Learning to Trust (A Leo Valdez Love Story)

Chapter 25

LEO

      Leo woke with a start, feeling a hand nudging his shoulder. He shot up quickly, panting. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked quickly, looking to see if Kyra was awake. 

      "Leo, calm down," he was met with Piper's soothing voice as he saw that she was the one who had woken him. Kyra was still asleep in the bed, not having moved since her nightmare. 

      "Everything's fine," she answered, concern on her face. "We just thought that you might be more comfortable if you took a shower and got into some clean clothes," she finished. Leo looked at the group of people who had seemed to join him and Kyra in the infirmary. Jason, Annabeth, and Will were standing behind Piper, each with equally concerned looks. 

      "Will said it will probably be longer for Kyra to wake up anyway," Jason informed him. Leo looked to see Will nod his head from beside Jason, an empathetic smile on his face. 

      "S-she had a nightmare," Leo croaked out, his voice still groggy with sleep. "It was bad," he admitted. "I shouldn't leave her," he finished. 

      "You'll be more help to her and yourself if you get cleaned up and some rest," Annabeth reasoned, her gaze landing on Leo's as her stormy grey eyes seemed to analyze his every move. 

      Leo looked at Kyra who appeared to be in less pain than before and seemed to be sleeping soundly once more. "Will you stay with her?" he asked looking at Piper. He figured that if the traumatized girl woke up she would be most calm with Piper by her side. 

     Piper nodded her head. "Jason and I were planning to take turns sitting with her. Annabeth and Will offered to step in if we need a break." 

    Leo thought that was okay for now. He wouldn't be gone for too long. He probably wasn't in a good position to attempt to be any help to Kyra anyways. 

    "Okay," he answered, slowly standing up as his back cracked from the uncomfortable position he fell asleep in. 

    Kyra stirred slightly when he got up, inhaling deeply as she turned to face the other side of the infirmary in her sleep before letting out a sigh as she relaxed again. 

    The group watched as she did so, their eyes landing on Kyra's arm as it came into view from beneath the blanket she had been covered with. They seemed to hold their breath as the scars on her arm became visible. Watching everyone else's reactions, it became clear to Leo why Kyra had wanted to keep them hidden. He saw Piper's gaze deepen with what looked like pity, Annabeth's looked similar although the pity was mixed in with a calculating look as if she was trying to decipher what each scar meant and what had happened to Kyra. Jason's gaze was full of fury, like he wanted to kill whoever had done this to her. Leo knew he wasn't angry at Kyra, but if she woke up and saw his face at this moment, he knew she would be terrified. The only person who had maintained a somewhat neutral look out of the group was Will who caught Leo's eye before walking slowly over to Kyra. 

    He cleared his throat, "Well I should reassess her vitals and make sure everything is healing properly. Now's probably a good time to take a break Leo, she seems to be still in a pretty deep sleep." 

   Leo nodded. "Don't leave her alone, okay?" He asked, looking at Jason and Piper. "She needs to know we didn't abandon her." he finished.

   Jason gave him a reassuring look, guiding Piper into the chair that Leo had previously been sitting in. "We won't," he promised. 

    Jason's confirmation was enough for Leo to convince himself that it was okay to leave for a little while. He figured he probably smelled and looked a lot worse than he felt. He also realized he should let his siblings know that he wasn't dead.