Unclear Motives
version 2.0
...
Warning: Possible traumatic experience may be read from this chapter. Heads up!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus. Credits to Rick Riordan.
Note: The first part is the same as the one-shot. To jump into version 2.0, scroll down and find altered part starts here.
Chapter 1
I got the call at 10:26PM while I was in the middle of a meeting.
The decrease of marine life in the Hudson and East Rivers of New York got us worried. As a marine biologist, you would love to see every body of water full of aquatic animals, not garbage. The rivers were too polluted now, and the fish were dying. We conducted meetings for the past few days, very late at night meetings, might I add. I'm just so glad that my wife understood why I needed to come home late recently.
At first, I was reluctant to leave her at home up to the very late hours of the night. I usually made it my job to come home to her before nine o'clock, ten at the latest. But with the situation at hand, I got home by midnight nowadays. Most of the time, I'd catch her awake and waiting for me, sometimes she fell asleep on the couch. I started to feel bad that I seemed to be ignoring her, but she made it sure, one night when I came home and she was still awake, that she understood how important the meetings were and how I loved my job. And I love her so much just for that.
I watched the wall clock ticked second by second while our leader, Jason, explained the gradual decrease of every species that could be found on the rivers. My friends and co-workers jotted down anything note-worthy like I did. I was writing down the highest number rate of drop in population when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I had put it on silent so as not to disturb the meeting, but I made sure it would still notify me when I got a call or a text from Annabeth.
Carefully fishing out my phone, I checked the caller ID and saw that it was indeed my wife who was calling me. I leaned back on my chair and clicked the answer button before putting the phone against my ears.
"Annabeth," I said softly. "Honey, it's late. Why are you still awake? I told you not to wait for me any—"
"Mr. Jackson," a voice I don't recognize suddenly answered back. I sat straight up earning me looks from around the table since I was up front. "Mr. Jackson, listen carefully…"
"Who are you?" the basic question, of course. "Where's my wife? What have you done with Annabeth?" I didn't even bother keeping my voice down. There's no point now anyway since my friends were all looking at me already.
"Hold your horses, Mr. Jackson. You're wife is safe, for now. In fact, she's right here beside me." He answered.
"Who are you?" I asked again. Leo Valdez, my friend who was seated beside me wrote down on his notebook before he pushed the pad in front of me. On it were the words 'what's up?' I switched the phone on my other side so I could write back to him. I grabbed my pen and scribbled back, '911 to my house. NOW.' He read while I wrote. Frank Zhang, who was hovering behind us, read the conversation as well, took his phone out and called the hotline.
"Oh, my name is not very important right now. I think what's important is what you'll have to do so I won't have to pull the trigger." That made me stopped breathing.
"Don't." I suddenly blurted out making Leo jump beside me. He was writing again. When he passed me the notebook, he asked what was wrong but I didn't even bother to answer. "Please, don't. What do you want?"
"That's better." The man answered. "First, don't try and call the police. If I see any red and blue lights outside your house, nothing else would matter. I will pull the trigger. Understand?"
With that warning, I stood up and grabbed Frank's hand, the one with the phone. He was in the middle of reciting my address when the phone was dropped on the ground and it split open. Thankfully, the address he gave didn't give much sense yet. I don't want police on my doorstep for now.
"What the Hades do you want from me?" I asked for the third time, annoyance resounded on my voice.
"Well, one, I told you I don't want the police. Now that that seems to be well out of the way, here's number two: you have half an hour, Mr. Jackson, starting right now, 10:30. That gives you until exactly 11PM to get here. When you do, only then will I discuss with you my terms."
"This is New York. Are you crazy? It's at least an hour drive from my office back there, and that's with the lightest traffic…" While talking, I was actually already making my way out of the office. We were just on the fourth floor of the building. It would be too slow for me to take the elevator down. The stairs were right there to the left, and I took them instead. Jason, and the others were quietly hot on my tail.
AN: I am not familiar with N.Y. or any of it's streets and what-not, hence the very vague descriptions of the roads. Sorry!
"Then I suggest you leave now." The man actually chuckled, as if amused by my panic. "Oh, and don't be late. Or else."
With my heart beating so fast, both from running and the anxiety I was feeling, I jumped the flights of stairs until I reached the lobby and later on, the parking area. My car wasn't parked very far tonight so it made me a step closer to coming home. How I'm going to maneuver around New York traffic to get home in less than thirty minutes, I'm not sure. But if I have to run every red light there was, I know I will.
