Sacrifices

Return To Me, Love

“Mom.” Percy weeped, letting his arms hang in the air as Sally walked into the hospital room, waiting for her to comfort him. There was only one person on his mind, and he just wanted someone to hold him. 

    “Percy-” Sally started to say, only to be cut off. 

    “Please tell me he’s okay.” Percy whispered into her shoulder, not knowing of the heavy weight that dragged Sally’s heart down as she heard him plead. 

    Sally hesitated, and it was enough to make Percy break. His arms tightened around Sally’s body, squeezing her as tears flowed freely from his eyes. “No. No no no, please no-”

    “He’s going to be okay, sweetie. Take deep breaths.” Sally encouraged, patting her son’s back encouragingly as best as she could. Percy let a broken sob shake his body before his voice managed to work again. 

    “Mom, please. Please. He means everything to me, I can’t- I can’t…” Percy stumbled over his incoherent sentences, trying to get his point across to the woman he loved. 

    “Shhhhh, darling-”

    “I love him, mom. I love him so much. I can’t- lose- no, I can’t- please.” Percy’s lower lip was trembling, and it made it even harder to communicate with her. 

    “Percy, listen to me. Nico’s okay. They’re tending to him right now, okay? So just relax.” Sally started to run her lean fingers through his tousled black hair to calm him down, letting her son whimper over the thought of Nico being so hurt. 

    “How bad is it?” His voice was soft, minus the ragged edges from not having water to drink over the past few days. Sally let her eyes close, trying to regain some strength. It was only a little while ago that she had checked in on Nico, witnessing his horrid state. 

    “Well, His head was beaten up, so it’s expected that he’ll have a little bit of brain damage. Nothing as serious as memory loss, just he won’t be able to think sometimes. Lose his train of thought every once in a while.” Sally explained, trying to ignore the pained hiss that Percy let out. 

    “Anything else?” His voice sounded tired, and she assumed he was just tired of trying to be brave for the younger teen, still unconscious. 

    “His wrist was badly damaged, but it will heal fully in a matter of weeks. As for the damage to his stomach,” Sally was cut off by another one of Percy’s choked sobs. “It’s bruised pretty badly, but nothing major. He’ll make it.” 

    “Do you promise?” Percy asked, his voice hushed and hoarse. Sally had to blink away her tears, trying to not let the sound of his hopelessness in his question affect her. 

    Sally squeezed her son tighter, letting a few short puffs of air escape her lungs before breathing in one long, deep intake. More tears fell from her eyes, and she didn’t wipe them away. “I promise.” 

    Percy cried droplets of both despair and joy, letting the two battle out in his chest. Nico was okay.

    He was okay. 

---

The first person his eyes laid upon was Sally Jackson. He cursed profusely at the blinding hospital lights silently, trying to adjust to the blaze on his eyes. Adjusting didn’t take long, but it felt like forever to him, taking the time to listen to what sounded like a heart monitor as the light seemed to dim the longer he stared at it. 

    “S-lly?” Nico muttered, trying to call out to the woman, who was sitting in one of the hospital chairs, reading Jane Eyre as Percy leaned his head against her shoulder, fast asleep. Nico’s heart flip flopped at the sight of him, but tried to calm it down and find a way to speak to the older woman.