The Infirmary

Will's P.O.V.

Will stared blankly at the ceiling. The rest of his cabin was still asleep, and he wondered how they all slept so late. It wasn't really late, he considered, it was 7 in the morning, but Will had never really been able to sleep past 9.

Getting up quietly, Will decided to let his siblings sleep today, knowing that - hopefully - they'd get up in time. He showered quickly, feeling a slight twinge of annoyance when he realized that someone had been using his conditioner.

Drying off his hair, he wondered how Nico was doing today. He could hardly sleep the night before, he was so worried. Hazel had picked up on this at the campfire.

"Will, I'll watch over him," Hazel had reassured, touching his hand. "He looked much better today. He'll be alright, and if anything happens you'll be the first person to hear about it." Will had smiled at her, nodding, slightly reassured.

Will remembered how cheerful Nico had been when he first met him. A bright-eyed demigod with pain on his horizon. That's what all demigods were like, but for some reason Nico's case was more heartbreaking than the others. The child of Hades seemed to carry a sense of misery around him that Will hadn't seen in others.

Walking out of the Apollo cabin, Will noticed that the air was beginning to grow a little crisp, meaning that fall was coming. Which also meant more demigods coming in with aching joints from old injuries. Will made a note to stock up on the pain medication.

The infirmary was quiet when Will entered, as most of the patients were still asleep, so he decided to stock and organize some of the medical cabinets and empty rooms. Trying to roll a cart down the infirmary hall quietly enough that he wouldn't wake any of the patients was a more difficult task than Will had initially gauged, but he found a way to make it work. Walking into an empty room, he made sure that it had all the necessities before moving on to the next one. After about thirty minutes, all of the empty rooms were fully prepped and marked as such for the day. In another thirty minutes, the medical cabinets were prepped and marked as such as well. After spending summer after summer in the infirmary, Will was sure he could do these tasks in his sleep.

Sitting at the front desk, Will looked down at his arm, glancing at the purple freckles on his hand. It had hurt, sure, when those shadows had hit him, but it had hurt him more when he saw the amount of pain the light had caused Nico. Will frowned, rubbing at his arm absentmindedly. Would it always be like that? Their own auras impacting the other like that?

Will thought back to Kayla's warning, which was probably only a week or so ago, but seemed like years. "He's connected to the shadows. To the underworld," she had said to him. "You're connected to the sun." His heart sank, but he couldn't place why. His gaze became unfocused as a sense of dread overtook him, his mind opening to an empty possibility.

Blinking back into reality, Will realized that it would probably be good for him to check on his singular patient. Walking down the hall, he opened her door. And there she still lay, motionless. He checked her vitals. They were the same as always. It was the same as always. Will sighed, wondering what he would even do if she woke up. What happened to her?

The front door to the infirmary was opened, and Will poked his head out to see who it was. Seeing that Kayla was there, he put his patient's chart back down and went to go see her. "Good morning!", Will greeted, happy to finally have company.

"You're back?", Kayla asked. "Is Nico doing better?"

"He was yesterday, yeah." Will pushed away the memory of Nico on the ground, pale. "Hazel's in camp too, and she said she'd keep an eye on him." Kayla nodded knowingly before moving to go stock for the day. "I already did all of that, I just haven't gotten to the rooms with patients in them," Will hurried before Kayla could get too far.

Kayla grinned at him. "Well look at you go," she teased as more of their siblings walked into the infirmary. "Will's back!" He was greeted with happy eyes, and Will felt at home.

Will lost track of time as he was whirled into the hustle and bustle of a day's work treating demigods. He hadn't realized, but he had missed working amongst his siblings. Only when Kayla told him to go get lunch was when Will realized what time it was. Waving, he left to head to the dining pavilion.

It was nearing the end of lunch, so there was hardly anyone there. Will offered a sacrifice before sitting down to eat his food quickly. He paused as he realized that he had yet to see Nico today. Will continued to eat, convincing himself that everything was fine. As he was walking back, however, he decided that Will would walk by the Hades cabin just to make sure.

Approaching the Hades cabin, Will noted that it looked as dreary as ever. He knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. When no answer came, he realized that there was a probability that Nico had just chosen not to see him yet that day. Which was fine, he wasn't required to say hello to Will. At least, that's what Will was trying to convince himself.

Turning around to walk away, Will heard a crash from within the cabin. He spun around in panic before the door opened and he was face to face with a very disheveled, disgruntled Nico di Angelo.

"You woke me up," Nico mumbled, scrubbing at his eyes and stepped back into the darkness of his cabin. "Gods it bright out."

"Oh." Will looked at Nico, who's hair was sticking up in every which way, completely wrapped in a blanket, with only toes in fuzzy black socks peeking out from underneath. Will felt himself grin slightly. "Sorry about that. Lunch is almost over though, and you probably need to eat." Nico blinked at him in response. "You know what, I'll just go get a plate for you. I'll be right back."Will laughed as Nico nodded before shuffling back to close the door, letting out a tired wave. At least he was doing okay, Will thought to himself as he went to get the last of the food.

At least he wasn't ignoring me, Will realized, feeling a rush of relief wash over him.