Author's Note:
OMG! 101 reviews in 5 chapters? Thank you so much!
Didn't expect that I'll update this fast, huh? Well, you requested for it! Besides, I'm so happy that I finally got 100 reviews!
Dedicated to: (For my faithful reviewers who requested for me to update now)
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A special thanks to:
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WARNING: Paul Blofis is OOC! He's so evil!
Disclaimer: Don't own PJO
Chapter 6- The Bargain
Slowly, he began the lonely walk up the hospital hall, past open doors and closed ones, heartbreaks to come and hopes never to be known again. This was a floor set aside for the critically ill, and there was no sound from any of the rooms as he walked slowly by, until he was halfway down the hall, where he heard short jerking sobs coming from an open door. For Paul Blofis, he had to do this. He needed to do this. He had to see the girl before anybody would. The sounds were so soft that at first he wasn't sure what he was hearing. And then he saw the room number, and he knew. He stopped as though he had come to a wall, staring at the door, and the darkness beyond.
This morning, he had a talk with the doctor, Dr. Sedfrey Winfield.
"There's simply no hope for the girl Paul. Nothing was left of her face, not a single bone intact, not a nerve, not a muscle. The only things not totally wiped out are her eyes."
"What happens to someone like that Sed if there's no repair work done? Will she live?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But she'll lead a tragic life. You can't take a twenty-two-year-old girl and turn her into a horror like that and expect her to adjust. No one could. Was she … was she pretty before?"
"No idea. I had never given her a thought. I suppose so. We met only once."
"I see. In any case, she's in for some tough realities. They'll do what they can here at the hospital when she's a little more recovered, but it won't be much. Does she have money?"
"None." This, he was sure of.
"Then she won't have many alternatives. I'm afraid the men who do this kind of thing don't do it for charity. It entails big amount of money, millions of dollars perhaps, It would be a year or two before it is over"
"Do you have anyone particular in mind?"
"Well, I know some of the names. The best one is out in San Francisco."
A little fire kindled in Dr. Winfield's heart. With all his money, international banker Paul Blofis could afford to…
"Do you think you can contact him Sed?"
"Sure." How he admired this guy.
Paul Blofis looked at him with those cold, calculating eyes and he wondered what he had in mind. The wave of admiration almost turned to fear.
"This is strictly confidential Sed, and I hope if ever Percy will recover from the coma, he will know nothing about this. This is top secret between the two of us. If the secret leaks, I shall cancel the treatment together with the annual donation to this hospital by the Jackson Group. I shall discontinue sending money for your charity."
"Rest assured this will be a top secret Paul. We are doing the girl a big favour. We are giving her a normal life, a new face, a new identity. She must be thankful for the gift."
No, this is not a gift, Paul thought.
"The surgery will be done in San Francisco where he is based. Do you want me to call him now Paul?"
He nodded. He was not sure if this time he will succeed.
And now as he entered the cold dark room where Annabeth lay, his mind was certain.
He could see the bed dimly outlined in the corner, but the room was dark; all blinds and curtains had been drawn, as though the patient could not be touched by light. Paul stood there for a long moment, afraid to go in, but knowing that he had to; and then slowly, one foot after the other, softly, gliding, he walked a few feet into the room and stopped again. The sobs were a little louder now, and coming at quicker intervals, with little panicky gasps.
"Is someone there?" The girl's entire head was covered with bandages, and the voice was muffled and strange. "Is someone …" She cried harder now.
"I can't see."
"Your eyes are just covered with bandages. There's nothing wrong with your eyes." But the words were met by fresh sobs.
"Why are you awake?" Paul spoke to her in a monotone. They were not words of reassurance, they were devoid of all feeling, and Paul himself felt as though he was standing in a dream. But he knew that he had to be there. He had to. For Percy's sake, for the business' sake.
"Didn't they give you something to make you sleep?"
"It doesn't work. I keep waking up."
"Is the pain very bad?"
"No, I don't feel anything. Everything is numb. Who … who are you?"
He was hesitant to tell her. Instead, he moved toward the bed and sat down in the narrow blue vinyl chair the nurse must have pulled up next to it. The girl's hands were wrapped in bandages, too, and lay useless at her sides. In essence, her whole life was over. Her youth, her beauty, her work. And her romance with Percy. But now Paul knew what he needed to say.
