A/N: This fic is dedicated to AbnegationRavenclaw! She writes awesome stories, you should go and check them out!
So this is supposedly a follow-up story to Saving Christmas which I posted a year ago. Expect some sick!Will and Solangelo fluff coming your way!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEMIGODS!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Will Solace, Nico di Angelo, or any other characters from the PJO/HOO series. Boohoo, I'd love to own them, though. :(
"Will!"
"Will?"
"WILL SOLACE!"
It took the blond-haired boy a couple of seconds to realize that it wasn't afternoon anymore, and a few more seconds to realize that someone was shaking him awake.
"What are you doing here? It's almost New Year and you're...dozing off at the Infirmary," Nico di Angelo said. He was standing over Will, arms crossed over his chest. In the faint light of the room, Will could see that Nico was bundled up in sweaters; the usually pale boy had red cheeks from the cold.
"I guess I must've fallen asleep," Will muttered, rubbing the grogginess from his eyes. Man, his head was throbbing. "What time is it?"
"Eleven-thirty," Nico said. "And you don't even need to 'guess' that you've fallen asleep. It took me a good five minutes trying to wake you up, ya know?"
Will rolled his eyes, trying to ignore his headache. "Five minutes is an exaggera - a - a - AAAACHOOO!"
Nico jumped back, surprised. "Oh no, please don't tell me you've finally caught the – "
Will raised his hand to cut the boy off. "I'm not sick, if that's what you're implying. I feel perfectly fine."
Nico raised an eyebrow, not seeming to believe Will. "You sure? You've been working too hard trying to cure everyone the past week. You were exposed to the flu virus. And besides..." Nico frowned, his eyebrows furrowing as he took a closer look at Will. "You kinda do look sick. You have a bit of...um...snot, dripping from your nose."
Will sniffled and rubbed his nose, turning away from Nico in embarrassment. "Healers don't get sick. I'm okay, di Angelo," he snapped, his pounding head rubbing off on his disposition.
Nico drew back and shrugged. "Suit yourself, Dr. Solace. Countdown starts in ten minutes at the Mess Hall. I'll see you there?"
Will closed his eyes, sighing. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be there." He waited until Nico's steps recessed and the door to the Infirmary shut close. Then he sighed again and pushed himself up from his chair. He had fallen asleep, head on the medical books on his table.
Okay, maybe he was a bit overworked. The past week had been a rollercoaster at the Infirmary. Demigod after demigod had come down with a nasty influenza bug that had them sneezing and coughing, sick as hellhounds. Sure, he had the entire Apollo cabin helping him out, as well as other nymph volunteers, but taking care of sick kids was not an easy task.
There was even an incident a few days ago, Christmas Eve, when Annabeth had Iris-Messaged him at two in the morning.
"Will! You need to help me out here," she had exclaimed frantically through the image the IM created. In the dim light of wherever Annabeth was, she looked frazzled; her blonde hair in tangles, and her face deep with worry lines. Luckily, Will was still up then, trying to get a young Ares' kid to drink his meds.
"Yup?" Will had asked, trying to concentrate on both Annabeth and pouring the correct dosage of cough syrup for the demigod he was attending to.
In a hurried voice, Annabeth had explained that Percy was running a 103 degree fever and had thrown up four times in the last six hours. He was sneezing and coughing non-stop, on top of all that.
"It's the flu," Will had told her calmly as he poured cough syrup into a glass. "Yes, it's what you suspected at first. Don't worry; he doesn't have a rare strain just because he seems really sick. Trust me; there are sicker demigods at Camp." As if to emphasize on this point, someone sneezed loudly somewhere back in the Infirmary.
"O-okay," Annabeth had murmured. "I'm just not too good with spilled stomach contents. Seaweed Brain has me really worried right now. I badly want to ask Sally for help, but I already told her that Percy was doing fine a few hours ago. I don't want to get her worried on Christmas Eve, um...Christmas day I mean. Wow, it's morning already. Merry Christmas, Will!"
"If you really need help, call Sally. She's Percy's mom and I'm sure she'll know what to do. Don't worry yourself too much, Annabeth. The last thing you need right now is catching that same bug," Will had told her. "And yes, Merry Christmas to you too!"
Will slipped on his fleece jacket and pulled his boots on. "Will Solace, you are not sick. I repeat, not sick," he told himself as he headed out the door. "Getting sick on New Year's Eve only happens to losers, and Will Solace is not a...a-a-AACHOOOO!"
Holy Hades. This was going to be harder than he thought.
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Fireworks exploded, illuminating the night sky. Demigods cheered, blowing noisemakers and screaming.
Will wove through the thick crowd of celebrating demigods, head down and hands shoved deep in his pockets. He avoided the looks of his friends and hurried over to the food table, where he had told Nico he would meet him. A few demigods clapped him on the back and greeted him a "Happy New Year", and Will had forced a smile at them.
Between his itchy nose and pounding head, he wasn't exactly in a celebratory mood.
"There you are! Happy New Year, man!" Nico waved at him. He was holding a slice of pizza in the air as he jumped up and down, eager to meet Will. "Have a pizza!"
