Yay! Another chappie! Chapter 18! I keep on getting sidetracked with other fanfics. Shame on me for making you wait. =( Anyway, R&R!
Two weeks later
Annabeth's POV
Now I'm really getting scared. Not because of our parents. Not because of the war. But because of Percy. It's been two weeks and he still hadn't recovered from his sickness. Every few days, he would start to get better and we would think that he just needs one more day to rest. Then the next day, he gets even more sick than the day before. He's gotten so bad that he can't even come out of his cabin. Chiron made him stay in bed to rest. But Percy has been in bed for two weeks.
Every few hours, I would go to his cabin to check up on him. Chiron told me I had to. But I'm not complaining. Sometimes Grover, Thalia, or Silena would come with me to see Percy. The other days I would go alone.
*flashback*
I opened the door and peeked inside. There was Percy under the covers, staring at the wall. "Percy?" I asked tentatively. He looked up and his eyes, though tired and blood-shot, beamed with relief. I closed the door behind me and started taking some nectar and ambrosia out of my small, gray duffel bag.
"Hey," he smiled with a grunt of pain, "I almost thought you weren't going to come today."
I sat down at the side of the bed and poured some nectar into a small measuring cup. "Of course I was going to come today." I smirked. "I just had to deal with Nico and Thalia again." He groaned and threw his head back.
"What is it this time?"
"They were debating whose dad is more powerful." He scoffed at the idea. "And then there were undead skeletons and thunder/lightning." He raised one eyebrow in thought.
"So that's what I heard." After he drank the small portion of nectar, he looked at me and shrugged. "I just thought the Stoll brothers locked Clarisse in the armory closet."
"You have a weird imagination!" He just ignored me.
"Nico and Thalia are so immature." I had to smile.
"Oh, it's not like you wouldn't join in that," I teased as I pulled out some ambrosia out of a plastic bag.
He raised his hands like he was surrendering and laughed weakly. "Hey, it's not my fault my dad is awesome." I scoffed but ignored it. I felt his forehead with the back of my hand, brushing his jet black hair back.
"You're burning. Are you feeling okay?" I asked, seriously concerned now. His forehead was beaded with sweat. If I took his temperature, it would probably be 104.2 degrees Fahrenheit. He cleared his throat.
"Yeah, I guess. I've just been coughing all night. And I barely got any sleep. But don't worry about me. I'll be fine." I looked at him with doubt. "I promise," he finished.
*end of flashback*
I just hope he keeps his promise. These last two weeks have been sheer torture. It's like a natural disaster. You don't know when it's going to end. You can prevent it, but not if it's too late. It might be severe or not, but you don't find out until the damage is done. And you can't stop it from happening.
I hated the feeling. Feeling so oblivious, and useless. Ugh. I had to think, but there's too much on my mind to think right. So I went down to the beach. It helped but not a lot.
I couldn't help but think about him when I was here. We had so many memories here. He was the first and only person to bring me here for some other reason than classes. I never knew how good this place was to think and relax, until now.
I couldn't help but think that he isn't telling me everything. I didn't notice this before, but he shouldn't get sick by eating too much and an elevator ride. Something's wrong.
I heard a deep bellowing in the distance. I looked behind me and saw all the campers walking to the pavilion for lunch. I pulled myself up with a thick tree branch and pulled down my shirt. Taking my time, I squished my toes in the cream-colored sand. I didn't even look up. When I saw that the sand melded with grass now, I looked forward. Wiggling my toes to remove the sand, I left my sandals at the steps of my cabin before I walked to the pavilion where everyone was already half-finished with their meals.
I picked a plate of the table with all the food and started putting a slice of pizza on it. They were all looking at me, but I ignored them. Right now, I was irritated. They thought Percy was faking. They thought he was pretending so he would get out of training. So he would be protected from Kronos in his cabin. I never knew how all the campers can be such idiots until now. Did they really think that if Kronos invaded camp, he would stop just because Percy was in his cabin, sick? Yeah, right! He would tear down the whole city to find Percy so he could persuade him to join Kronos's army. Not that Percy would. And apparently, they don't know Percy. Sword-fighting is one of the only things that can clear his mind. He wouldn't fake being sick so he could miss out on that.
I brought my plate to the Athena cabin and sat down on the corner without looking at the people who were staring, boring holes into my back. I swear I would get back at these people who thought Percy would be that self-centered. Truthfully, he was the least selfish person I met. I mean I can't remember the last time he did something only for himself. I thought back to the last few weeks, reminiscing.
There was the time we met at Goode High. When we bumped heads, twice. And I got lost in his bright green eyes. Then there was our first date. When he showed me one of his favorite spots to think, the fountain. And I fell asleep on his shoulder. Then the dance. When he defended me when Adrienne was insulting me. The kiss. And when he fought the Crimson Slayer (A/N: I made the Crimson Slayer up. Pretty good, huh?) with me. I couldn't forget when he saved me from drowning.
I smiled at the memories.
Percy's POV
I want to tell her. But I just couldn't bring myself to it. I tried thinking of the pros and cons but it didn't work. My dyslexic brain couldn't keep track of all of those good and bad reasons. So now what do I do?
I wanted to tell the whole camp that I wasn't faking. Just because I was stuck in my room, it doesn't mean I can't hear the rumors about me. I wanted too clear my name, like three years ago, when everyone accused me of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt just because I was Poseidon's son. Well, it's not like I can help it! They're accusing me of faking and lying just to get out of training. Idiots!
Yeah, it was short. Don't blame me. Well, actually you can blame me. I'm a really slow writer when I don't have anything really happening in the story. But the next chapter has some more substance than this one, so I'll probably go faster. This was just a passing chapter. R&R! The button is right down there. =)