Previously...

He seemed to sense that your conversation had come to an end, after hours of talking and suffering a flashback. He stood up from his kneeling position, and you internally winced. That's gotta be painful, having stayed with his knees bent for so long. However, Chiron gave no sign that he was sore. He only smiled and wished you a speedy recovery, before leaving.

Glancing out a window, you noticed it was late. You had probably missed dinner, but you weren't hungry anyway. In fact, if you were focusing on how you felt, you were extremely worn out. You yawned. Time to sleep, I guess. You carefully lowered yourself down to a lying position, and the second your head touched the pillow, you crashed.

Hopefully, this time no nightmares would occur.

Over the next few weeks, you received several visitors that were not your usual daily ones. One of them was Nico di Angelo, who, to be honest, had scared you at first since you'd been struck with the thought that he was there to take you to the Underworld. Thankfully, it had not been the case. Nico had actually been one of the people to help revive you when you were no more than a wisp of light. He prevented your soul from crossing over to his father's realm, struggling for hours to reign you in until your soul was firmly in place. He simply wanted to see if his attempts had worked. You hadn't been informed of this, so you took the chance to thank him profusely for his help.

Another visitor (well, visitors) was the whole of the Athena cabin. They were begging you to share how you had defeated Tartarus' curse by using your memories. They wanted to use this new information and write a paper about it for future use and research. This was another thing you weren't told, and frankly, annoyed about. Somehow, word of your 'quest' had gotten around and now basically the entire camp knew what had happened. However, despite being irritated, you complied and explained your thought process and how it had worked, as well as answers to any questions they had (which turned out to be a heck ton).

Surprisingly, one visitor was Grover. You'd never met him before, though by first impressions, he was one of the nicest people (satyrs?) you'd ever met. You could tell that he cared immensely for Percy. He repeatedly thanked you for saving Percy and almost started crying out of gratitude, but thankfully didn't.

Speaking of Percy's friends, one by one the Seven visited you for the same reason Grover did: to thank you. Honestly, you were feeling pretty embarrassed by this point. When Jason came, you accidentally let slip a phrase meant to downplay what you'd done: "It really isn't a big deal." He went deathly silent. You were hit with instant fear, thinking you'd offended him somehow. After a few seconds of silence, he told you, "You banished Tartarus from Percy's soul, (Y/N). Tartarus. He's one of the strongest beings in the universe. You're a powerful demigod." Which only succeeded in making you more embarrassed (but you secretly shone with pride).

However, despite all these visits, from so many people you'd never met before, there was one person who repeatedly failed to show up.

Percy.

You understood that Percy needed time to build up the courage and mental strength to handle seeing you in such a situation. But it had been 9 weeks since you'd woken up from your coma. 69 days. That ought to have been enough time to mentally prepare himself. Wasn't it? You weren't mentally prepared at all to talk about what had happened with Chiron. You even had a major flashback (and were still suffering from nightmares because of it). But you did it because you knew you had to, and got through it. Again, Percy had had 9 weeks to prepare himself. And yet, you hadn't even seen him out the window from your bed.

You know what? You were done being concerned. During the past weeks, you'd been stressing out over Percy. Was he okay? How could I do this to him? These thoughts plagued your mind and made you feel sick to your stomach over the guilt you'd caused to appear inside him. You put your body through constant strain because you were nauseous with worry for him. You struggled with daily tasks because each person that visited you and every therapy session with Will and every nightmare you had was only a reminder of what had happened. You were desperate to see him, affirm that he was okay, so that all these thoughts could finally be put at rest. Yet Percy never showed up, you never saw his cheeky smile, and you were done stressing yourself out over him.

Now? Now you were annoyed. You could go as far as to say that you were pissed off at him. He wasn't visiting, even though he had had enough time. He was staying in his cabin, like a coward, too afraid to face the reality of what had happened. Percy had faced much, much larger foes in his lifetime: Kronos, Gaea, Tartarus himself. And the thing that stopped him was his feelings?

A part of you argued against this. Aren't you being selfish? it said. You want to see him, but he might not be ready. Guilt is a very strong emotion. It could take much longer before he has the courage to see you. However, you shot back with an effective counter-argument. Wasn't he also being selfish? He couldn't stand to see you. Was he not even considering the effects his choice had on you? You were ripping yourself apart with the desperation to see him yourself, to be completely assured that he was okay. Did he not realise that you needed this? Did he not realise that you cared so badly for him and to not see him with your own two eyes killed you inside? Did he not realise that you had nearly died for him, and the least he could do was suck it up and visit you?!

No, you were done worrying. You were done looking up hopefully every time you heard footsteps. You didn't care whether Percy came or not. He should stay in his cabin, wallowing in guilt. He deserved it. You were done.

(~)

You put the thought of anything related to Percy out of your head. You stuffed it in the back of your mind and forced yourself to lock it up and leave it alone. You weren't joking when you said that you were done feeling sick over Percy. You were damn adamant about it.

