Annabeth's P.O.V
The day Percy came home from the hospital, I finally felt like I could breathe again. I'd been so worried that he wouldn't be okay, that when he was finally released to go home, it all felt a little surreal. Sally had insisted that he was to stay with them for a few weeks, Percy didn't seem to mind, he was just glad to be out of the hospital. Something which I think everyone agreed on.
Yesterday, his doctor spent a long time going over his medications and what he should take and when he should take it etc. It was mostly pain killers, but they'd also given him a couple of inhalers. Percy had recovered from the failsafe, once they knew what it was, relatively quickly. He wasn't one hundred percent, but they were happy enough that he didn't permanently need the oxygen anymore. Affectively, Percy had been poisoned, the Nitrogen Dioxide had inflamed his airways, reduced his lung function, and essentially caused a very severe asthma attack, on a grand scale. The oxygen they had given Percy allowed his lungs to supply his body with what it needed while they figured out how to treat him. Once they knew what it was, they'd had him use an asthma inhaler and slowly his lungs had started to heal and respond to the medication.
The inflammation had gone down, and function was almost back to normal, thankfully. Percy's doctor had told him to take it easy and to use the inhalers when he needed them. It wasn't just his lungs healing, his bones had to heal too, and for that to go well he needed to listen to his body. Having been quite regimented in his training and his care for his body because of his swimming and diving over the years Percy was no stranger to listening to his body. He knew when he had pushed himself too far and he knew when he needed to take things slowly. I suspected this was a major reason he'd not fought his mom on moving him back into his childhood home, where she could dote on him. And she wasn't the only one who was doting on him.
Unfortunately due to classes I was unable to be at the hospital when Percy had been officially released, but I stopped by the Jackson-Blofis apartment afterwards. Fully prepared to play the role of doting girlfriend only to find I didn't need too. Paul was in the kitchen marking papers for his class, Percy was in the living area with Estelle, who was playing the doting role in her mother's absence. After Paul had let me in, he'd leaned in, as we watched Estelle fuss over Percy trying to make sure he was okay and said, "She's worse than her mother, hasn't left him alone for two minutes since she arrived home from school. But like her mother, is very strong minded and won't be persuaded to stop."
I gave him a small smile, "Let me see what I can do." I replied.
Paul nodded thankfully and returned to his marking.
"Hey Seaweed Brain, Estelle" I said as I entered the living area.
"Hey Wise Girl" Percy said smiling at me. I felt my heart rate increase and the butterflies erupt in my stomach as they always did when he smiled at me.
"Annabeth!" Estelle cried coming over to hug me. "Tell him, please!" she begged.
"Tell him what Estelle?" I asked.
"Tell him he needs to eat." She said and I looked over at Percy who was trying his best not to grimace. I had no idea what he didn't want to eat but I knew the longer he refused to eat, the more irate Estelle would get. Estelle was still very distressed about Percy's disappearance and wanted to be with him as much as she could. She also wanted him to be better and apparently felt that helping was the best way to ensure he'd get better. By the look on Percy's face he disagreed, and she'd only been home from school for a few hours.
"When was the last time you ate?" I asked Percy.
"Just before mom went to work, she made me a really big lunch." Percy said. Aka I've had enough to eat I'm, not hungry.
"It sounds like Percy will be okay until dinner Estelle, why don't we watch a film together and we can make sure he eats then?" I asked. Estelle agreed and relented in her care giving duties, in favour of giving them to me, to go and pick out a film for the three of us to watch.
"Thank you" Percy whispered as I sat next to him and kissed his cheek in greeting. "I love her, but slime sandwiches are a bridge even I can't cross." He said gesturing to the two pieces of bread on a plate with some form of blue substance in the middle.
"Are you actually hungry?" I asked.
"No I'm okay, mom really did make me a huge lunch." He said. I smiled and nodded.
Estelle pushed herself in between the two of us leaning into me, so she could still be next to Percy but be gentle as her mom had asked her to be. It was really sweet that she wanted to help take care of him and help him get better. I hoped through helping Percy it would also help Estelle who I knew was having nightmares about Percy going missing again. And she wasn't the only one. I'd had many a nightmare since Percy had returned, but that was all they were thankfully nightmares.
