Promise Me You'll Never Leave Me
Nico and Will have been dating for nearly two years, and both struggle to deal with the idea of losing the other after becoming each other's lifeline. But when Will has to face this possibility, can their strength persevere?
Nico POV
"Solace, will you please come and eat something?" I sighed to my boyfriend, watching him meticulously pull the covers of an infirmary bed taught. He made a quiet noise of objection, and I let my head lean back against the door frame in defeat.
"I've just got to sweep the floor and then I'll be out." He mumbled, evidently not paying much attention to what I'd said in his obsessive healer moment. I watched him shake his blonde curls out before going to the supply cupboard to grab the broom.
"No one's been in here all day, the place is ready for every injured and complaining demigod tonight." I called out to him, hoping that he'd leave it and come and eat some dinner like a normal person.
"You can go if you want." He called back distractedly, making some clattering noises as he knocked something over, followed by a couple of low swears. I couldn't hold my smile back, for someone who was so careful and precise when it came to healing, Will was quite clumsy.
"You want some help?" I laughed, beginning to walk towards the cupboard he'd probably cornered himself into with all his mess.
"Just go eat Nico." He grumbled, swearing as he knocked over another box. I chuckled again before deciding to leave him to his tidying.
"If you're not at the pavilion in ten minutes I'm bringing a plate back for you." I called as I walked out of the infirmary door. I didn't hear a response, but if I had it would most likely have been some mumbling over how he could take care of himself.
For a healer, and the person who'd been on my ass the most after the War with Gaia over taking care of myself and making sure I was eating (I hadn't had the most regimented diet the couple of years prior to that), Will Solace was pretty shit at taking care of himself. He often forgot to eat, finding himself caught up with taking care of some new injury or doing the inventory in the infirmary, and don't even get me started on how little water he drank. His siblings once put him on bed rest because he'd drank no water over three days and ended up fainting because of it. I jogged over to the pavilion, eager to eat as I'd promised Jason I'd go for a run with him before capture the flag tonight. I plated myself up some pasta and a heap load of cheese, before seating myself next to Piper at a table. We chatted about our day easily, and Percy joined us after a couple of minutes, looking tired and grumpy. He wasn't exactly the easiest person to be around when he was in a mood, so I watched him warily as he shovelled blue tacos into his mouth.
"Everything alright mate?" I asked carefully, making sure to keep my voice easy and non-committal. He grunted, running a hand through his hair in a very Percy-like way.
"Annabeth and I had a fight." He mumbled through his tacos, keeping his eyes on his plate. Piper and I shared a worried look. Percy and Annabeth bickered often, but actual fights were rare and often resulted in them not speaking for days. "It doesn't look like I'm going to graduate this year, which means I can't go to college in New Rome yet, but she's refusing to go without me."
"You want her to go without you?" Piper asked in disbelief, stirring her soup clockwise and then anticlockwise distractedly. Percy screwed his eyes shut in what looked a lot like frustration. It was an odd thing for Percy to suggest, him and Annabeth being apart. After being separated for a year by Hera, they'd both suffered from separation anxiety after the war, and still struggled to stay calm when they weren't within close proximity, or at least both within the camp borders.
"Of course I don't." He mumbled, his hands covering his eyes as if it would all go away if he looked away from us. "But I can't be the thing that holds her back. She'll just end up resenting me one day, and I don't exactly want to live the rest of my life knowing that I stopped her from doing what she wanted." I considered him for a moment. Percy's dedication to his girlfriend was admirable, he was willing to spend a year away from her so she could follow her dreams, while he attempted to get his diploma. He was taking online school in the hope of graduating in June, but it was currently April and things didn't look so good. Annabeth was obviously acing her classes, no longer held back by ignorant teachers who didn't realise dyslexia wasn't a complete educational barrier.
"The fact that you don't get to go to college this year doesn't seem to be bothering you that much?" I pointed out, spooning the last bit of pasta into my mouth after I spoke and sending him a pointed look which he finally looked up to see.
"Is it that obvious?" He groaned, his hands fisting in his hair as if he were going to pull it out. I snorted at him, his tortured state seemed so silly as his situation seemed so simple to me.
"It's not exactly like academics is something you're interested in, have you even thought about what course you'd do over there?" I asked curiously. He shook his head.
"I've been more worried about getting there first." Even Piper giggled at that, Percy's ignorance just proving my point.
"Why don't you just go to New Rome with Annabeth? It's not like you actually have to go to college. You could finish your online classes while you're there, get enough points to graduate if you want to, take some surfing courses on the beach, become a qualified instructor, maybe take a marine biology course eventually or something else that takes your fancy. It's not like you have to graduate, nor do you have to be here to graduate, and there's no need to go to college if you don't want to." Piper suggested, her way of thinking evidently appealing to Percy as his tortured look finally fell away.
"Huh, a surfing instructor." He murmured, a light smile growing on his face as he considered the idea. I grinned at his dazed state, before looking at my watch and scowling at the time. Twenty minutes had passed, and Will had never shown.
