"I still don't understand why I can't be here," Drew said as she flopped down, gracefully, onto Lucille's bed. The other daughter of Aphrodite rolled her bright blue eyes.
"Because that's my bed," Lucille said with a small eyeroll as she tugged on a jacket, "I don't care right now though, I'm going to see Eowyn."
"What is with your fascination with that stupid girl?" Drew shouted at her as she exited the cabin. Lucille shrugged off the comment and hurried to the part of the infirmary that held her friend. She sat down on the bed, allowing it to creak as she did so, She grabbed the smaller girl's shivering hand and held it within her own, waiting for her to awaken.
"Lucy?" Eowyn asked, her bleary eyes opening tiredly. Lucille smiled and kissed her sweaty forehead, not caring that it was almost coated with salt water. Eowyn just smiled and leaned into the older girl, enjoying the fact that she was there when no one else was. "I need to tell you something," Eowyn said, beginning to sit up in bed. Lucille pushed her back down and was about to say something when one of the children of Apollo entered the tent.
"Lucille? What are you doing in here?" she asked, her brow furrowed with confusion. "I didn't see you come in. Eowyn isn't supposed to receive visitors right now, she's very ill."
Lucille jumped up off of the bed, "I was in here because I was worried, what do you mean she's very ill?" Eowyn coughed and leaned back down on her pillow, averting her eyes from both of the girls.
"We were going to transfer her to the mortal hospital as soon as we told Chiron. Eowyn has cancer of the legs," the daughter of Apollo said, dragging Lucille outside of the closed off part of the tent.
"Lucille!" Eowyn yelled, the child of Aphrodite stuck her head back in, "I want you to come with me. I've been in a lot of hospitals, but I was always so scared. You calm me down, so can you come with me?"
The beautiful demigod smiled and nodded, going back into the room to sit with the girl. The daughter of Apollo that had taken her out earlier looked at the two and then sighed.
"I'll go talk to Chiron," she tried her best to smile as she left the tent, but worry riddled her brain to harshly and all she did was walk away from the two.
"That's what I wanted to tell you," Eowyn said, looking down in shame as her friend stared at her in shock. "I've always been frail. And my bone marrow was never the strongest, especially in my legs. The doctor wanted me to go into surgery as soon as they found out that I tested positive but my foster family denied it and sent me away with no knowledge of my condition when I went to the new home. Please don't be mad at me for not telling you, especially after you spilled your guts to me," she said, her face turning a brilliant shade of red.
"I could never be mad at you," the child of Aphrodite said with a smile, her hand rubbing against the other's hand, "I won't be able to stay with you all day if hospitals still work the way that I think that they do, but I will visit you all day from the first visiting hour to the last. Okay?" Eowyn nodded and kissed Lucille on the cheek as a way of saying thank you. The daughter of Apollo entered with an Ares camper, who picked Eowyn up and carried her out of the tent, Lucille followed close behind, watching her friends face turn from bright red at being picked up and carried to a pale, yellowish sickly color.
They both sat next to each other as they were jostled along to the hospital. Eowyn fell asleep on the half hour ride there, leaning up against the other girl. Lucy smiled and brought her hand up to the yellowed skin, stroking it with the back of her hand gently. Eowyn smiled in her sleep and leaned into the other female, feeling safe in her embrace.
When they arrived at the hospital, Eowyn got worse, the magic from the camp leaving her and showing how awful things had gotten. The daughter of Hephaestus didn't make it three steps before she retched on the sidewalk. Lucille didn't even flinch, rubbing her back as the ambrosia and small bit of nectar were shoved violently out of her system. "Shh, you're okay, let it all out, you're okay," Lucille whispered as she rubbed the small of the other girls back.
"Better?" she asked after the girl was done retching. Eowyn shook her head but kept walking towards the hospital. They walked up to the reception desk and Lucille got a barf bucket for her friend just in case she were to be sick again. Chiron motioned for them to sit down in the waiting area, they did so, sitting on a well worn loveseat with some kids TV show playing over them.
"Oh, I feel like shit," Eowyn swore under her breath. Lucille frowned, hating to see her friend so sick, and in such horrible pain. "Smile Lucy, you look so much prettier when you do," Eowyn joked, bringing up the Roman ambassador that had drunkenly told Lucille she needed to smile more. The aforementioned girl snorted and continued to rub her friends back.
Half an hour later Eowyn had been admitted to the hospital, Lucille sat in the waiting room for another hour before she was allowed in. The Ares camper that had drove them both there sat with her, supposedly he was doing a favor for Chiron and allowing Lucille to stay with Eowyn for as long as she wanted.
"Lucille?" the nurses cold voice called out into the waiting room.
"Yes?" the daughter of Aphrodite said, standing up and walking over to her. "How is she?"
