Hello everyone! I am so sorry that this hasn't been updated in so long but I had a bit of writer's block especially since this is the last chapter to this story. I think Nico and Percy have been through enough and they deserve happiness so, I'm giving it to them! I am so thankful to all who have read my story and reviewed and followed and favorited! I never thought it would get this big! But just thank you so much, this was my first story ever and I will cherish it so much! So without further adieu, enjoy the last chapter to Nico's Anatomy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians nor Grey's Anatomy
Eight Months Later
"This is nerve-wracking." Marina spoke as every resident boarded the bus that would take them to the hotel where the following day, the fifth year residents would take their board exams to become fellows the following year.
This was the dream for everyone who wanted to be a surgeon. In this competitive world of medicine, only those who took risks and balanced their talent with their knowledge would make it out to be well known not just around America but around the world. Percy was close to being known around the world, having taken America by storm ever since he started his trial to cure Alzheimer's disease.
This is what everyone who wanted to be a surgeon dreamed of. The chance to change medicine forever and all of it was decided by these oral board exams that could make or break you.
"Just remain calm and positive, we're gonna pass, we've studied this all year, we can do this, we're gonna pass..." Jason spoke nervously as he sat in front of Marina and Nico with Leo right next to him.
"Are you trying to convince us to think positive or yourself?" Leo asked him.
"Me- no us, us..."
"Yep, he's cracked..." Marina muttered.
"Jason, just calm down okay? We're gonna be fine," Nico tried to reassure him, but he was feeling nervous himself.
Sure Nico had studied but ever since the car crash almost a year ago, it had rendered him unable to go back into the OR as he started his physical therapy. It was a precautionary measure that Percy had insisted on adamantly. After he woke up a day later, Percy had cried into his arms and kissed him so much, making Nico's head spin, mostly because he felt he was suffocating.
He was in bed for two months before his wounds healed and he was given the green light to go home. Of course for a month he had to take things easily and so, he had stayed at him studying so that he wouldn't forget the things he had learned.
A side effect from the car crash had been that Nico's joints kept locking up, thus physical therapy was sought out and Nico was made to attend three hours everyday. It was only until three months ago that Nico started to feel like his old self as he returned back into the OR doing a minor surgery that would only take an hour, two tops to be done.
Now here he was, about to take his board exams, finally feeling like his old self and his confidence in his skills dwindled as he heard Jason blabber about some statistics that only 4 out 5 pass the board exams and so forth.
All Nico really wanted was to be home with Percy for today and cuddle. He didn't want to go to this hotel where he would be staying in for one night and the next morning he would have to take an extremely difficult test that would determine if Nico was fit to be a Cardiovascular and Thoracic surgeon.
Every resident that was taking the test would be taking it based on what specialty they chose. For Marina and Hazel it was Orthopedic surgery, for Jason and Frank it was Trauma surgery, for Leo it was General surgery and for Lucy it was Neurosurgery.
In just a few hours, they would reach the hotel and every single one of them, not to mention others from every different hospital in one county of New York would be there to take their exams. It would last the whole weekend actually because the board exams lasted six hours for each person. Six hours. Stuck in a room with a stranger as they were tested on how well their knowledge of their chosen specialty was.
It really was nerve-wracking.
A few hours, all seven residents found themselves entering the hotel, astounded by the vast number of other residents from other hospitals all around the lobby, talking to one another as they checked themselves in to their rooms.
The group of seven all made their way to the front desk and checked themselves in as they looked about them.
"That guy's gonna fail," Marina said suddenly. Every single one of them looked at her, their eyes wide as she said that.
"Are you crazy?" Jason hissed at her.
"How can you even tell?" Leo asked.
"Oh come on, look at him, he's gonna psyche himself out, he's already sweating bullets and the test isn't even until tomorrow," Marina said as she grabbed her room key. They all made their way to the elevators and boarded on. They were all, surprisingly on the same floor, Marina, Lucy, and Hazel were rooming together as Frank and Leo roomed together and Jason and Nico roomed together.
