Don't judge a book by its cover.[Percabeth]

Chapter 27

Percy's POV

My phone hadn't stopped ringing and buzzing. I hadn't picked up once, I couldn't bring myself too. Especially since most of the calls came from Annabeth. I had made Tyson fall down the stairs. And the worst part was, for a minute, I wasn't even upset about it. I just stood there and watched him fall. I didn't try to help him, I didn't call for my mom, I didn't run to help . I just stood there. My feet didn't move, even when my mom came running out of the apartment. I swear the whole world moved in slow motion.

She didn't pay attention to me, she headed straight towards the stairs. Paul came towards me. His lips were moving but honestly I had no clue what he was saying. The world didn't return back to regular speed until the paramedics arrived. Then everything went very fast.

I swear all my senses exploded at once. My mom was crying, paramedics were talking loudly, neighbours were coming out to watch and Paul was just shaking his head with no words. He was staring down the stairs. He looked ill. This was all my fault. I had to go and see what I'd caused. I ignored the paramedic who was trying to get everyone back into their apartments and stared down at my baby brother. I wished I hadn't.

He'd fallen all the way down the entire flight of concrete stairs. Much of the view was blocked by Mom and the ambulance crew but his left leg was twisted at a horrific angle and he wasn't moving. There was blood. A lot of it. As he was lifted onto the stretcher I caught a glimpse of his face. It was already bruised, despite the fact the fall had only happened about twenty minutes before. His eyes were shut. For a second, I wasn't sure if he was alive.

I sank to the floor, holding back a sob. The shocked neighbours and frantic paramedics were blocked out, leaving only me. I'd completely forgotten about my injured hand until someone touched my forearm, sending pain licking down to my fingertips like fire. It was excruciatingly painful. Paul was crouched down beside me where a second ago there was no one.

"Lets get you checked out." There was no mention of his son, no mention of the fact it was my fault and no mention of the tears that ran down his cheeks. Still unable to speak, I nodded once and stood slowly. We made our way downstairs, cringing at the pool of blood that was smeared around the last step. Neither of us said one word on the way to the hospital. But tears fell from both our eyes.

They wouldn't let me in to see him when we arrived, they were sure I would be too upset no matter how hard I argued. I didn't want to go far from his room. I refused treatment for my hand. So I sat in one of those little plastic chairs with my head in my hands for nearly three hours. Doctors came and went without paying me any attention, one nurse offered me a drink of water which I turned down with a shake of my head. Finally, Mom appeared from the room with bloodshot eyes and a runny nose. Despite everything that had happened she still tried for a smile.

"Are you okay? I should have asked someone to check on you. Come through and see him. But, Perce, it looks a lot worse than it is. Okay? And they've had to sedate him so he can't talk." She held tightly to my hand as I walked into the room.

He was battered and bruises decorated his skin. While the purple stains were terrifying, the cleaned off blood made the scene a little less nightmarish. I thanked the gods his legs were covered by a blanket because the sight of his left leg before had made me feel physically sick. His eyes were closed and his breathing sounded shallow and raspy. But he was alive. After squeezing Mom's hand, I made my way to the chair next to the bed and gently took his hand.

I had only moved from the chair to shower, change clothes and occasionally sleep. Despite her best efforts, Mom couldn't convince me to go to school. Although she did eventually convince me to allow a doctor to stitch up my comparably minor injury. His condition had barely changed, they'd had to increase the sedatives though. Every time he fully woke up he'd start screaming. As I said before, my phone hadn't stopped ringing. Annabeth, Nico, Leo, Piper and even Cally had all called. Obviously some more than others.