madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-seafood-

Teqi felt something cold on her forehead. 

She didn't like the cold, she went to take it off, but her arms were too heavy to move. Her mouth was dry, but something tasted sweet. Her head felt foggy and clouded as she tried to figure out where she was. She couldn't be dead, that didn't make sense, she hadn't been in a fight. Where had she been? At dinner, something about...Nico.... Jason and Leo didn't trust him...so why was she unconscious? 

'Because you're dramatic', the voice in her head said.

The darkness behind her eyes turned red. Someone must have turned a light on. Teqi opened her eyes a crack, wincing at the brightness of the room. She drew in a breath, but her chest shook, and something touched her arm lightly.

"What...." Teqi murmured, looking around the cold white room, she was laying down. That made sense, but...was she in the infirmary? Piper was watching her from a chair next to Teqi, a worried look on her face that hardened quickly.

"What were you thinking? You could have died!" Piper snapped, running her hand through her messy brown hair with a huff. Teqi watched one of the feathers in her hair curl through her scarred fingers, and then she tried to sit up.

"I probably wasn't thinking.... but what exactly was I not thinking about?" She asked, her throat raw and scratchy. She wiped her eyes, and leant back against the pillow, scanning the room quickly. She was in the infirmary on the Argo II, in one of the three hospital beds. An IV was in her arm, and the cold thing had slipped from her head and into her lap. An ice-pack.

"You didn't eat for days! Did you drink any water, did you even sleep?" Piper asked desperately, her colourful eyes shining. She leant forwards, grabbing the ice pack and moving to the little freezer on the other side of the room. Teqi reached for the girl's hand, but she was too slow.

Piper let out a breath, put the ice pack on in the freezer and leant her forehead on the closed door. She closed her eyes slowly, "Why?"

Teqi looked down, she picked at a fading scar on her thumb from one of her numerous training sessions before they left. She swallowed down the guilt, but it just came back in a bigger wave. Her hand started shaking.

I'll try not to starve myself, just because you're mad at me

Piper and Teqi looked up simultaneously, turning towards the little Ipod on the side table. there was a pack of wipes next to it, and little golden toucan. Teqi reached for the Ipod, frowning at it. She pressed the pause button, and the song stopped. "Maybe its broken." She murmured, but she wasn't looking at the Ipod.

"Why don't you care about yourself?" Piper asked, tears dripping down her cheeks and onto her orange shirt. 

Teqi stared at the end of the white plasticky bed numbly, she knew the answer. She didn't say anything.

"Do you care about us?" Piper asked desperately, pointing at her chest and striding over to Teqi. Teqi nodded quickly, opening her mouth to speak, but she was cut off.