Unseen Scars Hurt The Most

chapter 5

3rd person POV

"Take him straight to the emergency department. We haven't got a second to lose."
Two nurses hurriedly placed the stretcher on to a trolley and pushed it down the spotless white corridor, shrieking agitatedly at whoever got in their way.
"You don't really think he'll make it, do you?" The receptionist questioned the head nurse without lifting her narrowed eyes from the paper's crossword.
"Not in the slightest." He replied wearily. He removed his oval spectacles from his crooked nose and scrubbed a bit of dirt with his uniform. "Although, any normal teenager should have died, falling from a height that far. His future may not be clear, but this is certainly one extraordinary human we're dealing with."

→→→→→Operating Theater←←←←←

"List of injuries."
"Seven cracked ribs, broken collar bone, four toes on the left foot broken, snapped left humerus and blunt force trauma to the head."
"Is that all?" Came the sarcastic reply from the surgeon as he stretched out his hand for a scalpel.
"Actually, no." The assistant handed him one. "We discovered some scars on his torso, arms and legs."
"Oh? Anything I need to worry about? Tweezers."
"Well, they're all pretty nasty, but we've detected sepsis in one more recent wound."
"Is it urgent?" He prised out a shard of glass from the back of the head.
"It isn't listed for this surgery, but if it isn't seen to.........."
"Right, this isn't working." The surgeon pulled off his disposable gloves and slapped them onto the sterile stainless steel table. He checked the unconscious patient's heart rate and blood pressure. "I'm gonna need you to leave the room and disable the cameras filming this room for the next half an hour."
"Sir, what are you going to do? I might as well take him to the autopsy department now."
"Just please, do as I say."
The assistant reluctantly left the operating theater without another word to disable the CCTV.

"Listen, demigod." The surgeon whispered commandingly, checking no-one was watching,"I don't know how the hell you got like this, but I know you're strong enough to pull through." He took a flask out of his bag. "You might die if I do this, but you'll definitely die if I don't." Disconnecting one of the tubes transporting morphine, the surgeon poured the glowing gold contents of the container into the tube instead.

The dying half-blood's heart rate increased drastically, the beeping speeding up to five a second. "No, no, no, no, no, don't do this to me!" Dropping to his knees, the surgeon clasped his hands in prayer, "Father, I pray to you, Lord Apollo and beg you to spare this young demigod's life and bless me with the powers to save him."

The now rising sun shone brighter for a fraction of a second in answer and a flash of light delivered a young man of about twenty-one with smooth golden locks. "Father," the young surgeon gasped and moved out of the way of the god.
"Oh gods, Perseus! What have you done to yourself?" Lord Apollo exclaimed. Immediately realizing the gravity of the situation, the god held his palms out face down over the boy's heart and muttered and incantation known to no mortal being. Heat radiated off his hands and entered the demigod's broken figure. Turning to his son, Apollo extracted a single strand of hair from his head. "My boy, over the past few months I have began to appreciate my children more, and I must say, what you have achieved at this puny mortal healing center is remarkable. Take my hair, and know that wherever you go, you can always call for my help. Whatever happens today, I am proud of you."
The surgeon's eyes clouded over at the kind words. All his life he had worked tirelessly to hear those words, but knew that as a god, Apollo was incapable of compassion. Whoever this 'Perseus' was, he was the one responsible for his father's change in demeanor.

The teenager never woke up. He was in a deep coma - in no danger of dying imminently, but also in rush to wake up. At 3:45am the nurse pulled the plug on his life support. Perseus Jackson was declared dead at 3:57am. However, the body mysteriously disappeared just three minutes after being locked away.

Percy POV (1st person)

I limped speedily through the city, a rush of exhilaration running through me as the violent gales pierced my face. Tears stung my eyes as I contemplated the events that took place earlier in the day. While I hadn't been able to move or open my eyes, I still had the ability to hear everything that happened. The surgery was dull, but I didn't have anything else to do so I listened to the whole procedure. They patched up most of my cuts, but my collar bone and ribs still ached. My left foot killed whenever I put any weight on it and my head throbbed with every step I took. As for my arm, well, I tried not to think about the excruciating agony it put me in. The surgeon's voice was dreamy, though. As soon as I heard it, it washed over me like a silk robe and worked as a numbing agent. He sounded older than me, maybe mid twenties. I wondered which camp he was from. Usually I could tell by what names someone called the gods, but as Apollo had the same name in both versions it was impossible to know. Maybe I would see him in the battle that was so undoubtedly imminent.

Apollo was another story. As much as it angered me to learn of a god's presence so close to me, it was comforting to know he had grown more compassionate. I reached a quiet back road and leant against the wall of a run down mall, catching my breath. My stamina hadn't been too good after my.....er..... tumble into hell. I guess the toxic air really messed me up - normally I would be able to run a mile or two without getting too out of breath. The broken toes and ribs probably didn't help.

I placed my hands in my jeans pockets with the hope of warming them up a bit. My fingers brushed against a piece of paper and I retrieved it from the depths of my pocket. Unfolding the stiff parchment, I recognized it as the note left on my grave a few years prior. Huh. I scanned the words written in ancient greek and frowned. It read:
Percy
I know you're hurting, and that you think you are alone. However you are not alone. Before you harm yourself further, think. If you survived the war then you are meant to survive for many more years. Don't throw your life away like this.
—J
J. What could that stand for? Jason? Nah. He had died in the war, along with everyone else I had ever loved and cared for. I didn't know any Jesses or Jakes. Probably just one of Gaia's minions trying to kill me. No change there.

A stab of pain shot through my head and I realized how late it was. I stood up to continue my search for another apartment building roof to sleep in - I wanted to die, but not at the hands of some drunk loser with a high temper. Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over me like a bucketful of water. My vision blurred; my head pounded; my legs buckled and I collapsed to the damp cobblestone ground. The last thing I saw before I completely blacked out was a boy around my age with cropped blonde hair who seemed to fly down from a nearby rooftop.

Another day, another update. I liked the start of the chapter but I'm not very good at doom and gloom or mysterious stuff so it kind of went downhill. Sorryyyyy. :) Anywayy, hope you enjoyed it at least a lil bit.