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The pâte á choux was absolutely fascinating, Hazel decided. You make a dough on the stove, and then bake it, and it ends up blown up with a giant cavern of air inside. She could have fun win this, definitely.
She started with piping the pâte á choux dough in thick, wide ovals on a piece of wax paper. Then, half moons, twice as many as the ovals. And squiggles, almost like an S.
Baking them was almost as much fun as shaping them. Just watching them was as interesting as that iPad thingy.
Tearing herself away, she stirred up a quick custard. Thickening some soymilk on the stove, lactose-free for Frank, with some sugar. Cornstarch. Flour. And lavender extract.
Jocelyn peered over her shoulder. "Lavender? Why?"
Hazel shrugged. "I'm experimenting."
Jocelyn sniffed. "It smells absolutely amazing."
Hazel grinned.
The oven beeped, and Hazel hurried to pull out the pâte á choux cream puffs out of the oven. Jocelyn's smile mirrored Hazel's. "Mmmmmmm," Jocelyn said. "My apprentice is growing up!"
Hazel laid the ovals straight out on the granite countertop and piped the lavender custard in a smooth, creamy layer on top of each one. She lay two half moons on each oval, leaving a strip of custard showing. She slid an 'S' into the crack, leaving but a small purple custard strip showing at the back.
"My gods," Jocelyn breathed. "It's a swan."
Hazel beamed in satisfaction. "I think I've finally found my calling," she said.
The swans seemed to smile back.
Leo floundered in the water, the same windmilling motions that had convinced him to try and relearn. He was not getting any better at this, but it was not for lack of trying. He had gone swimming - if you could call it swimming - three times this week already, and it was only Wednesday.
He heard someone laughing at him from the shore. He turned around, and Percy was standing there, dressed in long jeans and a sweatshirt over his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. "What?" he called, knowing full well what the response would be.
"You look like a dog," Percy called back. "Try slicing your arms in sync with your legs."
Leo tried and promptly sank. He kicked himself upward, sputtering, to more laughter. "I'm coming in," Percy shouted. "This calls for tutoring."
"No, don't!" Leo tried to say, but all that came out was, "Sputtersputtersputtersplashcoughcoughcough!" Percy was clearly cold, and the water would not help him one bit.
"What?" Percy asked teasingly, already beside Leo. "Oh, wait - don't talk. It's probably better that way. Less likely that you'll drown."
Leo glared at him. "I was trying to say that you shouldn't come in."
"Why not?" Percy asked. "Because I'm wearing a sweatshirt, so I must be cold?" Upon seeing Leo's waterlogged nod, he explained: "First of all, this is my turf. It won't ever make me sicker than I am. And second of all-" he displayed his clothed arms "-I'm not getting wet. So don't worry about me."
He shoved Leo so that the latter was lying on his back. When Leo tried to sit up, Percy pushed him down again. "This is known as floating, Leo. Kind of a necessary skill for swimming. Just lie there. Can you make it ten seconds? Inflate your chest for the first few seconds-"
He talked Leo through the back float until Leo could do it for a good thirty seconds. "Now, the front float."
He put his hands underneath Leo's chest to support him and pushed his face into the water. He let him up after five seconds. Leo was choking and, yes, sputtering. "What's wrong with you?" he coughed. "Man, Perce, you're insane."
"I know," Percy said. "Tough." He demonstrated the way to float for his friend and shoved him in again. This time, Leo was able to stay down for a good fifteen seconds.
After much practice, Percy was satisfied with his student's progress enough to let him be. Plus, he was cold and tired, but he wasn't telling Leo that.
The pâte á choux swans were a great hit at the Poseidon table that night, although there was a strange moment where Leo and Annabeth filled the cavernous pocket inside of the body with wires and caused it to fly around Frank's head. Frank turned into a frog and caught the swan in his mouth, then turned human again and crushed it. Hazel and Percy both looked at Leo as if to say, "Why are you corrupting our significant other halves?" Leo shrugged in return.
But seriously, Percy was glad that Frank was opening up. Before, he had been the stiff, awkward son of Mars, businesslike and abrupt. Now, however, he was able to joke around with everyone else.
Everyone had changed, really. Jason wasn't hiding his flaws anymore, no longer feeling the need to be perfect. Piper was way less self-conscious, wearing clothing that enhanced her beauty rather than hiding it, although not caked in makeup. Actually, no makeup. Leo had stopped feeling the need to flirt with every girl he'd seen, and was focused both on helping Percy and fixing Festus to get Calypso. Hazel was feeling more comfortable living in this era. Annabeth was happier, definitely, more content, especially since there hadn't been a quest all summer.
And he himself? He was the same old, same old, but sicker.