"Stable, you may go see her if you wish," she said, Lucille nodded followed the nurse down the corridors that smelled of bleach and sickness till they reached the cancer unit. Lucille walked into Eowyn's room slowly, careful to not wake the girl up. The nurse left them alone, walking down to where her next patient was.
Lucille pulled up one of the uncomfortable chairs and sits next to her friend, taking her hand in her own, "I'm here Gorgeous," she said, shivering as she saw all of the machines and what not that the sick girl was hooked up to.
"I told you my name is Eowyn," Eowyn joked, looking over at her friend.
"I know, I know, I just remember back when I talked with you after I found you," Lucille said with a sad smile.
"Thank you for coming with me," Eowyn said, looking over to her friend. Lucille just smiled and lay her head down on her leg, keeping Eowyn's calloused hand within her silken one. They both drifted off to sleep, silently staying with each other, holding hands in their sleep.
"Ma'am," a doctor said, tapping on Lucille's shoulder, the aforementioned child of Aphrodite jumped and looked up at the doctor, "Visiting hours are over, you're going to have to go home til tomorrow." Lucille stood and nodded, kissing Eowyn's calloused hand before she walked out of the hospital.
Almost four months later, Lucille returned, as she did every day that she was allowed to, smiling as she sat down next to her sick friend. "So, how are you?" she asked with the mocking voice of a doctor. Eowyn giggled lightly and shook her head.
"I have now had one too many people ask me that today, Lucy," Eowyn said. Lucille sighed and sat down on the bed, taking Eowyn's hand in her own.
"Do you want to talk about anything?" Lucy asked.
"Not really, turn on the TV?" she asked.
"Alright," Lucille said, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on, she settled in, avoiding all of the cords that were keeping her friend alive. They sat like that til the doctor came in, Lucille hopped up off of the bed and headed out, knowing that Eowyn didn't want her to hear about how sick she was.
Later that day, the doctors returned to the room, taking the girl away for her surgery. Lucille sat on her hands in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs, waiting to be allowed back into the room where her friend lay. She had a moment to think, and she felt her heart throb, she had fallen for the girl, her heart fluttered whenever they were together and butterflies erupted in her chest whenever they held hands. Most of their days were spent in silence while they watched TV together, though that didn't stop Lucille from falling for her even more than she already had, if that was possible.
"Lucille?" the nurse asked as she came out of the room. The daughter of Aphrodite looked up, her eyes watering as she saw the sad smile that lay on the nurse's wrinkled face, "She's asking for you."
The demigod stood and walked into the sterile smelling room, sitting down on the bed and grimacing as she saw that the lump under the blankets were smaller, the cancer had been manifesting in her thigh, and they had to remove it, Lucille hated the fact that she had lost a part of her best friend, even if it was more impactful to Eowyn than it was to her.
"Lucille," the aforementioned girl croaked out, raising her hand for the other one to take. "Can you please braid my hair like you did back home?"
The request was small and pure, but to Eowyn, she felt like she was asking the world of her friend, making her stay with her and do things that she did not want to do, she was horrible.
Lucille beamed and walked over to her, taking the weak snarls in her hands and braiding them together, careful to make sure that she didn't pull any of the sick girl's hair out. Her hair was stringy and snarled from her laying in bed and sitting by her window all day. Soon, the doctor had said, they were going to shave her head, as well as give her the option of wearing bandanas over it.
It pained Lucille to see her friend have to go through that. One night when visiting hours were over, she visited the Hephaestus cabin late one night, she wrapped on the door, knowing that none of the campers had gone to bed just yet. When Jake opened the door, she plastered on a very fake smile, "Can I come in? I have something to ask of all of you," they allowed her inside and then stared at her expectantly.
"You all know that Eowyn is sick with cancer and that one of the treatments makes hair fall out, I was wondering if you could all take one of each of your own bandanas and give them to me, as a gift to her so she doesn't have to show the world her lack of hair," the words came strangled out of her throat, thinking back to her hurting friend. Each one of the demigods in the cabin agreed to do it, gifting their ailing sister with a gift from all of them.
The next morning, Lucille brought the poorly wrapped gift to Eowyn, placing it on her lap. "What's this?" she asked, her red eyebrow cocked.
"It's from the Hephaestus cabin," Lucille explained quietly, careful to make sure that no one else heard what she was saying. Eowyn unwrapped the paper wrappings with shaking, yellow hued hands. Her hands grazed over the silky cloth, looking at everyone with teary eyes.
"I know you organized this Lucy," she whispered, hugging her friend.
"No, no, it was your siblings!" Lucille said quickly.
"My siblings couldn't do something like this on their own, trust me I know. We're way too solitary. Thank you," Eowyn said, pulling away and tying one of the bandanas over her now bald scalp.