Living With Complications

Chapter 2

The slow and shrill beeping sounds reached Percy's ears, as well as the scent of bleach and disinfectants hit his sense of smell. Though his sight of blackness continued. His eyes felt like it they were glued shut. Opening his eyes were a strength that he couldn't find. He slipped once more to the oblivion.

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It seemed like no time later he became somewhat aware of his surroundings. His eyes still resisted to open and he had no energy to fight it. The beeping bounced off the walls of his brain causing a massive migraine. A dull ache ran all over his body. He couldn't even let out a sound to release some of the anguish he felt. In other words Percy felt completely miserable.

He doesn't have any recollection of why he feels this way, or why he's a prisoner in his own body. Pondering these thoughts made his head throb more, A familiar calloused hand ran through his hair in a soothing way. His mind shifted to the familiar presence, Paul he thought. He slipped once more to the oblivion.

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This time waking up is manageable, he could open his eyes again. Though he had to quickly shut them in protest of the blinding sunlight peeking through the cracks of the blinds.

Once he regained his sight, he took a glance around the room he was held captivated in. All he found was white walls that smelt heavily of bleach and white floors with no specks of dirt to be found. He turns his head to inspect the annoying cause of the horrid beeping sounds. A machine was to his right, which had lines and numbers on it. He'd seen that machine so many times on tv, which lead him to one conclusion; he was in a hospital. The grand question is; why?

Percy furrowed his brow trying to search his memories for an answer, but came up short handed. Being confused as ever, he raised his hand to his face and let it rest there. Once he felt like he had a better grip on his emotions, he let his hand fall back on the bed.

He turn his head to the left. And sitting on the chair was his father, as his father appeared to be sleeping . Percy's brow furrowed, why was his father in San Francisco? Or am was he in New York? He couldn't remember if he made the trip to New York. Last thing he remembered was packing for the stay.

More questions racked Percy's throbbing brain. Percy moved his gaze to the ceiling, he began focusing on the weird sensation he felt once he woke. Everything felt foggy and dizzy at the same time. If he looked at a spot long enough, the spot would move and dance in front of his eyes. Is this what being on drugs felt like? He pondered that thought as he lost connection with reality, and fell back into the darkness.

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He awoke again, but this time his father was awake.

"Percy, buddy, how are you feeling?" Poseidon asked, his sea-green eyes were filled with concern and worry. He stood up and leaned over his son.

"I - I'm not sure how to put it in words on exactly what I'm feeling... Why am I in the hospital?" Percy asked hesitantly.

His dad's fingers tensed and he sat back down with a sigh. He began to fidget with the blanket on the hospital bed, "What do you remember?" He asked slowly.

Percy crinkled his brow in attempt to remember the event that led him here. "I remember packing for the trip. Everything after that is blurry. Are we in New York or in San Francisco?"

"Um, we are in uh San Francisco" His father scratched his head, "... you were in a car accident". Poseidon eyed him wearily.

Car accident? Percy didn't have any memory of the accident. He furrowed his brow further, He would of imagined that he would have been able to remember something that significant.

Wait, he's still in San Francisco? Why was his dad in San Francisco? What happened to his mother and Paul.

"Where's mom and Paul? Are they okay? Were they in the accident as well?" Percy frantically asked, his mind raced through all of the worst possibilities.

Poseidon shifted his gaze towards the wall. He sighed as he clenched his eyes shut. "Percy... buddy... they didn't make it... I'm so sorry"

Percy's whole body froze. He wasn't able to move or give a slight twitch of a finger. He went numb, there was nothing. He felt nothing, there was no grief no sorrow, only nothing.

He could faintly hear his father calling his name. He couldn't respond or give any indication that he heard him. He couldn't shake off the numbness his body had accustomed to. His gaze was permanently fixed on the wall behind him. The wall was plain, no color or pattern, just blank, like him. Maybe that's why the walls have no life to them; hospitals are places where good people die, having life to them is a cruel reminder to the families of what is lost.

Percy didn't recall how long have he had been staring at the lifeless wall, or had a memory of falling back to sleep.

He did remember waking up, only this time the feeling of grief and sorrow made itself present.

Percy sobbed uncontrollably, the pain was so unbearable, it hurt to breathe. His insides felt like it shattered in multiple pieces. He could hear the machines behind him skyrocket.

"Ssshh, Percy... it's going to be okay. It's going to be alright." Poseidon coaxed.

He rather feel nothing than the pain he was feeling now. His chest aches and his breathing skipped, and the tears wouldn't stop. Memories of them flashed before his eyes, making the pain worse.

"Percy you got to calm down." Nurses and doctors were now all around him making sure he was okay, and frantically asking me questions if he was in any physical pain. He shook my head no.

"Calm down, we're going to have to sedate you again if  you don't calm down" one of the nurses said.

Again? When did they sedate him the first time?

Percy forced his breathing down, the machine slowed down simultaneously with his breathing.

One by one the nurses and the doctors left, once they were reassured Percy wasn't in any danger. His father stood still in the corner of the room unsure of what to do.

Percy's breathing had slowed down significantly, but the tears ran down at a consistent speed. The tears snapped his father into action. Poseidon grabbed some tissues on the nightstand and handed them to me.

Percy quickly wipe them, and blow his nose with it.

"We're going to get through this. I know this is hard, and it will get better in time I promise." Poseidon wiped the rest of the tears off his son's face.

"You gave me quite a scare last night. Percy. Your body went to shock last night and you were unresponsive. It was very... unreal"

Percy nodded and stared at his lap. That's when he noticed something was off. A blanket was covering his legs, but you can see only one full limb under the blanket. The other leg disappeared above his knee.