Meeting the Demigods

64 Sick P2

Thanks for all of the positive reactions for part one, so as planned, here's part two!

I had been laying down in my room at the hospital for about ten minutes before my nurse finally came in. Immediately the scent of cinnamon overwhelmed my senses and my mind went blank. But that was only for a moment as I quickly snapped out of my trance and continued to study the new person. That's when I realized that she did not seem to be in a good mood at all. She had quickly put up her caramel hair in a messy side braid and her dark eyes were smouldering with anger. I watch amusedly as she practically throws a tray with soup into my hands and continues to check things around the room. I probably shouldn't say anything, after all she looks really angry and not at all in the mood to talk, but I guess I just can't resist.

"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine." I said sarcastically, eating a spoonful of the soup. I watched as she whips around with narrowed eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you know, a nurse typically doesn't storm around her patient's room, it might give the wrong impression." I continue, though why I don't just stop talking there I have no idea. The nurse stops to place both hands on her hips and stares thoughtfully, yet so obviously annoyed, at me.

"And what could you possibly know about making a good impression?"

"Oh I know plenty!" I say, putting extra emphasis on the last word.

"Really? Cause you're not having a very good first impression on me." She says and goes back to checking something on a screen.

"Ouch. That one hurt." I say with a cheeky grin and she rolls her eyes with a scowl. She mutters something under her breath, too quiet for me to hear, but it sounds something like how many days am I going to have to put up with him? She picks up a sheet of paper from on the table next to my bed and scans the neat writing before her face lights up considerably and she turns to me once more.

"Ah, only two cracked ribs, after a few hours of bed rest, I just have to bandage you up and then you're out of here! Thank God." She doesn't bother to hide her delight as she says this and this time I'm the one to roll my eyes. "At least I only have to take part in your annoying small talk for today!" She says with a cheery, yet sarcastic smile and my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. I don't know why she is making me frustrated so easily, she seems to be around my age and I don't usually get this flustered around girls. I never have-

"You two seem to be getting along just swimmingly!" Says a raven haired nurse as he pokes his head in the doorway. "When's the wedding?"

My nurse takes off one of her shoes and throws it half heartedly at him, which he has no trouble dodging, he seems to be amused more than anything. But her dark eyes seems to gain a little warmth as she talks to him, I can tell they are good friends. She looks a lot prettier when she's happy, I wish she wasn't in such a foul mood with me. I don't really know what I did wrong to be honest.

"Haha. Very funny Percy, and our wedding is sure to be much better than yours and Annabeth's." She says with fake cheeriness  and the nurse who I now know to be Percy's grin widens.

"I don't know, Calypso. My wedding was pretty great. Anyway, I gotta get back to work, see ya later." He says as he skips back out of the room. For what must be at least a few minutes, the two of us sit in silence. Mostly because neither of us really want to talk to the other. But it's also somewhat awkward, like she wants to say something that won't get us bickering, but doesn't know what. So I decide to start the conversation for her.

"So... your name is Calypso?" She raises her head quickly to look at me, seemingly surprised by my sudden seriousness. Once she has seen that I'm not looking to tease or argue with her, she offers me a small, cute smile and comes to sit on the bed beside me. "Yeah, my dad picked it out. He's a pretty strange person." She says as her cheeks turn a light shade of pink. I can't tell she has never been too fond of her name by this, or maybe it's her dad that embarrasses her?

"Nah, I think it's a pretty name." I say sincerely and she sort of jumps when I say this, as if she's surprised by my words. "Really?"

"Sure." I mean, my name isn't very special, there's lots of Leos in the world. But I always say that when you can't change something, you learn to live with it. I don't appreciate being shorter than most of the other guys my age and I sure as hell don't like having to go over to my friends' houses anytime they break anything. But that's just me. So I live with it!" I say. When I finish I find that Calypso is smiling at me with a look of wonder on her face.

"You know you could probably be a philosopher." She says simply and I laugh. "That's what I'm told. Anyways, if you really don't like people always saying 'Calypso' why don't you just get them to call you Caly or something? It suits you." I find myself saying. I realize that I'm not really thinking about what I say for once. I'm not planning, trying to make someone laugh or think I'm funny. I'm just... well, talking. And it's going a lot better than I thought it would. Maybe I can get people to like me without having to play the comedian. It's worth a try.

"You know, no one has ever called me that before... I like it!" She announces. "To bad I'll only get to go by that name for the next few hours-" She trails off, suddenly looking a bit sad that I'm only here for a day. I don't know what to think of her. One minute she's angry with me and then it's like a switch is flipped and she turns all happy. Trying to get along with her is like a rollercoaster, but then again, I always have enjoyed rollercoasters...That's when a rush of confidence hits me, and I don't know whether what I'm about to say next makes me brave or just idiotic, but I say it regardless.

"You know..." I start off, scratching the back of my neck nervously, which also happens to send a shock of pain through my ribs. I ignore it and continue. "It doesn't have to be. I run a pretty popular mechanics shop downtown, and there are some nice restaurants in the area, you could come visit me... sometime, uh... if you want..." By the end of my suggestion I'm a blushing mess, for some reason as I kept talking, the more confidence I lost. However Calypso's smile only grew wider throughout my offer and God, she looks so beautiful with that ecstatic grin on her face, and her eyes alit with happiness.

"I'd like that." She says warmly and I can't suppress my grin. With that she leaves my room and doesn't come back for a few hours. In that time, I have a quick nap and spend the rest simply laying down and daydreaming about, well, everything. After what seems like forever, Caly finally comes back to wrap up my ribcage, and she explains how to change the bandages properly. We then exit the hospital together. And she creates a new contact for herself on my phone under the name "Caly" which I later change to 'sunshine'.

As I get in the cab that will take me home (it was a friend who drove me to the hospital) I start to get anxious again. How am I supposed to say goodbye? Do I hug her, or just say something simple? I end up doing neither of these things, and I mostly just turn into a stuttering mess.

"So uh, um...  I- I'll call you- soon!" I blurt out quickly and she laughs lightly before kissing my forehead through the open car window. She pulls away and takes a step back as the driver begins to pull out of the parking lot.

"Call me, okay? And get better soon!" She has to yell out the last part as we are already driving away, and I grin widely and fall back against my seat once we are out of sight. In the mirror I can see the cab driver smirking amusedly at my antics, but I don't care. All I care about is Calypso, and my unbelievably good luck. My ribs had better heal up quick, because I'm calling my sunshine as soon as they do!