Chapter 9 - Things Are Bad

I noticed Frank circling above us in giant eagle form and Jason's body sag. I ran to Piper to help secure him. I placed the stretcher right next to his head and Piper and I pulled him onto the stretcher. I secured the belts around him and showed Frank where to grab so he would be safe.

"You got him?" I asked Frank, worried. He nodded, which looked strange on an eagle.

"We'll see you on the ship." I told Frank. Then he took off and I looked at Piper.

"You need a minute or should we walk?"

Piper looked like all the air had gone out of her. "Both. I'm worried, Annabeth. But I don't think we should stay here - you're the best healer we've got right now, we need to get you back to the ship."

I nodded and gave her a quick hug. Then we started to head down the hill. Thankfully, Hazel's disguise finished falling off halfway down the hill, so Piper and I were both in jeans and sneakers for the more tricky bits of ground. Frank in eagle form appeared above us and swooped down.

"You're bringing us in quicker?" I asked him. He nodded. I pointed to Piper. "Take Piper first, I've got more experience fighting solo in case something goes wrong."

Piper started to protest but Frank grabbed her in his claws and flew off with her. It was true - I had searched for Percy solo, I had done a solo quest under Rome, I had even started my demigod life fighting monsters solo as a seven year old. I didn't want Piper to get hurt. I kept working my way down the hill. I was exhausted but I couldn't admit it. My lungs were having a hard time adjusting to the mortal air, my body was weak from my time in Tartarus. But I needed to hide all that - right now I was the best healer on the ship since Coach Hedge was gone, so I'd need to be the one to help Jason. I grabbed a granola bar from my bag and ate it, sweat still pouring from me. I heard an eagle shriek and looked up to find Frank coming for me. I grinned and held up my arms for him to take me. Within a couple minutes, he and I were on the deck of the Argo II. Frank transformed back into a human.

"Where's Jason?" I asked.

"Sick bay." Hazel said, looking troubled. "And his life force -"

I held up my hand. "It's bad, I know it. Jason knows it. But we aren't going to give up, ok?"

Everyone nodded. Percy came to give me a hug but I shook my head at him. "Later. I've got to get to sick bay, ok?"

He looked hurt but I shoved the rest of the granola bar in my mouth and headed down the stairs. I found Jason laying on a cot in sick bay with Piper by his side.

"He's still unconscious." She informed me.

I nodded. "That's probably good. What I'm going to do isn't going to be fun for him."

She nodded grimly. "How do I help?"

I smiled at my friend and pulled out some bottles. "First, we need to clean the wound. Maybe it'll stop the smoking. Pull away the bandages and get his shirt off. We'll re-bandage him after it's clean."

Piper nodded and got to work. I grabbed more supplies - bandages, nectar, gauze - and came over to help. The bandages stuck to our hands - Jason's blood was a sticky mess. Once the bandages were off, Piper and I pulled off his shirt. I gently turned Jason onto his side and poured first water, then nectar over the wound. I had to be careful since Jason had already had both ambrosia and nectar on the island. I turned him some more so I could get to the other side of the wound. Both sides were still bleeding. I had no way to quantify how much blood he had lost but it wasn't good. He looked as pale as Nico did. I handed Piper a towel and we both pressed on one side of Jason's wound. Once the bleeding slowed, we pulled away the towels and rewrapped him in bandages. When we were done Jason was still out and he didn't look much better.

"That's all we can really do." I told Piper. "We have to keep an eye on him for now, ok?"

She nodded, but she looked troubled. "Go wash up Piper." I told her. Her hands and clothes were covered in Jason's blood. "I'll keep him alive while you clean up, ok?"

She nodded but her eyes were troubled. I could tell she needed to cry. I wanted to hug her, but since I was also covered in blood, I decided against it. I gave her a comforting smile, which she tried and failed to return. She swiped at her eyes, smearing blood across her nose.

"Ugh. Yeah, ok." She muttered. She bent down and kissed Jason on the lips, then left. Percy came down as I was trying to listen to Jason's heartbeat with a stethoscope. He stood by the door until I was done.

"How bad is it?"

I looked at him. "Bad."

He nodded grimly. We had both lost friends to war before. Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper… well, they hadn't had to deal with the death of a close friend yet. Hazel, Frank and Leo had lost parents, but not team mates, people you've depended on to have your back when things are hopeless. It's a different kind of loss. And Piper….

I could tell Percy was thinking the same thing - about all the others we had lost over the years. He came over to hug me.

I held my hand up to stop him. "Not yet. I'm still covered in blood."

Percy grinned and grabbed some towels from the supply closet. He soaked them in water and came over to wipe me down. He started at the top of my forehead and started wiping off my face. When he got to my neck I let out a little scream.

"You're hurt?" He said, obviously shocked and concerned.

