The first thing Nico was aware of was the faint buzz of the air conditioning. Next, the alcoholic smell crowding this whole building. He was in the infirmary, then. He'd been in there enough times (because he was accident prone, and definitely not because Will spent a lot of time there) to know where he was without opening his eyes. The next sense that reached him was the feeling of bed sheets, and then… someone holding his hand? That couldn't be right.

But no, someone was definitely holding his hand in theirs, slowly running their fingertips across his own. Nico was about to open his eyes when the person, whoever it was, slowly lifted his hand up and pressed their lips to it. Nico felt his heart skip a beat, and tried to open his eyes, only to find that he couldn't. He tried to ask who was there, but his mouth wouldn't open. Then he tried to lift his arm up, but it too wouldn't cooperate.

He couldn't move.

Nico figured that a normal person would've felt panicked at this realization, but honestly, with all the stuff that he'd gone through in the past, he couldn't find any emotion besides mild intrigue for the subject. And Will was right there (Nico had decided that it was indeed Will sitting next to him, as he was probably the most likely one to sit by his side after he got hurt, both because he already worked at the infirmary and because he probably felt guilty that Nico had jumped in front of him). Will had sewn people's arms back on and restored mangled bodies back to normal. It was nearly impossible for Nico to stay seriously hurt if Will was there. And besides, Nico had taken a sword wound to the gut. Even if it did paralyze him, it should've only been from the waist down. He should've still been able to open his eyes and talk.

No, this was something else. Maybe a god was messing with him. Or maybe he was just so exhausted that his body wasn't letting him even lift a finger, even if he was awake and alert. Whatever it was, he was sure it would wear off eventually.

And anyways, he had more important things to worry about. Will was holding his hand. (He really hoped it was Will.)

Will kissed Nico's hand again, this time on his palm instead of the back of his fingers, which made his heart skip another beat.

Suddenly, Nico heard the door open and someone walk into the room. Will quickly folded Nico's hand down on his stomach, which was pretty much the exact opposite of what Nico had wanted to happen.

"Hey, Will," Jason said, and Nico could hear a smile in his voice. Of course. They'd all just seen Will holding Nico's hand, and they all definitely knew about Nico's crush on him.

Of course, now that Nico had jumped in front of Will and taken a blade for him, the entire camp probably knew about his crush.

Including Will.

Schist.

Then again, Will had been holding his hand, so maybe…

No. He shouldn't get his hopes up.

Nico heard footsteps on the left of his bed, and then someone fiddling with something. Putting flowers there, maybe? He wasn't sure.

"How's Nico doing?" The person on his left, who Nico now knew was Percy, asked.

Will cleared his throat before responding. "He hasn't woken up yet. But he's stable." After a moment of silence, Will added "I'm sure he'll wake up soon."

"Will…" Piper's voice said. "No offense, but… you look awful. Have you slept at all since he got hurt?"

"Well… no."

"Erm, you probably… should. Take it easy on yourself."

Will laughed. "Yeah. I guess so."

Another girl (Annabeth?) hummed quietly. "Is he in a coma?" (Yup, Annabeth).

"No!" Will said quickly. "He's just sleeping. He's probably tired." He sounded more like he was reassuring himself than anyone else.

Am I in a coma? Nico thought. I don't think so. I've been stabbed before, and it doesn't usually put me in a coma.

His friends kept speaking, but their voices began to fade and Nico couldn't make out their words. He didn't even try to fight as he fell back into his dreams once more.