A/N: I sincerely and deep-heartedly apologize for this chapter's gigantic tardy. In my defense, however, I did warn you guys that school is a massive writer's block. I can't type more than 200 words for this story without procrastinating about school. Once again, I'm sorry. Thank you all for your patience. I honestly appreciate it.

Percy

"Mommy, I'm hungry," little 6 year old me whined to my mom. "Can you pwease make your delicious seafood pasta?"

Mom squatted down on her knees and ruffled my hair, much to my annoyance. She grinned at me when she saw the discontent on my face.

"Sure baby boy," my mom said. "Let's just wait for your father to come home first, okay?"

With a hearty groan, I nodded and glumly turned towards my room. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard somebody bashing loudly on our front door.

I looked over at my mom to see her give me the same concerned expression. She went to answer the door. I sat by patiently, shuffling my feet in curiosity as I did so.

The door opened to a funny looking dude. He was dressed in all blue and had a badge on the side of his chest. My mom called him a "police officer". I was way too young to understand what that was.

"Yes?" my mom asked the police officer. "Is something wrong?"

"Mrs. Jackson, am I right?" the cop questioned. My mom gave a slight nod to confirm her identity. "I'm sorry to say this, but…"

"What is it?" my mom asked. The glum and pitiful look the cop gave my mom scarred me for life.

"I'm sorry to say this – truly, I am," the cop began. Mom held in her breath. "But your husband is dead. Somebody slammed into the side of his car, sending your husband's own car sailing across the bridge, finally exploding as it impacted the solid concrete column."

~0~

"Mom! Stop! That hurts!" I laid on the floor, hollowing in immense pain. Mom didn't hesitate. She gave me another hefty kick to the stomach before taking another sip of her vodka. Vodka: the sole substance that transformed my angel of a mom into the devil of the night.

No words. No nothing; only another kick to the face, causing me to faint for the twelfth time that month.

~0~

"Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear Percy; Happy Birthday to me," I sung tonelessly as my wound started to reopen. Before I had a chance to eat the cupcake in my hand (which I stole from the local bakery), blood began to gush out of my bandage. Feeling drained, I dropped the cupcake on the ground before passing out once again.

~0~

"Mom, I'm home," I whimpered out. I honestly didn't want another beating. My voice echoed along the halls of the house.

No answer.

I checked the kitchen.

Nobody was there.

I checked all of the bedrooms and bathrooms.

Nobody was there.

I checked the basement and garage.

Nobody was there.

Did she go out? That was peculiar. She usually never left the house unless she wanted more booze, and last time I checked, she had enough to last a few months.

I sat down on the floor, seeing as all of the chairs, sofas, and couches were destroyed thanks to my mom. I winced in pain when my butt made contact with the ground. I forgot that mom had kicked my ass the previous day. Literally.

One day past; no sign of her.

Two days past; still no sign of her.

Three days past; still no sign of her.

By the fourth day, I knew what had happened. Mom abandoned me, leaving me to fend for myself against the dangerous and perilous city of New York.

End Flashback

I looked away from my mom's eyes. The longer I stared into them, the more I wanted to destroy the house I stood in. So, mom abandoned me and the memory of my dad by marrying a rich slob, and eventually, brought Annabeth and Malcolm into the world.

I clenched my fist, but that was not enough to sustain my increasing temper. I punched a nearby wall. I was surprised when I broke it. I didn't know I had the strength to do such a feat. Of course, my hand hurt. Hell, it even bled. I was sure my knuckles were all shattered. That didn't matter. The emotional numbness caused by seeing "her" again freed me from all possible physical pain.

"What did you just say?" Annabeth whispered at me. That was the first time she spoke to me since I kissed her. Under normal circumstances, I would have been fine with it. Hell, I would have been shivering with happiness.

Not anymore. I didn't know why, but my anger was directed towards Annabeth. Malcolm, too. Hell, it was directed at everybody!

I turned without a single word and headed towards the front door. It took all of my might to soothe the burning hatred I held up inside of me.

Malcolm stood in my way and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I briefly glared at him demonically before finally snapping. I jabbed him in the stomach hard. At the time, I felt no ounce of regret for my audacious action. My anger blocked out my conscious entirely.

I heard frivolous noises coming from the rest of the Chase family – probably in concern for Malcolm – but I couldn't care less. I continued past the slightly injured Malcolm and went straight towards the door.