"Right, well I'm going to go and take my negligent boyfriend some food before he passes out." I announced standing up. "Have fun explaining all of that to Annabeth mate." I said evilly, causing Percy to groan and bury his face in his hands. Piper glared at me, all her hard work dissipating in a second. I just winked at her and went to grab Will a steak sandwich, hoping his favourite food would distract him from the infirmary.
Five minutes later and I finally found him in my cabin, after having traipsed around the infirmary and his own cabin so I could force some food down his throat. He was just walking out of the bathroom as I closed the door behind me, a towel slung low around his hips and his blonde curls a messy dark gold due from the shower water. I set the plate I'd brought back for him on my desk and stalked towards him with a delighted smirk on my face.
"If I'd known I was coming back to this sight I would have left the Pavilion ages ago." He grinned back, a slight blush rising in his cheeks at the way my eyes raked up and down his body. I set my hands on his hips lightly, bringing him closer to me so I could nuzzle my face in the crook of his shoulder. Will sighed lightly and wrapped his arms round my neck, his fingers finding their way up to my hair. He pulled the hair bands off of the bun I'd secured my hair in earlier that day while I pressed kisses to his damp neck, suckling on a particular spot just below his jaw line that I knew he liked. He hummed in approval, his hands twisting in my now freed dark locks.
"You're going to leave a mark." He murmured in what I think was an attempt at objection, but one hand had crept down to my waist while he spoke and his fingers slipped under the hem of my t-shirt, lightly grazing the skin of my hip bones, which told me otherwise.
"You can tell me to stop whenever you want." I mumbled against his tan skin cheekily, knowing there was no way he was going to. I was slightly taller than him, so I had to tilt my head down quite a bit to reach his neck, a sacrifice I was willing to make to see the dark marks form there.
I began to push my boyfriend back, letting his legs hit the edge of the bed so he was forced to sit down. His hands, no longer able to wrap around my neck, trailed down my chest to rest on the back of my thighs as he looked up at me expectantly, one golden eyebrow raised temptingly. I sent him a wicked grin before grabbing the plate from behind me and presenting him with his dinner.
"Bon appetit!" Will groaned at my smugness, head dropping and hands going to shake the remaining water droplets out of his hair. He sighed one final time, before admitting defeat and taking the plate from my hands.
"Will you at least pass me some shorts so I don't have to eat this semi-naked?" He asked, pointing to his draw of the cabinet we shared. Will hadn't exactly moved into my cabin yet, but he slept more nights in here than he did in the Apollo cabin, and the majority of his clothes were in here, something which never failed to make me smile.
"Nah, I'm quite enjoying looking at you with just a towel on." I retorted, turning my back as he began to eat and grabbing my own clothes for a run. He snorted, shaking his head at my flirting. "I'm going for a run with Jason, don't change out of that towel before I get back." I began to change quickly as he stared at me in wonder.
"You expect me to sit here for the next half an hour in just a towel?" He asked unbelievingly. I shrugged.
"You can sit there in nothing at all if you want, that works just as well for me." I suggested, keeping my face completely serious. Will shoved some more sandwich in his mouth, watching me change with an amused look in his eye.
"It's a good thing you're cute Di Angelo." He mumbled through his food. "Zeus knows how we'd put up with you otherwise." I tied up the laces on my shoes as he swallowed his food, dissecting the rest of his sandwich into its separate compartments. I flashed him a grin.
"I'm smoking and you know it." I chastised, stooping down to peck him on the lips before going to leave.
"Kick Grace's ass for me." Will called after me, I only laughed in reply and shut the door behind me.
Outside I found Jason doing some sit ups in front of his Cabin next to mine.
"About time Nico." He sighed as he spotted me. "I'm surprised you stopped flirting with Will long enough to realise you were running late." I ran my fingers through my hair, tying it up so it wouldn't plaster itself to my face in the wind.
"Don't lie you were just hoping I wouldn't turn up so you wouldn't have to worry about me beating you." I mocked, stretching my arms above my head. He stood up, shaking his head at me.
"It's not a race Nico." Jason scoffed. "But if it were I would so win." And with that he took off at a run, leaving me scowling and jogging faster than I normally would to catch up with him.
Fifty minutes later and I collapsed onto the grass outside my cabin.
"Styx there was no need to go that fast Grace." I mumbled, my heavy breathing stopping me from talking normally. Jason only laughed, his hands folded behind his head as he also tried to get his breath back.
"Dunno what you mean, that was easy." He tried to play his voice off as smooth, but it broke with his breathlessness and he collapsed on the grass next to me with a sigh. I laughed at him in between breaths, and he chuckled in agreement of his own stupidity.
"Gods my calves are going to hurt tomorrow." I groaned, throwing an arm over my eyes to shield them from the low sun.