"Let's unpack first and then, meet up at the girls' room since it's bigger and study some more, okay?" Jason asked them all as they made their way into their rooms.
"Sounds good," Hazel smiled at Jason.
...
Four hours later and the Nico was about ready to explode from all the studying they had been doing. He needed a break and he missed Percy. Nico decided that he was gonna go back to his room, order room service and call Percy as a form of a break.
"Hey guys, I need a break, I'm going back to my room and ordering something to eat, I'll come back later." Nico got up and made his way across the suite and opened the door, a chorus of okays followed behind him as he shut the door.
He dug out his pass key from his pocket and made his way inside. Nico decided to call room service first and order his food before calling Percy, since there was no telling how long they'd be on the phone, so he did just that ordering himself a cheeserburger with hashbrowns instead of fries and a small salad with a coke. Then he dialed Percy's number and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Perce," Nico spoke on the phone as he flipped through channels on the tv.
"Hey babe, how are you? Do you like where you're staying at?"
"Yeah, I like but... I'm pretty nervous about tomorrow..."
"Don't be, you're gonna do fine, I already know you're gonna pass."
"You're just saying that cause you have to..."
"Nico, you are incredibly smart, you don't need me to tell you that. Don't sweat it baby, you're going to be more than fine, you'll see and when you pass I'll say I told you so." Nico could almost see the smirk that Percy had on his face as he said that to him.
Nico laughed softly, "thanks, I think I needed to hear that..."
"I'm here for you, always okay?"
"Okay, so how was your day?"
Percy was about to speak when there was a knock on Nico's door, "Room service!"
"Oh, hold on Perce, room service is here."
"Fancy," Percy teased him.
"Shut up," Nico said before going over and answering the door.
The food rolled in and Nico tipped the person before closing the door, grabbing his food and going back to sit on the bed while talking to Percy.
"Okay, go on."
"What are you eating?"
"Really? You fatass," Nico rolled his eyes at Percy before answering, already knowing Percy would whine if Nico didn't answer the question. "I'm eating a cheeseburger with hashbrowns and a small salad. Now, go on."
"Aww man, I wish I was over there eating with you," Percy complained.
"Babe, tell me how your day went."
"Right, well the trial is going to start tomorrow, I'll have my first patient and see if she received the drug or the placebo..."
"Oh..." if the patient ever got the placebo, he or she wouldn't be getting the drug and no help for his or her disease.
"Yeah, I'm actually pretty nervous..."
"Don't be, if it does end being that the patient receives the placebo, then... I mean, they could always try again to see if they could get the drug, it's not your fault because you don't choose who gets the drug or not..." Nico chewed on his bottom lip.
The thought scared him. Alzheimer's was a terrible disease, one that took away your memories, precious memories and made you believe your most loved people were strangers. You wouldn't recognize them, you wouldn't know that you had once loved them at all, to have all of your memories and things you once held dear taken away from you without even knowing it, that was a harsh reality.
"Yeah I know," Percy said, cutting into Nico's thoughts, "but still, I hope that my patient doesn't get the placebo... he's a 45 year old male with a wife and two small children... Alzheimer's... it can affect anyone..."
"Yeah..."
"Well hey, let's not talk about sad things... wanna know what I'm eating? I cooked tonight," Percy's voice was laced with amusement.
"You cooked? Wow, I'm impressed Percy," Nico teased him.
"Baby I can cook."
And just like that, they couldn't stop talking to each other. Not until there was a knock on Nico's door by Marina and Hazel, telling him to come back and study.
The next day, all seven residents were sitting side by side in a row of chairs awaiting to be called in for their exam. The examiners would all be in rooms, and there were other residents strewn all over the place, some sitting others mostly standing since there were so few chairs available.
Finally one by one they were called in to the rooms.
"Nico di Angelo."
A woman's voice called his name and Nico got up to the room on the far left corner. His hands were starting to sweat and he could already feel his heart pumping, this was it. He could either pass or fail, there was no in between and there was no way to retake the test until next year. He had to pass this test.