Dr. Semmel was pregnant with her third child, which was extremely distracting.
"Percy?" The doctor leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at Percy. "Have you heard a word of what I've just said?"
At Percy's momentary confusion, she got her answer. Shaking her head, she asked, "Haven't you ever seen a pregnant woman before?"
"Actually," Percy said without thinking, "My mom's pregnant."
"Really?" the doctor asked in surprise. "Do you have any younger siblings?"
Percy shook his head, answering in the negative. "I was born out of wedlock when my mom was twenty. She married an abusive jerk so that I'd be able to have a life. He then disappeared off the face of the planet when I was twelve - probably shot by someone to whom he owed money - and she didn't really date anyone for a while. Then, she got remarried last year, and she just told me that she's pregnant. Which made it harder to tell her that I had cancer."
The doctor nodded thoughtfully. "It's always hard to tell someone. Especially a parent. If you don't mind me asking - is your father, you know, around?"
Percy sighed. "Yes. It's complicated. He and my mother are on very good terms, and he doesn't mind that she got married. They're... friends. I haven't spoken to him in a whole, though."
"Did you tell him?"
Percy stiffened. "No."
"Why not?"
"Doctor..."
"Fine. And so we return to the business at hand. It's been two months, Percy, since your diagnosis in early June. It's late August now. You've had three rounds of chemotherapy. And I don't think it's working."
Percy's shoulders slumped. "Isn't it too early to tell?"
"Yes," allowed the doctor. "And we're going to keep doing it. But I think you should resign yourself now... we will have to remove some of your arm."
"You're sure?"
"Yes," said Dr. Semmel sympathetically. "I know, I'm so sorry."
"S'okay," Percy mumbled. "I kind of saw it coming."
Dagnab that ADHD. He was avoiding the doctor's gaze, which meant he was staring smack at her - ahem - rotundness. He forced his eyes back up to her's, even though it was awkward and uncomfortable - and dang that pitying look!
"When?" he asked.
The doctor pursed her lips. "It doesn't need to happen for a while. Even after school starts. It's August now, school starts soon, so... How would you feel about October-ish?"
Percy nodded resignedly. "Okay," he said. "Okay."
"The organization will give you a prosthesis," she said, as if that made everything better. "You don't have to worry about paying for it."
Percy pretended to feel better because of this, but honestly, he couldn't.
They were going to chop off his arm.
Everyone could tell by the mood of their friend that something had gone wrong. Tonight, he wasn't even bothering to hide his disinterest in his food. Heck, he didn't even put anything on his plate, just kind of... stared at it.
Finally, Jason had had enough.
"What's up, Percy?"
Percy looked up, startled. "Nothing."
"You liar," Piper said affably.
"No, really," he said defensively. "There's nothing wrong, I swear."
Annabeth sighed. "Percy, when will you learn that we all know that you only swear when you're lying?"
Percy made up his mind. "It's... school," he said, lying straight through his teeth.
Jason frowned, clearly not expecting this. "What do you mean, school?"
"I wasn't there all last year," he said. "I didn't take exams, I didn't pass... I have makeup exams coming up next week and because of... well, everything... I haven't been able to study much. So... I'm going to fail."
He really did have makeup exams coming in two days, but he knew that he wouldn't fail, as he had spent much of his time waiting in doctors' offices struggling over a textbook. Stinkin' chemo-intensified dyslexia. At least he had time on his hands.
"Oh, you'll do fine," Hazel reassured him.
As everyone else chimed in, Percy nodded and accepted their well-wishes, feeling worse than ever.
Looking for a brief return to normalcy, Percy went in search of a sparring partner.
Luck of all luck, Frank was slashing dummies to shreds at the arena when Percy arrived. Being the one of the few remaining members at camp to whom Percy hadn't taught a lesson/sparred with already, Percy challenged him to a duel.
None of the Seven were used to Percy's cancer enough, nor was it obvious enough, to go easy on him yet, for which Percy was exceptionally grateful. He knew it was only a matter of time before they started treating him like an invalid - and before he started needing it.
Frank had a strange way of fighting. He was so stiff and military that Percy was having issues blocking him. Usually, he was paired against people that did strange things, like Luke's genius skill or Annabeth's creativity. But Frank... Now here was a different story.
Frank did three, maybe four predictable moves - but blended them so seamlessly that Percy barely had time to react. He was bigger than Percy, especially after his godly growth spurt, but Percy still had his awesome graceus moves.
Percy finally beat his friend in that beautiful dance which is swordfighting and proceeded to teach an impromptu class for a bunch of admiring twelve-year-olds. Frank looked on, laughing at the slobbering dedication towards Percy that these children possessed. Here was the great hero of Olympus, defier of Death, Ares, and Kronos, father of the gods himself! And he was deigning to teach them swordfighting!