"Ditto." Jason grumbled. We stayed like that for another few minutes, before going into our respective cabins to shower before capture the flag that night. Jason wasn't playing, opting to referee it for once, and Will like always would be in the infirmary, ready for the inevitable injuries that would come pouring his way. I was playing on Clarisse's team tonight, having signed up for it on the pavilion after learning of Percy's dilemma at dinner. There was no way he was winning tonight against Clarisse. Will wasn't in the cabin, probably already in the infirmary with his siblings, so I showered and put on my armour, strapping my sword to my hip and grabbing my shield from it's hook on my wall.
Outside I found the two teams already split up, Percy's in a messy array of demigods chatting on the floor, Clarisse's listening attentively to her battle strategy a few metres away. I hurried over just in time to hear the important part. As I listened I scanned my home, watching the different friendship groups and siblings payfully bickering or sparring around the edge of the forest. It would be three years since the war with Gaia this September, and there were few reminders that this place had been ravaged by monsters not that long ago. We were all still recovering from deaths, and Leo's reappearance after we'd all thought him dead did little to calm the hearts of those who'd lost siblings or friends, which many of us had. It was different for me, I hadn't had any friends, excluding the seven, who I was only just growing to trust at the end of the war. Hazel was my best friend, but her and Frank only stayed a week at Camp Half Blood before they returned to New Rome. I felt out of place here without her. Percy, Annabeth, Piper and Jason fit back in like missing pieces of a puzzle, Percy in particular was welcomed back with particular joy. Me, I was the son of Hades who'd disappeared on the camp, and had never really made my alliances clear. After the war with Kronos was over, I found Hazel, and so spent my time in New Rome with her, though I never really adapted to the Roman lifestyle. Then I was forced back into another war when Percy showed up out of the blue, and eventually ended up back where all this mess started for me: Camp Half Blood. I had a cabin of course, though it didn't yet feel like home. Two months of slow redecorating changed it more to my preferences, and made it a lot less daunting to everyone else. But that hadn't changed the fact that everyone else was mourning, and I turned up having lost no one, because I knew no one. I hadn't even known Leo that well, so his brief loss never fell particularly heavily on my shoulders.
Even Will was in mourning, having lost two siblings and three friends. That's not counting the demons that were everyone he failed to save, deaths he took extremely badly as he was head of the infirmary.
Over time I began to make friends, though it was a painful process with a lot of pushing from Piper and Percy, and two days after the one year anniversary of the end of the war Will kissed me for the first time. We were both full time campers, neither having family we could stay with, so when the majority of our friends went home we had an awful lot of time to annoy each other.
Clarisse finished up her battle strategy and glanced over to the other team, smirking when she spotted Percy ambling over, looking particularly glum and his armour swinging in his hand. I sighed, not spotting Piper or Jason to give him a hand, and with a reluctant nod of the head from Clarisse that said 'if you must' I jogged over to him. He scowled at me as I approached, but I just rolled my eyes and took his breastplate from his hand.
"Didn't fancy being on the winning team tonight?" He grumbled, his voice low as he eyed Clarisse warily and allowed me to strap his armour on for him. I scoffed at his confidence.
"Honestly Perce, looking at your team right now there is no way you're winning." I told him, pulling the under arm strap a little tighter than was probably necessary. He humphed, but let me finish strapping his armour on for him in silence.
"I'm guessing talking to Annabeth didn't go so well then?" I prodded carefully once I was done, standing in front of him as he swung his sword around a few times in practice. His scowl deepened.
"She practically ran away when I tried to speak to her! And then when I did manage to corner her she threatened to tie my legs together and hang me upside down from the top of the climbing wall if I uttered another word." He exclaimed, making some stabbing movements with his sword in the air to accentuate his point. I took a step back as he got dangerously close. "Hades knows what I'm going to do." He sighed.
"Well I doubt my Dad knows but I could try him if you want?" I joked, trying to get him to crack a smile. It worked, Percy was a sucker for bad jokes, and he shoved me with my shoulder.
"Go back to your own team Nico, you're gonna need the practice if you think you're winning tonight." He said lightly, going over to gather his own team. I shook my head and began to walk away before reconsidering.
"Perce?" I called, making him turn back around from where he was beginning to gather his team. The curious glance that met mine almost made me chicken out. "She's just terrified of being away from you, and probably more terrified that you want to be away from her. But it's Annabeth, she's the most rational person we know, it won't be long before she'll want to talk."
Three years ago I was terrified to utter more than five words to Percy, let alone give him relationship advice. I could still see why I had been attracted to him, he was chiseled and lean and his smile was mischievous in a way that suggested trouble. But frankly he was immature the majority of the time and overly competitive and moody a lot of the time too. I'd grown out of my crush on him, and thank the gods because otherwise it might have blinded me from Will, the most constant and reassuring part of my life these past couple of years.
It was only another five minutes, which Clarisse spent explaining to me my particular job of distracting the other team, before Chiron appeared. He explained the rules, though we all knew them backwards, and then wished us all good luck. One of Will's siblings blew a loud curling bronze horn as the starting sound, and then I was off running into the forest.
