Poseidon stood on his toes, his eyes scanned through the hallway to see if there was anyone who was watching him while he was on a heated call.
"Amphitrite, I know you're not happy. He just lost his mother! You're going to have to accept the fact he's gonna live with us." Poseidon hissed through the phone, his blood pressure rising at the pointless argument with his wife.
"What about the medical bills? How are we gonna pay for it? Triton's going to college next year! How are we going to be able to afford his tuition?" Amphitrite shouted.
"Are you telling me you're worried about money!? Money is not an issue, nor will it ever be. I own one of the best rescues in the world! You know I make three million per year. We can afford the bills and Triton's tuition and still have plenty to spare. If worst comes to shove, Zeus owes me some favors, and he makes triple than what I do. Where's all the concern about money coming from?"
"Just forget it. Triton's eighteenth birthday is next week, and you're already missing it."
"And I'll make up for it when we get back. I'll call him on his birthday, it's not like I'll forget it. Plus he's helping fill in my place at the aquarium, and I'm sure we'll stay in touch concerning the rescue."
Amphitrite let out a heavy sigh over the line, "Do you have an estimate when you're coming home?"
"No. They said they're keeping Percy under heavy sedation for a few days. I'm not sure how long they're keeping him when he wakes, it all depends on how well he recovers."
He knew she was holding a retort back, he let out a sigh in return. "Look, I already signed the papers. Percy is my son and he doesn't have any other family. He lives with us every summer, it's not like a he's a stranger who is camping with us. This is your stepson who've you known for twelve years! I'm putting my foot down on this, he's living with us."
Amphitrite stayed silent. Poseidon rubbed his face in irritation feeling like he reached nowhere in this conversation.
"I have to go. I speak to you later."
"Talk to you later. I love you." Amphitrite softly spoke the last part.
"Love you too." He matched her soft tone.
Poseidon ended the call as he saw Dr. Yew hesitantly approach.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Dr. Yew politely asked.
Poseidon shook his head no as he now had his full attention.
"Perseus is doing well under the circumstances. I'll slowly lift the sedation in two days if he continues on this path. Besides the leg, I have high hopes that your son should have no lasting consequences. He has no internal bleeding, no hemorrhaging, and no punctures."
Poseidon nodded. He understood that Percy had defied the odds, but he still was upset about his son's leg injury.
"Does that mean, he can be released soon?" Poseidon asked.
Dr. Yew sighed, "Leg amputation is a tricky recovery. I cannot predict the exact time he will be admitted here for, but he needs to achieve some independence of mobility on his own. That could possibly take a few weeks to a few months."
"A few months!" Poseidon exclaimed.
Dr. Yew sighed. "Your son will go through vigorous physical therapy with us. It's essential for him to be mobile, and that is our goal. Amputations don't heal overnight, especially if it's a leg. I'm sorry to say that you might want to make some friends with the staff here, you're going to be here for awhile."
Poseidon watched his son's face for over four hours, waiting for any twitch indicating his awareness. They started to slowly take Percy off the sedation, and he's been impatiently waiting for any sign he'll wake even though the nurses warned him that it might take awhile for Percy to awake.
He wondered what he'd did to deserve this punishment? First it was the letters fifteen years ago and now this... The universe obviously loves to torment him, but he didn't know the purpose of it.
If Percy didn't wake up soon, he wasn't sure if he could survive the anxiety of waiting. What parent would tolerate seeing their child in this state?
He's been with Percy for four days now, and his patience is wearing thin. They didn't know if Percy would have any brain damage, they did scans and they were clear, but that wasn't a one hundred percent guarantee. They have to wait for him to wake to fully gage if any damage took place. At least Sally wasn't here to experience the torment of not knowing if your child will make a full recovery.
His heart clenched as he came to the realization that he had to be the one to inform Percy about his mother. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Percy wouldn't take it well. Percy adored his mother more than anything, and his poor heart will be shredded after hearing the news.
As Poseidon tried to plan on what he will say to him, something shifted in his peripheral vision. He shifted his head to see Percy's face start to scrunch up in pain.
Poseidon stood from his chair and rushed to the side of the bed, "Percy are you awake bud? Are you in pain?"
Percy gave no indication that he heard him, there was no recognition in his facial expression.
"Percy? Can you hear me?" Again Percy gave no indication that he heard him. Maybe he could hear him, perhaps Percy might be able to feel him. Poseidon ran his hand through his son's hair to try to comfort him.
