Nico di Angelo; Angel of Chaos

Precious, Bitter Seconds

Shadow's POV

The room and its inhabitants seemed to hold our breath as the clock struck one.

The door flew open, and a very flustered-looking Sanator and Chaos stormed in.

Reyna was away from the windowsill and at his bedside, Sunny still on her hip, in an instant. She was clutching his hand so tightly I was afraid she was cutting off the circulation to his arm enough to cause permanent damage.

I decided not to voice my worries.

Sunny looked petrified, yet hopeful, and the rest of us seemed to mirror her expression.

Seconds trickled by like old honey, bitter and slow.

We had made a circle around his bed, where Nico had lay for hours. The IV full of nectar dripped slowly.

Another precious few seconds trickled by.

Our wings were spread to where we formed an unbroken circle of white around his bed. Not of our own conscious accord, our wings simply gravitated towards others of their kind in times of distress and comfort.

More precious few seconds trickled by.

Slowly, slowly, excrusiatingly slowly, seconds passed.

Then the little digital clock that read the time changed.

It now read,

1:01

The time was up, and Nico wasn't awake.

He wasn't ever going to wake up.

I saw a blur of emotions pass over Reyna's uncloaked face.

First denial. Then a dawning look of horror and shock. Then anger. Then a heart-shattering sadness that I can not put into words. It was the look of sadness that can never be expressed in words. A pure, raw emotion.

It was the look of someone whose other half was just ripped away before their eyes.

It was Chaos who realized Reyna's knees were about to buckle a split-second before it happened. He snatched a traumatized-looking Sunny, who was just realizing what was happening, off of Reyna's hip and set her gently in the arms of Sanator.

Reyna, meanwhile, collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

The rest of us seemed to be frozen in shock. I felt... detached. Like I was watching this from afar. I noted somewhere, in the distant part of my mind, that Siren was holding a crying Sparky. I had never seen Sparky cry before.

Reyna's white wings were limp and sagging, all of the bright, happy, loving light gone. The feathers gleamed with a dull shine that made the image look even worse and sadder, somehow.

I knew that someone should comfort her. But we didn't know how.

So as the clock changed again, One o' three, and a thin, pale hand gently placed itself on her heavily g shoulders, I was grateful to whoever did it.

Wait a minute.

The hand had an IV taped to its back.

"Reyna, its going to be okay." A familiar voice said comfortingly.

"No its not, Chaos dammit! He's gone. Gone." She sobbed.

"Reyna, would you look at me please?" The voice asked.

Reyna reluctantly looked up.

And gasped.

Nico smiled. It was a tight, strained, pain-filled smile. But it was a smile.

"Miss me?" He rasped.