I only own SOME people…
The smell of the hospital reminded Percy of pain he would rather forget.
Percy ran up to the desk and knocked on the glass.
"Hi, I'm Percy Jackson. I'm looking for Sally Jackson."
The nurse looked up at him and said, "Sorry, there's no record of Sally Jackson here, sorry."
Percy looked confused for a second, and then rapped on the glass again.
"Mam," he said, trying to be polite, "She isn't a patient here. She came with someone."
A wave of recognition swept over the nurse's face and was replaced with a sad look.
*What happened?* Percy thought.
"Oh, I know where she is." The nurse led him through corridors and past hospital rooms until they reached a double door at the end of a hallway.
Up until this point Percy hadn't given much thought as to why they were there.
"Mr. Jackson," the nurse said, slightly shaking her head as she opened the door, "Be prepared for what you'll see."
Percy walked into a room with a one sided glass, where you can see in, but they can't see out. Against the concrete, across from the mirror, were three big comfy chairs. In the one farthest to the left was Sally, eyes puffy and red and clutching a paper cup of coffee. Her legs were pulled up to her body and she was staring into the glass, eyes fixed, unblinking.
The predicament she was in reminded her too much of three years ago.
On the other side, a team of doctors was working on a bloody body.
"Mom?" Percy asked. Sally saw him and ran over, placing her coffee on the small round table. Percy hugged her really tight and when she let go, she sat down and picked up her coffee again.
"Mom," Percy said, sitting legs spread, one elbow resting on each leg, chin on his palms, "Who's in there?"
Sally broke down. Thinking of poor little Nico in there was just too much.
"It's, It's, Nu..Nu…" She cried.
"Is it my Dad?" Percy asked, semi eagerly. When Percy was a little kid, Posiedon Pacific, his dad, just left, out of the blue.
"No, it's ^sniffsniff^" Sally couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Is it Mike Chang from down the hall?" Percy asked frantically. Mike still owed him $7.00.
"No, honey," Sally said, pulling herself together. "It's Nico."
Percy flipped. "Nico, as in baby Nico?" Sally nodded.
Percy had been calling him baby Nico forever because of how small he was for his age when Percy first met him.
"Where are Bi and Ms. diAngelo?" Percy asked worried. "They must be worried!" As Percy paced around the room, Sally started crying again.
"Mom?" Percy asked, running to his mom's side.
"Maria and Bianca," she choked out, "died" she wailed.
All Percy could do was sit on the floor, holding his Mom's hand while she cried until she fell asleep. Percy was too in shock to cry.
While Sally slept, curling herself on a chair, Percy stood up at stepped outside the double doors.
'BRRRING!BRRRRRING!' Went the phone at the Underwood's house.
"Hello?" Astral answered the phone.
"Hey, Ms. U, it's Perce." He sniffed.
"Percy, hon, is something wrong?" She asked, worried.
"No, I mean yes, I mean, ugh. You and Grover better come down to the hospital. And call Mr. Grace too."
Mr. Grace was Jason Grace, Thalia Grace's older ½ brother on her dad's side and adoptive dad/legal guardian.
"Grover?" Astral called down the hallway. Because of his disability, they lived in a one story house outside the city.
"Yeah Ma?" Grover yelled, poking his head out the door.
"Percy called. We need to get to the hospital now." She told him while slipping on a coat and boots.
"Blaah." Grover grunted, crutching down the hallway. "Why do we have to?"
"I don't know," she answered truthfully, but added, "but it sounded like Percy was crying, and that means it's serious."
Grover sat down and began to put his shoes on. Percy never cried. Not even when he snapped his wrist when he was 11. It was like he was almost invulnerable. The one time he ever saw Percy cry was when they were 13.
"FIRST UP, PERCY JACKSON." The announcer's voice boomed through the swim center.
13 year old Percy Jackson climbed the ladder to the diving board.
Before he'd gone for his turn, Nancy Bobofit, girls dive captain, had climbed the ladder and dived for practice, leaving the board slick.
Percy climbed the top rung and walked to the end of the high dive. He rose on the balls of his feet. He bent his knees to jump, and found himself slipping back. He fell and the end of the board landed square on the small of his back.
"AAAAAAAA" He yelled in pain. He fell the 12 feet into the pool not even trying to catch himself.
His mom stood up. "Percy!"
A lifeguard bounded in after him. An ambulance was called.
He was pulled from the pool and handed to his mom.
"Mom. Ow. Mom. It really hurts." He cried loud, echoing off the pool walls. It was totally silent.
Nancy Bobofit didn't remember wetting the diving board. Oh well.
Percy's screams intensified as the time passed. Someone brought ice. Someone brought wet towels.
The ambulance came. Percy wailed and shouted for his mom as he was moved.
He rode in the ambulance for the 30 minute drive to the hospital. The paramedics decided he broke his back. He was sedated.
Sally cried. Percy cried.
Grover shivered. He stood up, pulled on his coat, and got in the car.
Jason and Piper Grace were making dinner together. Usually, Jason's shift at the police station didn't end until 8:00 pm, but today was his day off.
"Jason, there was a big accident on the highway, apparently. I had to take the long way to pick up Thals from school." Piper commented while chopping carrots.
Jason paused. He was usually called in these situations.
"I wonder… never mind." He began to say something about it, but thought against it.