Percy went to bed that night, worn out, aching, but very, very happy. This familiar swordfighting pain almost felt like home to him, as the pain of the tumor faded in to he background.
The next morning Percy was missing from the table.
"Did he have an appointment?" Piper asked the table at random.
Annabeth looked mystified, but Leo answered, "Nope." And then in response to the worried looks of his friends, he said "The guy's worn out! They're pumping poison into his bloodstream every few days. Maybe he decided to sleep in."
Annabeth shook her head. "Uh-uh. That's not like him at all. Even if he was worn out, he'd go to bed earlier, not wake up later. That's just who he is."
"Fine," Leo said, shrugging. "I'll go check on him in fifteen minutes if he isn't here." Everyone returned to their bacon, satisfied.
When Percy didn't come in the next fifteen minutes, nor did he come in the five minutes allotted for leeway, Leo got up to make sure everything was okay.
Thank the gods he did.
Percy was sitting braced against he bathroom wall, knees drawn up to his chest. He was clutching a formerly light blue towel to his nose.
It was soaked in blood.
Leo knelt down next to Percy. "Lose a fight?"
Percy shook his head slightly. "It's been like this for a while," he said thickly. "This is the third towel."
Leo was astonished. "The third?"
Percy pointed at the sink, and Leo rose to see the dark red towels in the sink. He then looked back at Percy. The dark-haired teen's face was so pale it had a greenish tinge.
"I'm going to get Will," he said, leaving the door open and Percy behind.
The Seven looked expectantly up at Leo when he returned, which soon gave way to confusion as he bypassed them and headed straight for the Apollo table. When he stopped to talk to Will, however, they all understood.
Annabeth ran for Cabin Three while Leo gesticulated wildly, informing Will in an undertone about Percy's predicament. Beckoning the short boy along with him, Will raced for the infirmary, reappearing moments later with an old-fashioned doctor's black bag and headed in the direction of Poseidon's cabin.
One or two of the senior members of the counselors looked to the Seven, who were unintentionally leaning forward in their seats but wisely staying out of the way, in confusion. Upon seeing that they were to get no answers, though, they focused their attention on the Poseidon cabin. The rest of the camp remained blissfully oblivious to the drama ensuing behind the light blue doors.
Chiron excused himself after a moment and headed in that direction as well.
When Annabeth arrived at the scene, Percy was unconscious, finally succumbing to the blackness that had been dancing around his eyes for the previous ten minutes. Annabeth carefully sat him up, positioned his head so he wouldn't choke on his own blood, and cleaned up his face to the best of her ability. Keeping her cool, keeping her cool, although sorrow welled inside her at the sight of her boyfriend, fighting an unseen, powerful, ever-numerous army.
When Will came he wasted no formalities. Accidentally kneeling on the bloody towel, he tilted Percy's chin down and pinched the bridge of it, hard. With his other hand, he crushed an instant ice pack and applied it to Percy's cheeks and nose to constrict the blood vessels. He started to apply a dressing of nectar to the skin around his nose, but Annabeth stopped him. "He didn't tell you, did he?"
Still pinching, Will shook his head.
"It's cancer. Nectar and ambrosia repair bodies by regrowing cells, and it'll just speed up the-"
Will shook his head sadly, setting aside the dressing. "-Cancer cells. I know."
Leo stood by, fidgeting and feeling completely out of place.
Finally, after ten minutes, Will looked up. "He's going to need a blood transfusion," he said. "He's lost a ton of blood. He's AB-negative, which we don't have in the infirmary because it's the rarest type. We have to get him to a hospital fast."
"Wait," Leo said slowly. "AB-negative?"
Will looked at him impatiently. "Yeeees..."
In lieu of an answer, Leo offered his arm.
Frank was recruited to bring the admittedly not heavy teen to the infirmary. Percy's shirt was removed and a needle strung through the port. Leo sat in a chair next to Percy's bed and the blood was transmitted. As the color bloomed in Percy's face, Leo felt more and more at home. This is how he had felt the last time he had had a friend - Sara's numerous transfusions.
Will watched them both, the unconscious Percy and the oblivious Leo. Leo looked at ease now, totally unaffected by the loss of his blood. Will had never seen Leo look so open, so-
The timer beeped, interrupting Will's reverie. He stood up and disconnected the two boys. Leo looked up at Will.
"He's going to be okay, right?"
Will nodded. "When he wakes up, we need to schedule an appointment with his doctor. Unless that's a common side effect of one of his medications, I would be worried. He was bleeding from both nostrils, and it took me ten minutes to stop - and it was bleeding for a half hour before that."
