Solangelo: The Infirmary

To Close to the Future

So maybe this is how he would die.
Nico lay as his body slowly turned into shadows. It was not the best plan, in all fairness. Then again, Nico wasn't thinking. He just didn't want to get eaten by harpies.
Now he would become apart of the shadows. Will was right. "No Underworldy stuff." He said.
The cold rush became a constant flow. Nico didn't want to move anymore. He couldn't see anything, feel anything, hear anything, and it was nice. No more worries. He wondered if all people who were dying felt this way just before death.
Suddenly footsteps shook the ground he was dissolving into. A pair of hands passed through him. It kind of tickled.
A blurry voice called his name. He knew that voice. He became curious of who it was. He willed himself to see who it was. He temporarily stopped dissolving and slowly opened his eyes about half way. Nico saw a fuzzy image of a boy panicking trying to grab him. Was it Jason? No, this boy didn't have glasses. His hair wasn't dark enough to be Percy. Was it Will? The boy shouted his name again. "NICO! Damnit! I told you! I told you!" Nico's heart sped up when the voice shouted his name. It was Will! He had to see Will's face one more time.
He willed himself to solidify. A warm hand gripped his shoulder. "Nico! Yes! Come on Nico!" Another hand covered the back of Nico's neck. His upper body was lifted onto Will's lap. Nico slowly opened his eyes fully. Will's beautiful face was full of worry. "Nico! I'm so so sorry! Nico please! Please stay with me!"
Nico let out a extremely weak laugh. "There's... There's no place... I'd rather be."
Will grabbed his hand and squeezed tight.
Nico could feel his toes now. That was good. Voices shouted from the distance. Somewhere campers were running towards them. That didn't matter to Nico. Just the moment he shared with Will, looking into his perfect blue eyes,watering with tears.
Before Nico realized, seven other people were gathered around him and Will. Everyone was in pyjamas still. Four girls were in tears. The three boys were comforting them. Piper had her face buried in Jason's shirt. Jason was looking away from Nico. Annabeth was wiping tears from her cheeks, trying to keep a straight face. Percy put an arm around her and brought her close. He had tears in his eyes. Katie was full on crying, tears streaming down her face, her hands covering her mouth. Hazel was crouched across from Nico and Will, also full on crying. She reached over and pulled Nico onto her lap. Frank was crouched next to Hazel. He had one hand on her back and his other hand was holding his head as he stared at the grass. Hazel cradled Nico in her arms. Will was still holding Nico's hand. No one seemed to notice, or care.
Nico looked at everyone crying around him. The Argo two crew, Will, and Katie. In tears, for him.
The sun had started to come up, and as the light hit Nico's face, the cold of the shadows melted away from him. Then everything went black.
*****
Nico shot straight up and looked around. He woke up back in his least favourite place. The infirmary. An Apollo kid (at least Nico assumed it was an Apollo kid, since he was dressed like a doctor) who was walking passed Nico's bed when he woke up, paused and turned to look at Nico, then took off down the infirmary hall and out the door. "Glad to know I'm still the outcast here." Nico mumbled under his breath.
Way more kids lay in sick beds then yesterday. About seven new campers had entered the infirmary. Wait, was yesterday for Nico yesterday for everyone else? What was the date? How long was Nico out? He could've slept for three days again for all he knew.
He tossed off the covers and swung his legs off the bed. As soon as Nico stood up, he felt dizzy and sat back down.
After a few minutes, Nico tried again. He stood up slowly. He was still dizzy, but not as bad. He stumbled towards to entrance of the infirmary. He walked outside and was met with a group of kids running towards the infirmary. He didn't recognize anyone in the crowd, but some looked vaguely familiar. They stopped to a walk and approached Nico like he was a scared deer.
The tall blond boy with glasses in front spoke up. "Hey Nico. How are you feeling?" He said each word very slowly. "What? Fine. Who are you? Why are talking to me so weird?" The boy glanced nervously at the girl beside him. She nodded. "We're your friends. My name is Jason. Do you remember me? This is Piper." He gestured to the girl next to him. "And this is Percy and Annabeth." A dark haired boy with sea green eyes walked up next to the blond boy holding hands with a blond girl with stormy grey eyes. "This is Hazel and Frank. And this is Katie." A short girl with frizzy dark hair walked up arm in arm with a tall and strong looking boy, followed by a tall girl with short blond hair. They all lined up shoulder to shoulder.
"This is a joke. How old are you guys? Twenty three? Twenty five? The oldest of my friends is seventeen. Where is the real Argo two crew?" They nervously glanced at each other. "Um, that's us Nico." Spoke up the fake Hazel. "This might be hard for you, but um, Nico, you've been in a coma. A really bad one." What was hard to believe about that? Lots of people go into comas. "Yeah, okay I'll play along. So?"
"You've been in a coma for six years dude." Fake Percy said.
Then Nico realized why these people looked familiar. These people were his friends. He didn't recognize them because they were six years older. "Wha-wha-wait, what?! Where is Will?" Katie started crying and collapsed on the ground. Hazel moved to sit beside her. "Maybe you should sit-" Annabeth started. "No! Where is he?" Nico demanded. "Nico..." Frank took a deep sigh. "William Solace is dead."