Carystus

The Call

Artemis picked up the phone on the first ring. "Is he ok?" she snapped before even a word came out from the other end of the line. Some of the campers blinked in shock. It was highly rare for Artemis to even mention her brother without a hint of being annoyed.

Athena reached forwards and hit the speaker button with her palm. Everyone tensed up as the hesitation on the other end of the line grew.

"I'm truly sorry, ma'am. He's been declared stage one on the Glasgow coma scale. He's on life support at the moment. If you want to, you could come and visit him." the woman's voice on the other end of the line was high and thin, like a gust of wind would blow it away.

"Don't even mention taking off the life support." Artemis snarled, "I'll be there. And lots of other family members will be too." she added, looking at each cabin leader, the gods and goddesses, and me and my father each in turn.

"A-alright ma'am," there was a crackle of static on the line, and I could here a lowered voice crooning at the attendant," sorry. We only accept one visitor per day." she squeaked.

Artemis huffed. "I'll be there." she repeated. In a flash, iris made sure we could see what was happening via iris message.

We sat there and watched Artemis get off multiple buses and jog into the hospital visitor's ward. She slammed her hand down on the receptionist's desk.

"I'm here to see my brother, Helios Greene." she said calmly.

The receptionist looked up, clearly bored. Her glasses where perched far too low on her nose. "Name?" she droned.

"Diane Greene," Artemis replied, smiling thinly when she saw the look on the receptionists face," Our parents where into mythology." she explained.

The receptionist nodded and led Artemis to a room on the top floor. She unlocked it and swung the door open. "You have 45 minuets." she said, and then strode briskly down the hall.

Artemis peeked into the room. There was no light switch, only a window covered in thick curtains. There was a piece of paper on the ground. It was a receptionist's note. Artemis paled and turned it so we could see.

Dear madam Earthsbane,

Thank you for alerting us on the severe reaction the patient has to light. Unfortunately, following your visit, the patient has considerably fallen into the deepest stage of coma. We have set up blinds and curtains and removed all lighting to insure his condition doesn't worsen. The patient has now been declared as scale one on the Glasgow coma scale and may become brain dead. The patient is also strangely responding only to some words in Greek (as we learned during you visit) and appears to be in a state of PVS. We have put him on life support, which we will remove as soon as his sister leaves.

Thank you,

Elisa Waverley.

Artemis peered into the shadows, and Caught a glimpse of her brothers silhouette. She immediately rushed forwards and sank down to the floor in shock.

Apollo, lord of the sun, lay, his face almost translucent so you could see to the bone beneath. His eyes where closed and unblinking. His body was thin and only a ghost of yesterday, Tense and rigid. A mask was on his face, and his chest went up and down in a fake peace. The heart monitor beeped a small, slow pace. Dozens of wires, tubes, and IV's where attached to his body. A machine whirred and blood began pouring into Apollo's veins. His eyes snapped open, a bright electric blue that reminded me of May Castellan. "Artemis..." he managed to choke out. He struggled to get up, but a vial of liquid entered his stomach through a tube and he fell back. The heart rate monitor remained at the same steady beat as before. But I remembered something I had learned long ago.