On Board {A Solangelo Pirate AU}

11: Nico, Honey, You've Been Stabbed. Get Help.

NPOV

Will was safe in his cell, thank the seas. He was pacing back and forth, shoulders tense. He relaxed when he saw me. "Are you all okay? I heard...lots of screams."

I gave him a weak smile. "Jason's unconscious, but I think he's going to be fine. Other than that, we only have a few minor injuries. That's all. Are you alright?"

He gave a short laugh. "Am I? I didn't even fight. Let me out, I can help you all with your injuries."

My hand was sweating. I unhooked the key to his cell from a hook a few feet away, then unlocked him. He pushed it open and headed for the stairs immediately. Kitchen and storage was one floor above, then the deck was above that with our rooms. Which meant I had to go back up those stairs, too.

Will looked back at me. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I just have to check something. I'll be up in a moment. Don't wait for me."

He shrugged and headed up.

I took a shaky breath and leaned against the wall. I moved my coat and looked at my thigh. It was soaked with blood now. I had thought leaving the knife in would keep it from bleeding as much.

I looked back at the stairs. They were going to be a pain to get up. Truly. I let my coat fall back over the injury and pushed myself off the wall. I leaned on the rail heavily, and practically dragged my right leg behind me. But I made it to the kitchens, and wiped the sweat from my forehead.

Piper had joined them, and she leaned against the table while Will checked to make sure Jason would be alright. Hazel dabbed wet cloth on Piper's forearm, which had been sliced open. Will finished checking over Jason and wrapped up Piper's arm. "I think he's going to be completely fine. You did a good job, Hazel."

She smiled. "Thank you. I looked at your medical book for help. I had some trouble reading, but the illustrations helped."

He smiled back. "I'm glad those could be useful for something, then. They were expensive but useless for me. My professor barely ever touched them. At least they helped someone, right?"

Frank and Annabeth stumbled down next. Each had their own injuries to be tended to. I didn't want to take time away from them, so I didn't say anything about my own. The others filed in. Will treated everyone, and for the first time, I realized how much easier everything would always be if we did have a doctor on board with us.

But we weren't keeping him. It wasn't fair to him. Besides, we'd survived this long without one. It wasn't fair to ask him to stay. Even the thought that things could be easier with him here made guilt well up in my stomach and chest, all the way to my throat. He was a person, not some sort of helpful commodity to be traded back and forth.

Percy was a mess when he arrived. Leo was the only one still up on the top deck.

Percy waited his turn for treatment. His eyes were worried. While the others' conversations drowned us out, I shuffled over to him and asked under my breath, "How close is the captain?"

He answered in a hushed tone as well. "Too close."

I exhaled slowly and didn't respond. Gabe would kill me when he arrived. I had been the one to incite the mutiny, and I was sure he'd be able to tell. Besides, I had replaced him as captain. I was going to die.

Nevertheless, I kept my expression calm. "We'll get away again. It's going to be okay."

Will must've heard, because his eyes shifted to mine.

Percy put his hand on my shoulder. "Go check on Leo. You can use his eyeglass to see the ship. It's closer than it was before. Their stop at Alaquati was faster than ours. They must be better stocked."

I nodded and made my way back to the stairwell. I took a deep breath before forcing myself to step with my right foot. I didn't allow myself to limp or put less weight on my injured leg. My crew didn't need to worry about me, too. They had enough to think about.

I made it to the deck. Leo was at the wheel, looking exhausted. He nodded at me as I approached. "Is everyone alive?"

"It seems like it. You did a good job getting us out of there. Are you headed for Silver Bay now, then?"

"Yup. I know you wanted to bring Will back before September, Nico, but with the captain behind us...I don't know if it's going to happen. We have to stay alive before we can do anything. Besides, Will doesn't seem to be having a bad time right now, honestly. Not to mention, he was totally checking you out."

My cheeks turned bright red, or as red as they could get with the blood loss. "He was not."

Leo grinned. "Tell that to his eyes. They're probably tired after all that wandering they did."

I shoved him, laughing, and he stumbled before grabbing the wheel again. He leaned against it. "Keep your sleeves rolled up around him, man. It might just convince him to stay after all. Then we won't even have to worry about getting back to Honnet. He wouldn't possibly be able to leave his eye candy behind, after all." He was cracking himself up now.

"Shut up, you idiot." I pushed my shoulders back. "Hey, where's your eyeglass?"

He took it out of his coat and handed it to me. I wasn't sure if I could step up onto a crate, so I just turned in place to search for Gabe's boat. It was southwest of us. It wasn't far either, Percy was right. And they had gained. Without the eyeglass, I could still see a speck on the horizon.

I went back to my cabin without another word, making sure to lock the door behind me. I sank into my desk and inspected my wound. I wouldn't waste supplies by tending to it. Instead, I forced myself to get back to work, charting a new map and trying desperately to find ways to lose Gabe.

If that boat caught up to us, I couldn't win.

Word count: 1055