Breaking Point

Okay

Percy felt as though he had swallowed Gorgon blood, and he knew the feeling. What Will just said was like a punch to the gut. He didn't know how to respond. Percy wasn't an expert when it came to medical stuff, nor did he know the basics of cancer. But he wasn't dumb. He knew how deadly cancer was. He sat there for a moment, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Okay," he found himself saying in a monotone, his face a blank mask.

Will have him a strange look, his nose pink.

"Okay?"

"Okay." Percy repeated again. "I- I- okay."

"Percy," Will said softly. "It's okay to freak out, it's okay to feel scared."

"Okay." Percy repeated again. That was the only thing his mouth could say and his mind could think.

"It's bad, I know, but everything is gonna be okay, Percy." Will said. "I promise I will do my best." He said, holding Percy's hand.

"Okay."

Will opened his mouth, but closed it with second thoughts. He let Percy process the information.

He studied Percy closely. He couldn't read Percy's face, his emotions  were perfectly concealed. All he could see was a blank face staring at the floor. Even Percy's eyes, which were often like an open book, had no emotions. The beautiful sea green eyes that literally resembled the sea were now a blank canvas. His eyes were completely dry, not even a tear was shed by him.

Will frowned. He didn't feel like what he had said had reached Percy's mind.

Percy looked up. "What kind of cancer is it?" He asked softly.

Will took a deep breath and opened Percy's file. He placed it in front of Percy. "The mutation seems to be in your blood," he said, "The vast majority of your blood cells are immature, not fully formed. It's why your normal red blood cells are so depleted and why your white blood cells are so elevated. They're multiplying uncontrollably."

"And that means?" Percy asked.

"It's leukaemia. I can't say what type it is yet. All I know is that it's malignant. I have to test further to get more results." Will said, still looking for some emotion from the boy in front of him.

"There are stages for this, right? What stage am I in? How bad is it?" Percy asked, just what Will had hoped he wouldn't ask.

Will shook his head.

"I'll have to take some scans and do more bloodwork before I can estimate that," he said quietly, "But the fact that it's symptomatic tells me you're at least a couple stages in."

"Okay."

Will furrowed his eyebrows. "Percy, I feel like you're not taking in what I said. You're surprisingly handling this well- too well, to be precise. It's okay to feel a little fear."

 "I can handle this. Let's…let's just do whatever tests we need to do so we can figure out how to treat this." Percy said stubbornly.

"Do you want me to call someone? Grover, or Annabeth? Or Jason?" Will asked softly, wondering if Percy wasn't showing any emotion because of him. He was Percy's friend, ofcourse, but not a close friend. Maybe he would feel better with someone he felt comfortable with.

With this question, Percy seemed to snap out of his thoughts. "No. Do not call them. Don't call anyone. Please."

"Percy, you shouldn't go through this alone. You should have someone to give you emotional support while you process this." Will tried.