!' 'Nico hurry up!' He was tired of being bossed around.

Will was currently working on a camper who had broken their arm from falling off the climbing wall. The sight of the camper's misshapen arm made Nico feel sick and he was almost glad when Will ordered him away.

"Nico, get me some nectar. There is a bottle on the shelf by the gauze." Will was trying to calm the camper, who was clearly in a lot of pain, "Hey it's fine, you're gonna be okay." he directed his attention back to Nico, with a more stern voice, "Nico, hurry!"

Nico quickly flitted around the shelves. Finally he found a vial of golden liquid. He spun around and began to run back to where Will was waiting, but slammed hard into another healer. Nico fell down onto the wooden floor, face first. He stuck his hands out just in time to catch himself. He heard the shattering glass before he felt it. His right hand, that had been holding the glass vial of nectar, was now in a small puddle of the golden liquid that was now mixed with blood.

Nico sat himself back, picking his hand out of the mess of broken glass. Three glass shards stuck into his palm. Scarlet blood oozed out of his hand. The sticky nectar absorbed into the cuts, healing them in seconds. He stopped bleeding but the glass in his hand still hurt.

Nico tore his gaze away from his hand. The rest of the infirmary stood silent with shock and everyone's eyes fixed on him. The healer, who Nico has run into, stood before him with a shocked look on his face. Nico hoped that the healer would help him, but instead, started to yell.

"Oh- my - gods! You idiot! Do you know how precious that nectar is? Watch where you are going, klutz! You just wasted a whole bottle of it!" The healer had no concern for the glass lodged in Nico's palm. The healer kept chiding him, "See? Look what happens when you bring someone inexperienced here. I told Will you were just going to mess everything up. A Hades kid can't be a healer!"

"Shut up Ian!" Will suddenly raised his voice at the angry healer. He walked over to them. "It was just a mistake. Mistakes happen. It doesn't have to do with his parentage or experience. He was just trying to help me. I told him to hurry up, which I realize was a bad idea when carrying nectar. He wouldn't have run into you if I hadn't been rushing him. It's my fault."

Nico couldn't believe Will was taking the blame. Nico started to speak out, "But-"

Will cut him off, "C'mon Nico. Sit down. I will get my own nectar. Then I will fix up your hand." He pointed to the cot next to the camper with the broken arm. "Now get back to work everyone!" He told the other healers. Ian, the healer that had yelled at Nico, stormed away in a huff.

Nico sat on the cot and waited. His hand stung and he tried to ignore the pain. He was embarrassed after what just happened. He wished he never came back. Why did Will even want him here? Ian was right, he just messed everything up.

Finally, Will came to Nico. Will sat down on a stool next to him with a pair of tweezers and a roll of gauze. He took Nico's hand.

"This might hurt a bit." He stated blankly. He wouldn't look Nico in the eyes. He pulled out each piece of glass, Nico bit his lip to keep from flinching. Will then cleaned the new cuts with alcohol, then wrapped his hand in gauze.

"There." Will wiped off his hands on his jeans before helping him off the cot. He began to walk away but accidentally bumped hard into Nico's upper arm.

"Ouch!" Nico cried out sharply, grabbing at his bicep. Blood began to trickle down his arm from his old gashes he got from Lycaon. Although Reyna had stitched him up, they never properly healed.

Will quickly spun around, "What? Did I hurt you? Oh my gods your arm!" His eyes widened thinking that he had hurt Nico.

"No- ow- it wasn't you." Nico reassured him. His hand was warm and sticky from the blood that soaked through the short sleeve of the green shirt.

"Lie down. Let me see."

Nico lowered himself back onto the cot, still holding his arm. Will picked up his hand and gently rolled up his sleeve.

"Where are these cuts from?" He asked with a gasp.

"When I fought Lycaon in Portugal." Nico told him, "He got at both my arms."

"These are so poorly stitched up. You should have come to me right away. Werewolf scratches need proper treatment." Will looked straight into Nico's eyes.

"Uh- um... Yea." Nico gulped.

Will started to gather supplies, "I will fix you up. But tell me next time you get hurt, got it?"

"Got it."

-

Will let Nico rest after he finished stitching up his arms. He left to help other patients, but came back whenever he had the time to check up on Nico and give him ambrosia. The sun was setting by the time Will let his get up.

"Okay Di Angelo, you can leave now if you want."

Nico was relieved to finally leave the infirmary. He walked with Will to the cabins. They were silent before Nico started to talk.

"Why did you take the blame when I dropped the nectar. It was my fault, not yours."

"Because Ian wouldn't have been as mad if it was my fault. I didn't want him to keep yelling at you. He was saying some pretty bad stuff about you." Will told him.

"I'm used to it. I don't care."

They reached the Hades cabin. "Well I do. I care about you Nico." He put his hand on Nico's shoulder, before dropping his arm and walking to his own cabin. Nico stood there, breathless.