:o Oh look! A Leo chapter! Cue the happy dances!

Disclaimer: I own the idea, not the characters.

Ten: The Recovery We Must Have

*~Leo POV~*

The next time Leo woke up, he was actually awake! He could feel the ground beneath him, hear all the sounds around him, see and register everything in front of him.

Of course, there wasn't much of a view. What he could see was a beautiful willow tree, its leaves and branches draping over him like a curtain, the midday sun peeking through the spaces. A couple birds fluttered in the background, their chirping filling Leo's ears. The willowy scene hit him softly, sending calming waves through his body. The soft grass below him made him want to go back to sleep.

Wait.

Leo forced himself to stay awake.

Backup.

His eyes darted around and his breath hitched.

Midday sun? Grass? Birds?

Leo shot up into a sitting position. Pain reverberated through his chest and he went to clutch at it.

Only the hand he tried to clutch it with wasn't there. His shoulder made the movement, but Leo couldn't feel his hand touch his chest. Leo looked down and shrieked—seriously, he never ever thought he'd have the lung capacity to shriek and he hoped no one he knew had been around to hear such a sound escape his mouth. His whole left arm, all the way up to his shoulder, was gone! Bandages wrapped around the stump. He absentmindedly let his right hand touch the space where his left arm had been when he had gone to sleep.

Oh gods, he thought, panicked. Think about something else. Think about something else. Huh?

Suddenly he registered the mask over his nose and mouth. He reached up to pull it off but then stopped. The memory from the last time he woke up shot through him and he left it be, letting his gaze follow the tubes to the oxygen tank/life support system lying beside him. He tested out his balance before clutching his chest with his existing hand. There were bandages there, too, and Leo could literally feel one of his lungs working harder than before, trying to compensate for the damaged one. Leo was thankful he had the system to regulate his breathing—not only to help his damaged lung, but also to help him keep calm. He felt like hyperventilating right now because of his missing arm!

Leo gazed around more, desperate to keep his mind off of that. Where am I, anyway? How did I get here? I remember…waking up in the infirmary (that was weird) and then following these random voices to the upper deck (weirder) and then…what did I do? I… he struggled to remember. I…was on the rail…Frank…he yelled at me? Why was he doing that? Then…I…did I jump?

The thought unnerved him. He had willingly jumped off of his own ship, which, if memory served, was high in the air! How in Hades did I get down here!? And I'm unharmed—well, unharmed apart from the arm and lung, but I'm pretty sure those didn't come from my fall…

Leo then realized he was not wearing a shirt. All he was wearing were comfortable white cotton pants. No shirt. No shoes. His tool belt was beside him, hanging on one of the willow tree's roots. Where the heck was he?

A hand arrived on his shoulder. Leo looked round. His eyebrows shot into the air.

There were three gods standing there beside him, one of which was crouched down holding his shoulder. Technically, they were two goddesses and one god: Apollo was holding his shoulder, Aphrodite and Demeter were standing off to the side. Now he understood why he had to obey the third voice. It was charmspeak. Charmspeak from the goddess of love herself.

"Huh?" he said. Oh, yeah, that's the most brilliant thing to say to three Olympian gods…

Apollo smiled, showing his perfect white teeth (that made Leo just a tad jealous). "Hey, there, hero! Sorry we couldn't teleport you directly from the bed, but all those wires would've been a hindrance. You didn't need them anyway."

"Where am I?" Leo finally croaked.

Demeter stepped closer. "This is a small bubble that I created to help heroes in need long ago. I have many bubbles like this across the world. If a demigod is in trouble, one of these will catch them and help them. But, the bubbles don't move. You have to actually fall or stumble into one while in critical condition."

"That's why we needed you to, y'know, jump off the ship so fast," Apollo finished.

Ah, Leo thought. Well, I guess that's better than me being slightly suicidal…"Aren't you sorta…having trouble with your personalities?"

Aphrodite giggled. "Helping you is keeping us stable, for now."

Demeter nodded. "It's rare that a demigod hero finds one of my helpful bubbles nowadays—especially one in the ancient lands. Since you're Greek, it helped me stabilize into the Greek form for this confrontation."

Apollo smiled wider. "Healing is something I do best, regardless of my form. Besides, my name's the same, too, so there isn't any reason for me to get the headaches. Well, in here, at least, there isn't…"

"Where's my arm?" Leo asked, hopeful.

Apollo's smile vanished. "I'm sorry, Leo…It belongs to Nemesis now, and no one can change that."

Finally, the memory of him getting the fortune cookie tattooed on his hand hit him. Leo shuddered. He still couldn't remember how it happened, but now he knew his arm was gone because of her. "You said heal," Leo began. "Can you…give me a new arm?"

"I can't heal what's not there."

Leo's heart shattered. Figures.

The sun god squeezed his hand on Leo's shoulder. "We didn't put you here to heal your arm. We put you here to heal your lung." He pointed to Leo's chest. "While I appreciate young Annabeth's try at healing it, I'm afraid you're going to need more than just a few days on life support. Should she have removed the steady flow of oxygen in a few days like she planned, you wouldn't have coped. Regular nectar and ambrosia alone can't handle such an internal injury on top of your arm. All of the healing power has been directed to your shoulder."

