Nico woke screaming.
The sound, hoarse and desperate, left him breathless as it came out of his mouth.
He was sure he had been drowning.
But there he was. Alive, tangled between the sheets of his bed in...
"Nico!" Will's voice reached his ears in a loud whisper after the sound of door being unlocked.
...In the infirmary.
"I'm... I'm sorry... I..." He began, but Will shut him up by touching the back of his hand to his forehead.
"Are you alright?" His voice was so sweet Nico felt a little guilty he had startled him.
He nodded, trying to steady his breathing.
"Nightmares again...?" Will asked him, lowering his voice as he was shushed by one of his siblings who was attending some patient in the back. Nico just nodded his head.
Will sighed, shaking his head as he got back up to close the door. "I'm sorry..."
Nico shrugged it off. "It's not like it's your fault..."
"I know it's not..." Will sat down in the bed next to him. "I just... I wish could... do something about it."
Seeing him so concerned about his well being always made Nico's heart flutter in his chest. He was the camp doctor, yes, but it still felt good when Will reminded him someone actually cared about his well being.
Nico smiled a little. "Well... I'm fine..."
The son of Apollo nodded his head. "Well... uhm- " his eyes danced from Nico's eyes to his arm "How does your wrist feel? Does it hurt?"
"My... wrist...?" Nico looked down at his hand. He had forgotten about that. "Oh, right... Uh... no... It doesn't hurt at all."
"Good, good..." Will nodded. "I'll check on it tomorrow, anyway." He gave him a sideways smile. "Do you want some tea to help you sleep?"
"No, thank you..." Nico couldn't help but smile back.
"Okay." Will stood, patting Nico's knee as he did. "Good night, then, death boy."
Nico bit back his usual don't-call-me-death-boy speech and laid back in his bed, snuggling with the blankets. "Good night, Solace."
"Great. You're awake."Will smiled brightly at him as he approached to his bunk bed. "I brought you breakfast."
Nico let out a low groan and pulled one of the blanket over his head as Will set the tray in the nightstand next to him. It was too early in the morning for human interaction.
"I'm not hungry..." Nico protested, burring his face in the pillow.
"Well, Nico, I don't care what you want." He got to his knees to grab some medicine from the box under the other's bunker. "You have to take care of yourself, and since you don't seem to be able to do so without supervision..." He put a couple of medicine jars in the nightstand, and stood. "Now... I got you some scrambled eggs and toast with a fruit cup. I even threw in your offering to your father, so there's no excuse. You need to eat."
Nico let out a sound between a growl and a sigh. "Fine..." He pulled down the blanket and glanced at the tray full of food. He turned back at him, "can I eat later?"
"No, sir." Will replied, as he placed a pill in Nico's plate. "Later I'm bringing some lunch and dinner. I'm gonna take advantage of the fact that you're here to make sure you eat enough." He poured some water in a glass and handed it to Nico.
He frowned at the glass, though he took it anyway, sitting up. He took a sip of the water to swallow down the pill, and put the glass away.
Will shot him a look. "Come on... At least eat the toast." He indicated, nodding with his head towards the plate.
Nico grabed it and reluctantly took a bite. "There you go..." Will grinned as Nico took another bite. "Let's change those bandages." He reached for some new ones and began cutting the ones covering his wrist with some scissors.
"How did you got hurt, again?" Will asked as he spread some cream over it.
"Uhm..." he winced. "I-I sort of fell from a tree..." Nico rubbed his neck, embarrassed.
"You wouldn't just... fall from a tree." Will questioned him, narrowing his eyes at him. "Are you sure you weren't shadow traveling?"
Nico nodded eagerly. "I was climbing... and then I fell..."
Will studied him closely. "Right..." he mumbled at last, clearly not convinced. He began bandaging his hand again.
"You'll have to stay here for at least another day." He concluded, standing back up.
"What?" Nico exclaimed. "It's just an sprained wrist, I'm not going to die!"
Will shrugged. "I don't care about that. Doctors orders, remember?"
Nico frowned, ready protests, but decided against it, since it was useless, as Will turned his back on him.
"I have to go right now." Will told him as he opened the door. "I'll be back to check on that wrist, though." He smiled brightly, and winked at him before closing the door behind him.
Nico grunted as he covered back with his blankets, muttering something about having the worst doctor.