Will POV
I heard the deep rumble of Claudia's horn from inside the infirmary, where I was playing cards with some of my other siblings as we waited for the first casualties to come pouring in. It was rare that we ever had to go to the demigods themselves if they were injured, normally most injuries were sprains or minor blade wounds that meant they could make it here with the help of their teammates. Not even five minutes in and the first demigod came stumbling through the doors, a rather large lump already protruding from his forehead. I let a couple of the newbies handle that, letting them get the practice. There were ten of us children of Apollo in here, all of whom having found a knack for healing rather than the arts or archery.
An hour later and the game was still going on. The infirmary was nearly full, an array of mild injuries and a lot of complaining filling the building with noise. According to our most recent arrival, neither team were close to capturing the other team's flag, and I sighed knowing that meant only more injuries as the game went on. Of course I thought too soon, because within a couple of minutes the horn sounded again, meaning that the game was over. Everyone in the infirmary stilled, before the chattering started up again as everyone wondered who had won. I busied myself with a demigod with a nasty cut on their forearm, nasty enough to have needed stitches if they were fully human. Instead I started them on an ambrosia drip and wrapped the arm up tightly, ensuring the wound was clean and with a lot of gauze stemming the blood flow. A demigod ran in, his face very pale and breathing heavy. Something about the panicked look in his eyes left a sour taste in my mouth and my stomach curled as his gaze found me.
"Will…..it's Nico." He panted, swallowing as the entire room went silent to hear him. My stomach dropped and I let one of my siblings take the bandages I'd been holding from my hand.
"It's bad." The demigod whispered, and I grabbed the medical bag from it's hook on the wall as my head spun. My worst nightmares were ones where I couldn't heal the people I loved, I'd hoped after the war I wouldn't have to face that reality again. Two of my siblings had died in front of me as I'd failed to heal them during the War with Gaia, and three in the War with Kronos and countless friends. I'd been head of the infirmary since I was fourteen, relatively young but I was the oldest and most experienced healer at the time, so that was five years of being responsible for every Greek demigod. Five years of watching people die helplessly, five years worth of dead brothers and sisters and friends. Five years worth of nightmares and the name of every person I'd failed to save tattooed on the inside of my left forearm. I'd promised myself I'd never add Nico's name to that list.
I followed the demigod at a run, the heavy medical bag hitting my leg painfully as we weaved in and out of trees and several dazed looking demigods, each casting me a worrisome glance. That did little to calm my already heavily beating heart. There was a little crowd of people standing next to a particularly giant tree, and between them I glanced the grimacing face of my boyfriend. The moment the demigods realized I was approaching they cleared the way for me, allowing me to see Nico leaning against the trunk, a short spear sticking out of his left side surrounded by blood which had dyed the forest ground next to him crimson. I was used to the sight of blood, but the sight of Nico's blood made me feel nauseous. Percy was knelt next to him, holding his own t-shirt to the wound tentatively, trying to stop the bleeding. The look on my face must have been pretty bad (it felt pretty bad), because Nico caught sight of me and winced.
I took a deep breath as I knelt next to him, already unzipping the medical bag and pulling out material to pack the wound with.
"Hey love." I murmured, gesturing with my head for Percy to remove the t-shirt while I kept my eyes on Nico. His face was pale, paler than usual, and I could see his hands were shaking from where they were fisted against his legs. He gave me a grateful look.
"Bet this is a surprise." He tried to joke, but he cried out as I pressed the gauze around where the spear pierced his abdomen.
"Not exactly one of your best surprises." I murmured, taking hold of Percy's hands and pressing them against the already darkening bandages I'd placed on Nico's side. I looked back up to find him smiling at me amusedly, causing me to shake my head in disbelief.
"Okay." I began, trying to get completely into my healer state of mind despite Nico's condition in front of me and the pounding of my heart and the fear that was causing my hands to shake. I looked around me and noted who was here quickly.
"Everyone who isn't Percy, Piper, Jason or Chiron needs to get lost." I said, my serious tone of voice causing everyone else who was crowded around Nico to scram. With less people around us I began to notice the Sun was setting, and it was getting darker minute by minute. I opened my palm, letting the soft golden rays of light flow out of it so I could see better. They curled in the air as they got closer to Nico, evidently sensing his wounded aura and cowering way. We both grimaced at that.
"How in the hell did this happen?" I hissed once everyone else had dissipated, examining Nico's wound closer.
"We're not really sure." Percy muttered, the tight tone of his voice conveying his anger. I knew Nico hadn't been on his team tonight, meaning that it was more than likely one of Percy's team members who did this. The distraught fury I could see in the lock of his jaw probably only portrayed a fraction of the guilt he was feeling. I grabbed Nico's wrist, closing my eyes to concentrate as I counted his pulse.
"It was probably just an accident." Nico defended, the nonchalant appearance he was trying to play betrayed by the shallowness of his breaths. I eyed him carefully.
