When Time Eludes You (Percabeth)

11 - Saved or not saved?

Pipers POV

Three days.
Three whole days with no idea where Annabeth was.
Without a trace of her.
I'd barely been able to get out of bed, but forced myself to put one foot in front of the other, if only in hope to see her in school.

I guessed I was in luck then, when an ambulance stood by the gate, when the crowd blocked the hallway, when Percy's muffled screaming echoed through me, bouncing against the walls, making me realise what was wrong.

Annabeth.

Did I scream it?
Did I mutter it?
Did I only think it?
"Please. Oh God. Please, dear God, let her be okay. Let her be okay!"
I shoved students here and there, some fell to the floor, shouting after me.
"Percy!? Where's- where's Annie? Percy!"
A tighter wall of people stood before me, and I could only catch smudges of Annabeths curly blonde hair. Nothing more.
I went numb when I saw Percy.
He was shaking, sobbing, screaming in terror of what he'd just witness happen to Annabeth.
And here I was thinking it was I who'd fall apart.
No tears came. Nothing but deafness.
I don't even remember getting into the ambulance, dragging Percy along.
I only got back to reality once I was in the hospital room.
"Piper?"
My head jerked upwards as I heard a familiar voice.
The tight, hoarse voice belonging to Percy's mom.
"Piper dear, you should get some sleep."
I didn't answer, or make a gesture of any kind.
I kept staring at my best friend lying seemingly life less on the metal bed in front of me.
She took a weak breath.
What in Hades's name had that even happened?
I had to ask Percy about it.
Where was Percy?
I looked around, blinking my dry eyes, hoping to get some moisture into them.
I didn't.
He sat in the other corner of the room, completely lost within himself, just like I was a couple moments before.
We both stared at Annabeth intently for a moment, monitoring her every breath, looking for a fault.
"Percy."
I said at last.
My voice sounded raspy, as if I was talking through a phone with a really bad connection.

His attention snapped to me.
He looked so hurt. So broken.
I should have taken better care of Annabeth.
I should've, but I didn't.
Why was I such an idiot? Why was I such a bad friend?
Maybe if I'd-
The machine hooked to Annabeth started blaring.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeee
What do I do? What do I do?!
Beeeeeeeeeeeeee
"Nurse! Nurse help. Someone, please. Something's wrong!"
Percy and I quickly stood to get out of the way, letting the nurses figure out what was going on.
"Ma'am. Please. Calm down. You have to get out of the room."
A nurse with blue clothing said to me as he pushed me and Percy out of the room, along with Sally.
"But- but what's wrong with her?"
I asked, sounding much weaker then I'd intended to.
"We don't know yet. Get out."
I couldn't think. What was going on?

***

Annabeths POV

I heard them speaking.
I heard every word they'd spat out in hushed tones.
They didn't think I could hear them.
Fools.
Idiots.

When they pulled me out of that stupid janitor closet, under the pile of equipment, I was sorry that I was so weak.
I wanted to hurt them.
How dare they find me.
How could they do that?
I was drifting away. It was okay.
Nothing was wrong.
Everything was right at last.

My breathing had slowed to an uneven whisper, my heart barely perceptible.
I was to be free.
Or at least I would have been if Coach hadn't walked in, looking for the bathroom.

If he hadn't walked in, I would be gone.

I would have been free of this reality.

When I heard Pipers voice, I almost rolled out of bed from guilt that I hadn't bothered to say goodbye to her before giving up.
And Percy... dear God.
I was a horrible person.
Suddenly I couldn't breathe.
But I'd been too weak to move anyway.
Maybe they wouldn't realise and let me go.
But the stupid machine started beeping, leaving me to the mercy of the terrible sound.
I heard screaming and felt swift movements over my arms and chest.
It stung and burned, but I still couldn't move.

Please let me go.

***

Percy's POV

I'm not sure how long we waited.
It could have been years. I had to see her.
This was my fault, after all.
If I'd gone through the stupid rooms more carefully and not rushed ahead, I would have found her.
Three days.
That's how long she survived in a janitor closet. Alone.
And it was my fault.
Dehydrated. Food deprived. Love deprived. You name it.
Everything was wrong.
Nothing was right.
The nurse told me and Piper that she'd had a cardiac arrest, whatever that is, because her current state was tremendously weak.

This is all my fault.

"Will... will she make it?"
I asked, barely audible.
The nurse frowned.
Piper chimed in.
"Like, on a scale of one to ten?"
The nurse looked at us with pity.
"Four, maybe. Could be four and a half. We're not sure. It's usually easier to treat patients who have the will to live..."
She went on, but I wasn't listening.
She wanted to die?
Is that what this nurse was telling me?
Oh God.
What a great start to my new life.
An other three hours and we could finally see her.
She looked just like before, but less peaceful.
Her face contorted in pain every few minutes, and it hurt me just as much as it hurt her.
An hour passed quickly, but we still refused to go home.
By one point, I could have swore that I saw her fingers twitch, but I dismissed it as an hallucination.
I wouldn't leave her today. Or tomorrow. Or ever. Maybe she'd be okay if I was here.
Yeah, right.

***

Annabeths POV

I heard Percy and Piper come into the room again, after most of the burning and numbness had dissipated.
But I could move again. My muscles worked. I wanted to move around a bit, to see if I could, but then my plan would go wrong. Instead I tried to quickly moved fingers. They moved.
When I heard someone wheel in the drugs keeping me alive, I went through my plan one last time.
Here we go.
I felt the first injection.
My turn.
I snapped up, probably rupturing a major artery in my arm with the needle, and grabbed the other injection on the metal tray.
I quickly pushed it through my skin, letting the clear liquid run through my veins.
I saw Percy's shocked expression, along with Pipers terror frozen look, and I said the last viable words I felt necessary to say.
"I- I'm sorry."
Then I slumped back into bed, drifting into a fitful coma, only seeing one face in front of me.
The lie I saw in the mirror time and time again.

I'm evil. You'll find out why a mirror is involved with this soon enough...
Thank you for reading.
I'll try to update really quickly!
Thanks! Merci! Tack!