A/N: Back so soon with a new chapter? Well don't expect it to be a regular occurrence. Papayas are famously unreliable. We're back with more angst, more hurt/comfort, and more fluffy adorable cuteness (what's not to love?) Thank you sooo much for the reviews! They were much appreciated ;)

The infirmary was incredibly crowded. Not due to the number of patients, no, there were only two half bloods. They both lay on beds side by side, unconscious. But the sheer number of campers that had turned up in order to see what had happened already half suffocated Nico and Will, who were both standing at the door. Will immediately strode in, going into focused doctor mode.

"Hey! What's going on? Two campers have just come in seriously injured, this isn't your daily gossip. They need space and I need space in order to treat them. I don't think any of you should come in again today unless you're a satyr. I need to know what happened here."

The expressions on people's faces varied from apologetic to annoyed. But nevertheless all of them started bustling out. Nico stayed leaning at the doorway.

"Does clearing out include me?"

"Course not." Will said distractedly, already examining a nasty gash on one of the children's arms. "But if you want to..." Suddenly Will's head snapped up. He'd been so caught up in his own work he'd completely forgotten about Nico's breakdown. "I mean of course you'd want to. I'm sorry Neeks, I completely forgot. You can go." Will's eyes creased at the corners.

Nico flushed at a reminder of what had happened just a few seconds ago. "I'm fine." He replied, a harsh edge to his voice. "Would you like me to prepare your equipment? It's one of the only things I don't mess up at." Unlike trying to act normal around Will a snide voice whispered in his head.

"Sure.. I guess." Will turned to the second patient. Even from the awkward angle that Nico was looking at Will, he could see the colour drain from his face. Will immediately took up the young girl's wrist, checking the pulse. He sighed, whether it was from relief or sorrow Nico couldn't tell.

"Nico, I need bandages, now." If Will wasn't in doctor's mode before he was now. "How come no one told me earlier." He muttered to himself, running a nervous hand through his blonde hair. Will had treated many patients in his time. Despite fights with swords of celestial bronze being cooler, the fight for life was just as nerve wracking. He had seen patients die before, one wrong move and you could cost a life. The guilt he carried from each life lost was sometimes unbearable. But Will tucked those feelings away. Healing first, then emotions.

"Here." Nico's voice jolted him out of his reverie. He gave Will a small smile, but a genuine one. The number of times Nico truly smiled were much too rare. Sure he looked just as cute, correction: good, wait... correction: scary. Scary not cute. But as soon as they were out of the infirmary, Will promised himself that he was going to put a lot more smiles on his face.

"Thanks Nico." He cut the cloth up into strips. The injury was very deep, Will was afraid he wouldn't be able to cure it. No. He firmly reminded himself to remain optimistic. If he gave up hope now, the battle was already lost.

"Will, is there anything else I can do?" Nico's expression was unreadable, but Will decided he needed a rest. The son of Hades barely ate. Or slept for that matter.

"No. You should go back." Will gave Nico a tight-lipped smile.

Nico felt so utterly unhelpful. He could feel life gradually leaving the girl. But Nico couldn't be the one to break the news to Will. Instead he did something he never thought he'd do. He walked forward and gave Will Solace, the son of Apollo, a hug.

"Good luck... Sunshine."

Sure it only lasted a second. And sure Nico pulled away very quickly. But Will immediately felt ten times better.

"Now who's making silly nicknames?" Will teased.

Nico rolled his eyes, but his heart wasn't in it. He left the infirmary, a hollow melancholy clawing at his heart. Because he knew it was only a matter of time before the young girl passed on. And he prayed to Zeus that Will wouldn't try and blame himself for it.

Will had been working non-stop with the injury for two hours straight (had it been two hours? Will couldn't remember.) The other patient, a young boy, had stirred a few hours ago. The gash on his arm must have hurt, but it didn't affect him too badly. He'd been whisked away by Kayla, to b shown around camp. The kid had very much wanted to stay at the infirmary. You see, the young girl was his twin sister (as if Will didn't need enough added pressure.) But maybe taking a look at the lava-pit/climbing wall hybrid practice death trap place (What? It's a hard place to name,) would be exactly the distraction the young demigod needed. No such luck for Will.

