Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. If I did, The House of Hades would be out already *ahem, ahem, Rick Riordan*.
Julie, the secretary, turned out to be very nice. She told them that there was a place on the fourth floor where Dr. Maddox could do the biopsy in an hour, so they could just hang around.
She told Percy what to expect, which was first a CT scan to determine the best place to do the biopsy, then an injection to numb the pain, and then an instrument called a punch would remove a circular section of skin that went through all the layers of the lump on his arm.
"Sounds painful," Percy said, hoping he sounded offhand. He had no issues with going to battle with swords and daggers, but the punch looked like an apple corer. It made Percy nauseous just looking at it.
"Not really," Julie said. "My daughter had one done when she was seven. And seven year olds cry over a paper cut. She only cried about the anesthesia needle, because she was afraid of shots. But she had her eyes closed for the actual biopsy, and when it was over, she goes, 'Mommy? Could they do it already? They're making me nervous.'" She laughed.
Percy laughed too. Annabeth looked at him. She knew him well enough to know that that laugh was fake, but Julie didn't suspect a thing.
"Was your daughter OK?" Annabeth asked.
"Yeah. It was benign. But thanks. You know, for asking."
Annabeth smiled at her.
The whole talk had taken about an hour, so Percy and Annabeth headed up to the fourth floor to wait. Another blond secretary was there. She smiled and said her name was Jeanette.
"Percy Jackson?" she asked.
"That's me," Percy said.
"Room 432, OK, hon?" she asked, and Percy nodded. He turned to face the door. He swallowed, and left the room. Annabeth sat down to wait.