Sunshine Kids (Apollo Cabin Oneshots)

calling: part 4

Nico di Angelo did not like the sun, and he most certainly did not like Virginia. It was hot and humid, and Richmond during the summer was so full of people on the streets, most in swimsuits, that it made him claustrophobic.

Will Solace loved Virginia. He'd grown up in Texas, but when he'd left for camp, his mother had relocated to the suburb outskirts of Richmond, and he visited often enough to consider it home.

So when Nico shadow-traveled them to Virginia instead of Maryland, Will was ecstatic, and Nico could only smile at how happy he was. They were only there for two days, but at the end, Nico di Angelo almost liked Virginia.

Naomi lent them her car so they could drive down to Maryland and John Hopkins for Will's event (all the while, she kept telling them how proud she was). The infirmary, Kayla, and camp crossed Will's mind only once- he was enjoying peace and a lack of responsibility too much to worry about anything, and Nico did his best to keep him distracted anyway.

He sent a text when he arrived at Hopkins, like he'd promised, and then he'd tucked that monster-flare phone away and launched himself into the exciting world of medicine. Nico trailed behind him, watching his smile and his excitement. He looked so beautiful like this, in his element. He didn't mention anything, but Will was even glowing slightly.

On the fourth day, Will sent another text to Kayla. It was only three more days until he was back, and she was doing amazing. He didn't wait for the reply that never came.

On the fourth day, Kayla's phone was dead and she was barely awake. At some point over the last night, her side had started bleeding again (she pretended it wasn't because she'd pulled a stitch). She wrapped it up in more gauze, plastered some antibiotic cream on it to stave off an infection again, and fell asleep after she locked the infirmary door. The first week of summer was almost over, and most of the kids had figured out how to avoid injuries (or they had learnt enough basic first aid to deal with it themselves), so the steady stream of patients was gone and Kayla had time to sleep.

Coffee was no longer working.

She woke up to someone banging on the infirmary door- one of the new Hermes campers leaning on Connor Stoll, with an arrow through his shoulder. She rubbed her face and stood up, making a face when she felt the bleeding from her side start again. Shuffling over as best she could, she unlocked the door and let Connor take his sibling to a bed while she collected the material she needed.

"You look tired," Connor whispered once she began working.

"What gave it away?"

"You're jumpier in the mornings, usually."

"It was the first week of summer. Infirmary's always a nightmare. Will gets us all on shift for this week when he's here. I'm alone this time. Haven't had much time to sleep yet." Kayla knew she was talking more than she needed, but it kept her awake, and focused on her patient.

The arrow was extracted cleanly, much to Kayla's pride, and after some plaster, the patient was released. Connor hung back to help her clean up and to tell her all the news she'd missed from the new kids' first sessions.

When Kayla pulled another face after pushing the gauze back into their box, he noticed.