"Let me talk to Annabeth, please." I said while I opened the door. Jason and Frank slid on the back while Leo took the passenger seat. I didn't have time to argue them out of the car so I just started the engine and headed out to the busy roads. "I want to talk to her."
Driving single-handedly wasn't very easy, but I managed with my little luck. I was an inch away from scratching all the cabs and about a foot away from running into garbage cans on the sidewalk. Once, I almost ran over someone crossing the street. I honked of course, but that didn't help. Sweat began running down my forehead and I wiped it very quickly with my arm, the one with the phone, before listening to the man again. It took him a while to answer. He was thinking.
"Very well. It may as well be the last time you two talked anyway." I heard shifting on the other end. He talked, but I couldn't understand what he said. Then I heard a whimper. Annabeth. She asked if it was me on the phone before I heard her sobbed on the end of the line.
"Percy?" She asked in a soft voice.
"Annabeth!" I almost screamed while I dodged a cone. "Annabeth are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
I heard her cry on the other end and it broke my heart just to have heard that. "No." Then she sniffled. "I'm okay. I'm okay."
"Annabeth, listen to me," but it was proven difficult with her cries. It was so unlike her. Annabeth was strong and the very person who won't give up and break down like this. Something was wrong. "Listen to me, Annabeth. Annabeth!" I tried louder to make her focus. "I'm on my way home. Okay? I'll be there soon. Everything's going to be okay. It will be fine. I promise."
"Percy," She called again and I stopped talking. "I want to tell you something…"
And that was when fear crept to me. I knew how the situation looked like: I had about twenty minutes for a deadline, and my house was still too far away. The chances of me making there was below thirty percent out of one hundred. I knew those odds. But to hear Annabeth pointing things out and trying to say her goodbyes… That was when I felt my heart crack and tears escaped my eyes. I was desperate now.
"No, no, no." I quickly interrupted her. "I'll make it. I promise I'll make it there in time. Okay? Trust me. Please. I love you, too, but trust me, Annabeth. I will be there." My voice broke and Leo placed a hand on my shoulder. I almost forgot that they were with me. They might not understand what was really happening, but they had a clue. And right now, they could see me crying and desperate.
Annabeth let out a sob and I almost heard the smile on her voice when she spoke again. "I know you love me, Seaweed Brain. I love you, too. So much. And I trust you. But you have to understand how complicated and impossible this is."
"It's not impossible, Annabeth. I'll be there, I promise." I told her again.
"I know you'll be here. The question is will I be here when you arrive?" If my heart hadn't broken just yet despite the numerous times I said it did, well, it just did. I didn't even want to start picturing Annabeth gone. It's like saying having the moon in the morning and the sun at night.
"Promise me you'll be there." I told her. "Promise me you'll wait. Please. Promise me."
It was quiet for a while, and I knew that she was thinking. If there was something Annabeth hated, it was broken promises.
"Annabeth," I tried again. "Promise me you'll be there when I get there."
"I—I promise." I heard her say softly. That promise was what I could hold on for now.
I checked the time on my watch to see how long I still have. Less than twenty minutes. I wasn't even halfway yet. I cursed mentally and stepped onto the gas. The car's engine was getting a work out but I promised to give it a tune up as soon as all this shit was over. Right now, I just needed to get home and see Annabeth safe.
"Hey," I heard her say after a while. "I want to tell you something."
"Annabeth,"
"No, listen. You need to hear it. Please. Just in case," she took a deep breath before continuing. "Just in case some promises are broken tonight."
As much as I hated that, I said okay and told her to continue.
"I went out today. A few days ago I set an appointment to see Will Solace. Remember him?" She asked.
Will Solace was our friend in high school. He was a good guy and we still see each other from time to time. Why she'd pay him a visit, I don't know. But I told her I remembered him.
"You know he married a doctor, too, right? Sarah. She's an obstetrician. I went to see her today because I've been feeling a little different lately." Annabeth paused for a while, tried to get a reaction from me. When I said nothing, she continued. "I took a test last week, Percy. It came out positive and I just had to know from a professional and not just from a stick made by humans. She confirmed it."
I didn't say anything. Here I was stuck in traffic in the middle of New York, talking to my wife on the phone about how she wasn't feeling well in the last couple of weeks. How had I not noticed that?
"Confirmed what?" Really, I had a guess. I knew I guessed right but I just needed to hear it from her.