Leo made a gesture of assent. "As soon as he wakes up, I'll tell him." Looking up, he saw the rest of the Seven against the wall. They had joined the party when Frank had been needed.
"You guys were here the whole time?"
No one said anything.
"Jeez, it's not a funeral."
Piper gestured wordlessly to Percy, lying motionless on the bed.
"That's our friend," Jason supplied, "and he doesn't look good at the moment."
"So that's why this is bothering you so much!" Leo said. "It's the first time you've seen a friend like this."
"Well, yeah, thank the gods," said Hazel. "Why, you have?"
Leo was spared by a slight stirring from the bed. Percy's eyes peeled themselves open. Looking down at where he was, he cursed.
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Jackson, because that's the appropriate thing to say now."
"Well, what is?" Percy returned. He struggled to a sitting position. "It was this bad?"
"You needed a blood transfusion," Will said, appearing out of nowhere - well, from the room of first-aid supplies.
"You're kidding," Percy said. "I thought you don't have AB-negative."
Leo displayed the crook of his elbow. Percy looked at it in surprise. "You're AB neg?"
"Surprisingly enough."
Percy blinked. "Um... Thank you."
Leo smiled a half smile. "No prob."
Seeing Chiron standing in the doorway, Percy looked down at himself, obviously self-conscious. He fingered the Hickman line resting against his bare chest.
"I guess I have no secrets anymore, huh?"
"Why didn't you tell us?" Piper asked quietly.
Percy stared. "I... uh... I don't know, I guess I didn't think it was important."
"Do you want us to leave?" Hazel asked tactfully.
"Nah, it's fine. It's awkward, but I knew it would happen sooner or later. I'm actually glad it happened sooner." He started looking around. "Where'd you put my shirt?"
Jason tossed a shirt at him. "Took this from your drawer. Your other one was covered in blood."
"Thanks," said Percy, pulling on the shirt. He tugged the short sleeve down over his bandaged arm. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something strange. He looked up. "Uh... Will?"
Will looked down at himself. A giant bloodstain covered the knee of his jeans. "Oh. I think I was kneeling on the towel."
Percy blushed. "Sorry."
Will laughed. "Don't be. At least it wasn't urine. I've done that, last year, in Nigeria. Poor kid was really sick. Wasn't pretty."
Percy swung his legs out of the bed and stood up. The world tilted dizzyingly. "Woah." He put a hand against the bedpost to steady himself.
Will pointed a finger at the bed. "Okay, sit." And when Percy sat with badly disguised relief,he kicked everyone out under the excuse of, "Sorry, guys, we need to talk."
Percy sat cross-legged on the bed in the newly empty room. Will settled himself on Leo's vacated seat.
"How long?"
"Since June. The beginning of the summer."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't - Will, I'm - I - I'm sorry, I don't know, it was a stupid thing to do."
"Agreed. What are your odds?"
"I'm trying not to ask."
"What's your treatment plan?"
"Chemo for five more rounds and radiation later, and they're going to amputate some parts sometime in October."
It was the first time he had told someone.
"Oh... That sucks."
Percy looked away. "You're telling me."
They sat uncomfortably for a moment until Will rose. "You have a list of your medications somewhere?"
"Chiron has one. Also, Annabeth."
"Ok, I'm going to talk to Chiron. Sit quietly."
"What am I going to do, dance?" asked Percy sarcastically.
Will rolled his eyes and left.
The second Will was out of the room, Percy buried his head in his hands.
All of those pitying looks! He had gotten them from everyone besides Leo and Annabeth. He hadn't noticed Chiron, though, if Chiron had done anything.
But he couldn't stand it!
And he felt so weak. He had woken up in an infirmary. He had been carried like a baby by Frank. Everyone had seen him unconscious and everyone had seen his Hickman line. Someone outside of the seven knew and he had needed blood from Leo, for the gods' sake.
Was he supposed to get used to this?
When Will came back, he was wearing a strange expression. "None of these-" he brandished the list "-should have caused that nosebleed. I want you to talk to your doctor."
With many promises, Percy was finally discharged.
"What's wrong, Frank?" asked Hazel, coming up behind her boyfriend.
"Percy," he answered honestly. "We swordfought yesterday. He beat me. He was fine. And then he just..." He made an all-encompassing gesture with his hands. "Is it going to be like this from now on?"
"Could be," Hazel answered. "But we don't have a choice. Percy doesn't have a choice. And as much as it hurts us to see him like this, it's hurting him more - both physically and emotionally. We both know how proud he is. He's probable really embarrassed right now. We just have to roll with the punches, like Percy."
Frank shook his head. "Poor Percy..."
Poor Percy, indeed.
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