To the Sun, To the Stars, To the Sky

22: The End of the Month

Will POV

I waited outside the infirmary. I hadn't spoken to anyone since it happened, and Nico hadn't woken up.

It was the last day of the month.

"Let's see if I'm still alive by the end of this month, shall we? I bet not."

Had those been his exact words? I'm fairly certain they had been.

I leaned against a tree, trying to pretend that I wasn't crying. Percy approached me. He didn't say anything. He just stood there, copying my posture, and stared into the trees. We had both held him before he passed out. What if one of us hadn't run fast enough? Oh, who am I kidding, Percy ran plenty fast; that's why I let him carry Nico instead of me. He was faster.

What if I hadn't run fast enough?

I wiped the tears off my face in the hopes that maybe Percy hadn't noticed them. He looked over at me. "Hey⁠, it's going to be okay. He'll probably⁠—"

The nurse exited the infirmary. I immediately turned my attention to her. "Is he doing better? When will he wake up?"

The nurse gave me a guilty look.

(A/N: I wish I could end the chapter here, but alas.)

"He's awake, your majesty," she said, and relief floods my senses. Except why had she looked so guilty if he's awake? That's good news!

My eyes widened and I tried to enter the infirmary immediately, but she grabbed me and pulled me back. "Please, I'm his boyfriend, I'm⁠—"

She finally got me all the way back outside. "He requested no visitors, your majesty."

I looked at her. He had requested that? Knowing I would be included in that rule if he did?  This is why she looked like she had bad news to deliver—he didn't want to see me. I swallowed hard. "Okay, well, can you give him a message for me?"

She nodded. "Sure, honey."

"Okay. Just tell him I love him and that I can't wait to see him and that I miss him. And that I'm sorry. For everything."

She counted on her fingers for every phrase and then nodded and went back inside. I swallowed and looked up at the group of people who had been waiting nearby for Nico to wake up. They looked just as betrayed as I had. Many of us held hand-picked bouquets of flowers from the king's gardens, which we replaced each day we came to see him in case he would wake up and we could give them to him. As a thank-you. As an apology.

Rumours had been spreading among the rebels of the epic ways Nico had fought the king, and each story got crazier than the last. Soon they were telling tales of skeleton armies and traveling through the shadows, which of course all of you readers know is quite impossible, but it didn't help that Percy fanned the flame by confirming their stories.

The nurse came back outside. "He still does not want any visitors."

I sank. Frustrated and disappointed.

Maybe he'll heal faster without me.

Word count: 498