Her heartbeat was dropping at an alarming rate. Will would like to say he's made some progress on the patient, but if anything the situation was only worse. He had to stem the blood loss, but bandages didn't seem to be doing the work. Will rushed into the medical supplies cabinet for what seemed like the umpteenth time. The annoying thing was that there were more Oreos in these shelves than plasters. Will swore to himself that he was going to wring Austin's neck once this ordeal was over.

He reached to the top shelf, for a tourniquet. It was extremely risky. Sure Will was the camp's medical expert but he wasn't sure whether even he himself had the expertise to use it. But Nico's face flashed in his mind. He had probably been the same age as the boy when he had lost Bianca. A new steely resolve gripped him.

Will didn't need to look at the monitor to know that the girl was balancing on the edge between life and death. Her skin was a shade of sickly green, it reminded him somewhat of Nico after he'd shadow travelled. Why did all his thoughts lead back to Nico? He shook his head, trying to get rid of these pesky feelings.

Strapping the device around her wrist, one of the major sights of bleeding, he tightened the contraption. It was working! The bleeding had gone from a constant trickling to now a leisurely oozing. Her skin was starting to regain some colour. Will was about to let out a bark of relieved laughter when the most alarming thing happened. The heart monitor let out a single shrill long beep.

Will looked to the instrument immediately but he already knew what he was going to see. A long, barren, bright green flat line stretched across the black screen. He was too numb to even move. The girl was dead.

Sure they hadn't even exchanged a single word, heck, she hadn't even laid eyes on him. But the wave of cold realisation hit him, and Will was desperately trying to swim in his own guilt. And failing.

Maybe if he had used the tourniquet earlier? Or maybe that was completely wrong and maybe he ended up misusing the instrument. Maybe if he had gotten here earlier? Maybe if he had worked harder? Maybe if his siblings hadn't trashed the bandage supplies with century old cookies? But no, that was his responsibility. A thousand maybes hit him and Will staggered into his chair and cradled his head in his hands.

And maybe it was just his awesomely good luck, but the young kid with the nasty gash on his arms had to walk in on him in that exact moment.

"What... ?" The kid said, his eyes going wide. Will was painfully reminded of Nico. It wasn't doing his heart very much good. Kayla looked between them, smiled apologetically at Will, then ran out.

"She's dead?"

"I... Listen, I tried my best. I really did. But the wound was too deep-"

"She's gone. She's gone and it's all your fault!" The kid rounded on him, eyes bulging out of his sockets, starting to fill with unshed tears.

"I'm very very sorry." Will tried channeling all his guilt into those words, but even to his own ears the apology sounded lame.

"You don't even know my name! Or hers!" Will realised with an unpleasant jolt that he didn't. "No number of sorries will ever bring her back! You're meant to be a good doctor but you can't even cure a simple wound!" His said the last words with a cracked voice, and rushed out of the room before Will got a chance to reply.

Will sat back down. He wanted to come up with a reply to every single one of the kid's jabs, but he couldn't. He really was a terrible doctor, Will thought to himself with shameless self loathing. He hiccoughed, trying to gulp down a painful lump that was gradually filling his throat.

"You don't seriously believe him, do you?" A soft voice asked. Will didn't need to turn around to know that it was Nico di Angelo.

"How much did you hear, death boy?" Will cursed his voice for sounding so annoyingly wobbly.

"I've been standing outside the infirmary ever since you forced me out. I... I knew what was going to happen. It's never easy, losing someone, no matter how vaguely you know each other." A cool comforting hand touched his shoulder. "I wanted to be there for you when it happened." The last bit was spoken barely above a whisper, but Will Solace heard every single word, crystal clear. His heart swelled, with an unidentifiable yet warm emotion.

Hahahahahaha! Cliffies, my speciality *inserts evil smirk here* Well, I hope you liked that, of course Will and Nico have a big discussion ahead of them. But all in good time. See ya round next time, now I'll go and do some homework like a responsible child *cough cough* read fanfiction. Papaya out... :)