Three days. That's all Nico do Angelo expected to stay in the infirmary. That's all he wanted to stay in the infirmary for. Well, if he had it this way he wouldn't be in the infirmary at all. But Will Solace refused to let him out even though Nico insisted that he was fine. He even tried to leave when Will's back was turned, but the son of Apollo had ears like a hawk and was standing in front of him before he even realized.
"Bed. Now." Will had instructed.
"But-" Nico began to protest but Will turned him around and pushed him back to bed.
He grumbled the whole way, but Will wasn't going to listen to any of it. After Will made sure Nico was settled in, he disappeared among the other children of Apollo to tend to the other demigods. The infirmary was fairly full. There were people being fed ambrosia. Others were getting stitches or having their arms or legs wrapped into a cast.
Nico stayed in his bed, watching everyone around him. He held his hand up to the light and saw that it was translucent against it. Nico knew he was in pretty bad shape, but he hadn't realized how bad. He still felt like he was running on an adrenalin high and was still having trouble getting the image of Octavian out of his head.
He didn't mean to fall asleep. But as soon as his head touched the pillow his eyes drooped and became unconscious to the world.
For the first time in a very long time, Nico didn't have any dreams. No nightmares of Tartarus. No sweet memories of Bianca. He didn't even dream of Percy. It was blissful, much needed sleep.
When Nico woke he realized two things. The sun was setting and he was starving. His stomach growled like an angry beast. The infirmary was much more empty than it had been when he fell asleep. Nico counted three people in there other than himself. But he also didn't spot Will. He was tempted to slip out of bed and return to Cabin 13, but Nico had the feeling that Will would be out there somewhere and give him a lecture as to why he needed to stay in the infirmary.
"Afternoon, sleepy head." A voice suddenly said next to him, causing Nico to jump. He looked over and realized that Will was sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"What are you doing?" Nico asked.
"Waiting for you to wake up. Sleep good?"
"You don't have to wait for me."
"Yes I did." Will protested. "It's what a good doctor does. Besides, a lot of people agreed that someone should be here watching you 24/7. Jason was here earlier. And Piper. Lou Ellen was here for a little while, but then something happened and her magic was needed elsewhere. Clovis stopped in but I kicked him out for falling asleep on the job. Even Percy stopped in for a while."
A sick feeling settled in Nico's stomach. All those people had stopped in to watch...him? They wanted to? Chiron hadn't asked them to? The idea made Nico uncomfortable. "What time is it?" He asked.
"Hm..." Will thought for a moment, looking at the setting sun. "About 6:30 p.m."
"Where's dinner? Aren't you supposed to be a good doctor and have all my meals set out for me?"
"I did last night, but I didn't know how long you'd be asleep for."
"Last night? How long have I been sleeping for?"
"About a day."
Nico mulled that over. Over the past week he'd been sleeping more and more. But he'd also pushed himself past his limit. He had the feeling that after this past mini-coma, his sleep was finally caught up to him.
Unconsciously, Nico yawned and moved his skull ring. He heard Will stifle a laugh.
"What?"
"N-nothing." Will shook his head and stood up from his chair. The boy turned his face so Nico couldn't see his cheeks turning red. With his back to Nico, Will began walking out. "Stay here," He called. "I'll go get you dinner."
Nico held back a yawn as Will returned with a bowl of soup, a grilled cheese sandwich, and a glass of what he assumed to be nectar.
"You're not feeding that to me."
"Come on, Nico. Let me play doctor."
"No."
Will rolled his eyes, but left the tray of food next to him. Nico wasn't in the mood to eat in front of Will, so he sat in bed, glaring at Will hoping that he would leave.
"I hope you know that I'm not leaving until you eat something." Will rested his hand of the edge of the bed and stared intently at Nico with his baby blue eyes.
"What," Nico spat. "Don't trust me to eat?"
Will shook his head. "I trust you completely. I don't want you to eat and then get sick afterwards."
Nico glared at Will for several more moments before pulling the bowl of soup over, ripped a piece of the grilled cheese and dipped it into his soup before eating it slowly. "Happy?" Nico asked after he swallowed part of his dinner.
"Very."
Will sat back down in the chair next to Nico, who continued eating periodically. With his eyes closed, Will leaned the chair against the wall and began humming a familiar tune. The words were just a leap away for Nico, but he couldn't quite place the song.
"What are you humming?" Nico asked after Will had finished and the tune started over.
"You've heard of the song 'You are my sunshine' before haven't you?"
Nico thought that the song would be familiar, but he admitted that he didn't know.
Will smiled. He cleared his throat and began singing.
"You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me hap-py when skies are gray.
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
So please don't take
My sunshine away."
When Will finished his eyes opened again. Glancing at Nico, Will realized that the son of Hades had fallen asleep. His chest rose and fell softly, and he was breathing slowly through his mouth instead of his nose. Half of the grilled cheese sandwich was still in his hand and Nico left the glass of nectar untouched.
"Sweet dreams, death boy." Will said. He took away the sandwich half and picked up the tray but he left the cup of nectar. Knowing Nico, he would leave the glass alone unless Will made him drink it. But he could at least try.