Hey… so sorry about that three month gap… I honestly really thought I updated at least twice since then but apparently not. I'm really sorry. I would be mad if I was the reader. Anyways reviews for this have been great and that fuels me to keep going so thank you. Hope you enjoy reading. (Prolly gonna be a double update day)
All rights to rick Riordan
— — —
"Surgery went well. Everything went smoothly and as perfect as it could've. He's in recovery right now trying to wake up. I'll get someone to bring him in." The surgeon says almost three hours later.
"Okay, we'll be waiting." Will sits back down and so does Jason while they wait for Nico to come back. The same nurses from earlier wheel him into the small room on a gurney. His knee is bandaged thickly and his face is scrunched up in discomfort even in his unconscious state.
"It might take him a few minutes to fully wake up, he started to wake up in recovery but he'll be pretty out of it." One of the nurses stays behind to take his vitals while he wakes up and gives him some pain medicine when he does.
"Hey, Nico, wake up bud." Jason gets up to be next to Nico like Will is.
"Nico, honey, you gotta wake up for us." The son of Apollo grabs his hand and rubs the back of it. Nico begins to stir and he groans as he comes back to reality.
"You're still here?" Nico whimpers, tears in his half lidded eyes.
"Yes, we would never leave you, Nico." Will assures him. The son of Hades still has tears pooling in his eyes and it seems like they're only growing. "Hey, why are you crying? What's wrong? Does it hurt?"
"You weren't there." Nico whispers. "I woke up and you weren't there. I thought you left. I was alone again."
"No, no, Sunshine, we didn't leave. We are here. We told you we would be here and we are, we just weren't allowed to see you right after surgery." Will wipes the tears off Nico's cheeks with his thumb. "I promise we won't leave."
"Okay, thank you." Nico starts to calm down.
"How do you feel Nico?" The son of Zeus asks as he moves to the other side of the bed.
"Drugged." Nico responds, groggily. Will chuckles and so does Jason while Nico works to keep his eyes open all the way.
"How was that?" Will asks as he kisses the boy's cheek.
"The first part was scary but I don't remember anything after that. But I didn't have any nightmares while I was out, I didn't even relive any memories." A small smile makes its way onto his face.
"Good, good. So not as bad as you thought?" Will teases.
"No. At least not right now." Nico says.
"Okay, Mr. di Angelo, I've given you some pain medicine so that should kick in pretty soon. For now, we have to get some food into you. I'll go get you a popsicle and some juice, I just need to know what kind you want." The nurse speaks up.
"Um… a purple popsicle and some apple juice." Nico decides.
"Okay, I'll be back with a purple popsicle and an apple juice." The nurse leaves the room, leaving Will and Jason to watch Nico.
"Does it hurt?" Jason asks bluntly.
"A little. I haven't tried moving it yet. I'm too scared." Nico confesses, drugs making him too loopy to care.
"That's okay." Will assures him.
"When do we get to go home?" Nico wonders. Jason and Will both notice how he says 'home' and not 'camp'. They both smile brightly, knowing that he feels safe.
"We'll see what the doctor says but it'll probably be around an hour or two. Shouldn't take too long then we'll getcha back home." Will tells him.
"Okay, one purple popsicle and a cup of apple juice." The nurse walks in and sets the items on the tray table and wheels it in front of Nico.
"Thank you." Will thanks the nurse for his boyfriend.
"How's your popsicle?" Jason asks Nico as he sucks on his popsicle.
"Good." Nico responds.
"Gods I wish we had phones right now." Will repeats what Jason stated earlier.
— — —
"Ow." Nico groans as Will helps him into his bed in the Hades cabin.
"I'm sorry. I'm gonna take the brace off so we can strap on the ice machine, okay?" Will tells him, not looking forward to what's going to happen.
"Is it gonna hurt?" The younger boy whimpers in fear. Will sighs.
"Yes. I'm sorry, but we can get Jason to help so it's less work for you." Will tells him.
"Okay," Nico lays back on the bed and waits while Will runs to get Jason. The son of Apollo runs back in with Jason following close behind within a minute.
"Hey, Neeks, what am I here to help with?" Jason walks in with his 'golden retriever' smile.
"I don't know. Ask Will." Nico says bluntly. Jason turns to the healer.
"I need to take his brace off so that we can strap the pad to his knee so we can connect it to the ice machine and it's like an ice pack that doesn't get warm. For me to do that though, I need him to hold his knee up off the bed and it's gonna be kinda hard and painful for him to do it alone so you can help him by holding up his ankle and calf for him." Will explains.