To distract yourself from those locked up thoughts, you worked harder than ever before on your physical therapy. Whenever you had free time, you practiced improving your stutter and repeated sounds for hours on end until you got them right. When you were allowed out of bed, you practiced on the parallel bars for arm and leg strength, refusing to stop until you were almost passed out from fatigue. You pushed yourself beyond your limits so that you wouldn't have the time nor the energy to think about Percy.

The others started to notice. At first, they cheered you on as you seemingly suddenly started to improve twice as fast as before. They congratulated you as you gained more motor function in various parts of your body. Will was excited at the advancements you were making during your daily therapy sessions. However, that changed once they became aware of why you were developing so quickly.

"Please, (Y/N), take a break," Will begged. A few days ago he walked in on you balancing yourself on the bars, arms shaking so badly they looked like they would snap at any moment. He had rushed to help you down, only to be pushed back as you didn't want any help. He realised that you were pushing yourself too hard, and had been pleading for you to slow down ever since.

"Why should I t-t-take a break?" you challenged. "Can't you see that I've b-b-been getting better way faster than before? At this rate, I'll b-b-be out of here in a few weeks, rather than a few... months." You were currently in bed, and despite the fact that you should be resting (at least, according to Will), you were working out. You were twisting your torso while holding a medicine ball, working on your upper body strength.

Will ran a hand through his hair, agitated. "You're not giving your body any time to rest! How is it supposed to heal when you're constantly straining it?"

"Um, but I am. I sleep, remmmmember?

"10 hours isn't enough!" Will yelled. "Every time you work out, your musculoskeletal system- your bones and muscles- experience microscopic damage. They need at least 24 hours of rest for adequate reparation. If you keep doing this, you'll sprain parts of your body or tear your muscles. You can't afford for that to happen. (Y/N), you'll wear yourself down to the point where picking up a glass of water is as hard as it was when you first moved your hand! You need to slow down and rest!" By the end of his little spiel, he was shouting.

Well, you shouted back. "How could I possibly be going too fast i-i-if I'm still four times weaker than I used to be, huh? How else am I-I-I going to get better? I have to keep training and building my... strength! I d-d-don't care if I sprain something! I'll just take ambrosia and it'll heal! And I certainly don't c-c-care what anyone thinks about this- especially Perc-" You stopped abruptly, your eyes wide and mouth open. You hadn't meant to let that slip. You hadn't thought of Percy in weeks. Why would you accidentally do it now?

Will was staring at you with a contemplative look on his face. He was probably making the connections, realising that your excessive training was linked to Percy. You internally screamed. This was just getting worse by the minute, wasn't it?

When he finally said something, his voice was soft, a large contrast to the previously harsh tone. "(Y/N), does this have something to do with Percy not visiting you?"

Aaaaaand there it was. You refused to look at him, opting instead to stare at the medicine ball currently lying in your lap. However, this just gave him the answer he wanted.

Sighing quietly, Will sat down on the chair next to your bed. A couple of moments passed before he spoke up again. "Percy's going through a really hard time right now-"

You cut him off. "And I'm not?" Your voice was cold, monotone.

He shook his head. "No, that's not what I'm saying. It's just... he can't stand to see you right now. He hates himself for almost causing your death- and even though he had nothing to do with it, it's what he's convinced himself of."

"I don't care."

Will reeled back in shock. "(Y/N), I just said-"

"I know. I don't care." He continued to stare with wide eyes. "P-P-Percy is being selfish. It's b-b-been nine weeks. Nine weeks. How much longer am I g-g-going to have to wait? Whennnnn will I finally get to see him with my own two eyes? I need this, Will, I need to see that he's f-f-fine myself."

He laid a hand on your arm. "Just give him some more time, and-"

"No!" You wrenched your arm away. "He's had enough! I just- I can't do it any longer, Will. I'm the reason he's st-st-staying away, and it's tearing me apart. I'm c-c-constantly sick with worry for him! I'm consumed by the guilt from what I've done to him! Doesn't he know that his unwillingness to see me is killing me b-b-bit by bit every day?" Your eyes filled with tears involuntarily. "I nearly died to... save him! I-I faced Tartarus, and before I started training, every time I closed my eyes allllll I could see were images of that place. The least he c-c-could do is visit me, f-f-for gods' sake!" You angrily wiped the tears away and took a deep breath to calm yourself.

"I j-j-just need to see him. Just once. That's all I assssssk. I'll stop training so hard and r-r-relax. Please. T-T-Talk to him."

It took a couple seconds, but Will nodded slowly. He seemed to be taking in all this information that you suddenly threw at him. You hadn't previously told him about your nightmares and how badly you felt over causing Percy's guilt. And now he understood the reason for your training so hard; You needed to get the thoughts of Percy out, and by training constantly, working was the only thing you would focus on. Also, by training until you were dead tired, you simply passed out: no dreams, no nightmares. You'd been craving that kind of sleep for a long time.

