Nico blinked awake, staring dizzily upward for a long time before he recognized the ceiling of the Camp Half-Blood infirmary.
He felt pain, but it was dull, and distant, with seemingly no origin. He tried to sit up, but his head was too heavy, and the effort made his vision blur. The rising and falling of his own breaths sent small but sharp spikes of pain through him, muddling his thoughts.
He fought to organize his mind, to find a memory of what had happened. There had been shouting. Lots of shouting. And blood. And something roaring... roaring? Like, a lion?
No, this roar was deeper. Eviler. A sound that maybe started as a roar, but ended in a high-pitched growl, as if the creature was taking delight in the suffering it caused with its long curved claws and rows of pointed teeth...
"Hey, Nico?" Will's face appeared above Nico, concerned, but hopeful. "Nico, you with me?"
Nico felt how dry his mouth was when he tried to use it. He wanted to ask what was going on, if the monster had been killed, who else was hurt. But all he could manage was a strangled, "What?"
Will let out a breath he seemed to have been holding, flashing a pained smile and checking Nico's forehead with the back of his hand. "Well, your fever's gone down some. You're dehydrated, though. Do you think you could keep some water down?"
"...Yeah?" Drawing in the breath to speak intensified the pain. Nico closed his eyes against the throbbing in the back of his head.
He heard Will walk away, but he came right back.
Nico made himself open his eyes to see Will sit on the infirmary cot at his right shoulder, a glass of water in his hand.
Will gently put his free hand under Nico's head and tilted him upward, just enough Nico could swallow, and held the glass to his lips.
Nico drank half of it and started to cough. The jerking movements were like explosions in his head that rang in his ears and washed his vision with flashing yellow dots.
As the coughing subsided Nico realized Will was still holding his head, the son of Apollo's bright blue eyes watching him in a slight panic.
Nico's eyes wandered. He was shirtless, and bandages were wrapped thickly around his chest. From the knee down his right leg was exposed, also wrapped in bandages. His jeans leg had been cut off there to reach the wound.
Nico's blood was pounding in his ears, louder than before. His eyes found Will's, and he forced himself to focus.
"Nico?" Will's voice was almost a squeak.
"I-I..." Nico swallowed, his vision starting to swim again. "I... I need to... lie down."
Will nodded, almost frantically, and gently lowered Nico's head back to the pillow.
Nico closed his eyes against the pain and drifted back into unconsciousness.
Will didn't get up, though, sitting awkwardly by the injured demigod, the only sound Nico ragged breathing and Will's short, worried, exhales.
Will should get up. Other patients needed him.
Slowly he got to his feet.
"It's okay, Nico." He murmured, more for his own comfort than Nico's. "You'll be okay." He leaned down to place a light kiss on the son of Hades' forehead. "I'll make you okay."