three days

-Two-

Nico's POV

I woke up groggy and dazed. My shirt was soaked with sweat. I rubbed at my eyes with the back of my hands like a child. I buried my head into the pillow, not wanting to wake up quite yet. There was a strange noise. It was the curtains being pushed back as someone walked into my makeshift room. There was some shuffling around. I got curious and opened one eye.

Will was leaning over the nightstand, his back to me. I got a lovely view of his ass. My face went completely red as I tried to look away. I must've let out some sort of noise or something because Will turned around. If it was possible, I blushed harder, thinking he'd caught me staring.

"'Morning! How did you sleep?"

"I-I slept... well." I whispered. Lies. I hadn't slept well at all. Nightmares of... of Tartarus still haunted me. The only reason I had managed to close my eyes last night was because of Will's strange song. I forced myself to forget about it for the time being.

Even if he hadn't noticed, I was still embarrassed at the thought of him catching me in the act. Will smiled brightly at me. Gods, he was so annoyingly happy. I tried to sit up but cried out in pain. The cut on my arm from Lycaon was burning. I shut my eyes, tears threatening to fall. Will didn't hesitate in kneeling next to me.

He grabbed a square of ambrosia and brought it to my mouth. I didn't have time to savor it's sweet taste. The pain started to reside a little, but not much. Will took my chin in his hand and tilted it up. He forced a cup of nectar past my lips. The cool lemonade-tasting drink went down. Smaller cuts and bruises began to heal. He unwrapped the bandages on my arm and inspected the gash. Without saying a word, Will applied an unknown cream on it, tossed the old bandages and applied new ones.

Will looked worried. His eyes were wide and mouth closed tight. His knuckles were white from gripping the chair too hard. Was he... was he really that concerned about my wellbeing?

"It should gradually start to feel better." Why, whenever he wasn't smiling or happy in general, he made me want to cheer him up? So I acted on a gut feeling.

"I'm okay. It was just a little pain." I grabbed his shoulder. His frown went away and was replaced by the smile that could light up the world. The room felt toasty warm as we looked into each others eyes. At least until an unfamiliar girl barged in. I panicked and pushed Will away from me so that he fell flat on his ass.

"Oh, um, was I interrupting something?" She asked nervously.

"No, you didn't." I said back in a rush. I saw Will's face fall a little, and I felt guilty for denying what had just happened.

"Okay then. Well, back to why I'm here. There's a few people in the lobby wanting to see Nico," she gestured to me. "Would it be okay for them to come in?"

Will nodded in approval. "Yeah, it's alright. How many are here?"

"Four."

They seemed to have forgotten that I was also in the room.

"Two at a time."

The girl ran back out and I sent Will a questioning glance.

"Who was she?"

"My sister, Kayla." He laughed. I had the sudden urge to laugh as well. Oh gods, everything he did was so infectious.

Will's POV

I looked up to see Jason Grace and Reyna move the curtain aside. They stepped inside quietly. I could feel the slight tension between them. I gave them a warning glance.

Nico wasn't in stable condition. He was still too emaciated to be breathing by normal standards. The stitches on his claw marks had been hastily applied, and difficult to heal. My Ancient Greek singing, sadly, hadn't done much to help. His wounds probably hadn't been checked after the battle by the looks of it. The only thing I was able to completely fix was the torn-up floral print shirt.

I knew he was lying when he told me that he slept fine. I'd seen him thrashing in bed. His eyes were squeezed shut. I had placed wet washcloths on his forehead, wiping his sweaty face, trying to cool him down. There was an obvious fever.

When he said he was fine, I knew that he was far from fine. When was the last time he'd eaten something filling? His ribs and collarbone were prominent. The gash on his arm needed constant attention. He was so ashen looking. Dark bags were under his eyes, making his face look even more sunken. Like a skeleton.

While thinking, I accidentally forgot about Nico's visitors. While Reyna went up to the bed, Jason came to me. He looked anxious about Nico.

"How long can we stay?"

"Five minutes at most. He has a lot of healing to do. If you want to talk later about his condition, I'll squeeze some time in my schedule."

"Thank you."

I stood to the back as they talked to Nico. I gave them some time together. To busy myself, I scribbled down notes on a clipboard. Occasionally I would avert my eyes to the trio. Nico was resting his head back on the pillow, lips parted and looking up at the ceiling. The rise and fall of his chest was uneven, which worried me. Reyna was adjusting the blankets around him in a sisterly manner.

It felt bad breaking them up, but the five minutes were up and the other visitors still had to see Nico. So I cleared my throat. "I hate to interrupt, but it's time for the other two to come in."

"Oh, of course!" Reyna said. She leaned down to give Nico a little hug. He happily returned it. Jason patted his shoulder. I laughed again. It was obvious that he wasn't sure if he could hug the boy or not. Nico smiled at him smugly. The two left and almost immediately Hazel's head popped in.

Her grin stretched from ear to ear.

"Nico!" Before she could run to him, a pair of arms appeared and held her back.

"Hazel, remember that Nico is recovering."

"Oh, I-" She was cut off by Nico himself. He was pouting, his arms crossed. I blushed a little. He looked cute.

"I'm perfectly okay, Frank!"

Frank shuffled on his feet nervously. He scratched the nape of his neck. Was he intimidated by Nico? I turned away from them, covering my giggles with my hand.

They began to bicker playfully. Nico would protest, saying he didn't need to be treated like a baby. Hazel just clicked her tongue and shook her head in exasperation. Frank was still a little red in the face. He hadn't gotten over the earlier comment quite yet. I smiled as I continued to write notes.

Everyone stopped talking when they heard a deep rumbling. It was coming from Nico's stomach.

"I think it's time to go." Hazel said, looking at me for approval. I nodded and allowed them to say quick goodbyes. Nico and Hazel exchanged pecks on the cheek while Frank waved. We watched as the curtains fell back behind them. Nico's face went red once his stomach growled for attention.

"How about some breakfast? You really need to eat, Death Boy."

"Sounds good, Sunshine." He mocked me. But I ignored his silly tone and smiled cheekily. I happened to like the nickname.

"Large chocolate chip pancakes coming right up." I sent him a wink and walked away.