ENTRAPPED ₂

23

ETHAN DIDN'T STAY AROUND TO CHAT.

The campers all demanded to hear their story, but Ethan didn't give a fuck about divulging the quest and his own personal turmoil. He was about to fall off the table.

Connor and Chris helped Ethan down onto the ground. Connor scrunched his eyebrows, looking Ethan up and down. "You've looked better."

"Thanks," Ethan said, wincing.

Connor opened his mouth to say something else, but then Lee and Drew appeared. Drew grabbed Ethan's wrist and pulled him away from the Hermes kids.

A few people swarmed around them like bees, but Ethan, Drew, and Lee all looked at them angrily. Ethan and Drew were widely feared around camp, but Ethan thought that it was Lee that got them through the crowds. He was the nicest person alive; so when he got mean, it was impossible not to notice.

Drew led Ethan to his cabin while Lee broke off, presumably to get medical supplies. Ethan pressed his face into the blankets after telling Drew to lock the door. He was trying hard to breathe, but he could feel the moonwater wearing off. His stomach was in knots.

Lee returned a short while later. He cut Ethan's shirt off of his back, which was a pity, because Ethan had actually liked that shirt. He still had his face pressed into his bed, but he felt Lee applying something cool and smooth that eased the pain.

Lee set his shoulder. He ripped the bandage off Ethan's face and scolded Jason's bad work. Finally, he gave Ethan a small bottle full of peach-colored liquid. "Drink."

Ethan took the bottle in his shaking hands and looked at his friends. "One question. Annabeth?"

"She's gone," Drew said gently. "She'll be back soon, I'm sure. We can talk then."

Ethan uncapped the bottle without another word and downed it in a few gulps. He was dehydrated and starving and exhausted.

"Stay," he told them. It was almost a plea.

Drew smiled that snarky smile. "As if we'd leave you in this condition, dickhead."

Ethan gave her a dopey smile, and his vision went black.

⎯⎯ ୨ entrapped ୧ ⎯⎯

When Ethan woke, he was in his bed, tucked carefully underneath blankets. He knew he had not put himself there. He had passed out on the ground.

His pants and shoes were gone, so he was wearing only his boxers. This would have bothered him because he had scars all over his legs and his chest. It had taken him an eternity just to let Madeleine touch him.

But he was getting better at being a person.

Even his eyepatch was gone. He didn't know where Drew and Lee had placed it, but he wasn't terribly worried. He felt okay for the first time in weeks. Light. He came out of sleep peacefully, and he had no dreams.

A guitar strummed. Ethan opened his eyes. Lee was sitting on the floor, his guitar in his lap. He gave Ethan a wide smile when he saw that he was awake. "Morning, sunshine."

"Hey," Ethan said. He rubbed his eyes. His voice was raspy and indistinct. He was so hungry that he might throw up. "Where's your girlfriend?"

"Present!" Drew chirped. She entered the cabin carrying a tray heaped with breakfast food. "I figured you'd be hungry."

"Wow," Ethan said. He stared at her, then said very firmly, "I would kill for you."

She smiled brightly. Lee placed his guitar against the wall and began to roll a blunt. Drew tossed Ethan clothes from his closet―brown cargo pants, a brown eyepatch, an olive green sweater. Lee had to stop his blunt rolling to help Ethan put on his shirt. His injuries were definitely better, but his shoulder still ached if he moved it the wrong way and his back felt stiff.