The traffic light ahead turned yellow and then red just when I was about to cross the street. I groaned in annoyance and tapped my fingers on the steering wheel of the car waiting. I hate New York.
"Percy, I'm pregnant. Two months actually this coming week." She told me so lightly as if nothing was wrong in the world when in fact, everything was. "You're going to be a dad, Seaweed Brain."
"I'm going to be a dad." I echoed trying to process it in my mind. My friends who were inside the car with me gasped upon hearing it, but they didn't say anything. Well, Leo did.
"Annie's pregnant?" He asked to no one in particular. He sounded like it was an impossible thought and Frank hit his arm and told him to be quiet.
"Yeah. You're going to be a dad." I heard her cry again and I wanted to do the same. This wasn't how I pictured things would be when Annabeth told me she was pregnant. Maybe she would tell me while we were in a make-out session, or when we're watching a movie in the living room. Maybe when I opened my eyes in the morning, instead of a simple good morning she'd tell me that I was going to be a dad. Not like this. I wanted to be there right now and just hug her so tight. But, no! I was halfway home, with fifteen minutes left on my clock. That was cutting it close if you asked me.
The light was still red and I have no idea how long it would to take. It's been like a minute already. What's taking it so long? Few were crossing on the other line anyway. Why hadn't it changed yet? So, I decided to do the thing Seaweed Brain worthy. I stepped on the gas.
"Percy!" Jason cried from the backseat while holding onto the Leo's headrest. "Percy, that was a red light!"
Then sirens began to wail behind me. Great. Speeding tickets.
"Ugh, you do realize that we have to stop." Frank said, but I paid him no attention.
For the next five minutes, I just crossed any open roads, red light or green light. I didn't care. That earned more police on my tail. I suddenly got an idea.
Annabeth was still on the other line. I still heard her breathe lightly. "Are those police sirens?"
Shit.
"Annabeth!" I called in an attempt to warn her, but I was too late. Instead of a reply, I heard something move on the other line, a loud cry of 'no' and a thud. I was suddenly afraid and I stepped on the gas as hard as I could now, pushing it to almost the limit.
"I thought I told you to keep the police away, Jackson! Do you want your wife dead? And from what I heard, you're child dead as well?" The man asked me with anger in his voice.
"No! Don't. I was caught speeding and I didn't stop. They were chasing me and…"
"Speeding, eh? Eager to get here so fast, aren't you? I suggest you stop and get them off your back now. Or else." It might have been my imagination, but I swore I heard the cock of a gun.
"No. Please. I don't have much time left." I begged.
"That's right, only eight minutes and a half. But if you come here with those cops, she's dead."
"Eight minutes, and I'm just entering the vicinity. Give me an extension and I'll get the cops off my back. Please."
"You're good with negotiations, I'll give you that. But I'll have to refuse. I'm afraid that you'll have to get the officers off you and get here in… oh, seven minutes and counting."
"Where's Annabeth?" I asked.
"Suddenly unsure if you'll make it, huh? You better make it in time. I'd hate to see your efforts wasted. To answer, your question, she's here, all right. One tough girl you got here, Jackson. She's struggling ever since I came here."
I found myself smiling at that. Of course, she struggled. She won't go down without a fight. But that meant stress for the baby. My smile vanished as soon as it appeared.
"Can I talk to her?"
"Six minutes left, Jackson. And I still hear those sirens. You talk to her when those officers are gone."
That made things difficult. I needed the police on my tail so that when I got home, they could get that man out from my house and away from my family. But if they kept on following me this close…
The car could not run any faster after this. I maxed it out. I prayed that I'd managed to get a distance between my chasers and me, far enough not to hear the sirens over the phone, but still close enough for them to see and follow me. Knowing the NYPD, they won't give up on catching wrongdoers. I so happen to speed on the road, three times did I notice a police car follow me, meaning three tickets now, and simply ignored them. That has to be good enough for them to chase me down. I just hoped they don't speed up, too, because I was certainly on my limit now. Thankfully, I already was nearing the house and a little far from the city. At least no cars blocked my way.
"Hmm, I didn't hear you talk, but the sirens are gone. What did you do?" The man was curious.
"I sped up and lost them." I answered.
"Are you sure they're gone, Jackson?"
"Well I can't see them on my rearview mirror anymore." Lie. I see them, far away, but definitely there. I turned my lights to their brightest to make sure they see me.