"Whoever did this is going to receive a wrath worse than Medusa's." I muttered bitterly, causing Percy to make a noise of agreement. He had faced Medusa after all.
"Sure love." Nico murmured amusedly, grinning at my protectiveness before returning to a grimace of pain.
"Has anyone given Nico any ambrosia yet?" I asked, returning to my healer mode rather than furious boyfriend mode. I receiving soft no's all round and a sigh of relief I hadn't realised I was holding in left my lungs. That was good, it meant he could have more for the pain when we were back in the infirmary. "Jason, what type of spear is this?" I asked, forcing the light towards the spear so he could see it better.
"Umm." He deliberated, inspecting the length of the handle and the Greek letters on the side. "It's a tortus." He said with confidence. This was one of the reasons I'd needed him to stick around, because his knowledge of weapons was better than anyone else's. "Three blades joined in the centre which curve around and thin out into a point. The blade's only five inches long, but it's particularly dangerous because…." His voice trailed off unhelpfully, his eyes widening as he struggled to get the words out, and I glared at him to try to get him to finish. Fortunately Nico finished his sentence for me.
"It's particularly dangerous because it's twisted blade means that unless you pull it out while twisting it the correct way, you cause more damage." He said grimly, his eyes squeezing shut at the thought. I put my hand on his leg comfortingly while I quickly considered my options, and he grabbed it, squeezing it tightly. I squeezed his hand back, meeting his eyes in the hope my face wasn't completely terrified. Apparently it wasn't because he seemed to relax a bit when my eyes met his.
I let go of his hand, and picked up his black stygian blade, which was on the floor next to him, balancing it carefully in my hand.
"Piper, will you hold Nico's hand please? Percy don't move." I ordered, the tone of my voice hard and authoritative. "Nico I'm going to cut most of the blade handle off now, it'll probably jostle a bit so keep still and it'll hurt less." My voice was softer now, and Nico nodded nervously, swallowing and grasping Piper's hand as he looked away. I took a deep breath to steady myself, taking hold of the spear handle close to Nico's body, and swiped the blade clean through it, leaving about a foot of the wood. Nico cried out, and I quickly uttered some 'sorrys'. He grit his teeth and turned back to face me. I packed more gauze onto the wound, telling Percy to keep holding it there, who nodded grimly, his hands completely red.
"Jason, can you levitate Nico's body so we can get him back to the infirmary? I'm going to get the spear out and then see what we're dealing with." I announced, packing up the medical bag and watching as Jason carefully levitated my boyfriend, whilst Percy kept his hands on Nico's wound.
"Bloody embarrassing." He managed to mutter, and it was all I could do not to roll my eyes as we began to move, slowly, back to the infirmary.
"Of course you would be worried about your macho reputation." I sighed, running a hand through my curls to get them out of my face, before realising my hand was covered in Nico's blood and now so was my hair.
Three minutes later and we were back in the infirmary. Fortunately someone had obviously come back ahead of us and had the sense to clear the building of everyone who didn't need immediate attention or monitoring, and so it was empty of all but a couple of demigods and my siblings. They immediately rushed over, one of them taking over from Percy as Jason lowered Nico on to a bed, another rolling over a trolley of fresh bandages and medical instruments. Nico's eyes widened at the sight of it, and I quickly grabbed his chin to turn his head so he was forced to look at me.
"Hey, just look at me, alright." I said softly, stroking a piece of hair out of his face as my siblings moved quickly to repack the wound with fresh bandages, and cut Nico's armour and t-shirt off of him. Someone held out a clean operating gown and another held gloves for me, so I slipped them on whilst I waited for everything to be ready so I could remove the spear.
"Prep the operating theatre." I murmured to my second in command in a low voice, low enough so that Nico couldn't hear. They nodded and scampered off. We'd only used it a couple of times, but there were certain times where ambrosia and stitches just weren't enough. This was one of those times. I kept one hand on Nico's shoulder, my other grasping his hand strongly as I watched my sister put him on a drip of a mixture of ambrosia and morphine. He looked panicked and dare I say it scared, emotions I'd seen only a few times on Nico. He was cocky and brazen and rarely shaken, so seeing him so unstable did things to my heart I never wanted to feel again. I smoothed a hand over his head as I waited for the morphine to kick in so I could remove the spear.
"This wasn't exactly what I had planned for tonight." I murmured tightly, staring down at his charcoal grey eyes. He cocked his head at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh this was definitely what I had planned." He joked, a weak but cheeky smile warming his face. "I thought you'd always wanted to operate on me." I scrunched up my nose.
"Operating on you is the last thing anyone wants to do. " I objected, running my hand through his hair soothingly again. "No one wants to see your scrawny body."
"I'm more muscly than you." He huffed, eyes watching my siblings warily. I laughed, relieved that his sense of humour was still intact. My sister in charge of the morphine prodded Nico's side experimentally, and when he appeared not to notice it she nodded at me.