He entered the room and sat down in the other chair available, the woman sat down before him. They faced each other, a minute of silence passed by.
"How are you Nico di Angelo, my name is Meredith Langston, and I will be your examiner. Now, the following rules apply, you cannot leave the testing room unless it's within the 15 minute interval. You cannot leave the test incomplete otherwise it is an automatic fail. You cannot leave a question unanswered, you may only choose to go back to answer it. These are the rules, do you agree to follow?"
"Y-yes."
"Let's begin."
Nico felt his heart beat so suddenly in his chest, almost as if it were about to explode.
"While performing surgery, in the scenario that a pulmonary artery were to suddenly pop, what actions would you take knowing you have not yet finished suturing a vein that needs to be sutured right away yet because of this blown artery, the patient is now losing blood, not to mention is not inhaling air."
...
"Let's say that in the event that the patient's bowls look like they might be cancerous, yet they are a donor, what actions would you take?"
Leo found this question amazingly easy, which only meant that it would get harder from here on out.
...
"What methods would you proceed with if a patient had come to you to with the hope of wanting to walk once more, but the structure of their bones is badly misshapen."
"I would take x-rays to see for myself how badly they are misshapen before coming to a final decision..." Marina answered confidently, "from there..."
...
"There have been car crashes that involved two buses, the ER is flooding in with many patients, most of them are outpatients and they're symptoms or injuries aren't fatal, as a trauma surgeon, it's your job to make sure the ER is in order, running smoothly and with no problems. How would you handle this situation?"
...
"Can you tell me the possible affects if a patient were to receive surgery for their left side of the brain?"
All seven residents came out hours later and packed their bags for the bus that would be coming for them in two hours.
Their brains were fried and they felt unbelievably exhausted.
The exam had been brutal, some questions had been fairly easy but most of them had been extremely difficult.
Nico entered his room where he found Jason laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, seemingly in a daze.
"That... was the hardest test I have ever taken... not even the intern exams were this hard... god, Nico, what if I failed?"
"Don't think like that Jase, come on, let's pack up the bus will be here soon."
Jason nodded his head and slowly got off the bed, grabbed his duffle bag and packed up his belongings.
"I'm taking the soap." He said after a moment of silence and Nico laughed out loud.
...
Every resident that belonged to Pacific Coast was waiting outside for their bus to get there, some felt confident others felt like they had failed, most were in between.
Soon the bus approached and everyone got on board.
They would all know at the end of the day if they had passed or not via email.
As the bus drove off, Nico dozed off to sleep, his mind slowly shutting down.
"Gotta pee, gotta pee!" Hazel yelled and she was the first one out of the bus. Outside the hospital, Percy, Luke, Apollo, Piper, Chris, Clarisse, Marshall and Will and the chief were all waiting for the residents.
"There he is!" Percy was the first one to shout as his eyes landed on Nico, "there's my love!"
The statement made Nico blush and sent his stomach fluttering.
Percy came up to Nico with open arms as he enveloped him in a bear hug.
"So? How did you do?" Percy asked Nico once he let go of him.
"Um... I think I did pretty good?"
"Just good? I think I taught you better than that Neeks," Luke teased as he slung his arm around Marina, bringing her closer. She was poking Marshall, teasing him as he whined, telling her to stop.
Soon, all of the resident's phones vibrated, signaling that they received either a text or an email. They each took out their phones and read what they said.
Nico opened his email and read it in his mind, his heart pounding in his chest.
"No way... no way, no way! Percy! I passed!" Nico jumped up into Percy's arms.
"I told you so!"
"Yes!" Nico heard Marina say as she hugged her brother and then Luke.
"Yes! Piper, I passed! I was freaking out for no reason!" Jason was heard shouting.
"Look at that! Do you see that?" Leo pushed the phone up to Apollo, "I freaking passed!"
"Hazel?" Frank called out to Hazel as she made her way back outside.
"Octavian! I passed, look babe!" Lucy squealed happily.
"Frank, look I passed, I'm a- surgeon!" Hazel choked on her words.
