LINE BREAK
"And what's happening with you?" asked Piper the next morning.
"Oh, I have a doctor's appointment today," said Percy casually. "Annabeth's coming with me."
"Oooh…,"said Leo. "Going to the doctor together already?" He grinned at them. Annabeth swatted his arm. "Ow!"
"Yeah," said Jason, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Shouldn't you propose to her first?" Annabeth leaned across the table and swatted his arm. Laughing, Jason left the table and moved to sit on the other side of Piper, out of Annabeth's reach. Annabeth sent a silent message to Piper with her eyes. Piper nodded and looked down at her food. Then, out of the blue, she swatted Jason's arm. The table erupted into laughter.
"No, seriously," said Hazel. "Why together?"
Annabeth grinned at Percy. "Percy doesn't like doctors," she said. "Percy will forget everything they tell him because he gets nervous."
"Oh, shut up," Percy groaned, and buried his head in his hands. "How did that enhance their life in any way, Annabeth?" he asked. "And for your information, the last time I forgot what they told me was years ago."
"Two years ago," Annabeth retorted, to general amusement. "Only technically does two years count as years."
"Bickering like an old married couple," said Leo, laughing. "So why are you going to the doctor?"
"Oh, just my arm. Will can't figure it out. I personally want to wait and see, but Annabeth's making me go."
"I just think it's better to be safe than sorry," Annabeth said reasonably. "It doesn't hurt to get him to look at it."
"Yeah, it does," said Percy quietly. "It puts a hole in my very small college savings fund."
"Hey, you said your arm hurt!" said Annabeth. "Think about it. If it's something serious, you wouldn't gain anything from saving your college money now, you won't be able to use it later anyway, because something would've happened to you."
"Fine, fine," said Percy. "We're going now anyway." He heaved a sigh and stood up. "If you don't come now, we're going to be late." He headed down the hill, not even looking to see if Annabeth was coming. She got up and waved goodbye, following Percy down the hill and out of sight.
LINE BREAK
Percy signed in and went to sit with Annabeth at the corner of Dr. Maddox's waiting room. Annabeth looked around, admiring the paintings, while Percy just sat there, overcome with nerves.
What if Annabeth's right? he thought. What if it is serious? Just then, a blonde woman in blue scrubs and glasses looked over the top of her clipboard and called, "Jackson? Percy Jackson?"
Percy stood up, his stomach in knots. He heard Annabeth standing up behind him. She put her hand on the small of his back, right where his Achilles spot had been once. He walked forward and followed the nurse into a small room with a table. Percy sat on the table and Annabeth stood uncomfortably in the corner.
"Dr. Maddox will be with you in a moment," said the blonde woman. She turned and left the room.
"This is your one and only chance," Percy said, half-joking. "You embarrass me now and that is the last time you come with me to a doctor's appointment. I don't know if this was even a good idea in the first place…" He trailed off as the doctor came in.
"Hello, Percy," said the orthopedist. He was short, almost as short as Coach Hedge, and had very light, pale skin. His eyes were a light, light blue. His hair was white and matched his lab coat. Percy could almost see straight through him. "I am Dr. Maddox. I am an orthopedist, and I heard you are having some problems with your arm?" he asked, finishing his sentence as a question.
Percy glanced at Annabeth. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, there's kind of a big bump there and my girlfriend's freaking out."
Annabeth just smiled. She was fine with Percy using her as an excuse for his nerves.
The orthopedist picked up Percy's right hand and looked at the bump on his upper arm. "I obviously can't say anything about it just by looking at it, but you should schedule a biopsy and we'll go from there."
Annabeth interjected, "When would the biopsy happen?"
The doctor looked at her. "I don't think I have many appointments for today," he said. "I can do an in-office biopsy. It's on a different floor, but just go to the receptionist and tell her you want to schedule a biopsy. Ask her for the next available biopsy appointment, and I bet there's one for today."
"When would we find out what's wrong?" Percy asked.
"It depends," said Dr. Maddox. "Sometimes we can get the results back within minutes, sometimes it takes a few days."
"Okay," Percy said. He stood up, rustling the paper on the table. Dr. Maddox walked to the door and held it open for them. "Thanks," Percy said, as he and Annabeth left the room.
Guest Reviews:
To Guest: It actually is possible to have osteosarcoma (bone cancer)in your humerus (upper arm bone). When I said 'hand,' I meant the general hand area, not specifically the hand. But I'm pretty sure you can get osteosarcoma there too. And while Percy Jackson may not be mortal, he can still get sick. He can still die. So yes, even the savior of Olympus can die. He almost did fifty bazillion times already.