Out of My Mind (Percico/Pernico)

Chapter Thirteen

Hades di Angelo's phone rang at an ungodly hour in the middle of the night. He answered it without looking at the caller address.

"Can it wait until the morning?" he asked groggily as a greeting.

"I apologize deeply, sir," said a young girl's voice on the other end of the phone. "But it is an important matter."

"What is it?" asked Hades, rubbing the tiredness out of his eye with his free hand.

"It came to our facilities' attention that Percy had escaped the hospital," she informed. "We already have contacted Percy's parents and they said he wasn't there, so is he at your house?"

"I don't think so," Hades told her, getting out of bed. "I'll go check on Nico."

He walked blindly down the hall and into Nico's room, only seeing an empty, unmade bed. His son was nowhere to be seen.

"He's gone." Hades immediately went downstairs into the kitchen. They keys to the Mercedes was gone, too. "The car's gone, too. Damn it, where did he go?! He's in so much trouble."

"Where could he have gone?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know," answered Hades worriedly. "You don't think-"

"They've ran away together?"

"I'm thinking the same thing," Hades growled. "I told him he couldn't go and see his boyfriend, then when I learned he was going anyways, I grounded him."

"That could be a motive," Hazel said. "He's a teenager; they're impulsive and hormonal."

"He didn't pack any of his stuff, though. He might have just snuck out for the night."

"Should we contact the police?"

"I know the license plate number for the Mercedes, so that would be a good call."

"We will do that right away, sir," Hazel told him. "Dr. Solace and Dr. Chase will pick you and your wife up in a moment. Percy's parents are already on the lookout for a black Mercedes."

"Thank you," Hades told her.

"It's only regulation, sir," Hazel said. "We've never had a patient escape before."

"My son never ran off before, either, so it's a first for both of us, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"I have to wake up my wife," Hades said. "She is not going to be happy, and she's going to complain about not getting her sleep."

"No offense, sir, but this is your son we're talking about."

"I am aware of the circumstances," barked Hades in a stressed tone. "He ran off and I have no idea where he went!"

Hades woke Persephone and gave her a summary of what occurred.

As Hades predicted, Persephone did complain more about her sleep than she talked about Nico, which did tick him off a little. His son was the gods know where with an escaped mental patient that he had as a boyfriend, and he stole his car and his wallet, as he later found out.

- - - - -

Hades found himself cooped up in a minivan with several different people that he had never seen before: Dr. Solace, Dr. Chase, Hazel (the girl on the phone), a crippled man named Dr. Brunner, and Percy's parents, Paul and Sally Blofis, who sat in the front seats, fretting over where their son was. He was actually kind of surprised they weren't discussing punishments necessary for Percy, since their insurance was paying for his stay at the hospital, they must have had lots of bills for it, and he just escaped.