OK, didn't find that chapter I was looking for, so I rewrote it. Same stuff, basically, so meh.
Apologies for not updating last night, I just wanted to read. And eat chocolate. Chocolate is always good.
…
Prepare for feels.
"You go ahead and order." Max told her over the mikes built into their bike helmets. "I'll try and park somewhere." Ava removed her helmet, her hair tumbling free. Max's eyes gleamed through the visor, signs of a concealed smirk. She saw her reflection in the shine of the visor and grumbled at him.
"Shut up." She moved to place her helmet in the storage box resting on the back of the bike. He didn't hear her, revving the engine instead. Ava hugged him briefly and then let him go.
She reached the doors to McDonalds, the tantalising smell of fast food making her stomach rumble. It wasn't too busy today, a short queue. Max would probably have a Big Mac with fries like she did. He-
Horns blaring and tyres screeching demonically hurtled all soothing food thoughts from her mind.
Whirling around in horror as metal crunched viciously against metal. A motorbike lay dented and smoking, its own crumpled on the sidewalk.
Someone was screaming. She realised it was her when she started running.
The driver of the lorry was shakily climbing down from the cab, white-faced and horrified. Other pedestrians were trickling towards Max's still form. Ava screamed at them to call an ambulance, shoving through and falling to her knees next to him.
Tears burned down her cheeks. Hunger had been replaced by a thick nausea and if anything had been in her stomach, she'd have bought it up in front of all these people.
"Don't move him." Someone's baritone voice echoed in her ears. A warm pressure on her shoulder tried to pull her back, but she wrenched herself free, breathlessly sobbing the only thing she seemed capable of…
Max…
Blue lights and wailing sirens and figures in green. Yellow lights and white corridors and bloody red bandages.
Then purple. A soft purple accompanied by the sisterly warmth Sophia provided as Ava cried uncontrollably. Tobias was there too, wearing vibrant green as he weaved around and managed his siblings and children.
She could only identify that around her by rough shapes and colours. Tears obscured her vision, no matter how thick and fast they fell.
Red and deep sea blue swam towards her. The scarlet blur carried on walking, a glint of celestial bronze briefly flashing against it. The rich blue came closer and she could just make out Percy's sea green eyes.
The Big Twins were here. They could help Max. Right?
"Ava." Percy's voice was kind, yet concerned. It cut through the fog in her mind. She stared unfocusedly at him, just about determining his eyes narrowing a fraction with worry.
"They think she's in shock." Sophia's voice filled the murkiness, but only for the space of a heartbeat. "But she won't go with them. Starts screaming and fighting if they try to take her away. They left about five minutes ago, but they said they'll come back with something to help."
A swirl of blonde and pale grey swam into sight and Annabeth pulled Ava from Sophia. Seconds later, another pair of grey eyes stared at her, this pair from under a mess of raven hair glinting with silver.
It was Alvie. She got that much from his height.
The grey faded to white and everything about her sharpened to a resolution she hadn't had before. The change in vision quality was so sudden, her eyes burned and her head pounded relentlessly.
"Thank-you, Alvie." Annabeth squeezed her son's shoulder and carried on walking, her grip tight on Ava's arm.
They stopped a mild distance from the others. Annabeth turned to look at her sceptically. "Sophia told me you have something to say." It took Ava a long moment to comprehend what Annabeth was insinuating, but it clicked eventually.
"I'm pregnant." She said blankly, feeling detached from those blandly spoken words. "And I didn't tell Max…" Tears flooded her eyes again. Annabeth drew tissues from her pocket and pushed them gently in Ava's hand. "What if I don't get to tell him?!" She wailed.
"You will." Annabeth brushed hair from Ava's forehead lightly. Her tone wasn't entirely convincing, but Ava didn't register this at the time and was later uncertain about it upon reflection.
Annabeth glanced around surreptitiously. "We'll help him, I promise. There's a lot us demigods can do to heal others." Ava furrowed her brow a fraction in confusion. "Ambrosia, nectar and the twins' water healing mojo, as Leo would put it. The Apollo campers are always good too, and Chiron."
"He'll be OK?"
"We'll do our best." Annabeth hugged her then, letting Ava cry out the rest of her pain on her shoulder.
Ava could have cried for eternity, but she still had tears to spare once she saw Max's comatose form lying motionless on the unfamiliar hospital bed. His right arm, both legs and his left wrist were in casts. Blue casts, Ava noticed through her watery eyes. Max liked blue.
His neck was encased too, his head bandaged. His face was bruised quite a bit across his jawline and he was hooked up to what Ava thought to be bags of morphine and blood.
"He doesn't look like Max." She whispered shakily. Seeing him there, lying amongst the blue and white, he was like a stranger. She had seen him crying in his sleep, standing on a ledge five stories up, panicking so much he couldn't even do something as simple as breathe.
But now… now at what was his worst, he lay vulnerable and alone, injured and helpless.
This wasn't Max.
This was a stranger.
Feels?
