Solangelo 3

Part 6

NICO

I jolt awake, and my whole body aches. I take a deep breathe, trying to get as much air in my lungs as I can.
'Nico, Hey.' Reyna says, sitting up and making sure I'm okay, 'Reve, he's awake!'
'What, I...' I start, but forget where I'm going with it, 'where's Will?' I ask as Reve shines a light in my eyes.
'Look left.' He says, and I do, 'and right.'
'Where's Will?' I ask again.
'Outside.' He answers after I look right. I try to stand for a moment, but Reve stops me, 'nope. Not going to happen. You're pretty drugged up right now. Best stay where you are.'
'I'll get him.' Reyna says, standing, but I grab her hand, 'You okay?'
'Hey.' I say, 'it's good to see you.'
'Sorry it couldn't have been in better circumstances.' She says, 'I'll get Will.'
Reve keeps running tests on me as I wait, fairly out of it. I keep starting sentences and not finishing them. Forgetting where I'm going.
'Nico.' Will says, suddenly by my side, his hand on my forehead, brushing my hair back. I bring my hand up to hold his, 'How are you?'
'Yeah, well, yes.' I say, nodding, then suddenly getting distracted by a fly.
'How is he?' Will asks Reve instead, 'what's he on?'
They talk medically for a while and brief words drift over my head, but not enough to make sense of. Instead I play with the hemming of Will's shirt, fiddling with it, twisting it between my fingers. It's incredibly amusing.
'Hey there, what you doing?' He asks, bending down so we're eye to eye.
'It's important.' I say, moving my hand to his face, I squeeze his cheek.
'Ow, Hey.' He says, pulling back.
'Did I hit my head again?' I ask, 'no, no. It was the fire.'
'Fire?' Will asks suddenly serious.
'Are you mad?' I ask, 'I hate when you're angry.'
'No. What? Why would I be mad?'
'You look mad. Your eyebrows are mad.' I say, and he laughs a little.
'Nico, tell me about this fire.' He says carefully, slowly, 'please.'
'Okay. Okay, well, Annabeth was there, but she wasn't much help.'
'Why not?'
'Well, She was unconscious.' I explain, not understanding what he's confused about, 'and then Gracie...your Gracie, your sister. You know her?'
'Yes, I know her, please keep going, Nico.' He says and I can feel urgency in his voice, 'what started the fire? Was anyone else there? Was I there?'
'No, you were ahead of us.' I say, having to think about it for a moment, 'This didn't happen.' I suddenly realise.
'Keep going, where was I?'
'Will, what happened?' I ask, gradually coming back to myself.
'Please, Nico, try to remember.' He insists.
'You and Willow.' I say, but it's already fading, 'you'd gone somewhere. We were following, I think.' I freeze for a moment.
'What?' He asks, concerned.
'There was...I don't remember. There was something else.'
'What?'
'I don't remember.' I say again.
'Come on, Nico, try to think.' He says, raising his voice, his urgency.
'I can't remember.' I shout back. My heart beats fast, my eyes burn, I curl into a ball.
'Nico.' He says, and he's calm again, gentle again, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'
I'm muttering in Italian. A prayer my mother used to say. I don't remember knowing it, but it comes naturally to me now. My head is beating, and memories and dreams all echo in my head.
'Nico. Nico.' He has one hand on the back of my neck, the other on my knee, 'look at me, darling. Nico.'
He keeps talking to me, calming me down until I let him lift my chin up, look at him.
'I'm sorry.' He says again, gently. He kisses my forehead.
'I don't like what he gave me.' I say, 'it's making me...'
'Paranoid.' He says, 'I know, that's why I haven't given it to you before. He must have missed it. I'll tell him. It'll fade in a bit.'
'It was just a dream.' I say, 'Annabeth isn't coming here anyway. It can't be real.'
'You're right.' He says, but I can't tell if he believes that, or if he's just trying to keep me calm.
'I don't want to be here.' I say, 'it's too loud.'
'Okay. Alright, we can go to your cabin. No noise.' He says, and helps me stand.
I'm still vaguely out of it, and by the time we're at my cabin I can barely stand. Will lays me on my bed and covers me with my duvet. He sits on the floor beside my bed. I fall asleep holding his hand, but I still have a particularly bad night's sleep.