Will shook his head. "No thanks. Not hungry," he grunted.
Nico waved the slice under Will's nose, the scent nauseating the son of Apollo. Will swallowed hard. "Fine, half a slice, just to stop you from annoying me."
Nico smiled in victory and tore the pizza into half using his hands, not exactly sanitary in manner for an Apollo kid. Whatever. Will was too tired to argue. He took the half pizza and forced it down his throat.
Nico tried to engage in conversation, from anything between the past year, Christmas, Minotaurs, to pizza flavors. Will kept nodding the entire time, his mind on his soft bed in his cabin, and warm fleece blankets.
"More pizza?" Nico asked Will. Will shook his head but the son of Hades dumped a slice of four cheese pizza on his plate anyway.
"Nico," Will groaned. The sight of more food made his stomach turn again. "I'm full."
Nico rolled his eyes. "It's only been the first few minutes of the new year and you've already been acting like a grouch. And besides, you've only had...one-half a slice of pizza?"
Will ignored him and passed a hand over his face. His stomach was still twisting painfully, and he was starting to get dizzy.
Will felt someone tap him on the shoulder. "Will! There's another demigod down with the flu!"
He spun around and came face to face with a girl. She had long brown hair and full make up on; probably an Aphrodite kid. "Will you go check up on her?"
Will opened his mouth to reply but the girl frowned and cut him off. "Or, ask any of the other Apollo kids to do it for you, because you, um, er… kinda...look like death yourself."
Nico nodded, as if agreeing with the girl. "You look like death, Solace. Stop denying it, you've come down with the flu."
The girl smiled and squeezed Will's shoulder. "Never mind. Get some rest. I'll ask another Apollo kid," she said and spun on her heels before walking away.
Will glanced at his wristwatch. 12:30am. Thirty minutes into the new year.
"So you're not eating that pizza? 'Cause if you aren't, I'm gonna have it," Nico said.
Will felt a rush of stubbornness. Fine, he thought. He was going to show this annoying son of Hades that he wasn't sick, and he would go straight to work at the Infirmary right after the New Year's celebrations at Camp ended. He took hold of the pizza and raised it to his mouth.
"Really, now?" Will heard Nico mutter.
Will continued to stuff the pizza into his mouth, ignoring the stabbing pain in his stomach, the pounding of his head, the swimming of his vision. He swallowed it after three full bites and glared at Nico. "Are you happy now?" he taunted in-between chews.
Nico kept his stare on Will, not flinching even as Will snapped at him. "You know you're turning green, right?"
Will swallowed. Bile was rising up his throat, his stomach suddenly jumping violently. "Ugh, excuse me," he choked, as he sprung up from his seat and ran away from the crowd of demigods in the Mess Hall.
He never made it to the bathroom in time.
Instead, he fell to his knees and retched into the nearest bush. Gods of Olympus, what a way to spend the New Year.
Will wasn't sure how much time had passed as he vomited the remainder of his stomach's contents until he was dry heaving. Somehow, Nico had come up behind him while he was being sick and rubbed his back to comfort him.
"You done yet?" Nico asked after a while.
Will wiped his mouth. He was still shaking and his eyes had somehow gone all teary from exertion. "Yeah," he murmured and struggled to stand.
"Easy there," Nico told him, steadying him. "You're lucky I have a strong stomach to watch someone puke. Gross. I could've chosen to run away, ya know?"
"Well, I'm glad you chose to stay," Will said. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, almost tripping over his feet hadn't Nico been holding him up.
"Zapping Zeus, you are burning up, Solace!" Nico exclaimed as he reached up to feel the taller boy's temperature. "You are getting in bed this instant!"
Despite how sick he was feeling, Will found himself smiling. "Since when did you learn how to take temperatures, di Angelo?"
Will caught Nico smirk. "I learned from the best, duh," he replied. "So, what are the symptoms, Solace?"
"Headache," Will told him. "A really bad one at that. Um, sneezing, nausea, stomach pain."
Nico nodded dramatically. "Sounds like a bad case of…influenza!"
"Geez, wonder how I got that."
"Beats me. Even healers get sick, apparently," Nico said. "Enough gibber-jabber. You need to be in bed right now, Solace." Nico pulled Will along by the arm, leading him to the Infirmary. "Bed rest until you're feeling better. And I'll be by your bedside if you need anything."
"Bed rest? It's just the flu, Nico!" Will exclaimed. "I will not die of th – a – a – AAAAACHOOO!"
Nico glared at him. "We're turning this familiar phrase around just for now, Solace. Doctor di Angelo's orders!"
A/N: So what do you guys think? Tell me in your reviews!
Hope everyone's having a great New Year's Eve/New Year Day so far! I have three hours and thirty minutes to go before 2015 arrives, as of the time I'm posting this. 2014 has been a really great year so far, but I honestly can't wait for the New Year to arrive!
I guess I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's been there for me the past year. Especially to my fanfiction readers; you guys play a really big part in my life, especially with your heartwarming reviews and feedback. So thank you, thank you so much!