"Fine. Five and a half minutes now, Jackson. If I see colors out the window, you know what happens." He said. I heard him talk again, but not to me. To Annabeth. She answered back snappishly and I hoped she didn't. The last thing we wanted was an angry man with a gun inside a house with an alone and pregnant woman. Not a very favorable equation.
"Percy!" She cried as soon as she got on the phone again.
"Annabeth, are you okay?"
"Yeah, where are you now?"
Still a good five and a quarter kilometers away from the house.
Not good.
"Almost there. I promise. You'll be fine."
"Don't lie to me, Seaweed Brain."
"I'm not."
She stayed silent for a while and I took the time to look at my watch. 10:56PM. Four minutes left.
"I love you." I heard her say.
I didn't want to answer her. Not for the reason that I don't feel the same way. I love her so much, not enough for words but I was afraid that if I told her I love her, I'd seal our fates. It was like accepting defeat. I'm not giving up so I answered the best way I can.
"I know."
"I need to hear it, Percy. Please." Annabeth said, her voice cracking.
"Annabeth, I'm almost there. Hang on, okay? I'll be there."
"Say it. I need to hear it one more time. Please, Percy. I need to hear you say it." She was practically begging now. I hated hearing her voice this way. It sounded hopeless and defeated. I swore to myself that I'm going to give that guy, whoever he was, a peace of my mind.
"You want to hear it, you wait for me. I'm almost there."
"Percy…"
"Now, now, Mr. Jackson." The man said. "You're running out of time. Three minutes left on your clock."
"Give the damn phone back to my wife!" I yelled at him. "You asshole! Give it back to her!"
"Nope." He answered with a clear tease. "It'll be more fun this way. Three minutes and counting… I'll turn the phone off so you could concentrate on getting here. Okay? Don't be late, Percy Jackson. Oh, and Annabeth says she loves you."
Without even waiting for a reply he actually ended the conversation.
"Don't you dare!" I screamed at the phone. "If you ever…" I didn't even finish the sentence because I quickly dialed Annabeth's number. Nothing. I dialed again to have the same results.
I threw the phone in frustration.
While I was busy trying to contact him, I didn't even notice the police cars catching up behind me. I saw the red and blue flashed and they were on my tail again. This was not good. I was nearing the house now. If that stupid jackass heard the sirens…
No.
He needed something from me. He won't kill Annabeth. He'd probably just hold her hostage, but not kill her. Not until he got what he wanted.
Finally, I saw my house. There were lights on the front porch, a light on the living room, and one on our bedroom. To any outsider, you wouldn't think that something was wrong inside. Smart jerk. He knew if he turned off the lights, the neighbors would be curious. They knew that Annabeth was always home and would always leave the lights on while waiting for me to get home. If they woke up in the middle of the night with the lights off they'd go knocking down the door to ask.
I hit the break as soon as I got in front of the driveway. The tires screeched loudly on the cement and tried to stop the raging metal. The sounds of the sirens were all around me. The surrounding flashed in red and blue indicating that the police were here. They had followed me and they were here. When I got out of the car, I heard someone told me to stop and freeze. Another yelled for me to put my hands on my head. I didn't listen.
As soon as I got out of the car, I ignored the officers and dashed for the front door. Annabeth. I needed to see Annabeth. I needed to punch that man's face and kick him until he was rotting in jail. I needed to…
Then I was on the ground. I found my face flat on the grass with two police officers on my back.
"Sir, you're under arrest for speeding across the city of New York and for ignoring the officers who were chasing after you for the last ten minutes. You have the right to remain silent…"
I didn't bother to listen to them. I just struggled to break free. In the distance I heard my friends telling them to let me go and to listen. They tried to explain. At least Leo did it loudly. I managed to break free from the two officers, crawling my way out and dashing to the front door again. Why did we even make a house this far from the road anyway?
Before I reached the steps, however, another body collided with mine and I found myself down on the ground for the second time. This time, the officer pulled me away. He had a big built for a body and he was strong. He dragged me from the house despite my shouts of protests. They weren't listening to explanations from my friends or me. I saw Jason and Frank on one side, handcuffed for whatever reason. They calmly talked to the officers in front of them. Leo on the other hand was wild. Two police officers pushed him inside the back of the car, handcuffed as well.
