Even before the Cyclopes attacked, Nico was having a bad day.
First, he had been stuck in the infirmary until lunch, for "medical reasons", as Will called it. Really, they had just been talking to each other.
Then, Percy had been bugging him about not eating fish for lunch. Because apparently, that wasn't Nico's type either. Percy claimed that all seafood were his siblings, and was angry when Nico didn't eat them. Percy had to be comforted by Annabeth in their cabin. Nico decided not to dwell on that.
Anyway, when the Cyclopes came, Nico was helping Will stock up the armory. They heard a noise like a little girl crying. They each grabbed a weapon, and headed toward the sound. "Lou Ellen?" Will whispered. Nico put a hand on Will's arm to steady him, and Will clutched it. Nico was not expecting that, and he froze.
That was a bad move, because at that moment, the Cyclopes chose to come rumbling out of the shadows. He was carrying Lou Ellen by her hair. She was screaming, but the Cyclopes had one hand over her mouth. He grunted, "Dinner." Lou Ellen twisted out of the monster's grasp. She fell to the floor, unhurt, but the Cyclopes was uninterested.
He turned, eyes flashing, towards Nico and Will. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico could see Lou Ellen struggling to get up. She was holding a spear. Meanwhile, the Cyclopes was advancing closer to the two boys. Nico was still frozen, not from the shock of Will touching him, but the feelings he got when it happened. He felt tingly all over, and shivers ran up his spine, but the strange thing was, it felt good.
The Cyclopes was a few inches away from the now. It was holding a club, and raised it above its' head. The target of the club was Nico. Of course, since Nico was frozen, he couldn't move out of the way. But Will jumped in front of Nico and it struck him instead. He fell, unconscious, to the floor. From behind the Cyclopes, Lou Ellen drove the spear into the monster's back and it fell to the floor, dead, with the spear protruding from its' back.
Lou Ellen rushed over to Will's side. "We need to get him to the infirmary, now," she said. Nico helped her lift Will and carry him to the infirmary. When they reached, another Apollo kid took him inside, and thanked Lou Ellen and Nico for their help. They were not allowed to come in until the danger was over.
A few hours later, Lou Ellen ran to the Hades cabin and got Nico. They were allowed to see Will. Nico jumped up and ran faster than Lou Ellen to get there, and when he did, he rushed right in. He walked over to the bed where Will was sleeping. Nico touched the sleeping boy's ruffled blonde hair.
"You have to get better, you hear me?" Nico whispered. "Doctor's orders." He stroked Will's cheek. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you," he sang softly.
"Please don't take my sunshine away," he murmured. On impulse, he bent down and kissed Will's forehead. When he sat up again, the other patients and doctors were staring at him. "Medical reasons!" he protested, his face turning red, "That was purely for medical reasons!"
On the bed, Will opened his eyes and spoke. "Oh, I don't think it was."