"Okay, (Y/N). I'll talk to him. But I can't promise that he'll agree to come."

"I know," you whispered. "Just please try."

(~)

It didn't happen.

The next day, Will came back, looking apologetically sorrowful, and you knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth.

Percy didn't come that day, nor the following ones. Or the week after that. In fact, you just accepted that Percy wouldn't show up. There was no hope. He was too engulfed in guilt to be conscious of the fact that he was hurting you- badly.

However, you were lucky to have good friends. They visited more often now, probably since Will informed them of everything that you revealed to him. Either way, they kept you going, talking to you and making you laugh more than you had for a while.

You eventually succumbed to Will pressuring you to slow down on the training, especially since your loved ones had joined in. You couldn't resist Rex on the verge of tears and quickly agreed to rest longer if it meant that Rex wouldn't cry. It turned out, he'd been faking it. The little brat.

Instead of constantly training physically, you used the freed-up time to work on your stutter. Which was starting to frustrate you. Your progress was gradual. You couldn't get through a sentence without stuttering at least once. Even though you were physically gaining strength, your brain didn't seem to be working on your vocal chords at the same rate. You and Will talked about your concern and he came to the unfortunate conclusion that this was one thing that might never be healed. It was possible that you would have a stutter for the rest of your life.

Throughout all this, you kept thoughts of Percy at the back of your mind and suppressed any feeling of worry because he didn't deserve them. Despite your attempts to forget him, that need to physically see him popped up whenever your mind wandered. You tried to ignore it, but it was always too prominent of a thought. Since that didn't work, you started thinking about every reason why you were angry at him right now. This fueled you with rage and effectively pushed out the thought.

Weeks passed and you were progressing every day (except for, y'know, your stutter). You'd been working on your arm strength the most. Will had performed several evaluations on your motor functions, each one revealing that your legs were the most affected. They would take the longest to heal. He instructed you to build up your arm strength, because it looked like you would have to begin walking using forearm crutches. You'd originally asked for a wheelchair, instead, but Will said that you had to use these so that you wouldn't lose your strength by sitting down all day. Ugh. That required a lot of upper body strength. You altered your training to include core exercises as well as those for your arms. At least ambrosia and nectar would help speed up the process.

Fast-forward to August 18, and it'd been 7 months since the incident, 4 months since you woke up, 3 months since you spoke for the first time, and one month since you started to seriously train.

It was also a certain somebody's birthday, but you refused to think about that.

However, August 18 was special for a different reason; it was the day that you were finally released from the infirmary.

"YES!" you screeched. Will winced and rubbed his ears. You were too elated to pay attention. "I c-c-can actually leave? I c-c-can sleep in my own cabin? I'm free?"

His mouth stretched into a smile, not able to resist your contagious excitement. "Yup. You've regained much of your previous mobility, your eating habits have progressed to normal ones, and you can walk with the crutches. There's no reason to keep you here any longer."

You whooped once more, laughing in exhilaration. "Thank you so much, Will. There's no way I would've gotten better without you." You pulled him into a hug, letting go after a few seconds. "I'm gonna go say hi to Charity and Rex! They'll be so happy to see me out of here!" You fumbled with your crutches and strapped them onto your arms, shooting Will one last grin before walking (limping? What would you even call what you were doing right now?) to the exit.

The second you were outside, your grin widened. It'd been seven months since you'd seen the sun and breathed fresh air. You took a huge breath, relishing in that fresh feeling, and exhaling as you looked around. Everything looked exactly the same. There were the cabins directly in front of you. The volleyball court hosted several demigods and satyrs having a hardcore game. Thalia's tree was just past that. You were finally, finally, back.

Well, almost. First you had to get off this porch and then you could journey back to your cabin. You looked from side to side for a railing off the stairs. Your eyes scanned your surroundings for what you needed. Ah, there it was. You hobbled over to the railing, turning a corner of the porch, and nearly smacked into someone.

"Woah!" you exclaimed. His back was to you, but once you spoke, he turned around with a sheepish grin.

You gasped. The grin slid off his face.

"(Y/N)?" he whispered.

"Percy?"

Oh my gods, I've completely forgotten to publish the chapters on this website as well! I type it up on Quotev first, but I kept forgetting to put the same chapters here! I'm sorry!

However, you haven't missed much. Actually, I've only done 2 chapters. I realised that the whole "write and post one chapter a week" isn't working for me and I feel stressed to write it within a week so I end up procrastinating and not doing it. It's also not fair to you guys to leave you waiting for so long. Therefore, I've decided to take a hiatus where I will write several chapters in advance and post one of those every week. Then, during those weeks, I'll write more and post them later and the pattern will continue. So, after the next chapter, I'll see you guys in a month or two!