Austin Cooper 1: Son of Athena

At camp

  Slowly, I open my eyes. Ugh, what happened? My side burns and my stomach lurches in pain. I try blinking the fuzzy image away to make since of where I was but that didn't work so I squeezed my eyes shut again.

  To sum it all up- I feel awful.

Slowly, my eyes fully adjust. I look around at my surroundings I was in an infirmary.

I was the only one occupying at least twenty beds, all covered in white sheets and folded neatly. Wooden night stands decorated each side of the beds and held jars of bandages, medicines, and a lot of other stuff I couldn't identify.

I am at Camp Half-Blood.

I turn my stiff neck to my right to see a very tired Sam sitting in a chair by my bed. He was looking at a set of reed pipes I had gotten him for his birthday last year in his lap. I could barley make out the "Happy birthday Goat man!" I had carved on the side of it.

  "Sam?" I croaked weakly.

  "Austin! You're awake!" His eyes lit up and he scooted his chair close to the bed, then hesitated as if he would catch a sword wound.

"Yeah," I reply tired, though my newly regained consciousness seemed pretty obvious to me. I rubbed my eyes. "Am I at camp?" I asked trying to sit up.

Bad idea.

The minute I started to push myself up my head pounds and my stomach did a flip.

  I grab my head as I sink back into the cushions.

  "Woah," Sam said as he helped me lay down again.

  "Don't try to sit up dude. You got a nasty cut on your side and it was poisoned so are going to be a little sick for a few days," he said with a sad smile.

  "I feel pathetic," I reply with a slight laugh.

  "You look pathetic. Seriously, take it easy for a few days," he said with a sheepish laugh.

   "And yes, we are at camp," Sam continued, looking out the window with a dreamy look in his eyes. Camp Half-Blood is the only home Sam has ever known.

  "When you passed out I knew the claws must of had poison on them so I had to get you somewhere quick. Camp is the best place to go," he said crossing his arms with a satisfied smirk. "I called backup and they were here in five minutes."

"Awesome," I reply with a sigh. It's not every day that I am the one injured and someone has to help me out. Usually I'm stuck with trying to figure out how to save the other person.

If Sam hadn't gotten help I probably would be in a worse condition than I was now.

  "Where's Bella?" I ask, suddenly wanting to go look for her. Even though I know I am too weak to get out of this bed and even if I could, I wouldn't be allowed.

  "She's probably at breakfast," Sam answers with a shrug. "She wanted to stay with you, but they wouldn't let her..."

"Wait, what time is it?" I ask suddenly happy knowing Bella wanted to stay with me. It gave me a slight burst of energy and I pushed my head up to look for a clock.

  "About eight, you were out for only one night."

  "Why wouldn't they let her stay?" I ask with pursed lips.

"Well... she got claimed last night..." Sam said slowly. "Who is her godly parent?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

  "Poseidon," Sam answered with a wicked smile.

"She was so powerful that she covered up the smell of the monsters. That's why I didn't know until the claws started..." He trailed off with a frown.

  "It's okay, it wasn't your fault," I say before he can blame himself.

"If I had caught them sooner you wouldn't be here now!" He answered in a rush, looking down at his reed pipes with an upset pout. "You would be enjoying your weekend instead of spending most of it sick," he continued miserably.

I was quite for a moment.

  "Well, I'm not dead so I count that as a win," I said smiling weakly.

  He smiles back looking only slightly better.

  Then someone walks in.

"Is he awake?" Asked a voice.

  May Daniels, a daughter of Apollo, strides into the infirmary.

  May is sixteen and has crystal blue eyes. Her long curly blonde hair is always pulled back with a headband so it's out of her face. She is one of our best doctors at camp, and she practically lived in the infirmary.

  "Yes," Sam said looking at me.

"You should go eat breakfast, I can watch him now." She said with a smile when she sees me awake. She winks to me and I feel my face heat.

  Sam glances from me to the door. Obviously torn between our friendship and food.

  "Go eat breakfast!" I said laughing and weakly attempting to push him off the bed.

  "Okay, but I will be back! Oh, and I'll tell Bella you're awake!" He said as he clumsily walks out the door.

"He stayed up most of the night you know, he wanted to make sure you were okay. He said you would do the same for him." May said once Sam had left.

I smile. "He's my best friend." I say. "He brought me to Camp when I was seven."

  May smiles and takes out a thermometer. She tells me to open my mouth then sticks it in.

  We stay quiet for a while as we wait for it to beep.

When it goes off May takes it out and looks at it. "What's my temperature?" I ask hoarsely.

"102." She replies putting it on the nightstand and started looking through cabinets.

I groan. "I guess I'm not going anywhere." I said annoyed. Though, even if I could I'm not sure I would want to.

  I feel like minotaur poop.

    May hands me a small cup with a golden liquid in it and tells me to drink it. "Can't I just eat ambrosia or nectar?" I ask as I try to shift causing my side to burn.

"For your fever no, for your side yes, but since your fever is over 100 it's not safe to eat any ambrosia." She said making sure I drink all of the demigod medicine.

  "We called your parents and told them that everything is fine, we said that you are going to spend the weekend here until you get healthy. Your mom and dad said they love you and your sister said get well soon." She said looking at me with a smile.

  I blush. "Could I iris message them later?" I ask.

  I had the feeling both my parents are pretty worried. They are used to me disappearing on demigod quests but I know they would want me to call.

"Of course, but you might want to wait until you get a little more healthy. You look awful and I don't want you scaring your parents." She said with a wink.

  "I'm going to let you rest until your friends come." May said. "I will check on you again around lunch."

"Okay," I reply weakly. I close my eyes and start to drift off into sleep as the medicine kicks in.