Chapter 10 - That's Definitely a Stab Wound

I woke with a noise between a scream and a sob. I was alone, Percy was dead, Bob had abandoned me as so many had before.

"Woah." Said a voice near me. "Take it easy, princess."

I looked around, gasping for breath, and noticed two things - Piper was gone, replaced by Leo. And Jason was awake.

It had been Leo who had spoken. But both he and Jason were staring at me in horror.

"Sorry." I muttered. "Bad nightmare. How are you feeling, Jason?"

"Honestly, I feel pretty ok." Jason said.

I nodded, still feeling weak and trembly. Breathe. Just breathe. I kept counting my breath and tried to focus on the task at hand. I cleared my throat. "If you don't mind, I'll need to check your bandages."

Jason nodded and pushed the blanket off his chest. He was still shirtless, so Piper and I could access his bandages easily. I checked them over. There was some blood, but not as much. I was relieved. The bleeding was stopping or had stopped. And Jason was still alive. He may actually have a chance. I didn't know.

"Ok. It looks… better, Jason. The bleeding might have actually stopped. I don't want to remove the bandages to check. We can change them in the morning and get you an actual shirt."

He grinned at me. "That'd be good."

Leo looked green. "This is better?"

I nodded. "He didn't soak through the bandages this time. That's a good thing."

I pulled out the stethoscope and listened to Jason's heartbeat. "Still weak, but present, so yay." I told him. He grinned at me again.

"Yeah, not dead yet."

I sat on the doctor's stool. "We'll try to keep it that way."

He nodded, wearily. "I was telling Leo about what happened on Ithaca. Piper's taking a nap - I sent her up a few minutes ago. She barely slept with the harpy attacks last night, and then fought today, and -"

I nodded. "I know. I'm glad she's sleeping but I wish she would have woken me first. We need to keep a close eye on you, Jason."

"Hey, I'm here!" Leo protested.

I smiled at him. Leo was good with machines, but I wasn't sure he'd be much help fixing Jason.

I took Jason's temperature and the rest of his vitals, making notes on the legal pad I kept by the bed. "Ok. You don't have a fever, so no infection yet. That's my other biggest worry - that's a big wound. We'll need to keep it clean. It'll hurt when we change it." I warned him.

He nodded grimly. "Piper warned me that it was a good thing I was unconscious earlier. Someday I swear I'll make it out of a fight without losing consciousness at all, even after."

Leo and I grinned at that. Slowly, the nightmare was feeling less real and the sick bay more real. I was more and more present. I looked at Leo. "Can you bring us some plates from the mess hall? I don't think we should move Jason yet and I want someone to always be with him until he's more stable, ok?"

Leo nodded. "You got it."

After he left I turned to Jason.

"I need to thank you -" Jason said at the same time that I said, "I need to apologize -"

We both stared at each other. "Doctor first." I said. Jason grinned but nodded.

"I need to apologize, Jason. Today, on Ithaca… I had a moment, or a couple moments… when I thought you were going to go with your mom. I stopped trusting you. I… I had a friend who turned against me, against the gods."

"Luke." He supplied.

I nodded. "He was the other guy who came to camp with Thalia and I. He was older than Thalia, and, well, he was a true hero. But he turned bitter."

Jason was silent, letting me tell the story without interruption.

"He was angry at his parents, angry about how they had abandoned him. His mom… she tried to become the Oracle, like Rachel, except it didn't work. She turned… scary. Insane. Luke blamed his dad, Hermes, for …. For a lot of stuff. And so when it came to war, well -" My voice caught. "He sided with the Titans. He ended up letting Kronos take over his body. He betrayed everyone, and a lot of people I loved were killed." Tears filled my eyes as I remembered cradling the burned head of Silena Beauregard. "He… he realized what was right, in the end. He gave his life to try to stop things. But the pain he caused…. Well, a lot of people died because Luke made some bad choices. And I saw you with your mom and thought…." I bit my lip, trying not to cry.

Jason reached over and took one of my hands. "Hey, it's ok. I get it. You saw history repeating itself only a year later." He squeezed my hand. "You don't know me as well as you knew Luke, but I promise, I'll work hard to make sure you can trust me. I try to never break a promise or to lie."

He took a breath. "Actually, I was thinking about that today. With my mom." He pulled his hand away and took a shaky breath. "When she abandoned me, it hurt me like nothing else. It shaped me into who I am. I learned when I was just two years old that people couldn't always be trusted. And I wanted to change that. That's why I always try to follow the rules and keep my promises. I just wanted you to know, in case it helps."

I nodded, seeing Jason in a new light. He wasn't some kind of perfect demigod - he was just a guy trying his best to do what was right - just like Percy was.