"What?" Piper said, putting down the knife and coming over by the sink where Jason was rinsing off the pots. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his back.
"No, it's just that… Well, the only thing that would cause them not to call is if it was something personal." Jason turned to face Piper.
"I'll call headquarters."
Piper groaned.
"I'm sure it's nothing. Please, just give us one night." She pleaded.
"Hmm… Ok. I'll go in tomorrow." He gave in. Piper smiled and walked back over to the carrots. She put them in the salad bowl along with the lettuce, tomatoes, and grapes.
"Thals, dinner!" Piper called, placing the salad next to the marinara sauce and spaghetti.
"Coming Piper!" Thalia yelled back, and came out of her room and ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Thalia and Jason only shared one thing: their eyes. Both of them had a piercing shade of blue. The rest was different. Jason had sandy blonde hair and a captivating persona.
Thalia, on the other hand, didn't. She was the kind of kid that tended to push people away. She had black hair and tended to dress a little older than her age. She was 4'11 and was a healthy weight. She wasn't very mean, just aggressive. She liked to be in charge, which drove people away. Not Nico, though. Thalia and Nico had been friends since they were 8.
"… and then Nico was like 'Hey! That's my cheese stick!'" Thalia laughed, telling Jason and Piper about lunch that day.
"Weren't Nico and Bianca going to go meet their dad today?" Piper commented.
"Yeah, they were. I'll ask him tomorrow at school how it went." Thalia nodded, taking a bite of the pasta.
Jason nodded as well, and placed his phone on the table. He had been waiting for it to ring, but it hadn't, so he placed it on the table. Piper saw this and smiled, grabbing his hand.
"They would have called if it was that important." She told him. He smiled at her, then Thalia, then stood up and brought his plate to the dishwasher.
"Hey. I have an idea. Tomorrow after work, I'll take you two and Nico, if you want, to ice cream. Sound good?" Jason proposed to a smiling Thalia and Piper.
"Yeah, cool!" Thalia said. She picked up her plate and brought it to the dishwasher.
Piper walked over to Jason as she placed her plates in the dishwasher.
"That was nice of you," she said, kaleidoscope eyes shining. Piper was half Native American, and had thick brown hair with longer strands in the front that she usually braided and looped to the back. The eyes, though, she got from her mom, Aphrodite Apigos, a clothing specialist.
Jason actually met Piper at a store. After Jason took in Thalia, she didn't really own any clothes, so Jason took her shopping. After realizing that neither of them knew how to shop, Jason being a lonely single man, and Thalia being a scared little 6 year old, Piper stepped in and helped her out.
32 year old Jason Grace walked into Jack n' Jill's, a kids clothes store, carrying 6 year old Thalia .
A week ago, Thalia had been given to Jason by child protective services away from her mom, Esther Gunthrie, a soap opera star.
"Umm, Thals? What clothes do you need?" Jason asked her, putting her on the floor.
She looked up at him and shrugged.
"Well, let's start over here." Jason said, pointing to the girls' section. Thalia, seeing the pink, shook her head in protest and crossed her arms. Jason sighed and sunk to her level.
"Thalia, I know you don't wanna be here, but you only own 2 shirts and 3 pairs of pants."
Thalia scowled and crossed her arms.
Piper McLean saw this little exchange going on.
"Hi, I'm Piper McLean. Can I help you and your daughter with something?" She asked nicely.
"Oh! She's not my daughter!" Jason explained. "She's my sister, but yeah, I'd like some help." He smiled at Piper and pushed Thalia towards her.
"This is Thalia, she's six." Thalia looked defiantly at Piper, as to say, 'you can't dress me!'
Piper smiled. "I can tell you're a bit of a tomboy, right?" Thalia nodded. "Let's get you something that's for girls, but not too girly, ok?"
Piper thought that if she dressed her in the boy's section, she might be mistaken for one. She was very pretty, but had such short hair that from a distance, she did look like a boy.
After getting enough clothes, Jason and Thalia made their way to the register.
"Thanks Ms. McLean." He said, "I couldn't have done it without you."
Piper blushed. "Just Piper. And thank you Mr.- ugh. Sorry, I don't know your name." Piper said embarrassed.
"Jason. Jason Grace." He smiled, and handed her a credit card. When she gave him the receipt to sign, he did, and added his number with a little 'call me' written. She smiled and handed him the clothes. He winked at her and walked out, carrying Thalia again.
Two years later, they got married. Piper loved being a part of the Grace family, and had even gone as far as adopting Thalia when Jason did.
She did, though, want a family of her own, and tonight, intended to try.
"Jason?" she asked, climbing into bed. It was 11:00 and Thalia had gone to bed about an hour and a half ago.
"Yeah Pipes?" he asked, laying down and putting his arm around her.
"Do you, well, ever want a family?" she asked nonchalantly. They were both lying down and she looked him in the eye.
"Well, aren't we a family?" Jason asked dumbly.
"Of course, but, I mean, our own family." Piper explained as unassumingly as possible.
Jason looked confused for a minute, and then understood what she was talking about. "Pipes, do you mean that?" he asked. She just nodded. "Seriously?" She smiled.
Jason jot up and did a happy dance. Although he was 38, he was still a teenage boy in some ways.
"Let's begin!" he cheered in a whisper. The lights went out, and the magic began.