"Feeling a bit better?" I asked, and he nodded carefully. "I'm going to get this out of you now." I told him, gesturing at Piper to take my place holding Nico's hand. "You two should go." I said low to Percy and Jason, wanting as few people to witness this as possible, especially if they were as rash as those two, who were very likely to get in my way somehow. They both shook their heads and I gritted my teeth in frustration.
"No Will we need to stay, Nico needs fam-"
"Nico needs Doctors. Get out of my infirmary." I hissed, sending them glares before turning away, too scared that I'd do something rash if I didn't move away from them quickly. Two of my burlier siblings moved in front of them, ready to chuck them out with force if need be, but Jason seemed to have gotten the message and he dragged Percy out with him. They were good friends to Nico, and I knew they meant well, but frankly I didn't give a shit who I had to hurt to save my boyfriend.
I moved over to Nico's left side, and shook out my hands before carefully taking hold of the handle once more.
"Nico, this isn't going to hurt, but it is going to feel quite uncomfortable. Just keep still and it will be over quickly." I said calmly, looking him in the eyes. I only received a glassy look in response, and I swallowed nervously. "Nico? Love?" I called. No response. I released the spear, my hands flying to his wrist to check his pulse. It was slow, dangerously slow.
"Get him in the OR now." I called, moving away so my siblings could rush the bed into the OR. There was a bustle of movement, and within seconds he was gone. Piper tried to follow them, but my brother stopped her at the door, turning her away. I pressed a kiss to her cheek and murmured a thank you, before leaving her on the other side of the door. I pulled my somehow bloody gloves and gown off, exchanging them for new ones after I'd scrubbed my arms and hands with the orange sterilising soap. My closest sibling, Olivia, met me at the door with a fresh mask and scrub cap. I turned around silently, letting her tie them on for me. When I turned back around to go into the OR she caught my by the arms.
"Are you sure you can do this?" She whispered, her voice deathly scared. "Is it safe for Nico for you to do this, or do you need someone else to head this up?" I shook my head.
"I can't….I can't trust anyone else with this." I admitted, not intending offense and she understood. This wasn't just Nico's life I was saving, it was mine too. She nodded and stepped out of my way.
They'd gotten him awake, a bag of blood suspended from a pole feeding into his arm replenishing him. His eyes found me immediately, his body visibly calming.
"You scared me there love." I said as I got close to him. He smiled weakly again.
"Just trying to keep the romance interesting." He mumbled, his words slurred. Evidently the morphine was kicking in hard now.
"We're going to put you under now Nico." I told him, nodding to my sibling to place the anesthesia mask over his face. "Deep breaths." He complied. "Now if you feel like you're dying at any point - don't." I joked, trying to relieve his worries, but he was already disappearing into a drugged haze.
"I love you." I whispered as he drifted off, before turning steel faced to the spear.
Three Hours Later
Tiredly, I walked out of the OR, pulling the bloodied gloves and mask off of me and shoving them in the bin. In the infirmary I was met by Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, Nico's friends Hallie and Eoin, and to my shock Hazel and Frank. They were all asleep against each other on an array of now clean hospital beds. Only Hazel, whose eyes met mine in hope, had managed to stay awake. I smiled weakly as I pulled my gown and scrub cap off as well, freeing myself of everything that reminded me Nico had been in mortal peril an hour ago. I held my hands out as soon as Hazel opened her mouth, not even bothering to wake the others up.
"Don't worry he's fine, he's fine." I assured, and she visibly relaxed, breathing out a sigh of relief and burying her head in her hands, a movement which awoke Frank who had been asleep across her lap. They all woke up at the commotion of my siblings moving Nico's bed from the OR to the secluded side room we had for when privacy was needed.
"He's fine, he's going to be fine." I repeated over and over again like a mantra as they all woke up, my words met with nine relieved smiles. The words were just as much for my sake as they were for them, my heart still wasn't calm.
"His wound's closed up, but he lost a lot of blood so he's going to be conked out for a while." I began to explain, before swallowing. "We had a couple of complications in there, but we got him back and he just needs rest now." Nine frowns replaced the smiles.
"Complications? What does that mean?" Hazel asked, a slight quiver in her voice. Frank wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Fortunately Percy explained so I didn't have to, because I really wasn't sure I could without breaking down.
"It means he died on the table." His voice was cold and I could imagine the dead look on his face. I just looked down at my shoes, only realizing now that they too had blood on them. Everyone was silent, letting the reality of the situation sink in.
"Hazel you can go sit with him for a couple of minutes if you want." I suggested. "He's weak though, I don't want to risk too many people being in there for the time being." They all nodded, and Hazal stood, catching my hand with a look of gratitude as she walked past. I just nodded, too tired for anything else.
"You should go get some sleep Will, you look like you're going to pass out." Piper murmured, forever the mother hen. "I'm sure one of your siblings can watch Nico for the night." Her words sounded so odd, no matter how well they were intended. I couldn't begin to imagine not being here for him, having to leave him when he was so vulnerable. They all knew what my answer would be, Piper was just too worried not to try.
