WINGED ₁

63

MADELEINE HAD MORE VISITORS IN THE INFIRMARY THAN SHE HAD EVER HAD IN HER LIFE. 

First there was Castor, the son of Dionysus that she had saved. He had been hurt badly, and was confined to bedrest, but he gave her the tightest hug he could despite both of their wounds. "Thank you."

She decided she liked him, and she was glad she had saved his life. She tried not to think too hard about the two demigods she had murdered. It had been necessary, and she wouldn't change it, but killing people was a little more brutal than killing monsters. She didn't think twice about dust falling at her feet, but the look in Luke's eyes as he had fallen off that cliff haunted her.

When Castor went to sleep, his twin brother, Pollux, came. He sat by Madeleine's bed and offered to get her anything she needed. She suggested hot chocolate, and so, ten minutes later, Pollux returned to her bed, both of them nursing a steaming cup.

"Thank you," Pollux said. He blinked back tears. "I can't imagine... I would rather be here, talking to you, than be speaking at my brother's funeral. Thank you." He paused, took a sip of his drink. "Why did you do it? We've never spoken."

Madeleine had been trying to figure that out herself. Maybe it was the fact that just standing over Castor while he died made her sick. Maybe she was tired of watching people die. Maybe it was Chris, those five letters that had irreversibly changed Clarisse.

Madeleine didn't know, so she just shrugged and shook her head. "If I can help it, I will help it. That's all."

Pollux nodded. He lowered his head, and Madeleine pretended she didn't see the tears fall down his face.

Lee kept her company in the infirmary. They were both wounded, but he refused to let her out of his sight. He perched on the edge of her bed, his face wrapped in bandages, and smiled at her like she was pure sunshine.

Will Solace had been injured, too. Madeleine knew the next morning, when she woke up to Lee bawling. His head was tucked into her stomach and his shoulders were heaving.

"Lee," she murmured, still half asleep. "Lee, what's going on?"

Lee looked up at her, eyes red and golden hair a mess. "Will. Will was hurt."

The hairs on Madeleine's neck stood up. She tried to stand and nearly collapsed without support. But she saw him.

Will was lying in a bed nearby, eyes closed. He looked to be fine, except for his ears. Blood crusted them.

Madeleine looked back at Lee. He was having something akin to a panic attack, she recognized it from her own. He was shaking violently, like he was going to vomit.

"Lee," she said quietly, lowering herself and him down onto her cot. "Lee, breathe. It's okay. He's alive. It's okay." She gently rubbed his back, and he sobbed. He was lankier than her, so he had to hunch to bury his face in her shoulder.

When he finally calmed down enough to talk, he spewed out words. "I didn't even know he was hurt, I'm such a shit brother, I didn't even realize... one of the giants got him, struck him hard, he would've died if not for your friend Nico..." Lee sniffled, shoulders shaking. "There's a chance he'll be deaf now."

Madeleine wrapped her arms around Lee's neck and held him. "You're not a shit brother," she said quietly. "You almost died yourself." She felt so much guilt for not thinking about Will. He was so small, just a kid, and she hadn't been watching him. She hadn't been watching him. He could have died.

They sat there in their guilt for what felt like a long time. Lee finally dozed off, and Madeleine tucked him into her cot, then managed to stumble over to Will's bedside. He was still sleeping. He looked so peaceful, his golden curls a halo around his head.