Collapsing As It Sees The Pain (Percy Jackson)

Look At This Photograph

Gabe:

Sadly, it was Percy that came in. I prepped everything for the surgery because he needed something done. I'm not sure what it was. But I was a little freaked out.

So when the actual team went in with Percy, I was in the break room. I'm on edge, of course. I'm not stupid. I knew he had depression. I could've asked how he was doing.

But then again, he was acting happy and like he was fine. Considering the situation, he was. I just... Suicide always seemed out of the question for him. Even when he was at his worst when I was around. When I gave him hell, he wasn't even close to anything like suicide.

So of course, my mind jumped to Paul. He seemed like a nice guy. I don't want to assume anything beforehand, but he could be worse than me. I don't know that he isn't.

"Hey, man, what are you doing here?" One of my co-workers, Ryan asked me as he sat down and slid over a pepsi for me. "You aren't scheduled."

"I was called in," I explained. "Suicide."

"Suicide?" Ryan repeated, sounding as surprised as I would be if it was any other situation. "Like being suicidal or actually...?"

"Going through." I finished his sentence. "A teenage boy. 17, almost 18. He was at home, a friend of his called in."

"Damn." Ryan remarked as I opened my Pepsi. "You know the family?"

I nodded my head.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "I haven't seen the boy in years, though. Did I ever tell you about Sally?"

"Either your or Amelia did," he tells me, thinking back to it. "Because I've met Sally before. Well, their entire family. I worked with Paul until I came here... Six months ago now. I worked with him. I knew Sally, I knew Percy. That and Susan. She's a sweetheart. Hell, I had Percy in a class of mine for two years. Why do you ask?"

"I was over there, visiting today." I filled him in before taking a breath. "Percy wasn't very happy with me, refused to talk to me. I don't exactly blame him. He wasn't warned that I was there. He showed up earlier today, he wasn't home when I got there. But he seemed fine aside that. And then of course, I got the call in and I looked at the file. And I'll be damned, because it was Percy's medical information. They brought him in for attempting suicide."

"But he wasn't showing any hints?"

"None."

So, as Ryan takes a sip of his Pepsi, it got quiet. And both of us sort of had the same idea. I know Paul. I obviously know me. Sally, of course.

But Percy's dad has never been mentioned. I've asked Sally about him. She says the same to me as she does to Percy. They look just like each other. But he was stationed for the Navy and his entire fleet got lost at sea. They're not dead. Just lost.

And again, I'm not stupid. Our entire marriage, she missed his dad. She probably cared about him more than I did the longer our relationship went on. But I was drunk all the time, I didn't care. She was kind and that's what mattered. Even if she cheated on me. I would've never known. I was constantly drunk.

"Where's his dad?"

"You're assuming I know," I commented, taking another swig of the Pepsi. "Even when we were married, that was the one subject Sally never told me about. Then again, she didn't tell Percy, either. All I know is that he looks like Percy and might have been in the Navy. He had a job at sea, she claimed that he's been lost at sea. Not dead, though. God forbid that's and option. Nobody really knows who he is aside Sally. He didn't sign the certificate. He wasn't around."