A child was never supposed to die before the parents. A child was never supposed to endure the hardships he did. A child was never supposed to be brought up the way Sally raised Percy.

Sally considered herself selfish. Keeping Percy close to her instead of sending him to camp. Keeping him close to her, and by doing that keeping him close to Gabe. Sally would do anything for her boy, anything that could protect him.

She hoped she wasn't too late.

Sally watched helplessly has they lifted his son onto the stretcher, putting a mask on his face to help his breathing and wheeling him to the van.

She would never forget how gray his face was, how lifeless he seemed. She was on the verge of tears as she told the paramedics who she was, and was trembling like a leaf in the wind as they helped her into the van.

Watching the medical team work on Percy, trying to stabilize him and get his heart pumping, Sally felt remorse. The ride to the hospital seemed to take years, though in theory it was only a matter of minutes.

Watching the team take him away, one medic staying behind to offer Sally comfort, she felt numb. Her brain was whizzing with energy, yet seeming shut down at the same time.

She felt lethargic, yet kinetic.

She felt unsure.

The paramedic, Rita, was questioning her as to what happened, how so and other personal information, Sally rattling off answers without thinking.

Then Rita was gone.

Sally slumped in her chair, nursing a cup of coffee a nurse and given her when loud footsteps echoed through the waiting room of the emergency room.

Five teens burst through the doors, startling everyone. Sally glanced up, and, finally, let go what she had been holding back, and sobbed.

Stable.

Percy was stable.

Cloaked in a hospital gown, trachea tube and cannula.

The epitome of a hospitalised, comatose patient. Which was what he was.

Sally, being the only person allowed to visit, held his hand tightly, speaking to him. She had been told that people trapped in a coma could hear what people were saying, simply unable to respond.

So Sally talked in the limited time she had.

Reminiscing about Montauk, and how she had planned to take Percy with her once again, just the two of them after the baby was born.

Discussing her new book; the plot points, characters and the process of publishing.

Movies that her and Percy would see ten years before – Percy secretly loving all the Disney Princess movies she would insist on watching, because she knew he secretly loved them.

The city buzzed with life beneath their feet, the sun rising in the east, and eventually setting in the west. Sally never left Percy's side for more than a couple of minutes, consisting of the sole purpose of coffee or the bathroom.

Percy never moved.

After six days, he awoke.

It was nothing dramatic, really. He'd been alone. For about two minutes. Percy had only just gained bearings of his surroundings when the door opened.

Percy's eyes widened as Annabeth shuffled into the room, her feet dragging and her eyes staring into her coffee.

She closed the door and made her way to Percy's bed, eyes widening in surprise and shock seeing his sea-green eyes staring back at her.

"Annabeth…" he started, trying to form words around the lump in his throat. Annabeth placed her beverage down gingerly onto a nearby table, reaching out to Percy.

She smiled and let out a, "thank gods!" before wrapping her arms around his neck. He spluttered at the forceful contact, but smiled anyway, hugging her back with almost equal effort.

The moment seemed to last a lifetime and a second all at once.

"I want to understand, Percy."

Percy sighed, rubbing his hand over his eyes tiredly. So far, he had managed to tell her how he ended up in the current situation, but not why.

"I, I don't know. It's like they were… egging me on. They told me to do it."

Annabeth chewed her bottom lip, concern lacing her features. Wrinkled forehead and brow, eyes wide.

"Who's… they?"

"I don't know. They don't have names, or faces. I just know that they're there, in my mind. Criticising my every move, my actions, my emotions. My life."

Annabeth was quiet for a while, taking in and processing what he had just said. Analysing his words. She had noticed that he wasn't as bubbly or as carefree as he used to be, but she had just thought that his change of persona was due to schooling, his PTSD or being close to a legal adult. Not… voices in his head.

"Was that all? Just these voices?"

Percy shook his head, feeling ashamed of himself all of a sudden. He really hadn't meant for anything to become out of hand, or to worry anyone.

"I think I have… I think there's something wrong with me. Like, there's this darkness in me. I don't know, similar to day and night."

Annabeth reached over and grabbed his hand comfortingly, squeezing lightly when he tried to make an appropriate analogy for his situation.

"Like, during the day, there's no darkness on the surface? It's been pushed away due to the light. But, it's still there. Someone just needs to take away my source of light, or sun. It then turns to night. And I can't control what happens when it's night. The darkness control's me."

Percy shuddered, breathing deeply, trying to steady his racing heart. This was the first time he had ever said anything about his mental health aloud, and it was fucking hard.

"I don't know where it comes from. Like, if it's how I've always been, or if it's because so much pressure has been building up inside, and some sort of wall has collapsed."

Annabeth sighed and smiled sadly. She felt terrible for not noticing before, how she needed this much of a wakeup call to realise her boyfriend was so conflicted.

"Do you feel like this often?" she mumbled quietly.

Percy shook his head.

"I think this was one of the worse times. Sometimes, it's overwhelming, and it scares me. It scares me, Annabeth."

They made eye contact, and before they could say anything else, the doors flung open, and Percy's mother and friends were standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry ma, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh baby, I'm sure you didn't, but you still did! Why would you-"

"Ma, it's okay, I'm okay-"

"Christ Perce, you were out for so long,"

"Six fucking days!"

"We were so worried!"

"Why didn't you tell us anything?"

The flurry of words from the teenagers went mostly unnoticed by the mother and son. Percy kept apologising. Doctors came by to make sure everything was okay. A kind nurse tapped Sally on the shoulder, gesturing for her to follow her. She led Sally outside and smiled sweetly.

"Hi, I'm Chloe. I'm sorry about what happened. Are you holding up okay?"

The two had made small talk, before Chloe decided to bite the bullet.

"How long has your son been depressed?"

Sally was ashamed to tell the nurse her answer.

"Honestly? I didn't know."

The nurse hummed in response.

"May I recommend therapy? Help of some kind? I haven't seen any signs of self-inflicted harm, so that's a good sign."

Sally swallowed heavily, looking at her feet. Chloe sensed her discomfort, and laid a friendly hand on Sally's shoulder.

"He'll be okay, Mrs Jackson."

Sally nodded, and Chloe squeezed her shoulder before walking off.

It had been a long week.

hey. it's been a while... ':)

i've decided to put this up for adoption. if you want to write this, PM me and let me know, because i don't think i will write anymore on this. if someone wants to continue, please let me know! i will for sure read it :)