A/N I started this I while ago, but I have a large tendency not to continue what I start and forget about them or just keep putting it off. But today I felt 'inspired' I suppose, so here's what I've got so far.
I have learned over recent years that not even the gods control every little thing about our lives. Even beyond "free will" and the right to choice and make our own decisions. Personal traits like being clumsy and stuttering are not things they deal with. They can't make us do what is right or wrong, nor as it turns out prevent us from catching the common cold.
Hades, I got sick with everything in the book: chicken pox, ear infections, pink eye, pneumonia, almost yearly visits from the flu, even mumps (I didn't know people still even got that). It wasn't that bad though. I mean, come on what kid doesn't want to miss a couple days of school to sleep, watch TV and eat the best chicken noodle soup ever made. My mom always told me that it was good I got sick 'cause then my immune system got stronger. And though I'm not entirely sure what the "immune system" does, I figures mine ought to be as invulnerable as me by now.
I guess that's why I never pictured Annabeth sick before. I mean, sure I've seen her injured and go down in a couple of fights but she's like, you know, unable to admit to being hurt till you can see the blood pooling on the floor. Like one time she ran five miles chasing a Cyclops with a broken ankle, before giving up. And that was only 'cause she couldn't jump the 50 feet to the other side of the cliff. Chiron didn't let her walk for a week. (It ended up being three days though)
For all my experience being sick, I didn't really notice until that night by the lake.
Every night after the camp fire, and normal even half way through we sneak off to the lake. It's our thing. Mostly we just talk, plans for the next day, or strategies for capture the flag, or we'll just sit there Annabeth working on the construction plans, me planning (yes, I can plan things, I don't always go running with my sword drawn) satyr trips to pick up new campers. (Camp had easily tripled in size the past year). On occasion I would nap while she read. Okay, okay more often than not. But hey, it's all part of the invulnerable thing. Totally not my fault.
But this time she was the one that seemed to be dosing off. Her knees folded up in front of her, book tucked under her arm across her stomach, leaning against me. Which still never ceased to make me blush. Not that I ever let her see if I can help it.
It was cool summer evening even for New York. And the breeze blowing off the water was chilling. I could feel Annabeth shiver besides me and I pulled her closer. Her head lulled into the curve of my neck and it was unusually hot, but I didn't think much of it as the singing had stopped. Knowing the campers were starting towards their cabins I decided to wake Annabeth. Her siblings don't really appreciate me bring her back later. Malcolm already sent me death glares over meals.
I ducked my head and kissed her forehead, then with a maniacal smirk blew into her ear. She swat me like an obnoxious mosquito. Which to her I probably was. Well the obnoxious part anyway. I was about to start shaking her, when a hacking cough forced its way out into her reflexive ready hand. My concern grow as the cough continued and worsened until it sounded like her lung was through with her body and was trying to force its way out her throat. I rubbed her back, knowing from experience the whole-slap-the-coughers-back thing doesn't work.
"Thanks" Annabeth had finally wheezed turning back to face me, eyes watering. It could well have been the limited light due to the crescent moon, but she looked ghostly pale and tired.
"Hey. Are you ok?" I knew even as I said it, it was a stupid question, but hey it's hard to break bad habits. I used the back of my hand to feel her forehead. She leaned into it for a moment before brushing it away.
"Yeah, it just allergies." I shot her a look. The picture of Annabeth with allergies just didn't add up in my mind, like the time I caught Nico with a pink necklace on: something was just wrong with that picture.
"Sense when do you get allergies?" She made an odd huffing sound and pushed off the ground. Well tried too. I grabbed her shoulders as her hand went up as if to keep her head from falling off.
I gave her a long look when she finally opened her eyes. "I just got up too fast, is all." I raised a scrutinizing eyebrow.
"Right, and Mr. D is the president of my fan club." I replied sarcastically. When she didn't retort or even laugh I began to worry again. "You sure you're ok?"
She just nodded her head stubbornly and tried to push past me. I hurried after her as she walked off to catch up with her. "Where are you going?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes, coughed into her elbow in a would be discrete way and keep walking, me following along beside her. "To my cabin Seaweed Brain," she answered.
"Really?" This time she gave me a look. "Because you're cabin is back that way." I even pointed in the opposite direction for emphasis. She stopped looked from where I was pointing to where she was going to me and then back again, a little dazed.
Shaking her head as if to clear it, she turned to me, "As much as I really don't like admitting it, and I don't, you're right. Sorry, I'm tired and it's making me hazy."
Taking her hand, I lead her in the right direction. "I told you if you spend less time reading and more times sleeping you wouldn't have this problem." She laughed but that just caused her to cough more.