I suddenly stopped unwillingly. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move my feet. Then, I felt a burning sensation inside of my stomach. Immediately, I knew. Cancer was finally catching up with me.

I grabbed my stomach as subtle as possible. I didn't want anybody to see my moment of weakness. I started to limp towards the door. My limping must have been obvious, because I heard Annabeth ask me whether or not I was alright from behind me.

I ignored her. I endured the agony in my stomach and continued on limping. I was nearly there; a hand reach away. Destiny had a funny way of treating me. As soon as I touched the doorknob, I felt something pop inside of my stomach.

There was no words to describe the internal pain I was experiencing. All of the beatings I had received during my lifetime couldn't even compare to this.

Time died down as I fell face-first on the frame of the door. If cancer wasn't going to kill me, my new head concussion would.

The last thing I saw before completely blacking out was Annabeth and Malcolm running over towards me. Even my mom.

~0~

"What do you mean by 'disabled?'"

"Oh God, Percy wake up!"

"Quick! Bring in the doctor! Percy is spazzing out!"

My mind woke up before my body did. I could hear all of the voices, and to be honest, it gave me a severe headache. Or maybe it was my head concussion that was giving me a headache.

In time, my eyes deliberately opened itself to a breathtaking sight: Piper. I was beyond glad to see her. I had expected to wake up to Annabeth's or Malcolm's face. Needless to say, seeing them would only ruin the rest of my day.

Piper's beautiful smile literally fed me strength out of thin air. I found it easier to shuffle around on my bed. I could move my limbs with greater ease. It was as if a heavy burden was all of the sudden lifted off of my shoulders.

I felt something tangled in my hand. Casually looking over, I saw Piper's hand intertwined with mine.

"You don't mind, do you?" Piper asked me when she noticed me staring at our conjoined hands.

"Not really," I replied. "I actually prefer it this way. It makes me feel better."

"Good to hear," Piper smiled, tightening her grip on my hand.

"Doesn't this bring back memories? Here I am, nearly on the brink of death, and here you are, caretaking for me. Deja vu, am I right?"

Piper pushed a strand of her delicate brown hair behind her right ear. "To be fair, Perseus, I've only been here for half a day. I've been busy with other patients. Annabeth has been taking care of you the rest of the time."

My eye twitched at the abrupt Annabeth reference. I looked up at the ceiling and remained deathly silent.

"Um, do you mind telling me what happened between you and Anna—"

"Shut up! Don't talk about her!" I snapped at her brutally. Merely looking at her trembling eyes made me feel liable. My vile rudeness put Osama Bin Laden to shame. I wished I had a gun to shoot myself.

"Piper, wait, I'm sorry," I began to say as I continued to mentally scold myself. "I didn't mean to yell at you. This whole matter with Annabeth is very touchy. I'd rather not get into it right now."

Piper sluggishly nodded, but I could tell that she was still terrified of me. Great, I made the last person I cared about fear me. Just spectacular.

"You hate me now, don't you?" I mumbled. Piper quickly averted her eyes towards me and began to shake her head rapidly.

"No! I don't hate you! It's just…I'm not really fond of that side of you. You know, the angry one."

I was about to apologize again, but I realized something then and there. Apologizing would mean absolutely nothing. Words couldn't repay the gigantic debt I owed her. It didn't even feel like a million dollars could pay my debt to her.

"Piper, I can't believe I had the balls to scold you even though I owe you so much."

"Oh, here we go again," Piper rolled her eyes.

"I'm dead serious, Pipes," I firmly stated. She half-heartedly smiled at my nickname for her. "You're hurting me more by neglecting my payment."

"If you're straining yourself that much just to pay me back, fine. By all means, pay me back," Piper said plainly.

"What do you want? Even if you want me to steal from Obama himself, I'll do it."

Piper frowned at my response. "Percy, when you put it like that, I—"

The unprecedented noise of the room door slamming open cut her off mid-speech. Annabeth stood at the doorway, staring at me. I could see relief in her eyes, but there was something else. When she saw my hand intertwined with Piper's, I could see hurt pooling up somewhere amongst her mysterious grey eyes.

Piper noticed this almost instantly and took her hand away from mine. I had to admit, the sudden retreat made me feel a bit bitter. I needed some comfort, both physically and emotionally.

I forced myself to look away from Annabeth. Seeing her again did nothing more than damper my temporary good mood. I felt a slight ounce of guilt, seeing as Annabeth had taken care of me since the day I was unconscious, but my darker side completely annihilated that guilt.