Percy's face calmed down immediately, "Percy? Are you listening? Can you open your eyes for me?"
Percy's eyes remained shut, but his face seized to scrunch, and his features were as calm as they were under full sedation. Poseidon was disappointed as he figured he'd slip back unconscious.
Bowing his head, he left his son's bedside to inform the staff of his brief visit of consciousness.
Percy opened his eyes but quickly shut them in protest from the blinding light peaking through the blinds.
Once he gathered his bearings, he glanced around the room he was held captive in. It was a small room with white walls and floors with not a speck of color. The smell reminded him of his mother cleaning the apartment right after he contracted a virus. He didn't need the machine to his right to tell him where he was, as the smell told him he was at a hospital.
Percy felt like he got a hit by a truck, he didn't recall anything that would make him feel like this, or would put him in hospital.
He furrowed his brow as if it would jostle a memory. His stomach grew tight as he couldn't conjure any clue as to what happened, and it brought a wave of anxiety as he wondered what other things he couldn't remember. Being confused as ever, he raised his hand to his face and let it rest there. Once he felt like he had a better grip on his emotions, he let his hand fall back on the bed.
He turn his head to the left, his father was sitting on the chair. His father was sleeping as his head was tilted slightly upwards with his mouth slightly opened. Percy's brow furrowed, why was his father in San Francisco, or was he in New York? He couldn't remember if he made the trip to New York. The last thing he remembered was packing for the stay.
Several questions racked on top of his throbbing brain. Percy moved his gaze to the ceiling, he began focusing on the weird sensation he felt once he woke. Everything felt foggy and dizzy at the same time. If he looked at a spot long enough, the spot would move and dance in front of his eyes. Is this what being on drugs felt like? He watched the ceiling
as he lost connection with reality, and fell back into the darkness.
Percy woke up feeling no better from when he was awake the last time.
"Percy, buddy, how are you feeling?" His father leaned over him, his sea green eyes swam with concern and worry.
"I - I'm not sure how to put it in words on exactly what I'm feeling... Why am I in the hospital?" Percy asked hesitantly.
His father tensed up before he sat back down and his fingers began to fidget with his blanket, "What do you remember?" Poseidon asked slowly.
Percy crinkled his brow in attempt to remember the event that led him here. "I remember packing for the trip. Everything after that is blurry. Are we in New York or in San Francisco?"
"Um, we are in uh San Francisco" His father scratched his head, "... you were in a car accident". Poseidon eyed him wearily.
Car accident? Percy didn't have any memory of the accident. He scrunched his brow further, he would imagine he would have been able to remember something that significant.
Wait, if he's still in San Francisco, then where was his mother and stepfather? Why would his dad be here if he wasn't in New York?
"Where's mom and Paul?" As soon as he said those words, he felt a blow to his stomach as his mind strewed up horrible possibilities.
Poseidon shifted his gaze towards the wall. He sighed as he clenched his eyes shut. "Percy... buddy... they didn't make it... I'm so sorry"
Percy's whole body froze with the confirmation. He wasn't able to move or give a slight twitch of a finger. He went numb, there was nothing. He felt nothing, there was no grief no sorrow, only nothing.
He could faintly hear his father calling his name, but Percy couldn't respond or give any indication that he heard him. He couldn't shake off the numbness his body had accustomed to. His gaze was permanently fixed on the wall behind him. The wall was plain, no color or pattern, just blank, like him. Maybe that's why the walls have no life to them; hospitals are places where good people die, having life to them is a cruel reminder to the families of what is lost.
Poseidon let out a sigh and clenched his eyes shut, he didn't want to see his son's expression. "Percy... buddy... they didn't make it... I'm so sorry"
Poseidon waited for a sob, or a screech, but no sound came. Confused he open one eye, Percy had no expression on his face. He's completely still. If it wasn't for his open eyes Poseidon would think that he was still unconscious. Poseidon opened the other eye and stared at his son. Poseidon wasn't expecting this, he thought Percy would be a blubbery mess, but this is something different.
"Percy?" Poseidon called. "Are you okay?"
Percy didn't respond. Poseidon shifted closer to him and raised his hand to grab his shoulder and give it a little shake. "Percy, are you here bud?"
Percy was silent and still as a statue. His gaze was permanently fixed on the wall behind Poseidon. Poseidon glanced at the wall in question to make sure there wasn't anything abnormal about it. It's the same as it has been for the past fives days.