"Me too!" Frank ran over to her and picked her up as he spun her around.
Of course, not everyone had passed, all around there were cries of happiness or sorrow as each of the other residents read if they had passed or not.
...
"Hey, let's celebrate!" Percy shouted over the noise. "Party at my house!"
"Come on babe, let's go celebrate and then again tonight in the privacy of our own home." Apollo smirked at Leo.
Leo was still living in the old house, Nico had sold it to Marina and Luke had moved in. Jason had moved in with Piper seeing as how Lucy and Octavian got a place together, and Hazel moved in with Frank as Marshall and Will got their own place together. Nico had already moved in with Percy and now, after just eight months of dating but knowing each other more than that, Leo moved in with Apollo.
Things had started a bit rocky between Leo and Apollo but so far, they were good. Leo couldn't believe after all of the shit they been through, the bomb, Nico almost dying due to hypothermia, the shooting, Percy almost dying, Henry dying, Nico almost dying again because of a car crash, they all made it out... well not all of them. Annabeth and Reyna had been lost as well some other nurses and residents, but most of them all survived. It was crazy to think back on it. None of them had ever imagined that they would all have to go through that while trying to become a surgeon.
One Month Later
"I can't believe it! We're fellows! We're our own attendings basically!" Hazel gushed as Nico and Jason walked into work.
"I think it's just another normal day, so let's get to work people," Jason said putting his things away in the locker room the attendings use.
"Look at him," Nico teased, "already acting like the Head of Trauma."
"Shut up di Angelo."
The three doctors all walked over to the front desk of the second floor to get new files for any patients that they would be working with today.
"Hey guys, we've got a trauma coming in." Hazel spoke as she made her way down to a flight of stairs to get to the emergency room, Nico and Jason following behind her.
All three doctors saw Frank, Leo, Marina, Luke and Percy waiting outside for the ambulance to get there.
"Hey babe!" Percy winked over at Nico, making him blush.
So many years together and yet, Percy found a way to make him feel flustered with merely a wink.
Chris, Clarisse, Apollo, Marshall and Will soon joined after, with Piper coming in last.
Soon, the ambulance made its way in, stopping in front of the doctors.
A paramedic came out of the driver's side, "you guys are gonna love this."
She opened the doors and the other paramedics all got out, bringing out with them a boy about 15 or 16 years old, encased in cement.
"I swear I didn't mean for this to happen," he spoke.
...
"Andrew, 15 years old, says he stayed in the cement overnight because of this dare his friends made him do, saying he would impress this girl or something..." An intern spoke to the doctors that had gathered around Andrew. They had moved him into a room in the ER.
"Okay, I'm gonna go ask questions to his buddies over in the waiting room," Marina said as she made her way out.
"Alright, we don't know how to proceed with this, so let's touch him until we're ready, so everyone, let's go into the next room and talks things out." Chris suggested.
...
Chief Brunner made his way into the emergency room and sees EMTs all over the place while a boy encased in cement is the middle of the room.
"Why aren't any of you helping this boy? Why are all of you standing here?" Chief Brunner asks them.
The EMTs give a shrug and one person says, "we were instructed not to do anything."
Chief Brunner saw in the next room all of his attendings and makes his way over to see what is happening.
Once he enters the room he hears shouting from each doctor.
"I say we save the limbs first," Clarisse makes her voice heard.
"The cement is crushing his abdomins, we need to save that first," Will counters.
"What about his third degree burns?" Apollo argues.
"I say we save the heart and lungs," Luke suggested, "besides, you guys have two amazing cardio surgeons."
"Yeah and you've got two general surgeons at the ready," Will rolled his eyes.
"Well same goes for Plastics, am I right Marshall, we're the Plastics Posse!" Apollo claps Marshall on his shoulder.
"Well, you've three ortho surgeons so suck it, all of you." Clarisse grumbles.
"Are we honestly bickering like children? As always?" Chief Brunner spoke.
"Oh come on Chief, tell these nitwits we need to save the boy's limbs."
