My Best Friend's Brother (The Finale)

chapter 1

24 hours later

Annabeth

"Annabeth,wake up."

A hand gently shook my shoulder. It took me all my strength not to slap it away,to simply tell the nurse to screw off. I opened my eyes,focusing on the girl sitting next to me. I recognised her scent.

"Hi." I said simply,trying to avoid the strong smell of medicine that hospitals tend to have. She helped me up and gave me a glass of water. Needless to say,I was parched.

"How long..?"

"A couple hours. None of us went back to the apartment. We couldn't." Piper said softly,giving me a cloth to wipe my sweaty face. I accepted it. For the first time in my life,I had no idea what to do. I had no plan,no thoughts on my next step. I was simply stuck and I hated it.

"Is Thalia..?"

"Under medication. Doctor won't let us see her." She sighed,pushing a lock of clumpy hair out of her face "or maybe she just doesn't want to see us."

I shivered,remembering how her eyes seemed to crackle with electricity as she yelled and screamed so much the entire hospital seemed to feel it. It took thirty minutes and 10 nurses to inject something into her arm,which made her slump into a sleeping mess.

"It was scary,I know." she said quietly. I wondered if Jason had a temper like that. Quite  unlikely

"Percy?" My throat felt raw despite the water. Piper shook her head.

"No word."

I slumped back,closing my eyes. If I had just ran,trusted him and ran,we would be okay. But I was hardwired to stop and think. Percy was hardwired to act on the spot. It was because of me that he could very well be dead.

Perseus Jackson. Dead. His captivating green eyes and perfect,slightly crooked smile would never look at me again. He would never hold me,never touch nor kiss me. My eyes began to burn.

"Anne." Piper said softly,wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I buried my face into her neck,sobbing loudly. And then I passed out.

I kept waking up to find different people around me. Doctors,nurses,Piper,Jason. Sometimes I was alone. But I could only stay up for five minutes before passing out. The doctors didn't seem to find any injury that could make all this happen to me. I didn't hit my head. So they turned to the only reliable answer they had; trauma.

They were probably right. Sometimes when I closed my eyes,I could feel his warm,sticky blood all over my hands,his lifeless body slumped in my arms as the color seemed to drain away from his sea green eyes. I remember screaming,screaming so much that my very head hurt and throat went raw. I don't know who called an ambulance; a passerby,maybe. Within seconds I could hear the sirens,the lights flashing. The area was being taped off. Thalia screaming bloody murder. Two stretchers, for Luke Castellan and Perseus Jackson. Two ambulances. I remember climbing into the ambulance with him. He wasn't moving,his eyes were open. Choking with tears,I closed them.

The police interrogations. How I knew Luke. Why were we at thaat scene. How long did we know each other. Who I think could have done this. Questions about Percy. It was all a big blur to me. After what seemed like a billion years,I woke up again. Piper and Apollo were on both sides of my bed.

"Hello."

"Welcome back to the living," Apollo joked feebly. He looked tired. I wondered how I looked at the moment. Probably like a corpse. I sat up,my arms shaking a bit.

"The other are with Thalia." Piper explained. I nodded.

"Are you hungry?" Apollo asked me. I shook my head,ignoring the feeble protests from my stomach.