Hi! Today is Good Friday, and I have the day off, so I might just update twice today…
~GoGreen52
The Cost
Chapter 28
-Annabeth POV-
I woke up to a new light. I saw a few vibrant white figures approach me.
"It is not your time, you must go back." The voice said, showing me my friends sitting in front of the precinct. They looked heart-broken.
"How?" I asked, my voice sounding like bells.
"You must find that out, dear," that voice was the one I heard in many memories… my mother.
Her face reminded me so much of myself that it was scary. We both had curly hair, grey eyes, not to mention the calculating look in them. Our figures where the same too- slim and athletic.
"Am I dead?" I asked, looking back down on the people below. My husband, kids, and friends were all down there, crying. Percy looked like he was depressed, and that was the look that killed me a long time ago… when he thought I was dead.
"Yes, right now you are, Annabeth," My mother announced. She gave me a sad smile and showed me all of the doctors working on me, using a defibrillator.
"I have to go back," I said, saying what was true. My mother nodded, and caressed my cheek lovingly.
"Yes, you do. You have a whole new life to live. Kronos is finally dead… you have no threat," my mother explained softly. I nodded to her, feeling like a toddler again.
"But… how do I get back?" I asked, looking at my almost transparent hands, "I have no clue how to."
My mother looked at me quizzically than sighed, "Annabeth, who binds you to earth. Who keeps you alive. Think about them, and you'll find that you are in your old body."
I looked at her, tears now falling down my cheeks, "I love you mommy."
She looked at me and gave me a sad smile, "I love you too, my little Annabeth." I gave her a hug and closed my eyes.
Who bound me to my life on earth?
There was only one answer.
I thought of all of the times we fought, we cried, we smiled, we kissed, we laughed, and I thought about our love. Our wedding. The first time I saw him, even when I hated him.
I thought about Percy Jackson… the one who keeps me alive.
I felt myself fading from heaven, no longer feeling my mother's embrace. Instead I felt hands all over me, and I heard a beeping.
I was alive.
-Percy POV-
Nico and Grover kept me from running to Annabeth and sobbing… I felt like my life was taken from right under me… and I don't think it will ever come back.
"Percy, please, help the girls with the kids," Katie begged from behind me.
I turned to look at her with my dead eyes. "I can't help when I need help myself…" I croaked, collapsing to the ground on my knees. The sky was crying too, raining. It didn't want to let Annabeth go, either.
My friends collapsed next to me, hugging me. Nico had this distant look in his eye, having seen Annabeth pass as I did. The kids would be scarred for life, having to go through what they went through.
In the distance I heard some doctors yelling at each other, shocking Annabeth with bolts of energy in the back of an ambulance. They couldn't move her, considering she wasn't stable.
I was close enough to hear their yelling, talking, and even whispering. It was hard for me to concept anything… all I wanted was my wife back.
"SHE'S BACK!" one yelled, and I perked up.
"Let's get her out of here!" another yelled. I stood up, and ran to where they were.
"Sir, you can ride with us… you're wife here- she's a fighter," The man said, clapping my back, "But we need to get her to the hospital."
I nodded and hopped in the back of the ambulance.
She was alive.
-Thalia POV-
On the news it showed Annabeth being carted off to the hospital, along with Percy. I saw in the background the rest of the gang hop in a truck and speed here, too.
"Good gracious," Sally cried, and I had some tears running down my cheeks as well.
"Annabeth is back, the reporter said that," I reminded her. She nodded, and fidgeted with her hands.
Ten minutes later, Nico ran in the room. He had this wild look in his eye, and I looked up at him with the same intensity that he held.
"Nico…" I started, but his lips cut me off. When he pulled back, he smiled at me.
"Annabeth's going to be alright," Nico said, and I smiled right back up at him.
"That's amazing," I said, and he nodded in agreement. I saw Ms. Jackson chuckling in the background of our little reunion.
"I'm just going to go check on my grandchildren… and leave you two alone," Ms. Jackson winked at me, leaving the room. I laughed, causing Nico to laugh too.
He took the seat next to me and looked at the TV for the first time. The reporter was telling us about the raid, and what had really happened inside the walls. But… it's kind of funny because she wasn't really there.
"I'm just happy that you didn't have to be there," Nico whispered, looking at me.
"Why are you so happy that I wasn't there? I could've been a great asset," I insisted, but Nico gave me a stern look.
"And you could've been killed," Nico said, raising an eyebrow. I smiled at his… weirdness.
"And you look like you've been through hell… or to hell and back, whatever you like better," I said, laughing. Nico laughed with me too, and I could see some of that light return back into his eyes. Now they weren't so dark.
"Well, I did see Annabeth die and come back… but she has been to heaven and back," Nico explained using funny hand- gestures.
"That does make sense…" I said, and sighed, leaning back into my bed.
"What is it?" Nico asked, seeming worried about me. He tilted his torso towards me, checking my wound.
"I'm just happy all of my friends are alive," I explained, and I saw a relieved look on his face.
"Me too," Nico said, leaning back into his chair, "Me too."
-Annabeth POV-
I heard a beeping sound, a consistent rate, too. In the background of the beeping, I heard some people whispering.
"Is mommy going to be okay?" A little girl's voice that belonged to Adela asked.
"Yes, sweetheart. She's going to be just fine," Percy's deeper, but happy voice whispered.
"That's good to know," Aaron's boyish voice said.
I heard someone mumble in agreement, and I knew I might be Grover, Juniper, Sally, Travis, or Katie.
"No, Travis I will not get you pudding!" Katie's voice yelled in the hall. That marks them off.
"Auntie Juniper? Can you show me were the girls room is?" Adela asked, and I knew it might just be various people in there. Gosh, this is confusing.
I mean, first, I died. Saw my dead mom, talked to her, than now here I am, back on earth.
I tried to open my eyes, and it felt like hundred pound weights were on my eyelids. Might as well try later, I thought.
302,432 heartbeats and 25 entries or exits later, I could finally open my eyes. They fluttered open, and I saw Percy, Adela, and Aaron asleep on a cot the nurses must've brought in.
I took a few minutes to see the content faces of my family. Percy looked proud, Adela looked happy, and Aaron looked excited. They must be having good dreams.
I slowly raised my hand to hit the button, to bring the RN in. I needed my meds.
"She's awake?" the nurse asked, walking in.
My eyes widened, and shook my hand with no wires coming out of it in a no gesture, pointing to my sleeping family.
The nurse's eyes widened, and she smiled at me, adding a dose of meds into my IV. "I can see that you're the glue," she whispered, causing me to smile.
She took my feeding tube out of my mouth, too. Great… now I can talk.
"Thank you," my hoarse voice whispered. It hurt to talk… but it was worth it.
"You're welcome," the nurse said, and quietly walked out of the room.
After a few minutes of gazing and listening to my family sleep talk, I got drowsy and you can guess what happened next.
I fell asleep! GASP! But the best part about this sleep was-
It was content and dreamless.
Awe… I love it when people like Annabeth are so selfless, and don't practically kill themselves.
~GoGreen52