"Annabeth—" It was the first time he had said the name, but now it didn't matter. He had no choice. "Did they…" His voice was deep and low as he sat next to the broken girl. "Did they tell you about your face?" There was total silence in the room for an endless amount of time, and then a small broken sob freed itself from the bandages. "Did they tell you how bad it was?" His stomach turned over as he said the words, but he could not stop now. She had to free Percy. If she freed him, he would live. He would live the way a Jackson heir should live. "Did they tell you how impossible it would be to put you back together?"
There was silence. For a moment, Annabeth never knew her condition and nobody told her. The nurse just came to give her medication, and adjust the blind in her hospital room but nobody dared tell her what her true condition was. Judging from the bandages in her face and arms, she could tell she was at her worst.
"I think you now know who I am." There was a long pause. Paul Blofis, Annabeth thought.
"There's only one man who can do it, Annabeth, and it would cost millions of dollars. You can't afford it. Neither can Percy. Not yet. Most of the Jackson money was not transferred to him yet."
Annabeth was angry at the voice now and at his insinuation. She is definitely not a gold digger. "No, I don't want Percy to pay for me."
"After you were discharged at the hospital what do you plan to do?"
In truth she had not thought of it yet. She had just woken up from a coma.
"Could you face Percy like that? Do you think he would love you like that? Even if he tried, because he felt some bond of loyalty, some obligation, how long could it last? How long could you bear knowing what you looked like and what you were doing to him? Annabeth, there's nothing left of you. Nothing. There's nothing left of the life you had before." They sat in interminable silence, and Paul thought he would hear those sobs but he did not. Percy was right. She is a strong girl. But he knew it was very painful. "You've already lost him. You couldn't do this to him. And he…he deserves better than that. If you love him, you will free him. You know what I mean Annabeth." The girl didn't even bother to answer as he went on. "You could have a new life, a whole new world, a whole new face." He waited for few seconds before he repeated. "A whole new face."
"How?" It was Annabeth's turn to be curious.
"There's a man in San Francisco who could make you beautiful again. Who could make you able to work again. It would take a long time, and a lot of money, but it would be worth it." There was the tiniest of smiles at the corner of Paul's mouth. Now he was on the familiar ground. It was just like making a multimillion-dollar deal. A five million-dollar deal. They were all the same.
A small jagged sigh emerged from the faceless bandages. She took a deep breath and composed herself. She now understood where the conversation was heading. A blackmail.
"Annabeth, I'd like to propose a little deal to you." "I was right," Annabeth thought. It was Paul Blofis at his best. If his step son had heard him, he would have wanted to kill him. "I'd like you to think about that new face. About a new life, a new Annabeth. Think about it. About what it would mean. You'd be beautiful again, you could have friends again, you could go places—to restaurants, to movies, to stores—you could wear pretty clothes and go out with men. The other way…people would shriek when you walked near them. You would live in isolation. You couldn't go anywhere, do anything, and be anyone. Children would cry if they saw you. Can you imagine what that would be like? But you have a choice." He let the words sink in.
"No, I don't," she said. She will not give in to his bait.
"Yes, you do. I want to give you that choice. I will give you that new life. A new face, a new world. An apartment in another city while the work is being done, a doctor, a psychiatrist—anything you need anything you want to do. There'll be no struggle, Annabeth, and in a year or so, the nightmare will be over."
"And then?"
"You're free. The new life is yours." There was an endless pause as Paul prepared to lower the boom Annabeth was waiting for. "As long as you never contact Percy again. The new face is yours only if you give up Percy. But if you don't accept my…my gift, you know that you've already lost him, anyway. So why live the rest of your life as a freak if you don't have to?"
"What if Percy doesn't honour the agreement? What if I stay away from him, but he doesn't stay away from me?"
"All I want from you is the promise that you'll stay away from him. What Percy does is up to him."
"And you'll honour that? If he wants me…anyway…if he comes after me, then it's up to him?"
"I'll honour that."
Annabeth felt victorious as she laid there. The battle had just begun but she knew she is now the winner. "I promise to love you forever and to never say goodbye. Till death do us part." She knew Percy infinitely better than his stepfather. Percy would never give up on her. He'd find her, and want to help her through the ordeal, but by then she'd already be on her way to becoming herself again. His stepfather couldn't win this one, no matter how hard he would try. Accepting the deal would make Annabeth a cheat, because she knew what the outcome would be. But she had to do it. She had to. There was no other way.
"Will you do it?" Paul almost held his breath as he waited for the one word he prayed for, the word that would free Percy, and at last it came.
"Yes."