Leo shifted uncomfortably, feeling sad about the constant reminder.

"So," Apollo continued, "this is what you need, now: Rest, relaxation, and some good ol' fashioned medicine."

He waved his hand. A bottle of nectar appeared beside him. "This nectar is specifically used for internal injuries. It will heal up your lung's injury within a few days, but you still need to take it slow while using it. I'm recommending you stay on life support for one week and then take two weeks to get the bad lung up and running again."

Leo nearly fell over. "T-three weeks!? But Gaea—! She's rising soon! I can't just sit back and relax knowing my friends could be dying before I even get out of here!"

Aphrodite stepped closer. "Sweetheart, you forget: this is a healing area. The time shall flow differently here. Think Ogygia, but no cursed goddess or randomly waiting around for a dinky little raft to leave. Only when Demeter and Apollo deem you fit enough to leave shall you be allowed to go. Three weeks here will only be three hours to your friends."

Demeter smiled and nodded. "Yes, hero, you need not worry."

Leo relaxed a little. "Well…what am I supposed to do for three weeks? Is there a forge I can play around in…?"

"None of that," Apollo said sternly. "You are staying away from forges and heavy machinery until you get back on the Argo II. But, to answer your question…Aphrodite, care to take this? It's about time we leave…"

The love goddess bent down and looked Leo straight in the eye. "Leo Valdez," she said, laying the charmspeak on thick. "You shall do what Apollo has recommended in regards to your healing. Every day for the first week you shall have only one hour of consciousness. When you wake from your sleep, the first thing you will do is drink the nectar (I would recommend holding your breath to do this, as you need to take off the mask to drink). After that, you may sit up and stretch—no walking around. After the life support is no longer required, you are allowed six hours of consciousness for the second week, and twelve for the third. During these weeks, you will perform strict breathing exercises while awake and/or perform some small physical therapy activity—more on those when we get there."

"I'm gonna get so bored, though," Leo complained. "Can I tinker with the stuff in my tool belt?"

Aphrodite glanced at Apollo. The sun god sighed and nodded. Aphrodite turned back to Leo. "You may."

Now that that question had been answered, the charmspeak hit Leo full force. He was already beginning to feel tired, but he jolted himself awake, blinking away sleep.

Demeter whispered something to Aphrodite. The love goddess nodded. "One more thing," she said. "To make sure you actually do go to sleep, there shall be an alarm set for you. When you hear the chirping birds begin to sing a lullaby—doesn't matter which one—you will immediately fall asleep."

Great, he thought, groaning.

"Don't worry," Apollo encouraged. "It'll go by pretty fast. I promise."

Leo rolled his eyes. Then he thought of something else. "What about food?"

"You won't be eating, per say," Apollo said. "You'll get the nutrients you need through my sunlight as you sleep. Like a plant."

Leo groaned. "So, I'll basically be a vegetable for three weeks?"

Demeter scoffed. "Nothing wrong with that, lad. Vegetables are good for you. It doesn't matter, anyway. You won't get any skinnier here, and you won't be skipping any meals."

Leo looked down, not really wanting to continue this conversation.

"Right then," Demeter said, clapping her hands together. "Let's get going before our Roman aspects decide that this needs battle strategies…"

Aphrodite leaned in and kissed Leo on the cheek, making the demigod blush furiously. She then whispered into his ear, "You'll have nothing but good dreams for three weeks, hero. Gaea shall not reach you here…And I believe you can and will get back to her. Good luck!"

Leo smiled at the hint. Demeter and Aphrodite left in two blazing light shows. Apollo stood and snapped. "Alright, Leo. First dose, let's go!"

Leo held his breath, and removed the oxygen mask, placing it on his knee. Apollo handed him the bottle of nectar. Leo took about two gulps' worth of nectar before securing the mask over his nose and mouth again. He smiled. The nectar tasted like he was drinking his mother's enchiladas.

"Good," Apollo sighed. "I'll check in every once in a while, so don't be trying to do stupid stuff while I'm away."

With that, the god disappeared, leaving Leo alone with his life support and thoughts.

His thoughts didn't last very long, though.

Soon, the willow tree was billowing softly in the wind, the leaves gently caressing Leo's face and bare chest. It tickled, relaxing him again. The sun was dappling across his body, warming him.

The chirping birds began singing a lullaby. His thoughts trailed away into a beautiful sweetness as he lay back down again, ready to sleep…ready to leave the pain behind…ready to go…

He closed his eyes, letting his life support carry him away…After all; he didn't even have to think about breathing. His oxygen tank would help him.

His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. The grass around him was soft, like he was laying on a cloud, drifting endlessly through the sky without a care in the world…How relaxing…how peaceful…Only one thought crossed his mind as his consciousness drifted away:

This must be Elysium…

A/N: Sorry to all the Apollo fans out there, but in this story, he is slightly more serious than the canon version. I believe that Apollo as a doctor would be more serious than Apollo as a haiku-writing, sun-chariot-driving guy. Plus, he's already strained with the whole Greek-Roman headache and I think that would make even Apollo less happy ;P

Next chapter will be Leo as well, so have fun with the wait~!