"Apparently." I muttered. "I don't remember -"

I stopped with a gasp as Percy grabbed a jug and poured some water over the wound. He held up a mirror and I saw a nasty gash across the side of my neck. He shook his head. "Wise Girl, maybe you should take care of yourself now and then."

He picked up some bandages we hadn't used on Jason and a bottle of nectar. "Hold still, this'll hurt." I bit my lip as he poured the nectar over the wound. Then he gently toweled it off and wrapped my neck in bandages. Then he surprised me by closing the door.

"If you didn't notice a wound on your neck, who knows where else you're hurt. Are you ok with, um…."

And I realized what he meant. I could be injured elsewhere. I hadn't exactly taken my shirt off around Percy before, but he had seen me in a swimsuit so I didn't think there was any harm.

I nodded but could tell I was blushing. I gently pulled off my shirt and turned in a slow circle. When I faced him again I could tell that Percy was also blushing.

"Yeah, ok, I don't see any injuries." He handed me a wet towel. "But wipe yourself off just in case, ok?" I nodded and wiped myself down. There was a lot of blood but I realized it must've all been from Jason - I only had a couple scratches on my body.

""We should, uh, check your legs…" Percy muttered, his face redder than a tomato.

I nodded back. "Can you, uh, go to my cabin and get me some clothes first? I think I should be able to check my own legs." He looked grateful for the escape.

I pulled off my jeans, still coated in blood, and wiped myself down. Then I went to check on Jason. I hoped he wouldn't wake up right now - I didn't want to explain why I was tending to him in only my underwear. Thankfully he was out cold. A minute later an arm stuck itself through the door, a pair of cotton shorts, t-shirt, bra and underwear in its hand.

"Thanks." I muttered as I took them.

"Uh-huh." Percy muttered from the other side of the door.

When I finished cleaning myself up and had the new clothes on I let Percy back in. We studied each other, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

"So, uh, anything new with Jason?" Percy asked.

I shook my head. "Not really."

Thankfully, Piper returned - showered and looking a lot better. She walked in and saw Percy and I staring at each other, faces red.

"What happened?" She asked, horrified.

"Nothing." We said at the same time.

She looked at us suspiciously but after another moment turned back to Jason.

"He doesn't look good." She said under her breath.

"No." I agreed. "He should have a blood transfusion and about a million other things that I have no idea how to do, even if we had the supplies."

Piper nodded, sadly. I really only knew how to do first aid stuff, not advanced nursing stuff. And I wasn't sure any mortals would know what to do with a deadly wound that smoked. Piper held his hand and turned to me.

"You're exhausted, Annabeth. And we might need you later. Take a nap, ok?"

I looked at Percy who nodded at me. "We can defend the ship. Jason needs you to be able to keep him alive. Which means you've also got to take care of yourself."

I grimaced but nodded. My neck wound stung badly. I looked at Jason, still uncovered on the cot, and went to grab a couple blankets from the supply closet. I handed one to Piper. "Keep him warm, but if he starts to run a fever, wake me, ok?" She nodded and I pointed out where I kept the stethoscope and the thermometer. "No more ambrosia or nectar - he's had too much for now, we can't let him burn up."

Piper nodded and gave me a small smile. "I think I can handle this for a couple hours, ok?"

I nodded but went to the supply closet and found an IV set up. I got it ready and hung it from a hook on the ceiling, then set up an IV line into Jason.

"If he gets worse we can give him morphine, antibiotics, and, well, I just think it's a good idea to go ahead and get this set up." I informed Piper. She nodded and looked grateful.

I turned and flopped onto the cot next to them. "I'll be right here if you need me." Percy dimmed the lights to give us all some rest. Of course, rest is relative for demigods. And for demigods recently returned from Tartarus…. Well, the nightmares were back.

It started with Jason, injured and dying on Ithaca. Piper cradling him, speaking to him softly, her words not able to be understood in the dream. The feelings of hopelessness as once again, a plan I made failed. A person I cared about, thought of as a friend, was dying in front of me. The scene shifted and now I was the one cradling a blonde haired boy as he died. But it wasn't Jason. It was Luke. The first person to ever truly see me, love me, take care of me. But when I looked back, it wasn't Luke anymore.

It was Percy. And we weren't on Olympus. We were in Tartarus again. I was holding him as the Gorgon's blood racked his body. As the curse of Geryon and a million other curses afflicted him. Curses that he had taken to give me a chance to survive. His body convulsed and twitched in pain and agony, and blood soaked through his clothes in so many places I couldn't even tell where he was injured worst. I ran my hands through his hair, looking at Bob in desperation. Save him. Do what I can't. I begged. I sobbed. I kissed Percy's forehead, hotter than any human or demigod should be. But Bob turned away from us. And I watched as Percy's breath stopped. His eyes gazed up into the unknown air of Tartarus. And I was alone once again.