15 March 2016

A/N: Yes, I wrote Percy in first-person and Nico in third-person. It just happened, and I won't change it. That sometimes, scratch that and make it often, happens to me, that I change POV and don't notice it. All future Percy POVs will be written in first-person as well.

Special Disclaimer: I have never performed CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), let alone tried to describe it in a foreign language, so I probably wrote utter crap. Do not mistake this for an accurate description of CPR. You've been warned. Feel free to supply me with a better 'description'.

Normal Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus are the intellectual property of Rick Riordan.

Trigger Warning: Drowning

Nico

Nico inwardly cursed Jason. Out of all possible meeting places, why had he have to pick the school's pool? Jason had wanted to meet him after class, as usual, but he had told Nico to meet him at the pool. One would think Jason would know better than to suggest the pool, where he had a perfect view to see the swim team practicing, led by their captain, Percy Jackson. Surprise, surprise.

Nico waited. And waited. The more time passed, the few swimmers were in the water, until Percy was the only one left practicing. Even Coach Hedge had left already. Stupid Jackson and his stupid, overly strong sense of duty. Just because he was the captain, that didn't mean he had to practice all day until he dropped dead. Couldn't he just piss off, or, even better, couldn't Jason finally arrive? Minutes turned into an hour before he finally decided to simply go home. Thanks, Jason, for wasting 60 of my precious minutes. Not that he had something better to do.

Nico glanced at the pool a last time, and flinched when he saw Percy Jackson.

Time seemed to slow down. Percy had certainly overdone it with his practice; there was no other explanation for why he was about to drown. It had been, like, two hours on non-stop swimming, and now, the boy's muscles and nerves had failed him. While Nico watched, he was already sinking underwater, struggling in a fruitless attempt to keep swimming.

After a few moments of shock, Nico's instincts took over. He got rid of his jacket and shoes and ran towards the pool, performing the most pitiful dive he had ever done into the water. Within ten seconds, he had reached the older boy and dived downwards to pull him upwards to the surface. Not being as trained as Percy, it took him multiple efforts before he got a grip on Percy and they finally broke through the surface of the water. Treading water, he slowly managed to pull Percy to the pool edge and pull him out of the water.

Percy didn't breath. Nico frantically tried to recall the first aid course. Alright. CPR. Focus on the right speed. 100-120 chest compressions per minute. Stayin' Alive. 103 BPM. 30 compressions, 2 times ventilating. Compressions, airway, breathing. Don't stop if a rib or two gets fractured. Just keep trying until somebody brings a defibrillator, then try revive the victim with it.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Thank god for Jason. If he wouldn't have shown up at last… Nico didn't even look up as he shouted his orders at Jason. "Jay, go find a defi, now." The thump and footsteps implied that Jason had understood the significance of the situation, dropped everything and ran to find the needed device. After what felt like too much time, he returned accompanied by Will Solace. "Found Will – brought him here – don't know how to use a defi" he panted, exhausted from running. Once Will had knelt down next to Percy, Nico ran to find a rescue blanket or something to prevent hypothermia. He didn't want to think of the case of Percy not waking up. That wasn't allowed happen, mustn't happen. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jason pulling out his phone and calling an ambulance.

Ten minutes later, Percy lay inside an ambulance vehicle, unconscious, but alive and breathing. Neither Nico nor Jason had allowed to accompany him, given that they weren't blood relatives, but they had notified Percy's mother. Now that the immediate threat was over, Nico felt strangely hollow and empty.

He didn't know why.

Percy

To wake up in a hospital bed was not my favorite memory, that was for sure. I kept my eyes closed, listening to the constant beeping that represented my heartbeat. Tried to remember. The last thing I remembered, Coach Hedge told me not to stay in the water for too long after he was gone. After that… nothing.

"-sorry, but he hasn't woken up yet." That sounded like my mother, but whom was she talking to? And, more important, what the goddamn shit had happened? I tried to say something, maybe 'hi, I'm awake, why am I here in the first place', and let out a groan instead. I lazily opened one eye, just in time to see four pairs of eyes staring at me. My mom, Tyson, Jason, and some guy with black hair whose face seemed familiar, but I couldn't remember his name, if I even knew it.

"Percy!" "Brother!" "Perce!"

The black-haired guy said nothing, looking at his feet instead. Maybe he thought he was interrupting this little family reunion, but if mom had allowed him to stay, then he had to be here for a reason.

My second attempt to speak was more successful. Instead of 'uh', it came out as "Where am I? And why?" Totally cliché, but honestly the first thing that came into my mind.

Jason stepped closer, almost crushing me in his hug, and mom and Ty quietly retreated out of the room. "Air" I croaked, and Jason let go immediately. "Sorry, bro. Just glad you're alive." I rolled my eyes. "If anybody would explain to me why I wouldn't be alive and what the freaking hell happened" I snapped. I looked at the still silent guy with a hopefully apologetic expression. "Sorry, I don't think I know your name." The boy looked into my eyes, but only for a second. I knew that I had seen him before, but I couldn't recall when.

"My name's Nico. Nico di Angelo."

That rung a bell. There had been a Nico di Angelo on the same school as me for years, all happy at first, but totally depressed after his sister's death. I remembered Jason mentioning him one or two times now, too.

Jason grinned like a Cheshire cat. "To the question why we're all glad you're alive: You overdid it with the training, and if it hadn't been for Nico here, we would bury you right now. But he kept you alive until I could find Will and a defibrillator."

Oh. So this guy had saved my life? As I kept thinking about it, more memories came back. Water surrounding me, getting into my lungs, drowning me, my arms weak and numb, unable to do anything but look into Death's eyes while slowly sinking underwater… A wave of gratitude washed over me. I reached out a hand, and hesitantly, Nico took it. I looked into his eyes until he actually looked into mine before I spoke.

"Thank you, Nico. Thank you so much."

Well, to be honest, I kept stammering 'thanks' and 'thank you' a bit longer, but that's not the point. Fact was, this melancholic, and a bit scary guy had saved my life, and a 'thank you' wasn't nearly enough. Even when he insisted that everybody would have done that, I wouldn't shut up.

And when they all thought I were asleep, and talked in hushed voices so that I couldn't understand a word, my eyes constantly got caught by Nico. I desperately wanted to know what had made him so melancholic and sad, whether he was acting like this around everyone, and if no, why he acted so shy and almost scared around me. I wanted to find a way to express my gratitude to him. Nobody deserved to be so sad. And I knew that not everybody would have done the same. Clarisse or Drew wouldn't have had any problems laughing at me. In this situation, I had been helpless, for a change.

Once I got better, I'd have to ask Jason about Nico. Even though he tried to hide it, I was sure that there was kindness below all the sadness and black clothes with skull motifs on it. It had to be.

Edit: Uh. I should really proofread my stories twice. Fixed 'my' into 'by'.