Make it Happen

Chapter 29

The hospital ward was a cold, empty place. Silent, echoing corridors and fluorescently-lit rooms, the monotonous pound of shoes on the white, polished floor. People sitting outside the door, staring at the walls, the floor, hoping that everything would be okay.

It was through these halls that Annabeth walked through, trying to be as silent as she could, trying not to disturb the people hoping, pleading for a good outcome. She passed them by, casting them a glance or two before her mind wandered back to the subject that had taken up residence in her mind - Percy.

He had been far from fine when she last saw him, hyperventilating, sobbing and screaming. They told her that now he had calmed down, that now he was okay, but she knew Percy better - she didn't think he'd ever be truly okay, he'd always be plagued by nightmares.

But she couldn't stop herself from hoping.

Leo, in the car with Jason and Piper, was blindfolded as they drove him somewhere he didn't know. He could hear snippets of their whispered conversation: "do you think it'll be okay?" "what if he hates us afterward?" and "I just want him to be okay", his mind panicking, thinking they were talking about him, until he assumed they were talking about Percy. Unconsciously, his fingers started tapping patterns on his knees - Leo flinched when he realized he was drumming out Morse code for I miss you. 

Then the car stopped, and he was led outside. Piper and Jason took off his blindfold, telling him to open his eyes before looking at each other worriedly. Leo inhaled sharply, closing his eyes quickly and burying his face in them, as if fingers could protect him from the sight he had seen. His mother's workshop, or at least the plot it had been built on, was right in front of him. He could still see the ashes, the faintest trace of burn marks on the concrete; he could still see the burning fire imprinted on his eyelids.
They plagued him whenever he closed his eyes, the fire followed him everywhere. Leo realized he would never be free.

"We wanted you to be able to face this place," Jason said quietly, "and remember the good memories of the time you spent here with your mom."
"If you want to leave, we can come back sometime or never again," Piper added, sharing a worried glance with her boyfriend.

Leo choked back a sob and tried to recall the good times, when he and his mother inhabited the workshop, spending hours upon hours there, building, creating, having fun. He wrapped his arms awkwardly around his two best friends, thankful they were making such an effort, thankful to be their friend.
Maybe he'd always be plagued by the memories of the blazes that destroyed the workshop and his mother, but maybe he'd someday be able to pretend it was a harmless spark; maybe someday he could stop running from the fire and trample it beneath his feet before finally, finally moving on.

A/N: Aaaaa I'm so sorry I didn't update ;-;
I'm such a crappy author. I'm sorry for the month long wait. I'm sorry for the reaaaaally bad chapter and the reaaaaally bad writing.
I think I have writer's block again and I hate it. I think next chapter will be the epilogue and I'm sorry the plot was so weird because I don't really know where this book is going.

So, yeah. Last chapter/epilogue thing will hopefully be updated soon. Maybe later today if I can find the time, since my dad has been putting a lot of pressure on me to do well in school and piano and tennis and aaaaaaaagh.

Lena