Estelle had picked Beauty and the Beast, I suspected because she wanted to be Princess Belle at her up and coming birthday party. As it turned out we didn't actually do much watching of the animated film. Estelle chatted all the way through just as animatedly about her birthday party and why she'd chosen to dress up as Belle. Eventually, the excitement of her birthday and her worry for Percy came to a head and she fell asleep, resting against me. I hoped it would be a restful one.
"Oh thank God." Percy said when he noticed.
"Percy" I chided playfully.
"She is worrying herself into the ground and she's only five." He said worry evident in his voice, clearly it ran in the family.
"She just wants to know you're safe. She's not the only one you know." I said pointedly.
"You're worried I'm not safe?" He asked me quietly.
"No, I know you're safe with your family. But that doesn't mean I don't worry about you or have nightmares that you won't actually be safe when I wake up." I replied.
"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked.
"Because you are safe and you're recovering from your own injuries. I have to face my fears and my nightmares myself or they won't go away." I said and I phrased my next part carefully. "I think Estelle is trying to do the same."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"She's very advanced for a five year old in some ways Percy. But in others she still is just a five year old child. All she knows is one day you said you'd get her from school, but you didn't. And not only did you not turn up, but you were taken away from her for a long period of time. When she did see you again you were hurt and then you had that severe asthma attack and she thought she might lose you again. She wasn't the only one who thought that either y'know, it's been a frightening time." I confessed.
"How do I help her?" He asked me worry once again in his voice, he was such a good big brother.
"Most of it is something she'll figure out on her own with time." I said thinking of when I lost my mom. "But one day when you're feeling better if you pick her up from school it might show her that things are returning to normal, that you're okay." I said looking down at Estelle.
"Okay, and how do I help you?" He asked, reminding me of one of the many reasons I loved him.
"Just being here with you is helping me." I said squeezing his hand.
"You'd tell me if there was something I could help with though, right?"
"I will" I promised and Percy visibly relaxed as we continued to talk before Sally came home.
Thalia's P.O.V
Percy had been home for a couple of days now and things were going well. He'd started attending his classes again this morning which we were all thrilled about. I couldn't focus on Percy's return to normal life for long unfortunately, as my dad had called this morning to arrange the dinner in which he hoped to set a date for my marriage to Chris. Never mind the fact that Chris was in a happy relationship with someone else and neither of us wanted to get married.
The dinner was going to be on Saturday night which clashed with my shift at the clinic and meant I had to talk to Zoe about having the night off. I hated doing it, but I was honest with her and explained what was happening and she was more than willing to give me the time to tell my dad to shove it. In fact I think she may have been encouraging it.
Chris and I had decided to meet up today to discuss how we were going to approach telling our fathers that we weren't going to go through with their plan. We'd decided to meet at a different coffee shop to Jackson's which I had mixed feelings about. On the one hand it meant we wouldn't bump into any of my family or our friends but on the other hand, it wasn't Aunt Sally's shop and it felt wrong somehow, like we should have just picked a restaurant or a park or somewhere else instead.
I'd arrived early or at least I thought I had. I double checked the time when I saw Chris and his girlfriend already sitting at a table. I was early, well at least I wasn't late.
"Hi" I said taking a seat opposite them.
"Hey" Chris replied. We'd actually, once we confirmed that neither of us wanted this, become quite good friends. We sort of knew of each other before through Percy but there was something about fighting an arranged marriage with someone that sort of bonded you. His girlfriend, Clarisse, who I'd been told about, but not met before, was eying me like she wanted to spear me for trying to steal her boyfriend.
Chris nudged her and she grunted a hello at me with a nod.
"So have you ordered or?" I asked pointing to the counter.
"Not yet we only beat you here by a minute or so." Chris said and I nodded.
Once we'd ordered a drink we got down to the matter in hand.
"So Saturday then?" Chris asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, I've got a plan, not sure how you'll like it, but it should do the trick." I replied and proceeded to tell them about my idea for Saturday night, Clarisse warmed up to me a bit halfway through the plan. If I had my way hopefully by Sunday morning this would all be a distant memory.