"Or we could save his abdominal region which is being crushed and will slowly eradicate his internal organs..." Will said.
"Or... we could help salvage his heart and lungs, ya know," Luke argued.
"Or we could fix those third degree burns of his?"
"I don't know what you all should start with, I can't make sense of what should take priority but you all need to work as a team and save this boy's life before it's too late. You only four to six hours, get to work people." With that, Chief Brunner made his way out.
"What should we do first?" Will asked everyone
"Ya know, I'm not usually the dumb one, I'm usually the smart one in my group of friends... but.. I just wanted to impress Lola, I didn't want her to think I was a wimp and well... I'm just- not usually the guy who jumps into a tub of cement." Andrew talked as the doctors chipped away at the cement.
"Is she the girl that came in with your group of friends?" Marina asked, "I saw her waiting in the waiting room, she seemed really worried."
"Yeah, that's her... oh man, I feel like I'm Han Solo or something..."
Nico suddenly laughs as he chips away.
...
"This seems to be taking forever..." Andrew said as the doctors chipped away, "oh god, I'm gonna die. I'm a loser who jumped into a tub of cement and I'm gonna die and Lola and everyone else will say 'he's that stupid kid that died because he was covered in cement and it was all to impress this girl' and I'm gonna die because I'm stupid-"
"Hey Andrew don't talk like that. You're not a loser, you're Han Solo okay?" Nico said as he looked Andrew in the eye, "look at all the awesome things Han Solo did, was he a loser? I don't think so."
Andrew looked at Nico and smiled, "thank you."
...
"Guys, the pressure on his leg... it's too much..." Marina spoke but no one seemed to hear her.
"Okay, looks good, as if I needed to check," Luke says to Nico, "okay, inject it in."
I need to cut it open to release the pressure from the leg... Marina thought to herself.
Marina grabs a scalpel and slices open Andrew's leg to release the pressure that was building up.
"What are you doing?" Will asks her, panic settling in.
"There was pressure build up in the leg, I needed to slice it open before we lost his leg, I saved it." Marina defended herself.
"Hey, she's right," Clarisse looked over the wound.
...
"Okay, I think we're good, the cement is all chipped away and we have an OR booked, let's take him away," Will told the doctors around the room.
"Wait a second..." Nico stops everyone from leaving, "we're forgetting something."
"How do you know?" Will asks Nico.
"Let's just hear him out," Percy tells Will.
Nico thinks back and tries to figure out why he's got this nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Something they forgot to do but what it is, he's got no clue. Suddenly, he remembers that for over four hours, they have been pumping fluids into Andrew, his bladder must already have filled up...
"His bladder!" Nico shouts.
"What about his bladder?" Will asks him.
"We've been giving him fluids for over four hours do you not realize that Andrew hasn't expelled it at all, if we don't hurry up his bladder could explode."
Realization dawns on Will and he tells Leo to run over to get a catheter to empty out the bladder.
Soon enough, Leo comes racing back in and Will starts to attach the catheter, and pretty soon, liquid starts to flow through and down into the pouch.
They stay there for a few minutes as Andrew empties out his bladder before bringing him into the OR.
Two Months Later
Overture. Curtain. Lights. This is it. The night of nights. No more rehersing and nursing a part. We know every part by heart. Tonight, what heights we'll hit. On with the show. This is it.
"I'm nervous."
"You're going to be fine."
"I'm still nervous... all this time... it's finally here..."
"You look handsome."
"I'm so nervous."
"It's your wedding day, of course you're nervous."
There's a reason I said I'd be happy alone. It wasn't because I thought I'd be happy alone. It was because I thought if I love someone and it fell apart, I might not make it. It's easier to be alone because what if you learn you need love and then you don't have it? What if you like it and lean on it? What if you shape your life around it and then it falls apart? Can you even survive that kind of pain? Loosing love is like organ damage. It's like dying. The only difference is death ends. This could go on forever.
...
The ceremony began. The ocean lapped and crashed into the sand. Every guest was sitting in their seats with the exception of the groomsmen and groomsmaids? Yes, because there were two grooms not just a groom and a bride.
