All characters belong to Rick Riordan,

and all that stuff.

Author's Note: Hey! Thank you to everyone who is actually reading this! Your support means a lot to me. I hope you like the story so far, please leave reviews and comments so I can make this better. About the Lotus Hotel, I know you may be confused about that. I'm going to add that explanation in this chapter, so, I'll let you read the chapter now! Oh, and please be warned, this chapter includes some sensitive topics like abuse and bloody stuff.

Chapter 7

Percy didn't know how things could get better. Other than his mom somehow coming back, of course.

It had been two months since that plane crashed.

But things didn't get better. Just his luck. They got a lot worse.

Percy had been having a great time with Annabeth, getting to know each other, spending time out together, going to the beach, all that nice stuff they both loved. He'd been getting to know Nico, too, and his boyfriend, Will. They were a cute couple, and they'd started to become close friends with Percy. Life was good.

And things went downhill, really fast.

Percy was whistling as he walked into the house, he'd had a good day. He'd hung out with Nico, and they went to McDonalds, then Percy went to the grocery store, and the people at the register were super nice. Then he went out and got blue Dippin' Dots, which were his favorite. He brought some home for Annabeth and Mr. Chase, too.

So Percy strolled in, whistling, his earbuds blasting music, when he heard a shout and a thud.

He ripped his earbuds out, dropping the bag of groceries. Percy quickly set the Dippin' Dots down on a table and ran to the living room.

He saw one of the most terrifying sights of his life.

Annabeth was on the ground, doubling over in pain and clutching her gut. Her hair was covering her face, but Percy could imagine the look of pain on her face. Her dad was standing over her, bringing his leg back to kick her again. Percy saw it and lunged.

He pushed Mr. Chase away just as his leg was about to make contact. It brushed Annabeth's stomach, then he fell over. Percy left him on the ground and turned to Annabeth.

As he looked her over, Percy realized this wasn't a one time thing.

There were bruises everywhere, her face, her arms, stomach, and chest. Percy could've sworn there were finger marks on her neck.

He looked at Annabeth sadly. "Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered.

"Because then you'd worry, Seaweed Brain." She groaned.

As Percy carried her upstairs to her bed in his muscular arms, he said to her, "You should've told me. Then I could've done something sooner."

Annabeth only groaned in response.

Percy set her down gently on the bed. He tried to remove her shirt to take a better look at the wounds, but she wouldn't move for Percy to take it off. "Hey, Wise Girl, I need to look at your wounds."

"What are you, a doctor?" She obliged anyway.

Percy gasped.

. . .

He must've been shocked at everything. How skinny she was, all the bruises covering her, some of the cuts that were still fading away into scars. Annabeth was too in pain to think so much, though. She felt like one the cuts from this time was bleeding, but she was too numb with agony.

"Wise Girl, how long has this been happening?" Percy whispered in horror.

Annabeth held up 3 fingers.

"3 months?"

She shook her head.

"3 years?"

Annabeth nodded.

Percy ran a hand through his hair. Then he went to get the bandages. When he got back in the room, clutching the first aid kit and other materials, he noticed something.

There was an especially large gash in Annabeth's side, which was cut deeply and blood was flowing freely out of it. Percy dropped all the things he was holding and ran to her, trying to staunch the flow of blood. That was the last thing Annabeth felt for a while.

By the time he called 911, she had fallen into unconsciousness.

. . .

Percy paced the hallway outside Annabeth's hospital room, running his hands through his hair, a pained look in his sea green eyes. A hand tapped him from behind. Percy jumped at the touch.

Nico put his hands up in mock surrender. "Whoa, chill, it's just me."

"Oh thank god Nico." Percy said worriedly. "I don't know if she's gonna be ok. It's been happening for three years, and she's already had four other hospital visits."

Nico put his hand on Percy's back, which calmed him. Percy took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "You need to calm down, ok?" Nico said sternly. "Annabeth's not gonna be happy if she wakes up and finds out that you spent the whole time worrying about her. You know that, right?"

Percy nodded shakily.

"So you need to find something useful to do. Do something that helps Annabeth in some way." Nico commanded.

One person's face came into Percy's thoughts immediately. He got up to go, but Nico's hand stopped him.

"I know what you're doing," he said quietly. "You need to figure out what you're going to say first. And be careful." Percy nodded once, then he turned and sped down the hall.

Everything was a blur as he ran by, and he couldn't focus on anything else. He could only think of Annabeth.

He ran the full three miles back.

When Percy entered, he flung open the door, almost knocking it off its hinges. His rage was let loose, radiating from him. "Do you know what you did to her?" Percy roared as he searched the house for the person responsible. "Do you know how much pain you've caused her?"

Annabeth's dad stepped out from the kitchen, hands up in surrender. Percy grabbed his collar and pushed him up against the wall. Mr. Chase looked down at him in fear. But Percy was too consumed by his anger to notice.

"You've abused her for three years, and for what?" He shouted. "Now she's in the hospital for the fourth time because of you!"

Mr. Chase's eyes widened in horror.

Percy didn't stop there though. "She's covered up her scars and bruises every day since you started abusing her, and she has more scars on her than skin. You've hurt her whenever I'm not here to stop you and why? Huh? ANSWER ME." He roared.

Mr. Chase was shocked into silence. Percy shook him a little, and his voice cracked as he spoke. "I- I was a stupid drunk. Three years ago. An- and it got worse and worse. She was always talking about you, she never forgot you. She never realized I was missing her mother, too, and one day I was so consumed with grief and rage that I snapped. I- I don't even know why I hit her these days."

Percy gripped his collar even tighter. "That's no excuse." As Percy unconsciously twisted Mr. Chase's collar, his eyes filled with pure terror. Percy realized what he was doing, and dropped him. He stared at his hands, at himself in horror, and fled.

Percy let his feet carry him again. He ended up where would always end up, the breeze ruffling his hair, and sand crunching beneath his feet. The beach was like his safe haven.

He'd stood there for a little while when his phone buzzed against his hand in his pocket. Percy pulled it out and saw a text from Nico.

Come as fast as fast as you can. Something's happening.

Percy shoved the phone in his pocket as he bolted for the hospital.

. . .

When he got there, Percy pushed Nico aside to look through the small window on the door to her room.

Annabeth, the girl he'd had a crush on since he was seven was lying on a hospital bed, dying.

Her body was jerking, some of her old wounds had opened up again, and they were all bleeding. The doctors were trying to get her under control, stop the loss of blood. Once they did though, something worse happened. A long, steady beep was coming from the heartbeat monitor. It displayed a horizontal line.

Some doctors were trying to get the defibrillators, but Percy ignored them. All he could see was his Wise Girl, laying there, her eyes closed, her bruises showing dark against her pale skin. Her hair was spread out underneath her, and she was perfectly still.

The doctors brought over the defibrillator and charged it, but Percy tuned them out and listened to the heartbeat monitor.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Beep.

Beep.