"We'll discuss that 'debt' you owe me later," Piper commented. She leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Hurry up and recover, okay?"

"Okay," I grinned at her. Piper had a beautiful charm to go along with her beautiful face. Something about her made me happy. Maybe it was her unwavering sweetness. Maybe it was her captivating voice.

Piper gave me a quick smile before leaving. She nodded at Annabeth as she walked passed her.

That just left me and Annabeth alone. I moderately shivered at the thought of being alone with her again. This was the last thing I needed. You might as well have placed a nuke in my mouth and shoved your middle finger in my face.

"How are you feeling?" Annabeth asked me nervously. She walked over towards me and sat on the chair Piper had sat on. Her strawberry perfume gave me a lot of nostalgia. It made me recall all of the things we did together, from running through the local park playing tag to a water balloon fight on the hospital parking lot.

I remained silent. I turned my head away from her, purposefully ignoring her presence.

"You hate me now," she muttered. She gave a small, weak laugh. "This isn't the first time either."

I continued the silent treatment. When she didn't reply, I felt my throat constrain itself. That was when I realized that I was being a little too harsh on her. It wasn't really her fault. If anything, it was my mom's. Maybe I should give her a chance.

However, no matter how I looked at it, there was no denying that my mom was her mom as well. Technically, she was my sister, and being framed of incest with my own sister is the last thing I wanted to be accused of before I died.

Love. Did I still love her?

What did it matter? She made it abundantly clear that Luke was her one true love. My love was obsolete to her.

"Me and Luke are getting married in one week," Annabeth blurted out.

I guessed I should have seen it coming. After all, they've been engaged for a long time. Despite that fact, my heart still throbbed. Once she got married, her signature would have been signed in solid ink. My miniscule chance with her would have died.

Part of me wanted to tell her that I didn't want her to get married to him, but in reality, my words would have meant nothing. I had already damaged our relationship beyond repair. She wouldn't listen to me.

"I wish you two the best of luck," I finally spoke, although my voice was slightly hoarse. Annabeth didn't seem to notice it, though.

"Thanks," she said. That ended the conversation between us. The empty gap was filled with awkwardness, a feeling I never thought I'd feel with her again.

"You were my doctor, weren't you?" I asked her without a definitive tone.

"Yeah, I was," she answered.

"So how much time do I have left before…you know."

Silence.

"There's no need to hold back," I reassured her. "Better to know now then to die without warning."

Annabeth bit her lip. My question was obviously paining her. "Two months."

I didn't know why, but I couldn't help but smile at her answer. Maybe it was the fact that I was tired of being scared of death. Maybe it was time to embrace it instead of fearing it. "So, the time shortened, did it now?"

"The other doctors told me that your stomach tumors—" Annabeth began before I cut her off.

"I don't care what the other doctors say. I'm going to die either way, right? That's that, then. The explanation is unnecessary."

"Why aren't you upset?" she asked me. She sounded more mad than concerned. "We—I mean you haven't completed your list yet!"

Heh. The list. She still remembered that? The list didn't matter anymore. I lost whatever will I had to live.

"Annabeth," I breathed. "I don't want to live anymore."

Annabeth

I jumped up out of my seat and slapped Percy straight across the face. Contextually, that was a bad idea. Slapping a patient that was diagnosed with cancer was rude to say the least. In the end, though, that didn't matter. Merely by saying those words, Percy had buried me in an inescapable hole.

Percy didn't even bother holding his cheek. His face was emotionless. His reaction only escalated my anger.

"Keep going," Percy whispered. "Don't stop. Slap me until I die."

SLAP!

This next slap was even harder than the previous one. All of my anger and emotional torment went into that slap. Before I knew it, I started to lose my bearing. My legs started to buckle. My eyes started to water. Percy really wanted to die.

"You want to call me selfish?!" I screamed at him. "Look in the mirror! How dare you admit to me that you want to die?! Have you thought about how Malcolm would feel if you died?! Have you thought about how Piper would feel if you died?! Have you thought about how I would feel if you died?"

"Have you thought about how I feel?!" Percy hissed harshly. "I'm a living time bomb waiting to go off! What do you want me to do, huh? Count the days until I die?"

"So you're saying there's no reason to live anymore?" I spat back. "Nobody matters to you anymore? Nothing matters to you anymore? Didn't you say in the past that you wanted to 'live a normal life'?"