Poseidon reached and pressed the call button. He grew increasingly concerned once Percy gave no response.
Three nurses and Dr. Yew came to Poseidon's rescue. "You called, did something happened?" Dr. Yew asked.
Poseidon motioned with his hand at Percy's face. "Percy woke up, and now he isn't responding to me."
Dr. Yew pulled out a pen looking flashlight. "Alright, you called him Percy. Does he go by Perseus, or Percy?"
"He goes by Percy." It didn't hit Poseidon that he only called Percy as his son for the past five days. He never corrected the doctor either when he called him by his full name.
"Hi Percy. I'm Dr. Yew, I've been caring for you for a couple days now. Can you hear me?"
Dr. Yew shined a light into his eyes. Percy didn't even flinch at the light. The doctor whispered something to the nurses, Poseidon couldn't quite catch what he was telling them.
"Was he like this once he woke up, or was this something that happened after a few minutes of consciousness?" Dr. Yew asked.
Poseidon shook his head, "He was confused once he woke up, he asked a few questions. I kinda told him what happened with his mother and stepfather, and this is what happened."
The doctor shook his head. "I would've waited until a therapist is present, we have a resident therapist that deals with types of these situations. That's my fault for not informing you about her. As for Percy, it appears that he went into shock."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Poseidon seen plenty of movies where someone goes into shock and it causes the medical staff to panic.
"Sorry, I should've clarified. He went into psychological shock, it's different from physical shock. If he was in physical shock his organs will be failing. Psychological shock is when the person experiences high levels of anxiety or stress. It can have different types of reactions, this is one of those reactions. It isn't a life or death situation, but it can be scary." Dr. Yew informed.
"As for treatment, it will go away on its own. The patient needs to relax though, I'll give him another sedative to help him." The nurses started to put the sedative into his IV.
"Oh and before I go. The resident therapist is Ms. Levesque or you can call her Hazel. I'll send her down since Percy has awoke." The doctor and nurses left, leaving Poseidon alone.
His eyes didn't leave off of his son. Percy's eyes are now closed due to the sedative. Poseidon still felt uneasy at the whole situation.
Poseidon sat back down not realizing he got up from the chair. He buried his head into his hands groaning.
At least there's his coffee.
A few hours past before Percy awoke again.
This time Percy was the blubbering mess that Poseidon assumed he would be after telling him the news.
Poseidon let out a sigh of relief as Percy sobbed uncontrollably. Poseidon could deal with this, he couldn't with an unresponsive son.
His heart monitor was going off, and Poseidon tried to coax him to calm down. "Ssshh, Percy... it's going to be okay. It's going to be alright."
His attempts were fruitless and his monitors started to skyrocket in distress. Dr. Yew and four nurses started to pile in the room to see what was all the commotion is about.
Poseidon stood in the corner and gave them room so they could treat him. They fixed Percy when he was unresponsive and he's trusting them to fix in this trial of emotions.
"Percy you got to calm down." A nurse tried to coax him as well. Dr. Yew was trying to ask him questions regarding if he was in pain, but Percy couldn't give any verbal response other than a shake of his head.
"Calm down, we're going to have to sedate you again if you don't calm down" one of the nurses said.
Apparently threatening him to be sedated did the trick. Poseidon could see that he was forcing himself to calm his breathing, his face is red with strain. The monitors calmed simultaneously with his sobs.
One by one the nurses and Dr. Yew left, once they were reassured Percy wasn't in any danger. Dr. Yew whispered to Poseidon before he left he was grabbing the therapist. Poseidon nodded in support of that action.
Percy still had tears running down his face and Poseidon grabbed some tissues, and handed them to him. He quickly wipe them, and blow his nose with it.
"We're going to get through this. I know this is hard, and it will get better in time I promise." Poseidon said while wiping the tears off of his cheek.
Poseidon sat back down in the chair, " You gave me quite a scare last night, Percy. Your body went to shock last night and you were unresponsive. It was very... unreal"
Percy only nodded, and he moved his gaze down to his lap. Poseidon eyes grew in horror as he never thought about Percy's reaction once he finds out that he's missing half a leg. Hopefully that therapist comes down quick.
"What happened to my leg?"
Shit.
Hazel Levesque -In Heroes of Olympus. Daughter of Pluto. One of the seven in the prophecy.