CHAPTER 2

Beta Reader:

Chazaq

A/N:

Hello everyone! Yeah, I am alive. And I'm really, REALLY sorry for not updating in about—how much? I don't know. But I've been busy. The odds haven't been in my favor. Projects. A lot of things. And when everything was over I wasn't lucky. I started feeling pain somewhere inside my body and got a surgery last Saturday. But...I'm back! Besides, the chapter was being beta-ed. And I hope you like it as much as I and my beta liked it :). If you're following my other story, 'Complicated', I haven't updated 'cause my beta hasn't returned the chapter edited. But as long as it's ready I'll update! I'm really sorry again! But here. Read the chapter.

That night―or at least I think it is night; it's dark outside the hospital―I don't sleep at all. I did that for five years while in a coma; that's the least thing I need. Now it's time to recover all that time lost. Besides, it scares me that my eyes don't open again if I close them.

Dr. Perseus doesn't come back as he promised, but it doesn't matter. With no one here I'm able to do whatever I please. So while I'm alone, dealing with a growling stomach that's begging for some food, I give mental orders to my lips. Come on. Move. Move.

After an hour or so my lips manage to separate slightly from each other, and sweat drops are falling from my temples to my cheeks. Dr. Perseus's words come back to my mind after noticing how tired I am. Annabeth, I want you to take everything easy. The image of his stunning green orbs appears behind my eyes, looking worried and telling me to relax. But I don't listen to him. Instead, I continue ordering my lips to move. There's no time to relax when you've spent five years lying on a bed. I could be studying to be an architect right now…but I'm not.

Come on. Move. Move.

I'm not sure how many minutes passed. It could have been hours, but after a while I can move my lips as though they never stopped working. As a consequence of pushing myself a lot though, my eyelids are feeling heavy again. They just want to close and drag me to a peaceful sleep, but I don't let them. Don't close your eyes. Don't.

"M-my name is Annabeth," I say, trying to distract myself from my exhaustion. "I-I'm seventeen―I mean, twenty-two years old. M-my mother's name is Athena, and my father's is Frederick. My best friend is Thalia. I-I don't know what's become of her. A-and I do not blame her for what happened."

An hour more passes, I think, and my lips are immobile again. Exhaustion is winning. My eyes start closing slowly, and my desire to sleep starts growing. Don't sleep, Annabeth! It's hard to listen to my own thoughts. Even the annoying, shrill beeping sound is soothing now.

Then, I hear voices. That wakes me up again.

"I'm telling you, Dr. Farrell." If I'm not wrong that's Dr. Perseus's voice. "She's strong. She fought the coma. I saw her wake up from it. And she even answered to my questions despite how much she wanted to close her eyes again."

"She talked to you?" another voice asks.

"Well, she blinked, actually, but―"

"Then it could've been an involuntary movement. It happens all times."

"No, I checked on her pupils. They were normal again. They didn't look at all like before. Besides, I told her to blink once if the answer was yes and twice if the answer was no. And she did as I instructed."

"You seem to have a lot of faith on this patient."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Okay, let's check on your patient."

Footsteps become audible, getting closer to the room. Suddenly, an idea appears in my mind. Fighting the exhaustion, I close my eyes and try to remain conscious. Don't go to sleep.

The door of the room is opened, and there is a big silence afterwards. "See?" the second voice asks after a while. "It was only an involuntary movement. Maybe you thought she was answering you, but she wasn't. I'm telling you this again; stop being in love with someone who's dead alive."

Dr. Perseus sighs. "I told her to try to remain awake."

Now, I think, and suddenly open my eyes to show what I've been practicing during the past few hours. "H-hello, doctor," I say, and both doctors standing at the entrance turn their stares to me. I wink at Dr. Perseus, who grins instantly. The other one―Dr. Farrell, I reckon―is too shocked to notice that it was my plan to surprise him.

"S-s-she's awake," says Dr. Farrell, opening his eyes wide. "It's a miracle. Holy god, I must go back to tell everyone about this."

