expecting; percico

034

The door swung open. "Stop!"

All eyes turned to the person in question. Blonde locks were seen and fierce grey eyes. It was Annabeth.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked, more than a little confused as to why she was here. His voice was broken like it had been for probably the past forever. "Please, I know, I know I am in no place, no place to ask you for any favors, but please, please, whatever it is, not now, I -"

"Percy," She said, cutting him off. "I'm not here to pester you about anything, Chiron sent me," She said as he opened up her backpack. "We had to rush the cure -a cure the gods made sure to make near impossible to accomplish- because the birth was so sudden, but as soon as you had called him, he had sent me, I was at Camp anyway," She said walking closer to the two. She handed the cure to Nico. It was already in a bottle. "She just needs to drink that,"

Nico was already slowly beginning to sit up and take the bottle from Annabeth. His tears changed from sadness to a hopeful happy type of tears. Percy was still behind them, also now sitting up. He had a new determined look in his eye. He didn't know too much about the bottle, or what was i it, but he knew it gave Zoella a chance to make it, that was all he needed to know.

It seemed like an easy thing to do, give baby life-saving bottle. That task also seemed like something said baby would want to do, but she wouldn't take it. Nico didn't know if it was his shaky hands, the fact he radiated death (thanks, Dad), or his horrible-parent instincts (Thanks again, Dad) either way, he couldn't get Zoella to take the bottle.

"Perce, I can't, she won't," Nico said. Saying Nico was beginning to panic was an understatement. He held the bottle out so Percy could grab it and take his go at it.

Annabeth didn't know where to avert her eyes. She felt like an intruder in an important moment. She decided to look at the doctor and noticed how she was looking down at her feet, her eyes closed. Annabeth followed what she was doing.

"Come on, baby please," Nico cried, watching as her breath got uneven, and as she struggled more and more to hold on. "Please, drink it, c'mon," He said, holding her as Percy tried to get her drink it.

"Please Zoella, just open up, please? C'mon, c'mon," Percy said, staying persistent on trying to get her to take the bottle. "C'mon, it's good, I mean I think it is anyway," Percy says, his voice remaining calm., though you could still hear the strain from the crying.

Nico gently rubbed his thumb across the side of Zoella's head, trying to hold back tears as Percy tried to get Zoella to drink. It seemed impossible. She wouldn't drink it. It wasn't even her fault. She has no clue what this is, why the Hades would she put it in her mouth? The only way she had ever been fed is through tubes.

"Please, Zoella," Nico mumbled, his briefly-lived hope dying. "Please,"

Kate wanted to have hope, but she knew Zoella only had minutes before she passed. The chances of her taking her first bottle in that time? So rare. She thought about connecting her back to the machines. Unfortunately, it wouldn't do much, she'd been unplugged for so long already, the chances of it buying time wouldn't matter, because by the time she was hooked up, she might not even be able to continue living. Then they just spent the minutes they could have been saving her, trying to connect her back up.

Even if Kate was skeptical if this special drink would work, she knew there was more of a chance of it working than doing nothing. So she stayed silent and looked down at the floor. Kate knew time was running out. Zoella didn't have much time left.

Zoella's breathing changed and she wouldn't take the bottle. It seemed as if her life was literally slipping from their hands. Again.

Everyone was now quiet and everything was tense.