"You have to listen to me. My wife is inside the house. She's pregnant. There's someone in there, too. He'd kill her. Please! You have to listen to me! Let me go!" I thrashed around as hard as I could. There was a fighting chance as long as they don't use the Taser on me… or as long as I still got my time.
"You have to let me go!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. For a while, it was the only thing that rang around the area and everyone looked at me, even a few of our neighbors who were clearly woken up from the commotion.
But another sound, way louder than my scream, echoed next.
Gunshot.
ALTERED VERSION STARTS HERE
I prayed to whoever was up there that it was just a warning shot from an officer who have had enough of my craziness and struggles. But when I looked, even the officers seemed surprised and suddenly alert. Some even went for the guns on their belts.
The hold of the officers on me loosened just when I realized everything.
My time was up.
"Annabeth!" I screamed, looked at the house and ran for it.
The front door was unlocked and no one was on the first floor, not the living room, the kitchen or anywhere else. I raced up the stairs to get to our bedroom. Turning the knob, I made a dash inside looking around, but it was dark.
"Annabeth!" I called out again.
I was sure that the lights were on in here earlier, at least from what I saw outside. Now it was pitch black. Dark. The only thing making things visible inside the room were the light from the cars outside and the moon. There was enough light to make the body on the ground visible. I watched it carefully, thinking of the worse. I took a step towards it, but then the sudden flicker of light blinded me for a while. From my right, I heard the cock of a gun, but I didn't turn. My eyes were focused on the body on the floor: Annabeth.
She was awake. Her eyes were open, but they seemed dazed and it kept looking around the room, searching for something. Her breathing was shallow and quick. There were ropes tied to her hands, but they were cut, separated from the bond that they were in earlier. One of her hand lay on top of the other. They were both against her stomach. Annabeth's night dress, her white night gown, was now sporting a vivid shade of red, and it was growing. Blood.
I heard commotion behind me and a few other sounds. Then the monster spoke again. "I won't do that if I were you. I have the upper hand here. Drop your weapons or I shoot the girl." And I knew he wasn't bluffing. The gun was pointed at Annabeth, and it was already fired before. What made us think he wouldn't do it again? "Drop your weapons now."
The police didn't do that of course. They kept their guns pointed at the man, but one of them, a lady officer came to me. She shook my arm and said, "let's get you out of here." She tried to pull me out, but I wasn't leaving Annabeth. She might have understood it. "We'll bring her out as well. Come on, now."
"No, get her out first." I said stubbornly. I tugged my arm off of the officer's grip and took the few steps towards my wife. Her eyes were trained in mine and I could see the smile that carefully formed on her lips. Sweat began to cover her face.
"What do you think you're doing, Jackson?" The man said, but I didn't listen. He may have a gun pointed at my wife, but there were five other officers on him. I knew it was stupid to take chances, but I have to get Annabeth to a hospital immediately.
"Seaweed Brain," she muttered when I got to her level. "You made it."
"I promised, didn't I?" I simply said. "Now, keep your part of the bargain."
I gently placed my arm under her neck and knees and lifted her off the ground with care. She was wounded, and I was losing her. I needed to get her out of here.
"I did. I waited." She said while catching her breath with gasps. Then a whisper, "I love you."
Her head came to the crook of my neck. She snuggled so close that I felt her warmth. I kissed her forehead and carried her over to one of the male officers. He should be able to carry her out while I kill this monster who tried to hurt my family. When I was passing her light weight body to the officer, she spoke again. "Keep your part of the bargain."
"What?"
"I told you I love you, I waited. You have to say it back now." Annabeth smiled slightly. "Even if it's just a lie."
"You have to wait a little longer, Wise Girl. Can you do that?" But I didn't wait for an answer. I passed her to the officer and kissed her forehead another time. "Get her to a hospital. She's pregnant." And the police dashed out with her.
I watched her go for a while until she disappeared. Then I turned to the laughing man behind me.
"Do you really think you'd save her? She's as pale as a ghost! It'd be too late when she gets to the hospital. What do they call it? Dead on arr - " But he didn't get to finish because my fist landed on his face. He stumbled backward.
It didn't even occur to me that he had a gun or that he could fire it at any moment he wanted. I just kept coming at him. I wanted to kill him. A fist on the left, one more punch to the right. Maybe I even kicked him somewhere in between. I lost count of the hits I landed when I felt arms grabbed me.
"Sir," the officer said. "Please, stop. We'll handle it from here."
"That man hurt my family! I'm going to kill him!" I said out of rage. I wanted another go at him.
