When We Were 'Us'

There You Are!-Annabeth POV/Percy POV

"Luke, that's awful." I said softly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I feel worse about having missed another war. I could have helped the right side for once." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"What have they tried?" I asked.

"Everything, as far as I know. I was out for most of it, but I could hear them talking sometimes. Comas are weird things, Annie."

"I've never been in one, I wouldn't know..." I sighed.

"Good thing. The camp wouldn't survive with such a brilliant strategist."

"Stop it." I looked at him, then paused before changing the subject.

"Do you want to go outside?"

"Gods, I wish." Luke replied. "I miss fresh air. The windows only do so much, you know? But I can't get myself out there." He patted his legs.

"Yeah, I understand. Let me see if I can find something to help you."

I left the little partitioned room that the children of Apollo had put Luke in, possibly to keep younger kids who came into the infirmary from freaking out at seeing a man in his early 20s unconscious and barely breathing.

"Lauren," I stopped a passing daughter of Apollo by grabbing her arm. "Do you have a wheelchair I can use?"

"You've been with Luke, right?" She asked with a smile.

"Yes."

"We've got one ready for him, just let me go get it."

I nodded and went back into the curtained room.

Luke had a frown on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm 26." He said quietly. "26 years old."

"I never thought about that." I murmured. "It must be so strange for you."

"Quite."

"Here we go!" Lauren rolled in a plain black wheelchair. "Do you need help getting him into it?"

"I think I can manage." I replied. She nodded and left the room.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked Luke.

"Gods, yes. Get me out of this prison." He joked, waving his arms at the white walls on all sides of us.

"Right." I laughed and wheeled the chair over to him. "How do you want to do this?"

"I can move my upper body. You'll just have to steer my legs."

"Got it." I let go of the chair and pulled the covers back to expose Luke's motionless legs. Carefully, I grabbed his ankles and turned him so he was facing sideways on the bed. "Ready?"

He nodded and reached forward, grabbing the wheelchair. I cautiously pulled him off the bed and into the fabric seat.

"That wasn't so hard." Luke muttered, but I could tell it had taken a bit of a toll on him just to hold the position for that long. He had been in a coma for three years, after all.

"Alright, let's get you out into the fresh air." I said, turning the wheelchair and pushing it out onto the porch.

----------------------------

After helping Daniel sort out the mass of flailing 10 year olds and lecturing them about listening to their teachers and respecting their peers, I decided to go look for Annabeth some more. I hadn't seen her all day and I wanted to know what she had thought of our date.

"Has anyone seen Annabeth?" I asked repeatedly as I walked down the paths of camp.

Not a single person knew where my girlfriend was.

I was beginning to get worried, but at the same time I wasn't. Annabeth could take care of herself. I was just a bit paranoid, had been since the whole Tartarus debacle.

"Hey, Will!" I saw the son of Apollo in the archery range and realized that I hadn't checked the infirmary. 

"Kind of busy, Perce." Will grunted. Unlike most children of Apollo, he had a bit of trouble with shooting. Not anywhere near as bad as me, but he wasn't a master like most of his siblings. He always worked better with a knife.

"I just have to ask you a question really quick. Have you seen Annabeth?"

"Haven't seen her, no, but I know she was at the infirmary for a while. She might still be there." He told me, focusing on the target in front of him.

"Thanks, Will!" I turned and headed for the infirmary.

As I got closer, I could see her familiar blonde curls. She was talking animatedly with someone sitting next to her in a wheelchair, also blond.

Did Malcolm hurt himself? I wondered. Then as I got closer, I realized that it wasn't Malcolm.

"Annabeth!" I called, waving. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Sorry, Percy." She smiled at me. "I was busy."

"That's alright." I kissed her cheek softly. "Did you enjoy everything last night?"

"Absolutely."

"What happened last night?" The man in the wheelchair asked. It was only when I turned to face him fully that I realized who it was.

"Luke! How are you?"

"Feeling under the weather, but fine otherwise." He shrugged. "So last night?"

"We went on a date." Annabeth explained.

"Oh, okay." Luke smiled, but I thought for a moment I saw something else in his eyes. 

"I'm glad you had fun, Wise Girl." I kissed her on the cheek.

"Percy!" Someone shouted. After a moment of thinking, I realized it was Dan again. "Help!"

"Gotta go. Love you, Wise Girl." I ran towards the arena.

"Love you too, Seaweed Brain!"

[A/N So Luke is paralyzed from the waist down. I don't remember if I explained that earlier and I don't feel like checking, so I just decided to put it in again. Also, when the chapter switches perspective, it will have one of those dotted line skips, just in case you were confused. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!]