"Ahem." Dr. Perseus clears his throat. "Don't you think, Elliot, that someone deserves an apology? What were you saying on our way here?"

Dr. Farrell turns red, clearing his throat. "My apologies," is all he says before turning on his heels and leaving the place.

"That was brilliant!" Dr. Perseus says, walking towards me. "Strong, beautiful and smart. Is there something you're not?" He grins. "I expected you to talk by today in the afternoon. I didn't expect you to do it so soon. You're stronger that what I thought."

"I-I try to be," I say. "It still costs me a little b-bit to talk, but I g-guess I'll soon be able to talk without problems. D-dr. Perseus―"

"Call me Percy."

"Okay. P-Percy, I was wondering if we could start working on my body. I-I would like to regain the mobility of it as soon as possible. I've m-missed a lot of time already and can't continue wasting it."

Percy sits beside me, staring at me intently. I guess he's thinking if he should accept or not. Finally, he says, "Okay. We'll start working. But you have to take everything slow, Annabeth. It will take you some time to recover completely."

"Y-yeah, I know. B-but the sooner we begin, the sooner I can recover completely."

"Alright, let's start right now. But we'll just work a little. You already worked a lot if you can talk again." He takes his white coat off and places it on a nearby couch. Then, he comes back to me and grabs my arm gently―again I don't feel his touch at all.

His hands start pushing my arm, flexing it. Then, he pulls it, stretching it. The process is repeated several times, then he does the same with every finger, and then with my wrist. After he's done with my left arm he walks to the right side of the bed and starts working with my right arm.

"There. It's enough for today," he says.

My lips part slightly as I inhale deeply and try to lift both arms. It's useless. Nothing happens. Again, I can only hear myself grunting.

"Hey, well done!" Percy beams at me, and I realize that my arms are just one centimeter above the mattress. Then, they fall heavily and remain motionless. New sweat start gliding across my skin. "I said it already; you're stronger than what I thought."

Percy is grinning at me, and I would do it too, but I only manage to smile. "H-has someone ever told you that you have a beautiful smile?"

His eyes open wide, and I start to regret saying that. The beeping sound is more likable now that there's silence. Tension builds between both, and it's impossible to escape. I can't move, after all.

After a minute, while we stare at each other, he smiles and blinks twice. "We doctors never receive compliments. Patients don't tend make them. Why would they care about us? I mean, they've got to worry about their problems, so they don't waste their time staring at us."

Again, feeling relieved, I try to grin, but my mouth only manages a little smile. "W-well, it's time for someone to notice doctors. Y-you've got one beautiful smile." He gives me a shy smile, and his skin turns red, all the way to his arms. "G-great. You're b-blushing. Y-your systems are working."

"I see that your sense of humor is working again, too." He raises an eyebrow at me.

"J-just a little." We stop talking, and I stare at him and his green eyes, trying to remember if I've seen him before. He said that we met as little kids, but I don't remember meeting anyone like him. "D-do you remember when we met?"

"Oh, yes. I'll never forget that day. It was humiliating. What I did, I mean." He grins.

"How come I don't remember anything about you?"

"Hey, you talked without stuttering!" He beams again, as though I were a dog being trained. "You don't remember anything because you still didn't think back then."

"We don't have the same age?" It hits me, then. "Oh, right. You can't be a doctor at my age. Then how old are you?"

"I'm five years older―well, four and eleven months older. I'm twenty-seven." Another grin spreads across his face, splitting it in two. "I remember being a four-year-old kid when I met you. My parents wanted to take me somewhere―a party, to be exact. Less than a month was left for August eighteenth, so I thought it was a surprise party for my fifth birthday. When we arrived I expected gifts and people shouting, 'Surprise!' But everyone was distracted, surrounding a dark-haired woman―your mother.

"I got angry and sat far away from everyone. When everyone left your mother alone I got near and saw that they were staring at a new-born baby―you. And it wasn't a party for me. It was a 'Welcome Home' party for you. It's curious that we tend to remember only what we want to forget―humiliating situations, for example."