"Your wife needs you more. Sir, please step back and let us handle this."
"I want him in jail forever." Then I spat at the man on the ground. "I hope you rot." I turned and left.
Frank was waiting for me outside of our house. He was leaning on my car.
"Where's Jason and Leo?" I asked.
"They went with Annabeth to the hospital. She looked horrible, man." He said sadly and I didn't need to be reminded of it.
"Hop in, we're going now." I didn't even wait to see if Frank did get in. When I strapped myself on the car with my seatbelt, I turned the engine on and drove to the nearest hospital.
The lobby was like any other hospital's. White, full of people, some were patients, relatives, most were nurses. I headed straight for the emergency room because where else would they bring her, right? Just as I was entering the double doors that swings open and close, a man wearing white came out from inside.
"Sir, where are you going? You're not allowed in here, I'm sorry. There's an emergency going on." He tried to stop me.
"That's my wife in there." I told him before I shoved him out of the way.
"I understand, sir. Please wait out here. The doctors are doing everything they can to help your wife. Please." He motioned for the seats available just across the hall and with one last longing look at the doors, I sighed, defeated.
"How is she?" I asked the nurse.
"She lost a great amount of blood. Like I said, the doctors are doing everything they can. Please wait and if you'll excuse me..." Then he left.
I really had no other choice but to sit down and wait. I slumped on one of the chairs and sighed. My face landed on my hands and I cried, not even caring if anyone saw me. I heard Frank sat beside me, and I was glad when he didn't do anything, but be there. His presence was enough. To know that someone was there for you, that was comforting.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard shoes scraping the tiled floors of the hospital. I looked up to see Leo and Jason running toward us.
"Percy!" Leo said. "Where's the guy? Did you get him? Did you hit him in the balls?"
"Leo, stop that! Can't you see he's stressed enough already? He doesn't need some ADHD friend to add to his worries." Jason lectured.
"Oh, yeah, sorry." Leo mumbled. "But hey, Annabeth's already in there." His head motioned for the Emergency Room's door. "Doctors have been going in and out since we came here and we're not allowed in."
"She seems bad, Percy," Jason said. "I hate to ask, but what happened up there."
"He shot her." I answered.
"Uh, we got that part. Otherwise we won't be... ouch!" Leo said. "Fine, I'm sorry. Go on."
"There's nothing else to tell. We all heard the gun shot and I went up and she was on the ground, dying." I looked up to face my friends, tears gracing my face. "She was dying, Jason. I stood there hopeless, watching her. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't think!"
"Percy, chill..." Frank placed his hand on my shoulder, calming me down. I took in a deep breath.
"I just stood there." I said again, not believing the words myself.
Then the doors to the ER opened and I stood up like someone electrocuted me from my seat. The doctor looked at the four of us before asking, "who's related to the patient?" And I stepped forward.
"How is she? Is she okay? How's the baby?" I fired.
"Mr. Jackson, I'm Dr. Fletcher. I understand that you're the patient's husband?" He tried to clarify.
"Yes, I am. How is she?"
"To be straight to the point, we got the bullet out of her body, but it caused some tissue damage to her system. It grazed her stomach and had caused minor internal bleeding which we took care off. Also, she lost a great amount of blood from her wound and we had to do a transfusion. We will continue to monitor her vitals until we're sure that no other damage or problems occur." He said.
"And the baby? Is he okay?" I asked.
Dr. Fletcher sighed and lowered his head a little. His brown eyes saddened. "I'm sorry to tell you this, sir, but the your wife had a miscarriage."
As the news was delivered I felt my heart sunk. I slowly dropped back to the chair I was occupying earlier and I stared into space while Dr. Fletcher continued. "Whether it was because of the wound itself or the possible shock your wife went through after the gun was fired, we aren't sure. Most likely it was the latter because the bullet was found with a distance from the womb. No matter the reason, I'm so sorry to tell you that you lost the child. If you'll excuse me, Mr Jackson. If you need anything, please ask one of the nurses."
And then he was off. I didn't dare tell him thank you or anything else. I was too caught in my own thoughts. I couldn't believe it. Annabeth had a miscarriage. We lost our child. Maybe if I had been faster this wouldn't have happened? Or if I made sure the police weren't so close to me? Or if I ran faster inside the house instead of the police catching me and trying to arrest me. It was my fault. How was I supposed to face Annabeth now?