"Okay, I can do that." Jason shoots Nico a reassuring smile at his uncertain look. "Ready Will?" He asks once Will sets everything out so that it's fast and easy.
"Yep. Nico?" Will asks.
"Let's just get it over with." Nico whispers. Will and Jason nod to each other and Will counts to three. Nico yelps when Jason lifts his leg and he has to grit his teeth to keep from screaming. Will unstraps his brace as quickly as he can without jostling his leg too much and begins to secure the knee pad on.
"Almost done, Darlin', almost done, just hang on." Will assures him.
"It hurts." Nico cries, tears slipping down his face at a rapid pace. Jason look at him insecurely, not knowing what to do and not being able to move without hurting him. Will straps the T-scope brace back on and tells Jason to put his leg down on the bed.
"Done, done, done, we're done. You're all done, Nico. We won't touch your knee anymore." Will spits out.
"It hurts, gods it hurts." Nico grits out. His hands made his way up to his hair and started tugging roughly. Jason feels like he's intruding on an intimate situation so he leaves silently.
"Hey, Hun, Nico, I need you to let go of your hair. You're gonna hurt yourself." Will tells him.
"It hurts. It hurts Will." Nico ignores him and Will slips his hands onto Nico's and tries to loosen his grip on his hair finger by finger.
"Baby, squeeze my hands." The son of Hades latches onto his boyfriend's hands and squeezes hard before relaxing his grip and gritting his teeth.
"No, no, Nico, I can take it. As hard as you can. Squeeze them as hard as you can. It's okay." Will assured him. Nico says nothing but starts crushing Will's hands. The son of Apollo begins pushing healing magic into his hands, doing anything and everything to help soothe the pain for both of them.
"It-it's okay now. It hurts less now. Thank you." Nico says, letting go of Will's hands.
"You're welcome. I promise I'll be here for whatever you need." Will says. "What do you need, honey?"
"I don't know." Nico whines.
"Okay, do you want water?" Will holds up his water bottle.
"Mm-mm." Nico grumbles.
"Okay, then do you want a blanket?" Will asks. Nico nods and Will drapes the comforter over him. "Do you want your juice or your Sprite?"
"I don't know." Nico says, his voice sounding frustrated and tearful.
"It's okay. Are you hungry? Do you want a popsicle or something else?"
"I'm being mean. You're mad at me." Nico cries.
"I'm not mad. You're not being mean, you're just on some medicine right now, it's fine." Will tells him.
"Can I have your sweatshirt?" Nico asks.
"You're already wearing one of my sweatshirts." Will reminds him. Nico looks down in disappointment.
"But this one doesn't smell as much like you anymore. It just smells like me now." The son of Hades buries his face in the hoodie and cries.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. We'll trade okay? That way you can get one that smells like me and then when that one starts to smell like you, we'll switch." Will explains.
"Can we? Can we do that?" Nico wonders, still crying.
"Yes, baby. Yes we can. I'm gonna help you sit up, okay? Then we can trade." The older boy slides one hand behind his boyfriend's back and gently pulls him up into a sitting position. Nico sluggishly pulls the hoodie off and waits for Will to follow suit and give him the other one. Will does and Nico slips it on quickly before pulling the hood up and basking in the warmth that had settled from Will's body.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I'm being like this." Nico apologizes.
"It's okay love. It's okay, I get it. I'm here." Will assured him. "Do you wanna take a nap now?"
"Sì, per favore. Puoi venire a sdraiarti dietro di me? Come ho fatto quando eri malato?" - Yes please. Can you come lay behind me? Like I did when you were sick? - Nico asks, ready for Will to reject the suggestion.
"Sure baby." Will slips off his shoes and Nico sits up so that he can slide behind the younger boy. Nico lays his head back on Will's chest and fights the strong urge to cry.
"Shh, shh, shh. I've got you. It's okay. I'm right here, I'm not leaving. I'm right here." Will wraps his arms around his boyfriend and begins massaging his head.
"Will," Nico whispers, clearly on the verge of tears.
"Yes, Sunshine?" Will says.
"I miei capelli mi toccano il collo, puoi spostarli, per favore?" - My hair is touching my neck, can you move it, please? - Nico's voice is fragile as glass. Will doesn't say anything but he moves Nico's hair off to the side. The son of Apollo has an idea and quickly pitches it to Nico.
