you are my sunshine

you make me happy, when skies are grey

Nico watched the slight rise and fall of Will's chest as medics from the Apollo cabin tended to him. He was unconscious and barely alive, but he was breathing. Nico clutched his uninjured hand as the medics plastered both legs in casts and set his left arm in a sling. Liquid ambrosia was pumped into his veins through an IV tube in his forearm, and a cloth bandage covered his eyes and wrapped around the back of his head.

"What are his injuries?" Nico asked a medic who was taking Will's temperature for the hundredth time.

"He has a fractured arm and two fractured ribs. Both of his legs are broken, and he has a concussion as well as a huge cut on the back of his head," the medic said. "We're doing the best we can. However, given that he's the main medic of the entire camp, we're a little...understaffed."

"He's usually the one who helps us out and does the healing," another medic chimed in. He didn't seem to be older than 12. "When he sings, everything gets better."

Nico had to agree with that one.

The medics finally finished, and Nico breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't tell him the worst news possible. But he had to be sure.

"Is he going to be okay?" he shakily asked one medic as she was on her way out. She rubbed her temples.

"Honestly?" she asked. "I don't know. But it looks pretty bad, Nico." He brought his fiancé's hand up to his mouth and kissed it. Will was going to survive. He had to.

"Nico," Frank said, his voice cutting through the silence, "Are you okay?" Nico squeezed Will's hand tighter. Why were they asking about him? They should be worried about Will. Nico wasn't the one lying on a cot in the infirmary, slowly dying.

"I'm fine," he squeaked. Annabeth came over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He flinched at the sudden contact but didn't pull away. "It'll be okay, Nico." One by one, the rest of his friends came over and joined them. Nico gave in and cried into Will's soft chest, wetting the cot's blanket with his tears.

"Sorry, guys," he sniffed. 

"Don't be sorry," Hazel said. She was on the outside of the huddle and wormed her way to the center to lay her cheek on Nico's shoulder blade. "This is not your fault."

"I should have grabbed him and shadow-traveled away."

"Again, not your fault. Will wouldn't have wanted you to shadow-travel anyways." Nico gave a weak chuckle. He knew how much Will hated him shadow-traveling, because of how much energy it drained out of him.

The hug unraveled, and Nico slowly brushed over the top of Will's hand with his thumb.

"Uh, I have to go do something," Annabeth abruptly stated, and she glared pointedly at everyone else. They all made mumbled excuses and left. Nico smiled, grateful for the alone time, and then turned back to his fiancé. 

"I love you, Will," he murmured, and placed a kiss on his hand. Will, still unconscious, made a noise in the back of his throat. Nico waited a few moments, but his heart sank when he didn't wake up. 

"I miss you," he whispered. His eyes swam with tears. "I wish I could have saved you. I should have taken you, taken you far, far away. But I didn't. And I'm so sorry. I know that everyone is saying it isn't my fault, but it really is." 

He grasped Will's hand tighter and could've sworn that his fiancé shifted, but it must have been his imagination.

"I'm going to be by your side this whole time," he said. "I'm not leaving for anything." He heard a clatter behind him and he spun around as the door was flung wide open.

"Percy?" he questioned. The demigod's brown hair was tussled, and he was running his shaking hands through it.

"Something happened." His voice trembled.

Nico followed him out the door at top speed.