I smiled at him. "Thanks Jason. I don't know if it'll help - I think my doubts are my own problems, and don't really have to do with you - but I do like knowing you better."

Leo came in at that moment, two magic plates in one hand, two magic cups in the other. He stayed to chat while I kept an eye on Jason and ate. I had a burger. After Tartarus, everything still tasted weird. Like my tastebuds had been burned away by the fire water. But I didn't mind - it was real food, and for that I was grateful.

I decided to sleep in the sick bay again so I could be close in case of any changes for Jason. I had set up a schedule with the rest of the crew so someone was always on Jason-watch. I had hooked him up to a heart monitor but I still wanted someone to have eyes on him at all times in case his condition worsened.

The nightmares just could not leave me alone. I was back in Arachne's cave. But this time, the trap failed. She wiggled out. I'd miscalculated. The Chinese handcuffs were too big. She slipped right through. I was out of time and out of options. She knew I'd tried to trick her and wouldn't believe a word I said. I tried to walk backwards, towards the opening of the cave, but she was faster. I tried to jump out of the way but my broken ankle made me stumble. I fell and she pounced. Her fangs opened in a wide smile. She leaned down to rip out my throat.

I woke with a gasp and grasped desperately for my throat. Percy was on Jason-watch, sitting at the foot of my cot. "Woah." He said, reaching for me. "Just a dream."

I shook my head, trying not to look at him. He got up and I tried to breathe.

"Here." He pressed something into my hands. "Water. Drink."

I downed the cup and looked at him gratefully. "It wasn't just a dream." I croaked. "It could've been real. If you'd been any later to rescue me from Rome -"

He sat down and held out his arms. I scooted over until I could sit in his lap, my head against his chest. I listened to his heartbeat until I was calmer. As I pulled away, he gave me a kiss on the head. I have never felt so grateful for Percy. But I guess I thought that yesterday. And I'd probably think that tomorrow. I wondered if he could ever know how much he meant to me. I snuggled back into his hold. Sometimes, there just aren't enough words to explain how you feel.

When I felt stable, I got up and looked at the clock. It was later than I'd asked to be woken up. I turned to Percy, wanting to yell at him for letting us sleep in but he just grinned at me with his same silly smirk. That one that used to irritate me, but now made me feel better just to see it.

"We're heading to Olympia, just as you ordered." Percy said in a whisper so we didn't wake Jason. "We should be there tomorrow morning. Could've been sooner but Leo's trying to fly far enough away from the land that we don't encounter any of those armies the ghosts mentioned. How bad is -"

I shook my head. "I've never seen someone come back from a wound like this Percy. But maybe Jason is stronger, maybe he can fight -" I shrugged. I really didn't know. "For now, we give him the best chance we can. That's all we can really do."

Percy nodded. He and Jason had gotten close over the trip to Italy and the events in Rome. I knew he was worried about Jason, we all were, but there was only so much we could do. Hera had said the wound touched his soul as well as his body. Chiron and WIll had never taught me to heal souls. Maybe Jason needed a therapist? I didn't know. Percy pulled me back to his lap and rested his chin on my head. He gave me a kiss and whispered,

"So, healer, Savior of Olympus times two, pilot, rescuer of the Athena Parthenos, architect, fluent in Morse code…. Is there anything you can't do?"

I smiled and snuggled closer to him. It felt so nice, so safe. I heard Jason stir and I reluctantly pulled away from Percy.

"Hey, Jason. How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing pretty good, I think. You know, considering the stab wound."

I nodded and beckoned Percy over with me. Percy helped Jason sit up so I could check his bandages. There didn't seem to be much more blood today, which was good.

"Ok. I'm going to wait for Piper to help change the bandages. I'm hoping her charmspeak can help with the pain."

"You don't want to just give him morphine?" Percy asked, still holding Jason's shoulders.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure how the drug would interact with the sword wound - Will and Chiron never mentioned smoking wounds before. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here. And in case the ship is attacked I want Jason to be able to move, at least a little. I'll use it if you need it, Jason, but I'd hate for it to make anything worse."

He nodded, looking pale. "I get it. I'll let you know if it gets too bad, but for now, I'm ok I think."

I sat on the doctor's stool and began to check his vitals. He was doing ok, I mean, for someone with a fatal stab wound. I sat back and noticed Piper in the doorway.

"Jason's doing as well as we could hope for." I told my friends.

Piper smiled at me. "Thanks for everything, Annabeth."

"I want your help for the bandage change." I told her. "Try to keep him still and out of pain with charmspeak, ok?"