"Oh, that is humiliating." I force myself to grin and manage to do it, but my exhaustion increases. "Talking about my mother; when are my parents coming to visit me? Do they know that I woke up already?"

In the little time I know Percy I've only seen him smile, but now he turns serious. "Your parents?" he asks. "No, they don't know. I'll, uh, call them later." He smiles, but it doesn't touch his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "There is something wrong, right?"

"N-no, there isn't," he replies.

"You're stuttering," I say, anger bubbling inside me. "You're moving your hands too much. You're not a good liar. There's something wrong with my parents, right? What is it? Are they not it the city? They abandoned me here?" Silence fills the place. Then, a memory comes to my mind. It's Percy's voice, saying something. Her parents asked me to keep her alive, Dr. Farrell, before... you know what happened. I'm using my own money to pay for her treatment, not the hospitals. I don't know when I heard that, but if I had something in my stomach I would probably throw up.

"M-my parents are alright, aren't they?" Tears start forming behind my eyes, wanting to come out, but I resist the urge to cry. Maybe I'm just imagining everything.

Percy comes closer to me and takes my hand. I can feel his touch slightly, but I don't care. I stare into his eyes, waiting for an answer. "Annabeth," he says. "As I said before, you've got to take everything easy, okay?"

"J-just tell me what's wrong." I want to shout, but exhaustion is winning me.

"Do you―do you really want to know right now?"

For God's sake. "Y-yes!" without thinking, I manage to shout.

He flinches just a bit, and then turns his stare to his hand holding mine. "They―they passed away two years ago, Annabeth. I've been taking care of you alone, like I promised your parents I would do."

The tears behind my eyes can't be controlled. They start pouring down my cheeks, to my chin and down my neck. If they're gone what am I doing here? What's the point of being alive? They were my only family, and they're gone. I lost five years of my life. My studies won't get me a good job, and without money I can't try to recover the years lost. What's the point of living like that?

"Your parents caused their own death," Percy says with a low volume.

"W-what?" I ask.

"Yes―or at least that's what I believe. I believe that when you're about to travel you've got to leave something to do at home. I mean; you shouldn't prepare everything in case you don't come back, because that would be saying that you're ready to die.

"It was a stormy day when your parents were going to travel. They prepared everything in case they didn't come back, because the storm was one of the worst ever seen. They talked to me and asked me to take care of you if something happened. Later that day, it was on the news that an airplane was missing―it was the one that your parents had taken."

His stare meets mine, and I see that his eyes are shinier than before. They're brimming with tears, just like mine.

"My parents were with them," he says. "They, too, believed that they weren't coming back. I remember that my mother's last words to me were, 'We're so proud of you.' I told them that they didn't have to worry. That they would come back. And…and they didn't."

Before tears starts streaming down his cheeks he grabs the end of his t-shirt and cleans his eyes, revealing part of his bare chest. But I'm more distracted watching his face than his sculptured body.

He hasn't given up, and he also lost his parents. And here I am, thinking that being alive isn't worth without them. I'm pathetic. "I'm sorry," I say.

"Yeah," he replies, fixing his shirt and giving me a smile. "I'm sorry about your parents, too. I wish you had been with me in the ceremony that was made to the passengers." He takes a deep breath and smiles even more. "But, well, that's in the past. Life goes on. We are alive. And I'm keeping my promise. I will protect you with my life if it's needed. That's what your parents wanted."

I'm not sure if I manage to nod, but I at least try. "Do you mind leaving me alone for a bit? I would like some time to think."

He nods and squeezes my hand, but I barely feel it. After the door closes, I'm left alone and in silence―except for the beep. Tears begin to stream again as I think what to say.

"If you wanted to keep me alive it's for something," I mutter, hoping that my parents can hear me. "I promise I'll live, and I will make you proud. This was just a bump in the road, but I'll overcome it. I promise."

As the minutes pass my exhaustion starts dragging me to the darkness, but I try to resist. Don't close your eyes; you might never wake up. It's difficult to remain awake. I've worked too much today.

Soon, not even the beeping sound is audible, and I close my eyes, wishing that they open again after a while.