"I tried to start a normal life. You were there with me nearly the whole entire way. I thought I could escape my past and truly start an alternative life. That is until I met my…our mom. Now, I don't even know if I want to escape it anymore."

"You're going to give up? Just like that? That's not the Percy Jackson I know," I pointed out.

"And who is the Percy Jackson you know? There is only one Percy Jackson, and you're staring straight at him," Percy said.

"I digress. The Percy Jackson I know is the guy I played basketball with a few days ago. The Percy Jackson I know is bright and gleeful. The Percy Jackson I know…" I haltered. My breath stopped itself for a split second. "The Percy Jackson I know is the guy I fell in love with."

Percy buckled at my answer, but eventually regained his annoyed face. "Didn't you just tell me that you were going to marry Luke? Now you're confessing your love for me? Are you fucking crazy?"

"I pushed the wedding closer because I was scared of betraying Luke. I wanted to cement my relationship with him before I made a wrong move."

"You're making a wrong move now, Wise Girl," he mumbled back at me. That was the first time he called me Wise Girl since the day he kissed me. It sounded just as majestic as it did all of those months ago. It would have brought a tear to my eye if I wasn't arguing with him.

Before I could refute him, my attention averted itself to the sound of the door opening.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" an Asian doctor asked me when he saw us.

"No." I exhaled. "I was about to leave."

"Didn't seem like it," Percy mumbled softly. The doctor didn't seem to had heard him.

"Well, I'm Dr. Cheng," the doctor introduced himself. "I'm a new doctor. Today is my first day working here. Would it be okay if I privately run a diagnostic on his condition?"

"By all means," I nodded. The doctor made way for me as I walked out of the room. I closed the door behind me and kicked a nearby flower pot in anger.

"Stupid Percy," I grunted. "Wanting to kill himself…dick-face…no good son of a bitch…faggo—"

Little did I know, there was a little boy who looked no older than ten standing next to me.

"Oh Jesus, I'm sorry you had to hear all of that," I apologized to the boy.

"What do those words mean?" the boy asked me innocently. I must have seemed like a horrible person, ruining a child's purity with my foul remarks.

"Nothing, I was just babbling," I lied. "Anyways, what are you doing here all by yourself? Where are your parents?"

"My dad just entered the room you left," the boy told me. I found myself smiling at the boy.

"You're dad's the doctor I just met, huh?" I laughed. The boy nodded, although his eyes were still glued onto me.

"You're pretty," the boy told me nonchalantly. I ruffled his hair at the compliment, making him frown.

"Thank you, sweetheart," I grinned at him. "Why don't you wait for your father here? I need to go home now."

"Okay then," he said, finally pulling his eyes away from me. I could have sworn I saw a tad of annoyance in the corner of his eye. I must have been hallucinating.

"Wait, before I go. What's your name?" I asked him. Without looking at me, he said "Peter". I gave him my name in return, although it looked as though he didn't give a damn, and waved him a goodbye before leaving for real.

Upon exiting the hospital, I met Malcolm, who was talking to a few college girls. The girls seemed to be all over him, albeit Malcolm looked as though he would explode out of boredom at any given second.

"Malcolm!" I called out to him. He turned around towards me, and upon seeing me, he put on the most relieved smile I had ever seen him conjure.

"There you are, sis!" he said, jogging towards me. The girls were seemingly angry at losing another "target", but they eventually walked away.

"Thanks for the save," Malcolm beamed at me.

"Who said I was trying to save you?" I winked. "I just wanted a ride home."

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "What a knee slapper. So, you legitly need a ride home?"

"You brought me here, remember? Unless you want me to walk 100 miles, which would be a bad choice, driving me home would be the most viable answer."

"Alright, Cinderella, let's go." He gestured me towards his sports car. "On the way back, tell me about Percy. I didn't get to visit him today."

"Sure, whatever," I said quickly. I really didn't want to talk about Percy. At least not yet. I didn't need to be reminded that he wanted to kill himself.

The ride back was, inevitably, filled to the brim with random conversations. At first, Malcolm had tried to persuade me into talking about Percy. I brought down the topic with random ones, like tennis. Eventually, he got tired of trying to charm me and started randomly making up stupid topics too.

After about fifteen minutes, Malcolm started to slow the car down. He looked out of his window peculiarly. I followed the trajectory of his gaze and found myself staring at "Willow's Flower Shop".

"Why are you staring at Willow's Flower Shop?" I asked.

