Wildfires, Heroes of Olympus ₂

062, i call this comeback season

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
FINLEY             BRIGGS

If there's one thing Finn hated more than having your feelings outed by Cupid in front of the guy you have feelings for, it was being forced to rest in the infirmary after having your feelings outed by Cupid in front of the guy you have feelings for.

Apparently, forcing Finn to verbally admit "I was in love with Jason Grace" and showing him her most traumatic memory of him kissing her wasn't enough. Cupid also had to send a column toppling down on her knee.

Her kneecap was probably fractured, or her leg was probably broken, or something along those lines. There wasn't really any way to tell, considering no one on the Argo II was an actual healer. There was Coach Hedge, with his satyr abilities, but Finn refused to let him go anywhere near her. He was allowed to advise others on how to help her. That was it.

"Others" really only consisted of Annabeth. She was the one who had been catering to Finn's injury, reminding her when to eat ambrosia, and carefully wrapping a brace around her knee. Finn let her, but only because it was Annabeth.

Ever since her two best friends had fallen into the depths of Tartarus, Annabeth had been pushing herself harder. She threw herself into the next problem without any rest, either trying to distract herself from her worry or to make sure Sylvie and Percy didn't sacrifice their lives for no reason. Finn understood that, and she was also fonder of Annabeth than most people on the Argo II, so she let her knee be Annabeth's current project.

Her knee was getting better, slowly but surely. Annabeth estimated just about one more day in the sickbay before the ambrosia healed her entirely.

Obviously, Finn couldn't eat ambrosia at a rapid pace—for reasons that caused Finn to burn up entirely and disintegrate on the spot. She wasn't going to complain about this. She knew ambrosia was supposed to taste like your happiest memory, but Finn's happiest memory made her sad. Every time she ate ambrosia, she tasted peanut butter and jelly. That was the sandwich Jason had made her to cheer Finn up when she was grieving the anniversary of her mother's death.

Just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but it meant the world to Finn.

"How're you feeling?" Annabeth asked.

Finn's head whipped down to where Annabeth was re-wrapping her knee in a snug brace, startled. For some reason, she felt her heart drop. She blinked dumbly.

"Wh-What?" Finn swallowed. "What do you mean?"

Barely looking up, Annabeth raised an eyebrow at her. "Your knee. How're you feeling with your knee?"

"Oh," Finn whispered, cringing. "Well, yeah, I knew that."

"Of course," she agreed. The sarcasm was evident.

Finn groaned, throwing her head back. The situation with Cupid had left her so messed up in the head. She wasn't supposed to be like this. She would actually rather be trembling from withdrawals than act like this.

"Just another question, totally out of the blue," Annabeth spoke again. "Are you sure there's not something else going on?"

"You hate me."