expecting; percico

029

Nico took in a deep breath, trying to calm his breathing. She was breathing. Everything was going to be fine. Zoella was born and breathing. She was finally breathing. Things would be okay, they would be a family, and they would be happy. He was about to see her.

That's what he thought. But, that didn't happen. Doctor Holt kept moving around, ordering Shane to do things, Zoella kept crying and all Nico wanted to do was help her, but he couldn't, he could barely sit up, let alone walk over and cradle his daughter in her arms.

"Wh- What's?" Nico tried to talk but he was extremely tired. He turned to Percy who was equally worried, his hand still in Nico's. "K-Kate? Wha-" Percy realized how winded Nico was and asked for him.

"Holt, what's going on?" Percy asked, Nico was catching his breath, slowly becoming more stable, being able to sit up more and move a little on the bed.

Kate didn't do much to reply. She was hyper focused, unable to focus on anything else except for keeping Zoella safe and well, which, Nico was thankful for, but right now he just wanted to know what the fuck was happening.

Shane saw the panic in both of the new parents faces and mumbled something to Kate, in return, they mumbled something back that, clearly, Shane had to strain to hear. After a few moments and Kate's mumbling was over, Shane spoke out clearly. "Erm, I don't want to worry you, but something is wrong with her heart, something we won't really know until we get in there. We need to rush her to surgery but first we're hooking her up to machines so she can breath better on her trip to the O.R,"

"What?" The two male demigods said at the same time. Both of them just wanted to see Zoella. They went from her going to be killed by the gods, to being born, to having a heart problem, and they just longed for her. They wanted to hold their child in their arms and never let her go, but they couldn't, and it was really fucking cruel.

Shane walked away from Kate and went to talk to Percy and Nico. He tried to remain calm but Nico could tell he was slightly concerned himself. "From what we're seeing, her heart wall is very weak, she used her weird magic Apollo power thing and that's all she seems to be telling, we're rushing her to surgery now. Kate has done this procedures multiple times before, so don't worry too much until we get in there and open her up,"

'Open her up' almost had Nico bursting in tears, instead he just nodded, and slumped back into the bed, which was pretty elevated anyway. He swallowed because of the lump forming in his throat. Nico and Percy watched as their daughter was wheeled out at a jog, Kate mumbling things as she ran.

It was silent for a moment, both boys trying to control their tears. Percy was confused and Nico was tired, yet both demigods were sad. Nico leaned all the way back on the bed, he closed his eyes to stop tears from flowing down his face. Percy was sitting down in the chair next to the bed, his hand finding its way to Nico's.

Nico's thumbs traced circles in Percy's hands. He didn't know what else to do. He wanted their baby. He also wanted to sleep, with their baby, and he wanted their baby to be safe and he just wanted it to be perfect. Which was a dream because nothing in his life would ever go perfect.

"Wh- What do you think - is wr - wrong?" Nico asked, his eyes closed and his breath still slightly uneven.

Percy shook his head. "I don't know, I wish I did,"

"M - Me too," Nico sighed, his voice scratchy from screaming a lot, plus now he had a lump in his throat from trying not to cry. He brought his knees to his chest, feeling weird because the bump was like, way smaller. He definitely had extra weight there now, but honestly that couldn't hurt because he was always really thin anyway.

He looked down at Percy who had red-rimmed eyes. He tugged on his hand lightly, and when Percy looked up Nico asked: "Can you come up here?" To which Percy sat up and laid down next to him. Percy wrapped his arms around Nico and rested his head on the top of Nico's.