"Percy?" Frank called for my attention. "Don't do this to yourself, Percy. It's not your fault."
"How do you know that?" I snapped.
"I just do. Don't blame yourself over this. I'm sorry it happened but accidents happen." He said sincerely.
"How am I supposed to tell her? She just told me she was pregnant like an hour ago, and now he's gone. I didn't even..." I shook my head.
"Man, imagine how Annie's gonna react to this." Leo said.
"Shut up, Leo!" Jason whispered. But he was right. How would Annabeth feel? Oh, gods...
Later on, I learned that Annabeth had already been transferred to her own room. I immediately went there. Leo volunteered to stay with me, but Jason and Frank had to get home. Piper, Jason's wife, was left alone with their one-year old daughter and Frank had to get home to his fiancee Hazel. Leo stayed with me in Annabeth's room. He took up the couch while I sat on Annabeth's bed, held her hand and talked to her from time to time. I'd tell her I love her and that I was sorry. I told her that numerous times.
Just before the sun rose at seven o'clock in the morning, I felt a hand touching my hair. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Annabeth looking so frail.
"Hi," I whispered.
"Hey, you fell asleep."
"Yeah, I guess I did." I sat up straight and stretched a bit. "How are you feeling?"
She scrunched up her face and I understood her response. I sighed and leaned in to kiss her. "I thought I lost you,"
Her soft yet broken voice answered me. "You didn't. I'm okay."
"I don't know what I would have done if..." I began but she shushed me.
"Percy, don't do that. I'm okay, see? I'm fine." Her hands cupped my face and she made me look at her. "We're together now."
I smiled at her. That's right, we were together. Everything was going to be okay. We had each other and...
My mind went blank. The baby. How was I supposed to tell her now?
Annabeth pulled away from me and looked me in the eyes. "What did the doctors say?"
For a moment I didn't answer her, I thought for an answer that won't be a lie, but wasn't the entire truth either. Unfortunately, I'm not very creative. I guess Annabeth knew me so well that she saw right past me. "What's wrong?"
"Annabeth," I started and sighed again. "Annabeth, you were in pretty bad shape. You lost a lot of blood and you had minor internal bleeding."
"But I'm okay now." She said. Then her body suddenly tensed. "How's our baby? He's okay, right?"
"Annabeth,"
"He's gotta be okay/ I kept him safe, right? Percy." She was panicking now and I was almost hysterical as well. How was I supposed to tell her. "Percy, please!"
I just shook my head and held her hand with one of mine and the other one went to her face. I made her look at me. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
"No," she whispered and cried at the same time. "No. No! I kept him safe! I tried to... No!"
"Annabeth, calm down. You're going to trigger your bleeding again." I grabbed her shoulders and tried to put her back to bed, but she was repelling me.
"How could I? Oh, gods... I'm so sorry!" She suddenly cried.
"Sorry? What are you sorry for? It's not your fault, Annabeth." I told her. Weird how I was the one comforting her now when I was doing the same earlier when the Dr. told me the news.
"I should have fought him harder. I should have grabbed the gun when I had the chance. I should have done something! Then maybe our baby would be alive! Oh, gods, this is my fault. This is my entire fault. I'm so sorry, Percy. I'm so sorry." She cried to my shoulder and her hand fisted my shirt. Tears started to flow freely from her eyes.
"It's not your fault, Annabeth. Don't think like that. If it's anything, the baby saved you. Okay? He saved you so that we could be together." I told her.
"At what expense? His own life? I wish I just died!"
"Then the baby would have died, too." I told her. "Annabeth, I'm so sorry this happened. I didn't want this to happen. But we're together now."
She kept quiet after that. Well, not so quiet. "Percy," she cried my name over and over again and I simply stroked her wild curls. We stayed like that for so long. "I love you. I'm so sorry. Don't leave me, too. Please."
"I'm here. It's okay. I love you so much, Annabeth. I'm so sorry. I'm never leaving you. We're staying together." With that, I kissed her full on the lips over and over again. I poured everything in there. All the dread I had been feeling for the last fifteen hours, all the love I ever had for her, everything. I placed my forehead in hers and told her that everything will be okay now, and that I would never, ever, leave her. "I love you so much," and she simply nodded in understanding despite the gaping hole in our hearts that I knew we'd carry for the rest of our lives.
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I have the second chapter's draft in my mind. I'm typing it down ASAP. Feel free to send in suggestions!
Love always,
Greek Wise Girl