She finally stopped and looked down at our hands, and without looked up asked me, "Are you sure you want to do that? I did just sneeze into that hand."
I dropped it and made a mock disgust face. After receiving the smile I was hoping for, I hooked her around her waist and pulled her along with me. "Good thing allergies aren't contagious." Although by then we both knew it wasn't allergies. As we walked the dirt trail back to the cabins Annabeth's fatigue, or whatever it was that she had, seemed to catch up with her because she started to stubble and lean more of her weight on me. I didn't mind, but it made me worry. I decided to ask Malcolm if he knew anything I didn't. I mean, normally I consider myself one of the most well-informed Annabeth experts, but who knows maybe her brother has some odd sibling telepathy. Because this was weird, this was just not normal, Annabeth doesn't just get tired. All we did today was eat and plan camp construction. And although that puts me to sleep no problem, it wouldn't cause Annabeth this kind of fatigue. And sense when does she have allergies? She's probably just sick, I mean, most normal kids sick all the time and I had known Annabeth for years and I've never known she to fall ill. Maybe she was overdue.
I still don't like it.
Annabeth was humming to herself as she trudged along in a thoughtless, tuneless incomplete melody, only stopping every once in a while to cough or sneeze or doze off a little. Yeah, she was sick.
When we finally reached her cabin she had given up on any tune at all and was trying hard to just keep her eyes open. "You know, I should have just carried you. " I knocked on the door, though normally Annabeth just walks in, I didn't want to be the one barging myself into someone else cabin.
"You will do no such time," she mumbled out so low if I hadn't been so close I wouldn't have heard it. Because she hadn't walk in herself I was beginning to wonder if she didn't know where we were, but instead we waited for Malcolm and another Athena girl, who's name I hadn't bothered to learn, opened to door.
Malcolm didn't even look at me, which was actually an improvement from the glaring I suppose, instead looked with concern at his sister. She smiled at him and pulled away from me to hug him. He look about as surprised as I was. I know they are siblings and all but Annabeth's not exactly touchy feely with most people. After a couple of seconds he pulled he back at arm-length and felt her forehead. He then proceeded to call out to two more Athena kids and shake his head knowingly.
I just stood there in the door way (I didn't think it was a good time for me to invite myself in) with steadily growing curiosity as a boy a couple years younger than me and a girl about half Annabeth's height were leading her back to her bunk. Malcolm looked back at me and gave me a harassed look and I nodded my head indicated I wanted to talk to him outside.
He gave a heavy sigh and closed the door behind him as he left the cabin. Before I could get the question out he had already begun. "She has a fever."
"Yeah, I got that part." Ok so I was being a little rude, but hey I'm not that stupid and I was a little worried and that put that put me on edge. "Does she have anything else? Does this happen a lot? She told me it was her allergies, but I really doubt she has any. Is she alright? She was coughing and sneezing and she was better earlier and…" Ok, maybe more than a little bit. All of my sentences were running together.
"I think it's just a cold, the flu at worst. She gets sick a lot this time of year. No. no allergies. She'll be fine. She's had worse. This is normal." He answered all my questions in a matter-of-fact way.
"Normal!? " I had never seen her has a cold a day in my life.
"Yeah, every fall she gets two or three colds and the flu in December and sometimes it even comes back in February. You're not normally here then. You aren't a year rounder."
"I never really thought of Annabeth as a sickly person…"
"She's not. It's just she doesn't sleep a lot so he immune system flags. She normally sleeps it off. Literally she sleep eighteen hours straight once. We all were convinced she was dead. Or she'll get a could then she acts..funny."
"She doesn't sleep? We're on break." Not even Annabeth could be staying up doing homework on Thanksgiving break.
"Yeah, well lately she's been 'inspired,'" complete with finger quotations, "and she stays up with a flash light drawing blue prints for something." From his frustrated tone I could tell she hadn't let him see. Then something kicked in.
"Funny?" I was raising both eyebrows at him. In return he gave me an unimpressed look.
"Yeah, unAnnabethish." I was about to tell him that wasn't a word, when I realized I had been spending a lot of time with Annabeth. "Anyway, the whole camp always gets involved."
"Why?" he gave another tired sigh and told me I would figure it out tomorrow and headed back inside. I had in urge to call him back out and get him to explain, but he had already shut the door and there was no point.
Giving up, I turned around and saw a pair of large luminous eyes staring down at me. I took me a good minute to realize it was an owl. Maybe I should go to bed too. And I headed off to my cabin alone at a light jog.