Piper nodded and came to sit behind Jason, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

I looked at Percy. "Hold him still, please." Percy nodded but looked nervous.

I sterilized some scissors and began to cut away the bandages. I gently pulled them away from Jason's body as I saw him tremble and get stiff. I knew exposing the wound to air would be painful. I could tell Piper was whispering something to him and I hoped it helped. The wound looked horrible, dark purple bruising spread over most of Jason's torso and I probably could have stuck a fist straight through him.

"Ok… It's uh…. It's definitely a stab wound." I took a breath. "The good news is the bleeding has slowed considerably." It was true - the bleeding was sluggish, but I wondered if that was just because Jason was low on blood.

"Ok, I'm going to try to clean it out again. The nectar should help everything on the inside heal. I don't know enough to want to open you up and stitch up your organs."

Jason paled. "Yeah, no, that doesn't sound fun." I nodded grimly.

I went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a fresh bottle of purified water and nectar. I went back to Jason and laid down some towels. Then I began to clean the wound. Jason's body went as stiff as if he had been shocked with lightning. I could hear his breathing get shallow and saw him biting his lip. I used some clean towels to dry him off and pulled out some fresh bandages.

"Piper, watch how I do this, ok?" She nodded. I knew Piper had wanted to help more with Jason and I knew she'd be able to handle re-wrapping his bandages.

Once Jason was re-bandaged, Percy and Piper helped him to lay back more comfortably. I washed my hands and went to the medicine cabinet. I measured out a small dose of nectar and brought over a couple of Tylenol with a cup of water.

"Here. I can at least give you some basic pain meds, ok? And you can have a little more nectar without burning up." I passed the medicines to Jason slowly, watching his arms and hands tremble just to take them.

I looked at Percy and Piper. "It'll be much the same today. Jason needs to rest, and I don't want him alone - ever." They both nodded at me. I looked at Piper, "Have you told the others what happened on Ithaca?"

"Yeah, I explained everything. None of us like it, but we are taking the long way around Greece." Piper said, gently smoothing Jason's hair. It looked greasy with sweat.

I nodded and looked her over. She looked to be in decent shape despite the fight yesterday. She wasn't badly wounded. "Are you ok to take first Jason-watch? Percy and I should get some breakfast. I'll check on you in a bit, Jason."

He nodded, but his eyes were closed and his head was leaning back on a pillow. I could tell he was in a lot of pain but didn't want to say anything.

Piper nodded. "I think it'd be good for us to have a minute to talk." I nodded and Percy wrapped an arm around me to lead me from the sick bay. Percy ended up leading me up to the top deck of the Argo II.

"When did you last see the sky? You've been stuck in sick bay and need some fresh air. We can eat outside, ok?" He smiled at me and squeezed my hand, then turned to go get some magic plates from the mess hall.

"Annabeth?"

I turned. It was Hazel, worry tracing every line of her body. "Is Jason -"

"I honestly don't know, Hazel. We'll try everything, but I honestly don't know. He's resting for now." She nodded. I looked over this daughter of Pluto. We hadn't had much of a chance to get to know one another before my trip to Tartarus. I wanted to change that. "Percy and I are going to have breakfast. After that, would you mind showing me this new Mist power and telling me how that happened?"

Hazel smiled, "I'm technically on watch now, but after?"

I smiled and nodded. Percy arrived shortly after, with some plates, cups, and a blue blanket under one of his arms. "Picnic?" He offered. "I think we tried that once and Hermes interrupted." I smiled at him and nodded. He spread the blanket out on the ground and handed me a plate and cup. As I began to eat, I looked at the sky and the scenery. I was still in awe of the world around me after coming back from Tartarus. I didn't think I could ever take this world for granted again.

"So…" Percy said, looking at me sweetly. "We never really discussed what you did while I was gone. Start at the beginning. You found me missing and heroically decided to do a quest to find me?" He said it with an impish smile.

I grinned at him. "Yeah, ok. So the beginning. That morning I came to your cabin and it looked normal except -" I gave him my most dramatic look, "your bed was made." He choked. "I know. That's when I knew something truly terrible had happened."

He laughed as I retold him of the first days of his absence, up until I found Jason, Piper, and Leo. It was a good story, now that he was back and safe. After breakfast he pulled me into his lap.

"I hope you know - I never forgot you, not entirely. And thank you, for trying so hard to find me. I love you, Wise Girl."

I traced my fingers down the inside of his arm. Old sword fighting scars were present, but not so visible right now - his skin was still pale from Tartarus. The scars would be more present as we got some more sun. I ended at the scorpion attack from so long ago, when Luke had first tried to kill him. Then I snuggled in closer and let him kiss me.