"Hey, what if I put your hair in a ponytail, just here at the back of your head so that it's out of the way and it won't be in your face or touch your neck?" Will suggests.
"Sei sicuro che vada bene? Sono un ragazzo, sei sicuro che non sia strano?" - Are you sure that's okay? I'm a guy, are you sure that isn't weird? - Nico wonders, still unsure about the idea.
"I'm sure Neeks. Lots of guys do it. Besides, I think you would look really hot." Will whispers in his ear.
"Ok, fallo." - Okay. Do it. - Nico agrees. The son of Apollo always has a hair tie on his wrist for his sister and friends so he quickly gathers his boyfriends hair at the back of his head and pulls it into a ponytail.
"There, all done." Will kisses behind Nico's ear.
"Grazie. Possiamo fare un pisolino adesso?" - Thanks. Can we take a nap now? -
"Yes." Will wraps his arms loosely around the boy laying on his chest. Nico nuzzles the top of his head into the crook of Will's neck and places his hands on top of his boyfriend's. "I love you. Get some sleep." Nico hums in response and closes his eyes.
— — —
"You don't have to eat a whole lot, just a little bit then you can have some medicine and we can go back to bed. Let's say, half of your sandwich and three strawberries, does that sound okay?" Will suggests, running the plan by Nico.
"Okay… I can do that, right?" Nico questions his answer.
"Yes, honey, yes you can. I'll eat the other half of your sandwich." Will grabs his half of the sandwich and takes a bite. Nico picks it up like it's going to bite him and slowly raises it to his mouth before a knock sounds on the door.
"Who is it?" Will calls, not wanting to move from the bed.
"Percy and Jason!" The son of Zeus calls.
"Okay, come in." Will says once Nico gives him the okay.
"Hey, Nico, how're you doing?" Percy asks as he walks into the cabin.
"Eh. Hurts." Nico grumbles.
"What're you guys doing here? Percy, when'd you get here?" Will asks.
"Oh, we wanted to see how Nico was doing and we brought food!" Percy holds up four Happy Meals.
"Oo, gimme." Nico holds out grabby hands and Jason quickly puts a box in his hands.
"Where in the world did you get McDonald's?!" Will wonders out loud while Percy hands him his own meal.
"You ask too many questions." Percy mumbles, his mouth full of chicken nuggets.
"Percy, be nice." Jason scolds. "Percy picked them up on the way here with Blackjack. They brought donuts too."
"Cool." Will opens his Happy Meal and digs in and they all make light conversation, Will and Nico sitting against the headboard and Jason and Percy perched on the bottom of the bed. Jason suddenly elbows Percy and the son of Poseidon almost chokes before his eyes go wide.
"Percy?" Will starts.
"S-Sorry. I'll be right back, I just forgot something in my cabin." He gets up and runs out of the cabin.
"What was that about?" Will asks.
"You'll see. It's for Nico." Jason gives a vague answer. The mentioned boy was happily munching on his Happy Meal, still content sitting and letting the rest of the anesthesia wear off. "How's your food?" Jason nudges Nico's left ankle.
"I think it's the best thing I've ever tasted." Nico mumbles, taking another bite of fries. Will laughs and Percy comes running back in the door.
"Okay, I'm back!" He announces, out of breath and holding a full black basket.
"What's that?" Nico wonders, just realizing Percy was gone.
"It's a basket full of stuff that my mom thought you might like after your surgery. She wanted to come see you after but she didn't think you'd be up for it. So she sent this with me to give to you when I got here. She also said that you need to come visit more." Percy sets the basket in front of Will, off to Nico's left side and Will starts to pick through it to show it to Nico.
Chocolate, dark chocolate, a six pack of Gatorade, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, gummy bears, a headache cool pack, a giant blanket, a book Paul thought he would like, and blue cookies.
"Thank you. Tell Sally and Paul thank you." Nico mumbles and Will nods.
"Thank them yourself. I also kinda told my mom I could get you to Iris message her and so when you're up to, I think it'd really make her day." Percy starts to guilt trip him.
"Remind me when I don't feel like I'm floating and my knee isn't throbbing." Nico groans, forgetting his food and snuggling into Will's side.
"Yeah, you should probably get some more sleep. The anesthesia will take a little longer to wear off fully. I'm sure you'll feel better when you wake up in the morning." Will tells him, easing Nico back down into a lying position.
"And that's our cue. Come on Percy, we're leaving the two love birds to cuddle in peace." Jason stands and tugs on Percy's arm to get him up.