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Percy's P.O.V
My first class back was Dr. Tropic's thankfully. I'd missed a few weeks, but it was still a topic I was knowledgeable in and hopefully it would only be a bit of extra reading and an assignment here or there to catch up. Dr. Tropic's class was the one I was least concerned about.
Today the lecture was on the habitats of sea turtles and how they are replicated, what the differences were and if they were beneficial or not. It was incredibly interesting, and I was beyond thrilled to be back.
As suspected after the lecture Dr. Tropic had given me some additional reading to do to catch up and an assignment I'd missed but nothing I couldn't handle.
My next class was Chemistry, and I was dreading it. It may not have been as hard as I was expecting it to be, but I was taking double Chemistry units this semester and I was now behind in both.
Not only did I have chapters upon chapters worth of reading to do I also had eight assignments I had to do to catch up not including the one from today's practical as well. I also had to do two practicals' in my own time to be able to do some of the assignments and this was only for one Chemistry class. I didn't have the other until Monday but if I couldn't shift some of these assignments before then I was really going to struggle.
My last class, which I didn't have until next week either, was Calculus. I dreaded to think of my work load come Tuesday afternoon. My saving grace was that I was signed off on sick from work, so I had time to catch up. I wouldn't be allowed to do my full duties at work, and I wasn't allowed near the cleaning chemicals for a while either, so it had been easier to take the sick note from my doctor than to sit and only be allowed to do a handful of my normal responsibilities instead. I was fortunate enough that the aquarium hadn't replaced me and that my boss had been very understanding when mom had taken me in to explain everything. He'd told me to take my time and come back when I was recovered, which I was grateful for.
I decided once I'd made it back home that I would start with Dr. Tropic's reading and assignment. I wanted to catch up and return to normal as much as I could, so I was really motivated to get stuck in. Plus I might need Annabeth's help on the Chemistry if she had time so I really wanted to get what I could done.
"Percy, Percy" A voice called, and I felt like I was being pushed in my shoulder. It took me a while to realise it was my mom and that I'd fallen asleep while reading the material for Dr. Tropic's assignment.
"Hey mom" I said groggily, "what time is it?"
"A little after 4pm" Mom said. "I'd just popped home to change before fetching Estelle from Oliver's."
I groaned I'd been asleep for a while. "Thanks for waking me, I'm going to try reading this for my assignment again." I said.
"Okay hunny, don't push yourself too hard though, it's only your first day back in classes. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day." She said kissing my head before heading out of the door.
Her not so subtle way of telling me to call it quits for the day. I supposed I had a 'free' day tomorrow with Annabeth I could use to work through it with a fresh start. I decided this was probably what my mom wanted and packed my books away again. I moved over to the sofa to turn on the TV and winced as I sat down. I'd knocked my ribs on the arm of the sofa.
I tried to concentrate on something other than the pain which usually helped me to forget about it. Today I'd chosen Estelle and her birthday. I needed to decide what I was going to get her as a gift. I really didn't know this year, but then I'd normally had a bit more time to prepare.
I thought about what mom had said about fetching her from her friend Oliver's. Oliver had been born without the ability to hear and Annabeth was teaching Estelle how to talk to him through sign language. Estelle made friends naturally it was one of the things that I thought was so great about her. She was so giving and willing to care about people that the kids in her class seemed to flock to her. Oliver had been different, and Estelle had been more determined than ever to be his friend.
I was proud of her. So immensely proud of her. She saw the best in people and always wore a smile. I wandered if I could get her something that would help with her sign language maybe? Or something she could do with Oliver; in the past I'd taken her and her more girly friends to see a film or whatever happened to be the in thing. But Oliver wouldn't be able to hear the film so that wasn't any good. Maybe I could talk to Annabeth about it all, she might have a better idea.
Frank's P.O.V
I really didn't want to be here. Which was saying something. I was in my own apartment that I shared with Percy, with Hazel and Nico, who were in the middle of an argument.
"Why does it matter if I dress up or not?!" Nico argued.
"Because Estelle has requested that everyone does, it's one day Nico it won't kill you."
"But the theme is all fluffy and cuddly" He complained.
"Not all Disney characters are cute and cuddly Nico" Hazel said with an eye roll. "There are villains." She added pointedly.
"I can't be a villain. You know how Estelle feels about the villains."
