Why Us? [Percy Jackson]

Part 9

CHAPTER 8

Percy P.O.V

The last thing Percy could remember was a jarring collision and something crushing is legs, then everything went black.

The darkness brought with it odd sensations. Percy felt suspended, like he was floating, or maybe flying. Percy chuckled to himself at the thought of the look on Zeus' face if he saw Percy flying. He'd probably get blasted out of the sky by a 10'000 volt lightning bolt.

As soon as he had had the thought, Percy felt a jolt of electricity pulse through him and then suddenly he was falling. Percy had no idea how high up he had been, but the fall took his breath away and he found himself struggling to breathe. Pain suddenly bloomed in his head and up and down his legs. He was in so much pain. He couldn't think straight, couldn't breathe.

And then suddenly, he hit the ground and his eyes flew open.

There were strange people everywhere, flittering around his head as he struggled to breathe. Percy hadn't even realised that he was asleep, but now he was awake and had no idea where he was or what was going on, just that he was in a lot of pain and that he couldn't think straight. His breaths came out in short pants and his vision started to blur.

"He's going into shock!"

"We need to calm him down right now!"

Percy's line of vision shifted between all the scrub clad nurses as they started attaching different meds to his IV lines. Percy barely noticed one of the nurses taking the lead.

"Everyone out! Lowell! Jones! You two stay put! Harley, go talk to the boy's relatives! Everyone else out! Now!"

All the nurses scuttled to obey their orders and soon the room wasn't quite so crowded and loud. The lead nurse came over to Percy and placed an oxygen mask down around his face.

"Hey Percy. My name's Shaun. It's alright, you're alright. You're at the hospital. You were in a really bad crash on the intersection. Do you remember that?"

A crash? He was in a car crash? Percy still felt very on edge and his breaths were still far from regulated, but shakily shook his head, groaning when it aggravated the pain in his head.

"Okay, okay. Try not to move your head too much. You got a pretty nasty knock on your head there." Shaun smiled down at Percy and it calmed him a little. "Lets just work on your breathing for a minute Percy, hm? Try and slow it down a bit, okay?" Shaun demonstrated, slowly breathing in and out. Percy copied him and soon his breathing was much closer to normal. "There we go, nice work Percy. Is that better?" Percy gave a very small nod of his head. "Now Percy, there are some people outside who wish to see you, do you think you are up to seeing them?"

Again Percy barely nodded at Shaun, but he saw it and walked to the door to go and collect his visitors. The other two nurses in the room finished fiddling with his medications before walking out the door as well.

Percy only had to spend a few moment picking at his blankets before the door reopened and in walked Poseidon.

Poseidon P.O.V

Thunder boomed and dark clouds gathered around Olympus as Zeus roared at Poseidon,

"YOU CAN NOT VISIT YOUR SON, NO MATTER HOW SERIOUS A REASON! IT IS AGAINST OUR ANCIENT CODES! WE MUST NOT INTERFERE WITH THE MORTALS' LIVES!"

"That is my son, brother! Right now he is lying on a bed dying! I must see him, and you will not be able to stop me!" Poseidon yelled back, and then turned on his heal to march out of the throne room. Apollo and Dionysus (who was there trying to convince his father to lower his suspension to Camp Half-Blood) were watching the brothers' quarrel with interest, and in Dionysus' case, amusement. He always loved it when his father got stood up to, not that he'd ever do it himself, but it was fun to watch others try, very few coming away accomplished.

"DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON ME POSEIDON! YOU MUST ABIDE BY THE ANCIENT RULES! YOU CAN NOT INTERFERE!"

Suddenly a boom was heard and Poseidon was thrown across the throne room and into a nearby pillar. The air of the throne room turned to carbon and a faint charred smell was wafting over from Poseidon as he got back to his feet, face blackened and hair on end. He spoke to Zeus in a dangerously low voice,

"Percy is my son and I care very much for him. You and you're ancient laws have prevented me from being there for him for the majority of his short life, but right now he is dying and I'll be damned to the fields of punishment if your bloody laws prevent me from being with my son for even a second longer!"

Furious, Zeus raised his lightning bolt at Poseidon's chest, ready to fry his brother right off Olympus, before grapevines wrapped their way around his arms and waist, several moving up to encircle his mouth, cutting his protest off before it had even begun. Poseidon turned to Dionysus in amazement.

"Go," Dionysus nodded towards the giant doors of the Throne Room, "I may not like Percival Jordan, but I did like you speech... and you standing up to father, he really is a bit of an ass" Zeus sent him an ugly look. Dionysus just laughed, "Now hurry up, Perry will be waiting for you!"

And with that Poseidon exited the Throne Room and drifted away with a sea breeze.

***

Poseidon arrived at the hospital not five minutes later and burst through the doors, demanding to be shown to his sons room. After being calmed down from some of the on hand nurses he was led to a waiting room that contained a crying Annabeth, a shocked Sally and a confused Paul, who was trying to calm down the two distressed females.

A blank faced Sally looked up as he entered and got up to walk towards him. Before he knew what was happening, Sally was hugging him and crying onto his shoulder. Poseidon reassured her as best he could and softly patted her back as three nurses came out of the room opposite where the small group had been huddled. One nurse stopped to talk to them as the other two hurried off to attend to other patients.

"Hi I'm Stacie Harley, and I will be one of the nurses on call for your son until he makes his recovery," Stacie shook each of the group's members' hands before continuing, "Percy just recently came out of unconsciousness much sooner than we anticipated. He instantly went into shock and we have nurses in there right now trying to calm him down and sedate him," Annabeth gave a little sniffle at the news and Paul placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. Sally just watched on with the same blank face she had had on her face when poseidon had walked into the small waiting room. Stacie continued, "Depending on how quickly and successfully he comes out of his panic attack, he may be able to have visitor today, otherwise we would ask you to leave seeing him until tomorrow. It really is whats best for Percy." Poseidon nodded and gave her a brief "thank you" before she left to her other patients.

Ten gruelling minutes of staring at the clock had past before the door to Percy's room had finally opened and a young doctor with the name tag "Shaun" walked out to great him, being closely followed by to more nurses who didn't even give them a second glance. Shaun stepped up to them,

"You must be Percy's family. I'm Shaun and I will be his main doctor during his stay at the hospital, which, hopefully, won't be particularly long. I just got him calmed down and he says he is up for visitors so go right through. Just try to make sure he doesn't over-exert himself."

With that Shaun left them to enter Percy's room themselves. The small group hesitated only momentarily before heading towards the plain wooden door, Poseidon leading the way. As he opened the door he looked up to meet the tired and bleary eyes of his only mortal son.