El Fuego y La Flor - The Storm

Chapter 7 - Sometimes your nurse is a Pyromaniac

Cassia

It was early evening when I woke up again. My body ached from the pain. I grunted. I immediately heard steps next to me as I tilted my head a bit to look up.
Leo's face was inches from mine. I flinched back. So did he.
»You're alive!« He yelled, louder than I would have liked. I contemplated lifting my arm and covering my ears with a pillow, but it didn't seem worth the pain.
»Am I? Doesn't feel like it.« I groaned, my throat feeling dry like sandpaper.
Leo ignored me, walking out of my view and in again, occasionally a background noise was heard, like the chair, being pushed away or the zipper of my backpack was drawn open.
»You slept all day long. I got you back to the room, and I tried to bandage your hand.«
I lifted my hand when he said that. The bandages were kept to a minimum and they were mostly dark red, with singular blobs of white in between. The bleeding had stopped but I had the assumption, that somewhere on my blanket, a red body of blood had formed and dried.

»Anyways-« he then continued, stopping himself to take something out my backpack. »I decided to just let you sleep, you know, maybe you would have died and that would've been bad, but how was I gonna explain to the deck nurses, that you were body slammed to the ground by a giant hedgehog?«
His voice had taken on its usual, caffeinated, hyperactive sound. He just kept talking. Then he appeared in my view again, kneeled down next to my bed, holding a bar of ambrosia in his hand.
»Say ah.« He told me.
»No.« I replied and heaved myself up. It hurt like hell. I took the ambrosia bar with my healthy hand and turned my head towards Leo.
»What happened to the Cetus?«
»Oh, it's dead. At least for some time. I sent him back to the Tartarus all crispy.« He grinned. A goofy grin which didn't display any of the maniac energy he showed before, while sending the thing back to the underworld. My memories came crawling back. I felt like I was missing something in my mind. Something important.
I nodded.
»What about the mortals?«
»They're fine too. There was a brief fire alarm and the pool area is closed for today, but like anyone would actually want to go for a swim in this weather.«
He shrugged, then he got up and sat down next to me, like a nurse. He probably was the weirdest, most energetic and manliest nurse ever.

I finished my ambrosia bar. I thought about getting up for a second, but I still wasn't exactly sure I could. I sighed, and then asked: »Can I get some water, please?«
I hated asking for favours, but Leo didn't complain and seemed kind of happy to help me. He went to the bathroom and got me some water. Once he had handed it to me, he went back to my backpack and got me a small bottle of nectar as well. I drank quietly, first water, then nectar. The nectar tasted like a fluid mix of strawberries, cherries and nuts and some spicier foods I liked. It shouldn't taste good or even be a taste, but it did. That's just how nectar worked. Its taste was dependent on your happy memories. I wondered what Nectar tasted like for Leo.

»Feel better?« He then asked, seeming almost anxious. I nodded. »Thanks.«
A grin stole itself onto his face again. »Oh hey, that's what an amazing guy like me is here for. I save demigods and I make excellent rotisserie Cetus!« He declared. I couldn't help but laugh at that.
»How did you even get me to our room?«
He raised an eyebrow. »What do you mean?«
I lifted myself up some more, my back now leaning against the wall. »Don't take this personal,« I started, hesitating for a second before adding, with a smile: »But you don't seem like you're strong enough to carry me.«
Leo put a hand to his heart, his expression one of mock pain.
»Oh, I am so taking this personally.« He replied, his eyes closed sorrowfully. I laughed again, which elicited a smile from him. His dimples were visible again, only when he smiled like that.
»Nah, I didn't carry you all the way. I dragged you over the ground half the way.« He then said, his expression more serious now.
I stared at him in disbelief, until he cracked a crooked smile.
»I'm kidding.«
»Oh.« I replied, followed by a more expressive »Ohhh!« And then I burst into laughter. It hurt, but not quite as much as before. The ambrosia did its work. Leo laughed with me. For a solid minute we just sat there laughing, before we calmed down.

I sighed and let myself slide down the wall again, until my head was resting on my pillows. Leo was still sitting at the edge of my bed, so I turned to the side and looked at him.
»You know what the Cetus' appearance on board means, right?«
He nodded, for a moment I wasn't sure whether he actually knew or just pretended to. Then he spoke, his words mirroring my thoughts, brushing away my doubt.
»It means that someone released it here. And that someone probably knows we are here.«
I nodded, in- and exhaling deeply. »Yup.« I replied.

»Means we have to be careful from now on?« He asked.
»Yup.« I said again.
»Damnit.« He whispered. »I hate being careful. Setting things on fire is my strong suit.«
»You really shouldn't be allowed on a cruise ship. Or any social facility for that matter.«
He shrugged. »True. But without my hotness we wouldn't have killed the hedgehog.« He said with a grin.
I just shook my head, an amused smile on my lips, which I couldn't conceal.
»That's true, yeah. I wish I could ignite stuff.«
He pursed his lips and frowned.
»You can. There's a thing called matches.«
Being sarcastically corrected by Leo Valdez would have been a new low for me, if I hadn't had a various amount of new lows just today.

I shrugged and let my gaze wander to the ceiling.
»You know what I mean.«
I had never talked about any of that, but now, after having proved that I was basically of no use in the battle against the hedgehog, I felt remorseful. I wish I had a cool power, that'd somehow allow me to be of help.

Leo didn't reply. His brows were still furrowed and he looked at me almost worried. I didn't say anything else. I didn't want to speak more, I didn't want to let my thoughts control me right now. I moved my arms to test whether I was able to get up or not. I was. And I was hungry.

»Hey, do you maybe wanna go get dinner?«
Like on command, his stomach growled loud enough for me (and probably the people in the room next to ours) to hear.
»I thought you'd never ask.« He replied, his usual impish expression and demeanour having returned. I stood up trembling and took a second to steady myself. Leo moved his hand, he seemed like he wanted to offer me to hold onto him, but he didn't. Maybe he thought I would have hated that and yelled at him. I wouldn't. I would have declined, but not yelled. Not anymore.
»What do you wanna eat?«
I frowned, before I replied: »Something south asian. Like curry or sushi or anything spicy really.«
»Alright. Let's get you curry or sushi or anything spicy.«

I followed him to the door, which he held open for me.
»Why are you so nice to me?« I then asked, before stepping outside.
He came after me and closed the door. Then he turned towards me with a grin.
»Because I need to wait until you're healthy again, before I can make fun of you for getting knocked out by a hedgehog.«