Lost

6

Every few hours I drifted in an out of consciousness. All I could remember was pain and someone bringing me to the infirmary.

When I finally woke up, Chiron sat at the end of my bed in wheelchair from. He was wearing a look of disappointment.

"You'll be alright, Percy," he assured me as I tried to sit up, which caused immense pain. "Don't try to sit up."

I managed to nod as I sunk back down into the infirmary bed. "What happened?"

"I actually came here to ask you that myself," Chiron said. "All I know is that I came looking for you to send you home. The infirmary was empty so I decided to look near the water. I assumed you were either there, or that'd you left without alerting me. Then I saw the hellhound."

"There were three of them," I responded, my head throbbing as I struggled to remember the details. "I spotted one. It...it was huge. It came after me...I managed to kill two, but the dust got in my eyes...is the third still out there?"

Chiron shook his head and dusted the monster dust off of his shirt. "No, I killed the third one and then brought you straight here. You got some pretty big slashes to your chest and you somehow managed to injure your ankle."

I sighed as I peered down at my injuries. Blood soaked bandages were wrapped around my chest and my foot was in a cast. "Yeah, I thought so. I tripped over a rock when falling."

"That explains a lot. It's not broken, but it's close. It'll heal soon, though," Chiron assured me. "Your mother also called."

"She...she did?" I asked hoarsely, instantly feeling guilty. "Is....is she worried?"

"Immensely," he replied. "I have a phone you can call her back on if you'd like. Tell her that you'll be staying here for the weekend."

Chiron handed me an old looking flip phone and wheeled out of the infirmary, leaving me completely alone again.

My hands were shaky so I was almost unable to call her. I dialed her number as I knew it by heart and waited for her to pick up. She did after the first ring.

"It's me, mom," I murmured.

"Percy?! Oh my god, I was terrified to death! Chiron told me an accident happened and you were unconscious?" she asked, her voice high pitched and frantic.

I explained everything to her and she listened without interrupting, which I was glad for. All she did was occasionally sigh.

"I'm...I'm staying at camp this weekend. So they can make sure I'm alright," I told her.

I could tell my mom was on the verge of tears. "I'm coming down there. I'll stay with you, help out anyway I can—"

"Mom, you know you can't," I said firmly. "Even if they let you in the camp, they have doctors here."

More like teenagers who are younger than me...but telling her that would just make her more nervous...

She sighed softly, clearly defeated. "I'll be there on Sunday at noon to pick you up. No cab rides home, alright?"

"Okay, see you then," I replied. "And mom, I'll be fine."

"I know you will, Percy," she whispered. "I'm just so worried about you. Are you sure this hellhound attacked you? You...didn't....I don't know, seek it out or anything like that?"

My heart dropped instantly.

"I...I d-didn't mom," I lied. "I'll s-see you soon. Bye..."

I hung up, unable to talk to her any longer. I would just feel guilty and most likely start to cry, which I was not in the mood to do.

I placed the phone on the side table next to me and closed my eyes when Chiron came into to check on me with Will.

"It looks like he's asleep," Will commented as they neared my bed. "That's good, he needs rest. Lots of it."

"I am just so worried about him," Chiron admitted. "Seeking that hellhound out today...that was risky business. He has been too risky lately, too much for his own good. He's going to end up dead if he's not careful."

"But, Chiron, he just said the hellhound came after him," Will protested.

Chiron was silent for a moment before speaking, his voice very low. "I know what he said. That doesn't mean I believe him."

The two remained quiet. The only noise was the sound of Chiron wheeling away.