Time heals

Will POV

"Again, thank you so much for brewing that potion," I said gratefully to Lou Ellen when she came into the infirmary to check in on me the day after I'd given the draught to Nico.

She waved her hand dismissively, which caused several binders to fall out of their shelves in the office. "Oops."

"Don't worry about it." I clambered onto the floor to retrieve them.

"Who did you need the potion brewed for anyway?" Lou asked.

I shrugged. "One of my patients."

She snorted. "I knew that. I didn't think you wanted to water your plants with it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Which patient?" she pressed.

I shrugged again. "That's confidential."

She shrugged too. "Okay," she replied not very convinced. "But I've known you for two years and I've known demigods to have bad dreams for much longer than that."

"So?"

"So," she continued, "you've never asked for that potion before. Why does this patient get special treatment?"

Probably because Nico was special. He had faced extreme hardship ever since he'd been introduced into our world, even more so than most. It was clear there was much more to his past and his journeys than he let on, but I could tell there was a darkness about him. It wasn't his fault though. That's why he needed my help. I would've done it for any of my patients.

If Nico didn't get some rest soon, his body wouldn't get the chance to heal. Even demigods had limits to their fast healing. Demigod dreams were important, and so I'd had to go to Chiron to get special permission to give him the dream blocking potion. Apparently I made a good case because he didn't even argue.

"It's important for his survival," I answered, which was true.

"More like it's important for Will's dating strategy," snickered Kayla from across the infirmary.

I groaned. "You know it's not like that, Kay," I replied, trying to keep my tone level as I ignored Lou Ellen's raised eyebrows.

"Sorry," Kayla said, obviously not sorry. "Just saying it as I see it."

Don't bite, don't bite, don't bite.

"And what exactly do you see?" I demanded. Damn it.

She gave me a smile. "Ever since di Angelo turned up at camp you've been weirdly obsessed with him."

"I have not-"

"You always spoke about how interesting he was when he first came here."

"Because he was!" I protested. "He was born decades ago."

Kayla wasn't listening. "He was all you could talk about after the battle of Manhattan."

"Would you rather I fixated on our two dead brothers?" I replied bitterly, but knew that one was half hearted. I could still picture Nico now, parting the entire Titan army himself, raising an army of his own, three gods following him into war, his sass directed at the Titan Kronos himself...

"And you were pretty much the only one who cared enough to bring it up when he left again last summer," Kayla finished.

"Excuse me for worrying about campers that just disappear with no evidence they're still alive," I retorted.

"Obsessed," Kayla whispered loudly.

Okay, if it had to admit it to myself, maybe I was a little intrigued by the son of Hades. But so what? He was an interesting person! I hadn't figured out myself why I was so drawn to him, why I was so curious, why I was so... protective, but I certainly didn't need my siblings teasing me about it while I did.

"That's enough," I scolded. "Just tend to your patients and I'll tend to mine."

Kayla winked at me. "You'll tend to them alright."

I didn't bother replying. It was embarrassing enough that she was talking about my feelings in front of anyone who could hear, but I also felt guilty listening to her claims. Nico was my patient. He was hurt. He couldn't hear this.

I stalked away, starting to measure out magical drugs in syringes. Kayla groaned, sensing she'd gone too far and came to help me. "I'm sorry," she offered. "Your feelings are your own."

I sighed. "Thank you." I dropped the syringe I was measuring into the tray. "And I'm not obsessed."

She stopped helping me with the syringes and looked at me. "Do you or do you not think he's attractive?"

I hesitated. Not because I wasn't sure. I was absolutely certain I found Nico attractive. But I didn't want to add fuel to my sister's argument.

Unfortunately, my lack of answer gave Kayla all she needed. "Exactly!"

I rolled my eyes. "Attraction doesn't mean anything," I insisted. "Everyone in this camp has godly blood. We're all going to be attractive."

Kayla and Lou Ellen didn't look convinced but they nodded nevertheless. "Okay," Kayla shrugged, but she dropped it.

"So," Lou Ellen started, trying to break the tension, "it's less crowded in here now."

Kayla nodded. "Most injuries were superficial. Everyone should be on the mend. Well, everyone except..." She glanced at me.

I groaned. "You don't have to tiptoe around me. You can say his name, you know. I'm not going to explode or anything." In fact, I liked when I had an excuse to talk about him. Nico was one of the huge topics of conversation around camp at the moment and I wasn't exactly complaining. However, it did make me wonder what I did feel for him every time it was brought up.

I had always put it down to healer's intuition as the reason I was so drawn to him. Now, after being lucky enough to speak with him properly and even having the chance to be with him in battle... I wasn't so sure. He was... funny. In a way that made me want to keep talking to him, listening, waiting for the next thing that would make me laugh.

"Anyway," Lou said, drawing me out of my thoughts, "I better get going. Curfew in a few minutes."

She gave me and Kayla a hug and left the infirmary. Kayla started taking her gloves off. "Are you sure you're going to alright alone for the night shift?" she asked.

I nodded. "I had a nap earlier and everyone else could use a break."

She kissed me on the cheek (she had to stand on her tiptoes). "Call if you need us."

*

The night shift was relatively uneventful. Except for the new guy, Sherman, son of Ares, waking up complaining that his toe was falling off again, nothing much happened. That was fine with me. I sat and opened a book about medical healing in the mortal world.

The author wrote about his experiences in a mortal hospital in New York. One chapter outlined how he was literally stopped on the Williamsburg bridge to help treat someone's erectile dysfunction. It was a funny story but I couldn't laugh. I had my own memories of that bridge. War, bombs, Michael...

My hands started shaking and my tears started to fall. I snapped the book shut before the pages could get water damaged and looked for something to do with my hands. I found some new stocks of ambrosia that needed to be put away and got to work. I sniffled angrily as I worked. I hadn't let myself be overwhelmed in such a long time.

The recent war was probably to blame. Even though it was ultimately a victory (in more ways than one), and not many people were seriously injured, it still brought back bad memories. That was stupid though. Demigods had a life full of fighting. I couldn't afford to break down whenever it happened. I needed to be strong. For my patients. For my siblings. For myself.

Just as I was finishing with the ambrosia, and wishing I had something else to do afterwards, the beeping in room three started going faster.

Well... time to swallow my feelings and make good on my promise of a good meal. Nico was awake.

AN I hope this was better than the last and I own nothing leave a coment if you want love ya eli.