Only Time Will Tell (Solangelo)

2

I had to push the red button.

I've been sitting in bed for the last thirty minutes with the stupid Sudoku book Will gave me, but I don't understand the point of it. There's nine boxes, nine squares in those boxes, and some of them have numbers while others do not have numbers. Who in the hell thought this would be fun?

It only takes Will a couple seconds to run into the room, except he is gasping and trying to gain his breath. "You . . . you pushed the red button, what's wrong?"

I cross my arms over my chest, "I don't understand this, tell me what I'm doing wrong."

Will narrows his eyes at me. "Nico," he grumbles, "the button is for emergencies only. How is learning Sudoku an emergency?"

I shrug my shoulders, "shouldn't you be awake at the break of dawn anyways? You are the son of Apollo after all."

A long yawn escapes Will's mouth as he drags a chair to the side of my bed. He takes the pen out of my hand and begins showing me the basics to doing a Sudoku puzzle. Every couple of words he says, another yawn comes out of his mouth and he tiredly blinks his eyes at the booklet on the bed.

"Are you okay, Will?" I ask quietly, moving the Sudoku book away from his eyesight.

The son of Apollo looks up from the bed, smiling very brightly. "My name sounds cute when you say it." He giggles and leans back in his chair, closing his eyes. "I was up all night taking care of a Demeter kid who got food poisoning last night. So much vomit."

My cheeks redden, what does he mean that his name sounds cute when I say it? I say it just the same as everyone else in this camp. Forget it, Will is tired and seems very out of it. "Do you want to sleep? You can take the bed, I can sit in the chair while you nap for a couple hours, I don't mind."

"Are you sure, Death Boy? I know how cranky you get about sleeping, and besides, an Apollo camper has to be on duty at all times and-"

"I'm sure you will be fine," I swing my legs out of bed to let Will take my spot, but he doesn't move. "Come on, Will," I say, grabbing his attention, "go to bed, Nico's orders."

Will grins at me as he climbs into the bed. He lays one of the blankets on top of him, then rests his head against the pillow, which instantly brought him to sleep. How cute, he smiles in his sleep. Oh Gods, I'm doing it again.

My stomach grumbles on cue. I decide to quietly slip out of the dark room to enter the hallway. Everyone in the infirmary seems to be asleep. Nobody would be at breakfast and I could take the time to eat by myself with not a single soul watching me.

I sit at the same table Will and I sat at yesterday. The plate in front of me gives me a pile of pancakes with maple syrup and a cup of water to drink. I don't think I've had pancakes in forever! Tasting my first bite of pancakes is like reliving one of my past memories, a good one with Bianca and my mom. Before they both died.

That got dark.

It doesn't take long for other patients in the infirmary to wake up and head to the dining room. I could hear them walking towards the room on my last bite of pancakes, so I quickly finished chewing and escaped the sick people coming towards me.

There are two options. I go back to my room to play Sudoku and watch Will sleep or I wander around the infirmary until something interests me. I'm going to go with the latter. While being around Will when he isn't being a significant annoyance would be nice, I don't think it would be good for me to be around him. I'll just be staring at his pretty face and curly hair. 

Speaking of Will Solace, I find a room labeled with his name and "head counselor" above it. This has got to be his office. What could be in Will Solace's office?