"I can't…...I can't leave him." I murmured, too tired to explain further. "Not like this." They all nodded in a pretence of understanding, but their looks of pity said it all really. They filed out one by one, all murmuring tentative thank yous and looking more tired than they would admit. I caught Percy's arm as he left, not saying anything, but we shared a look of understanding. I'd always gotten the impression he didn't trust me, the protective big brother figure he'd been for Nico meaning he was over warily of those Nico got close to. But tonight seemed to have proven that I would do anything for Nico, no sacrifice was too small, and that was something I knew he'd appreciate. He nodded at me and walked out, wrapping an arm around Annabeth in a move so easy that it made me pine for Nico. I glanced up at the clock, it was half eleven. I hoped Nico would be conked out for the next eight hours, but frankly that boy always surprised me. If he was a bit more immune to anaesthesia than the rest of us it wouldn't come as a shock.
My siblings helped me clean the OR, one of them watching Nico while the rest of us sterilised the entire place. With so many of us we were done in half an hour, and the younger ones filed out one by one. Eventually it was just Olivia and I left.
"I know you're going to say no, but I think it would be a good idea if I stayed here to watch Nico so you can get some sleep." She suggested brazenly, talking again before I could even get my mouth open to protest. "You don't even have to leave, you can just sleep in there while I watch him so you can get some rest." I eyed her warily. "I'll wake you up after five hours?" She attempted lastly, eyeing me hopefully. But my silence told her everything she needed to know, and she shook her head in defeat.
"Fine. But I'll be back at eight tomorrow to take over, by which point we'll know if he's stable and you will go and sleep." She said, grabbing her jumper from a hook on the wall and giving me a hug before leaving.
Finally, finally, the infirmary was empty. The three patients who had been told to stay here overnight were all asleep, and I was the only child of Apollo left. I let out the sigh I'd been holding in for the past few hours and immediately walked into Nico's room. I felt such a need to be close to him, so terrified that despite the past three hours in the OR he was still going to die on me. I hadn't expected to find it almost impossible to look at him, and I had to fight the urge to turn my head away. He had two tubes going into his arms, one for morphine and ambrosia, the other for blood, making him look more helpless than he'd looked in the OR. He was still shirtless, though thankfully someone had removed his blood soaked trousers and put him in some dry spare jogging bottoms. I took a quick peek at the sheer amount of bandage and gauze which was taped on to his side, and when I was satisfied that it was secure I pulled the covers a little bit higher up his chest. The room was warm, but he couldn't risk catching a cold in this state. I dragged a chair closer to the side of the bed and dropped into it. Leaning forward to rest my elbows on the sheets, I found his hand and clasped it tightly. I pressed my lips to it, in what would normally have been a loving gesture but in these circumstances I used it to gage his state. Children of Apollo all had different gifts. The light thing was a rare one, but a knack for the arts or healing were more common, with a tendency to seem a bit supernatural. I could tell from touching people what their medical state was, and with a sigh of relief I felt only healing in Nico's hand. His hair had come out of his bun at some point, and I reached up to stroke it back from his face, my fingers inevitably trailing down his jaw and coming to rest on his neck.
I hated this, seeing him so vulnerable and so close to death. Mid operation a stupid thought had popped into my head - that because he was the Son of Hades he was more in tune to death, and would therefore be more likely to slip away in times like these. I'd shoved it out of my mind quickly, though it had been one of the reasons that when his heart failed I'd fought relentlessly to bring him back. The fear when I heard the flatline was as if my heart had been plunged into an icy lake, like my lungs were filling to the top with sand and my hands were tied down with the weight of every life I'd already lost on that table. Twice I was encased by that fear, and twice we got him back. Nico Di Angelo was not going to be the next name on my arm.
Finally, in the quietness and familiar sound of Nico's breathing as he slept, I felt the pressure lift and there was no longer anything to hold the tears back. I wept onto the duvet, my hands clutching his desperately as if it were a lifeline. The feeling that I'd experienced when Olivia had asked me if I was okay to operate washed over me: the recognition that Nico's life and mine were tied and how that had tugged on my soul.
Nico POV
I awoke with a groan, having attempted to twist around to see what was weighing my hand down and having paid the price for it. My side felt like it had been torn in two and then stuck back together messily. Though if it had been done messily I'd better get a cool scar out of it. I blinked sleepily, noting the unfamiliar room I was in through chinks of early morning light which were coming through the slightly open blinds.
"Nico?" The familiar voice of my boyfriend called in a low voice, filled with worry and fatigue that made my insides ache in a different way. "Love, can you hear me?"
"Of course I can hear you." I murmured sleepily, realising now as he squeezed my hand that he was holding it. Slowly, and a lot more carefully, I turned my head to look at him. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but when they did I was greeted with what in my opinion looked like the zombie version of Will.
"Hey." I murmured, squeezing his hand back. He sat up, one hand reaching up to stroke my cheek, which I leaned into, grateful for the touch.