"Do you want to go in and buy a gift basket for Percy?" Malcolm offered me. I pondered that thought carefully. I was scared of going back to Percy so soon. No doubt he was pissed at me. Then again, offering a gift had a good chance of lifting the strange and heavy tension between us.

I must have taken too long to come up with an answer, seeing as Malcolm already parked in Willow's Flower Shop's parking lot. Without telling me ahead of time, he opened the door and walked into the shop. I scrambled to catch up with him when I saw him disappear behind the shop's front door.

When I walked into the building, I saw Malcolm at the front desk talking to some chick. Malcolm looked like he was trying to buy something, but the girl seemed too dazed at Malcolm's hotness. Or at least that's what most girl had called him.

"Ma'am?" I heard Malcolm ask the girl. "Did you hear my question? What would be the best present to give a hospitalized patient who is about to die from cancer?"

I felt my heart fall at his words. Sadly, they were true. Percy was at death's door, and there was nothing I could do to stop him from dying. I felt useless, especially since I was a doctor. I wished all of those years at medical school could have taught me to treat someone with cancer.

"Annabeth?" Malcolm called out to me.

He seemed to had finally noticed my presence. I looked up at him with fake confidence. "Hm?"

"A little help?" Malcolm whispered, nudging his head towards the girl who was practically drooling at him.

I rolled my eyes. "Coming."

The girl didn't notice me approach the counter. Upon closer inspection, I saw that her line of sight was directed towards Malcolm's groin area. I honestly didn't have the time nor the patience to wait until she got bored of staring at Malcolm's "prize", so I slammed the countertop as hard as I could.

That got her attention. Her head swung towards me with inhumane speed. I thought her neck was going to snap when she turned around.

"What?" she asked me rather hastily.

"I have a patient who is going to…d-die from cancer soon," I stuttered. "I was wondering what would be the best gift to give to him before he…leaves."

"Oh," the girl commented. "Uh, sorry?"

Her cluelessness made me want to shove a pen down her throat, but I managed to suppress my anger. Without another word, the girl pointed towards a gift basket isle. Nodding my thanks, I took Malcolm's hand and walked over towards the gift baskets.

"Let's see here…" I said, eyeing all of the possible gift baskets. "Which one should I get for Percy?"

"Does he like pears and oranges?" Malcolm pointed at a gift basket filled halfway with pears and oranges.

"He likes oranges, but not pears," I answered. I knew that because Percy and I went out on a fruit eating spree one day, and nearly ¾ of Percy's plate was filled with oranges. When asked, he told me that he despised pears.

"What about this one?" Malcolm asked again, pointing towards a basket with apples and grapes.

"He hates both of those," I told him. Before Malcolm could offer any other ideas, something caught my attention. Looking out the window, I saw an ice cream parlor. A wild smile appeared on my face.

"Malcolm," I said, "I know what to get for Percy."

~0~

"Say hi to him for me, would ya?" Malcolm told me as I exited his car.

"Kay," I said, closing the car door. "Sit tight while I give this Oreo Sundae to him. It shouldn't take long."

"Man, I want an Oreo Sundae…" Malcolm whined.

"Sucks to be you, doesn't it?" I teased. "Alright, I'm going now. See you in a bit."

I ran into the hospital and found Piper writing something in the corner of the room. I slowly walked behind her and took a peek at what she was writing. It was a "get well" card for Percy. I didn't know if a card could make a dying patient feel better, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

"Hey hey hey, Pipes," I tapped on her shoulder playfully. Piper jumped at my touch, but she eased down when she identified my voice.

"Annabeth," she breathed. "You know I'm easy to scare, yet you still do that."

I laughed. "It's fun. Anyways, I see you're making a card for Percy."

Piper smiled down at her card. "Yeah. I know it's not much, but I hope it at least makes him feel better."

"I'm sure he'll love it," I reassured her. "By the way, is Dr. Cheng still running his diagnostic on Percy?"

"Who?" Piper asked me.

"Dr. Cheng. The new doctor who just arrived today?"

She blinked. "Annabeth, I'm in charge of all new recruits in this hospital. There is no Dr. Cheng."

There wasn't a Dr. Cheng? Who did I meet in Percy's room then?

I heard somebody scream behind me.

"Help! Patient 401 – Percy Jackson – is missing!"

A/N: Go on. Tell me how bad this chapter is compared to the other ones. I can take it. I'm a man. More or less lol.

-Jabba out.