Chapter 11 - Still Fighting Even Though Injured

Christine Galliardo

White flooded my vision. I blinked a few times until colors began blotting the white canvas of my vision. Above me, the ceiling was painted baby blue against the white walls. Light-colored curtains covered the windows. Rows of beds and fabric partitions filled the room. I rolled at my side, which I immediately regretted doing so. Pain seared at my side. I tried biting back a scream but failed to do so. I moved back to my original position. My head ached and I felt dizzy. I closed my eyes and slowly calmed myself. Footsteps thundered on the other side of the walls. I opened my eyes. The door opened and a blonde girl, a few years younger than me, bursted inside. She walked over and looked at my wound. She went out and return with a tray. She laid it on the table beside my bed and helped me sit up. She took a glass filled with some kind of liquid from the tray and made me drink. It tasted oddly like the homemade brownies Aunt Beryl makes for me every time she came for a visit. Instantly, the pain subsided and strength returned to my body. She cleaned my wound and changed the bandages before leaving the room.

I gave the room a quick look again. It seemed that I am in an infirmary. Some of the beds were occupied by other demigods. I caught glimpses of broken bones and bandaged wounds. Some seemed to be sick. I looked at my bandaged side, wondering how I ended here. Then, everything came back flooding to me. The arena. The fight with Clarisse. Piper's voice. The wild cheers when I won. I won...won...won.

I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle a scream. I won. I won against Clarisse. Oh. My. Zeus. I won. I WON! I closed my eyes and waited for me to calm down. I opened my eyes. I didn't scream but a huge smile remained plastered on my face. Damn. I won. I survived. I laid my head against the headboard, relishing my victory. Then, I remembered. Clarisse. I looked around. I remembered that her siblings brought her here in the infirmary after I wounded her leg and knocked her unconscious. As for me, about how I got here, well, it's still a bit fuzzy. But I do remember Annabeth and Percy carrying me here. Piper whispering behind me, keeping me barely conscious. A falcon flying ahead and a group of kids rushing toward us. Then, darkness. I guess I finally lost consciousness back then. I kept looking around but found no Clarisse. Where is she? Is she out already? I was about to give up when a voice spoke past the partition behind me.

"Finding me?" I can recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. I turned to the partition but didn't move it.

"No." I answered straightforwardly.

"You're lying."

"How about you? Are you finding me?"

"No." She answered.

"You're lying." I said.

"Then, we both lied."

"We really do know when one of us is lying."

"Yeah. Stupid lie detecting sense."

I smiled."Did you made that up?"

"Yeah. As far as I'm concerned, no one had discovered a sense related to knowing when one is lying or not."

"You're listening in class."

"I'm not. Listening to class is nerd stuff. Athena punks do that. They're nerds, after all. Knowing the five senses is basic stuff. Everyone knows about that. Except monsters. All they know was to roar and kill demigods. Nothing else."

"Correction. Not all monsters spend their lives roaring and killing demigods."

"Yeah? Like what kind of monsters?"

"Like Peleus. He's guarding the Golden Fleece, right? Plus, he's not into killing demigods. Well, perhaps killing those who were planning to steal the Fleece, yes."

"I wouldn't disagree on that. You're always the most reasonable one among the three of us."

I grinned."You know what? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my 16 years of existence!"

"What?" I could swear she's smiling. "That's true! Ask Trisha. I'll bet my life that she will say the same thing." The smile disappeared on my face. The atmosphere turned gloomy.

"Yeah...I guess she would."

"Sorry...I just...well...I miss her..."

"Me too." I looked down on my hand as I fingered my gold charm bracelet. "I want to find her as soon as possible. I want to save her. Sorry for directing my anger to you, Clarisse. I'm...I'm just frustrated at the way things are now. Trisha was kidnappped and I'm clueless what was happening around me. Within me. I hated being clueless. It's driving me insane!" I blinked back tears and stared at the white walls of the infirmary.

"I'm sorry too, Christine. I kept the truth from you. It wasn't easy being a demigod. Our lives are always in danger. There was never a safe haven for a demigod. Even here in camp. Monsters always follow us. And if that was bad enough, mortals often get caught in the middle of wars without them knowing it. It's pretty hard. I was just trying to keep you from danger's way."

"But that's impossible now, isn't? Turned out I'm a demigod too just like you and Trisha." I imagined Clarisse nodding her head.

"But it's a bit reassuring to know you're good at fighting."

I smiled. "Yeah. I totally kicked your butt in arena."

"Stupid Christine! You barely remained conscious when I got you!"

I laughed."Yeah? But you didn't."

"What the Hades? You hit me on the head! Of course I will lose consciousness! "

"At least, I won."

"Heh. Beginner's luck."

"What? You're just saying I just got lucky? Want a rematch?"

"Bring it on!" Then, we both winced in pain. It seemed we got too warmed up that we forgot that we're injured.

"I guess it will have to wait 'till we got better."

"No disagreement here."

Silence. I stared at the baby blue ceiling while listening to the groaning and cussing of some demigods in the infirmary as they accidentally moved their injured body parts.

"Ummm...Clarisse."

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to ask about what you said in the arena. The one about me being safer in the mortal world."

Silence. I continued staring at the ceiling, waiting for Clarisse to respond. But it seemed that she isn't going to speak up.

"Sorry for asking that out of the blue. I'm just, well, anyone would be concerned when someone said that to them, you know."

We hadn't talked much after that. I stayed for two days in the infirmary before insisting to the Apollo kids that I'm feeling a whole lot better, which was a lie, of course. The wound improved only a little since I got it and if I move too much, it will start to bleed and feel like it was stung by thousand of bees and poured with endless alcohol. Because of this, I need to be extra careful or else the Apollo kids will surely drag me back to the infirmary. I didn't insist in leaving the infirmary earlier than I was supposed without any reason. First, I hate being bedridden. I don't want to lie down on my back, staring at the ceiling longer than what my hyperactive body and mind can take. Second, I hate feeling pathetic. I hate being pathetic, especially when people give me looks of pity like I was the last of my own species and I'm about to die. Lastly, my godly mother. She hasn't claimed me yet and it's already a few days past the day she was supposed toclaim me. I'm getting pretty worried that she might have abandoned me but Piper said that Percy made the gods promised that they will claim their children as soon as they arrived to camp. Still, I couldn't stop feeling that something is about to happen, something huge, and this is perhaps the reason of my mother's delay.