Three days in the infirmary a Solangelo Fanfic

A Fitful Sleep

Nico

I really should've known better than to fall asleep. Yes, Will was really comforting but no one could stop it from happening. My nightmares just kept getting progressively worse, and tonight was no exception.

I was starving, I looked and felt worse than I did now. I hid as a group of monsters walked past me, I was just a few feet away from the Phlegethon. I knew that if I drank from it I would live to see another day, and at the moment that was all I needed to do. As I squirmed on the ground from the discomfort of swallowing something hotter than a ghost pepper three monsters came across me. But it wasn't just any three monsters, two titans stood on either side of the primordial god, Tartarus, in a humanoid form. I went to grab for my sword but it had been thrown into the river and disintegrated. Tartarus was swirled by pure terror, and I screamed.

I woke up to find an exceptionally worried Will hovering over me. That's when I realized my scream wasn't just in my dream, it had been audible for all of camp to hear. I noticed it was dark outside and that there were no other campers in the infirmary, so at least I wasn't screaming while everyone was awake. Now all I can do is I hope I didn't wake anyone up.

"Are you ok?" Will asked me.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I guess I was going to play dumb.

"Well other than the ear-piercing, terror-filled scream you just let out. You've been talking about things that sounded like tartar sauce and flame torches for the past hour."

"Oh, I didn't know I spoke in my sleep. I've never really slept in the same room as anybody before so no one's been able to tell me."

"What about the scream?"

"Oh, that? It's been pretty normal for me to wake up screaming recently." Crap. I just said that out loud, curse my sleepy mouth for not having a filter.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

Yes, "No, it's a non-issue."

"Hmm, ok. Well since you're up and I'm up let's do a proper check-up on you."

Will

Nico slept peacefully for ten hours. I had stayed by his side, checking his vitals every hour or so to make sure he was doing ok. And he was, until about an hour ago, around eleven, his heart rate went up considerably. He also broke out into a cold sweat and began to shake and mumble. I had tried to calm him down or wake him up but it was clearly different from last night. My best guess is that last night he had passed out and in the early stages of sleep he panicked, but tonight he was in a deep sleep that no one could shake him out of. So I just had to sit and watch Nico suffer, and resist the urge to go all sleeping beauty on him and try to wake him up with a kiss.

Then the scream happened and I began to understand just maybe why he had a soundproofed cabin. Even if I didn't have extremely sensitive ears it would have been an ear-splitting scream. It was high-pitched and rang with so much terror and panic I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. It reminded me of when Grover had done that crazy scream last year. But my eyes did not leave his face, I began to worry about him all over again so I tried waking him up for the second time. This time it worked, "Are you ok?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" He said so nonchalantly it made me think maybe I imagined it all. I explained everything to him and then he has the audacity to focus on is the fact that he talks in his sleep! Of all the other issues that I just addressed, sometimes I just can't understand him even if I wanted to.

"What about the scream?"

"Oh, that? It's been pretty normal for me to wake up screaming recently." What in the hades is that supposed to mean?! And why haven't I noticed? If I was a good friend I would have already known this, or at least had a feeling that he wasn't ok. I mean, I know I've been busy but I really should have checked up on him earlier. I really wish he would trust me enough to talk about it, it's obviously an issue even though he said it isn't.

I change the subject since that seems to be what he wants, "Hmm ok, so since you're up and I'm up let's do a proper check-up on you. I still haven't been able to check you over for any wounds so this is going to have to be a thorough check-up and analysis on your general health and for any pain or wounds that the battle might've inflicted."

So I begin my checkup on him, I start with the most basic things first. Temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar, and heart rate. Then I move on to the more invasive things that I was hoping I would never have to get to, "Ok, Nico. I am going to have to look you over for any wounds and things like that so I am going to need you to strip down to your underwear for this part."