I was also invited to Estelle's birthday rather unexpectedly and I had no idea what I was going to dress up as either. I also wasn't sure I could pull off cute and cuddly especially with my size. I mean what could I be that would fit the criteria? I didn't know what many Disney films either. I'd only seen Tarzan and Hercules, did Pixar count? I'd seen Toy Story, Percy has loads of them maybe I should watch some.
"I've already sorted what Frank and I are going as" Hazel said sounded exasperated as I tuned back in.
"You have?" I asked interrupting for the first time.
"Okay no, but I have a few ideas to get your opinion on and then yes I will have. My point," she said turning back to Nico, "is that we are dressing up and you will too."
"Fine but I refuse to go as some fluffy sidekick creature or villain." Nico said.
"Please Nico, I think I know you well enough by now not to dress you as a cat or rabbit or something else along those lines, give me a little credit." Hazel said.
"Fine, I'll leave my costume choice up to you but only because I don't want to disappoint Estelle." Nico relented finally.
Which I personally thought was dangerous. I loved Hazel with everything I had and would love her for the rest of my life if she'd have me, but I knew that look. Hazel was planning something, and I had a pretty good idea what. Hazel had been trying for ages to get Will and Nico in the same room 'discretely' without much success so far. She was convinced if she could get them in the same room and talking that the work to get them back together would happen on its own. I personally wasn't so sure as I knew how stubborn Nico could be, but I didn't want to burst her bubble, so I didn't say anything.
I didn't know if Will had been invited to Estelle's birthday, but I knew if he hadn't, he would be after today. I had a funny feeling Nico's decision to give Hazel permission to choose his costume had just unwittingly landed him in a half of a couples costume he had no idea he was a part of.
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~Author's Note~
Hi all, thank you for reading and apologies for the late update my schedule is so busy right now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter please let me know.
Going Dark – Thank you for your review! Everyone seems very surprised by Chris but there was a hint in an earlier chapter. I would be interested to know who you considered for her. Professor Granger is a pure coincidence I needed a name and I've been reading a lot of HP fanfics recently, so I used that one is all. I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!
WiseGrl14 – Thank you for your review! It was a while ago, I'm not sure whether it'll happen in this story or not but I'm toying with the idea! I hoped you liked this one too let me know!
Sranupama2005 – Thank you for your review! Is everyone just waiting for Estelle's birthday?! Haha hopefully it lives up to expectations! I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!
QueenAnnabeth18 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Professor Granger is a pure coincidence I needed a name and I've been reading a lot of HP fanfics recently, so I used that one is all. I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!
Merendinoemiliano – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the moment with Piper. I hope you enjoyed this chapter please let me know!
Astra2111 – Thank you for your review! I love that Chris was such a surprise, I normally don't do subtle at all but I had hinted at this in an earlier chapter :). I hope the re-read was worth it, please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter!
SpillTHEteaNOW – Thank you for your review! I hope you also enjoyed this chapter please let me know!
SarcasmRocks – Thank you for your review! I thought for sure of all my readers you'd have found the hint about Chris in the previous chapter, I'm glad it was a surprise though! I'm undecided as to whether I'll let Percy tag along yet, but I have a plan for it certainly. I just need to map it all out! I felt the Percy and Chris talk was important and that it brought forward the information I wanted to reveal the way I want it brought to light as well. I've been mapping out my lose ends and how I want to tie them up for a while now so hopefully they'll come across in a way that fulfils the story for you all. Yes, Microsoft word was play up something wicked last week hopefully I'll have better luck this week! I hope you enjoyed the chapter please let me know!
Insanedreamer7905 – Thank you for your review! I'm glad you loved it! It was time for the positive lightness to come back :). I'm glad you enjoyed the Percy and Chris convo I was and am really proud of that. I love that the Chris hint in the earlier chapters was found and that it was a total surprise for everyone :). Everyone wants the dinner with Percy but I'm unsure whether or not he will tag along with how I've left it in this chapter. Jason's POV is always a tough one to write so I'm glad you enjoyed it. Estelle's party seems to be a majorly anticipated event, I hope it lives up to expectations! Yes, Microsoft word was play up something wicked last week hopefully I'll have better luck this week! I hope you enjoyed the chapter please let me know!
Happy reading all and stay safe!