Percy stood at the alter as he waited for his love to make his way to him. This was it... this step in their relationship... this bold move...
The thing about the bold moves, they're terrifying. They could end in tears and broken bones and that's exactly what makes them so damn exciting.
Exciting. For years had he dreamed of this moment... while recovering from the car crash, Percy had decided to have one hell of wedding because life is precious and it could end in a second.
His tuxedo was black, with a black bow tie and black slacks and shoes. His hair, ever unruly was combed and styled. In the sunny light, his eyes glowed, matching the ocean that was crashing and rolling behind them.
Soon enough, Nico made his appearance, wearing a black tuxedo as well, his black shaggy hair had been cut for the wedding and his dark eyes seemed lighter in sunlight.
This was it.
The moment they had waited for.
They would soon be married.
Transition is movement. From one part of life to a whole new one. And it can feel like one long, scary, dark tunnel but you have to come out the other side. Because what's been waiting there, might be glorious.
...
"And now, the vows, Percy, you may go first."
Percy cleared his throat, "Nico, my love, I can't tell you how happy you make me, because words will never be enough... I mean, you know you make me happy, you know I love you more than anyone on this whole goddamn planet, so what can I say to make you believe what you already know? I can't say anything because... it would all sound redundant and cliched. But I do want to tell you how happy you make me because you deserve to hear it every single day. Yes, sometimes you make so angry that I just want to grab you and put tape on your mouth to shut you up but no matter how angry I get I love you all the same, possibly even more. Everyday, I feel like I fall in love with you more and more and... I just- love you so much. I love you in the hold a radio over my head outside your window unfortunate way that makes me hate you love you. So, I'm not good with words and my vow probably sucks because I couldn't exactly express how much I love you... but I am in love with you."
Nico felt tears prickle in the corner of his eyes, a lump had formed in his throat as he heard Percy say his vow and when it came to his turn, he had coughed slightly to be able to move his mouth, which felt dry.
"Percy, I may not show you... exactly how I feel at times, because I'm not an overly affectionate person who shows their emotions.. but I love you.. I-I am so in love with you I... I think maybe.. I'm not good with words... I- am going to..." Nico started to feel nervous, and Percy grabbed his hand, looked deep into Nico's eyes and smiled encouragingly, making it possible for Nico to go on. "I- I love you and you're- you're in me, you're like- it's like you're a disease. It's like I was infected by Percy Jackson from the moment we met. And I just can't... tell you exactly how ingrained you are in my life but you just are. I can't think about anything or anyone. And I just- was so scared to lose you so many times... I couldn't picture my life without you and if I tried to it hurt- it hurt to even think about my life without you because it didn't seem possible because it felt wrong, because it felt like I had fallen into a void that just didn't make sense and I just love you so so much and I know I don't show it but I do. I love you all the time. It's every minute of every hour of every day. You have my heart. You picked me. You chose me. You love me. I didn't lose faith in you. I didn't doubt you.. well maybe for a few times.. but I most certainly will never leave you. I love you."
Everything that they had been through, was worth the pain, worth the wounds that made scars on their bodies, marking them with the past...
People have scars in all sorts of unexpected places like secret road maps of their personal histories, diagrams of all their old wounds.
Then there are some scars that remind a person all that they have accomplished but those scars never healed... all the obstacles that they had to go through to reach the end of the tunnel with the glorious prize which is happiness. Because they wanted happiness so badly.
All we want in life is happiness.
"I now pronounce you husband and husband, you may now kiss your husband."
Percy grabbed Nico by the waist and kissed him hard. Passionately. Pouring every ounce of emotion, of love, of joy into that kiss.
They got through every obstacle that dared stand in their way.
Love told them where to go.
~Fin~
Yes, it's done. Finished. And I am so extremely sad yet happy because Nico and Percy seriously deserved this happiness! Thank you all for reading my story, it has been a pleasure to write this story and finally finish. I hope this wasn't a weak ending, tell me what you guys think? Thank you again, for reading.