"Hey yourself." He mumbled, keeping his hand on my cheek.
"You look like shit." I told him truthfully. His usually golden curls were messy with the stress of the night, and they were also an unfortunate dirty brown colour in places, which I soon realized was because my blood had dried there. He snorted, his eyes lighting up a bit at my insensitivity.
"Funnily enough you don't exactly look like Hercules right now either." He murmured back, his fingers caressing my cheek lazily.
"Hmmm, Hercules is overrated." I retorted, my hand twisting so I could lace my fingers through his, my thumb rubbing over the back of his hand. "I much prefer my blondes with a bit of ass." He shook his head, even in his fatigue his blush failed him and rose up through his neck.
"I much prefer dark hair." He murmured, his hand stroking my hair. I sighed at the feeling of his fingers against my scalp, and closed my eyes to enjoy the sensation.
"I thought I was going to lose you." He murmured after a few moments of silence, the tremble in his voice ruining the nonchalance he was trying to portray. I pried my eyes open to find him looking ravaged, and not in the good way. The last twelve hours looked like they'd been hell on him, and I was surprised to find him still sane. "I thought you were going to be the next name on my arm." He added, his voice soft I almost didn't hear it, and it earned a groan of annoyance from me. He knew what I thought of his tattoo, that it was just a form of unhealthy blame and guilt for deaths that he had had no control over.
"Never, love." I promised, attempting to pour every ounce of sincerity into my voice and forcing him to meet my eyes. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You nearly did." He countered almost immediately, then he retracted his hands from mine in immediate regret and I sighed in frustration.
I knew I'd died twice in the OR. It wasn't something normal people would know, but I was the son of Hades after all. That title came with a sixth sense for death - including my own. I didn't remember it of course, but there was this odd feeling in my head, as if everything had been removed and then reattached that told me what I needed to know.
"I know, but I came back didn't I?" I comforted softly, hoping he'd look back up at me because I felt oddly cold and alone in this room without his eyes on me. His curiosity perked up at that.
"You know your heart stopped beating?" He asked softly, his blue eyes meeting mine and the warmth flowed back into me. "How?"
"Call it a son of Hades thing." I explained briefly, too tired to explain any further. He sighed and shook his head, allowing himself to take a hold of my hand again. It wasn't enough.
"Will you get on up here and sleep with me?" I asked impatiently, too out of it to be any subtler. His eyebrows rose in surprise, trying not to look too keen. But then he frowned as if he were torn and I couldn't help but groan again at his evident reluctance.
"C'mon Solace it's hardly like we've never slept in a bed together before." I complained, my thumb rubbing over his fingers in an attempt to entice him. He ducked his head, probably trying to hide his blush.
"It's not that," He explained, his fingers trailing over mine softly in a way that just made me want to wrap him up in my arms. "I have policies on this kind of thing: no two people in one bed in the infirmary."
"Will, you're the head of the infirmary, if anyone gets to break those rules it's you." I protested, tugging on his hand gently. He looked torn, running a hand through his hair in indecision. "Please." I pleaded softly, and obviously something about the desperation in my tone tipped him over the edge because he stood. He walked round to my right side, all too aware of where my wound was after operating on me for a few hours, and clambered up next to me. He lay down, his head going to perch on the pillow just above my right shoulder, his nose brushing my cheek, whilst one arm wrapped over my chest, and one leg hooked itself between mine. I signed contentedly, taking a hold of his hand that wasn't hugging my chest, and turning my head so that we were eye to eye. Immediately I relaxed with him so close to me. I didn't know when this proximity had become such a necessity in my life, but I knew that there would never be a time again where I could survive without it.
"Promise me you'll never leave me." He murmured, his fingers coming up off of my chest to play with the ends of my hair whilst he stared down at my shoulder to avoid my eyes. I squeezed his hand and nudged his cheek with my nose, imploring him to meet my eyes. When he did they were a watery blue, tears slowly beginning to form on his eyelashes before falling onto his cheeks. I let my hand come up to brush them away, before leaning forward to gently kiss the damp skin. As demigods that promise held more weight. It wasn't just a promise not to break up, it was a promise to not die.
"I promise." I whispered fiercely, hating the fear that was set in his jaw. I knew realistically it was a mistake to promise him such a thing, none of our lives were guaranteed. But he was my weakness, and I'd be damned if he was going to experience the fear that had plagued him today ever again. His hand cupped the back of my head, pulling me forward into a gentle kiss that promised forever. Our lips parted but we barely moved away from each other, neither of us ready to separate even by the tiniest degree.
"I love you." He murmured, his eyes a brighter blue than they were a couple of minutes ago.
"I love you too." I echoed, letting him shift up to press a tender kiss to my forehead.
We nestled into each other, the proximity more calming than most people would have found it. With the feel of his arm over my chest, the other hand laced into mine and his body warming mine, I felt safe, a safety I never thought I'd be blessed with.
I hope you enjoyed that, I certainly loved writing it.
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