Chapter 10-

After the shower was running for an hour, Persephone only thought that Nico was just taking a slow shower. But then one hour turned to two, and she knew something was wrong.

"Hades, that boy has been in the shower for two hours." she told him. "Shouldn't you go check on him?"

"He's fine." Hades answered. "If you want to check on him, go ahead. But I'm not."

Persephone sighed. "I'll give him some more time before I do."

And then two hours turned to three.

"I'm going up there." she stated. When she got to his bedroom, she knocked gently, but to no answer. Opening the door, she saw that he wasn't in there and the bathroom down was also shut.

"Nico, you used all the hot water hours ago." she called, knocking on the bathroom door.

No answer.

"Nico?" she asked again, starting to become worried. "You can't be in the shower that long. Our water bill will go up."

"Please come out, Nico. Or at least answer me." she tried again. "Answer me and we can go and get you another record, or a CD. Any one you want."

Giving up, she tried the handle, surprised to find it unlocked. When she opened the door, the first thing she saw was the blood, splattered crossed the small bathroom.

"Nico….?" she asked wearily, and then she saw him. "HADES!"

She ran to the boy's side, turning the water off and wrapping a towel around him before pulling him out, laying him on the floor. His body was ice cold from the freezing water and drenched. She put her hand on his neck, feeling his pulse, seeing that it was really weak.

Her husband walked in the door. "What's wr-"

When he saw his son and the blood that surrounded him like a murder scene, he immediately knelt beside him.

"Persephone, call an ambulance!" he told her, bringing Nico's head in his lap. "Nico, wake up for me. Can you open your eyes?"

He didn't stir.

"They're on their way." Persephone told him as she reentered the room. "Any luck?"

Hades shook his head. "He's not responding to anything. How could his stomach do this?"

"His cancer could have spread." Persephone stated quietly. "We have no idea. It could be something else entirely."

"He doesn't need anything else wrong with him." Hades replied. "He's already going through enough as it is."

"I'm going to go open the door for them." Persephone exited the room, leaving them alone.

"You need to wake up, Nico." Hades whispered to him. "You can't die, now. You can't. I love you, buddy."

Nico's eyelids fluttered, but didn't open.

Hades could hear the paramedics come in and make their way up the stairs, following Persephone to where Nico was. When they saw him, they immediately put him on a stretcher and felt for his heart rate.

"How long has he been like this?" one asked Hades, counting Nico's heartbeats while holding his wrist.

"We don't know." Hades replied truthfully. "After he had been in the shower for three hours, we came to check on him, and he was unconscious."

"He hasn't woken up since?"

"No, not at all." Hades answered.

"Okay, we're going to take him to the hospital crossed from the factory." the same man said. "You and your wife can follow behind."

When they got to the hospital, they immediately took Nico back and began to run tests on him. Since one of his doctors were already there, they didn't have to waste time and explain about his cancer.

"We think the cancer might have spread." Dr. Walker updated them in the waiting room. "We don't really know for sure where, but we're trying our best to figure out. When I know more, I'll come tell you."

"Thank you," Hades answered, still too worried to do anything else.

"He'll be okay." Persephone held his hands in hers, trying to comfort him as much as possible. "Nico's strong."

"We knew he was dying, and we still ended up fighting with each other." Hades growled to himself. "I can't have him die hating me."

"He doesn't hate you." Persephone replied. "You're his father, and he loves you."

"But does he know I love him?" Hades asked. "Look, I have to call Hazel. She went over to a friend's, and she would want to know what's happening."

"I'll just go get her." Persephone stood up. "That way you don't have to worry her too much. Which friend's?"

"Piper McLean." Hades answered. "Thank you, Persephone."

She smiled at him, reliving any tension left between them. "Your welcome, love."

After she had gone, Hades was left alone with his thoughts. Worry filled every inch of his body, causing him to almost feel sick. What dawned on him the most was that by the end of the day, his only son might be very well dead.

"I told Piper and her mother that there is something wrong with Hazel's grandmother." Persephone explained when she came back with Hazel. "You know how Nico doesn't want anybody to know."

"What's wrong with him?" Hazel asked, sitting beside her father. "What happened?"

Hades sighed and rubbed the top of Hazel's head. "You know how he has stomach cancer. They think….they think it spread to somewhere else. That's all they told me."

"They haven't come back out, yet?" Persephone asked, also sitting down. "I was gone for at least thirty minutes."

"They're defiantly taking their time." Hades muttered.

"Dad….?" Hazel asked after ten minutes of silence, her face gray with worry. "Do you think that Nico's going to die? Please don't lie to me. I can take it."

Hades looked at her, knowing that chances were she would be his only child by the next day. Through that look, she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"No, no…" Hazel started to cry, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Dad, he can't die."

Hades pulled her to him, hugging her while she cried. Having nothing to say, he didn't say anything at all. He just held her as she shook with sobs, acting as if Nico had already died.