Zachary's P.O.V
I pulled into Amara's apartment complex on the verge of mild panic.
Thankfully she didn't live far away from the park, but as I unbuckled my seatbelt I racked my brain to see if I knew what non-Olympian medicines to use on her for treatment.
Halfway through the drive, I noticed that her pulse had not only weakened, but her skin had taken on a blueish-purple pallor.
"Hey Siri," I opened my door, "Does blood loss cause your skin to turn blue? Come on Orthus."
I emerged from the drivers side and opened the backseat. Orthus jumped down and took off towards the stairs.
'I found this on the web,' Siri's automated voice responded.
I quickly scrolled through the articles that was pulled up, and stopped at one that read Cyanosis: Symptoms and What You Should Look Out For.
"Cyanosis? Hey Siri, what is Cyanosis?"
'Cyanosis: Noun. A bluish discoloration of the skin resulting from poor circulation or inadequate oxygenation of the blood.'
My eyes widened and I ran over to the passenger side, throwing open the door and catching Amara as her body slumped to the side.
I put my finger under her nose to make sure that she was breathing, and sighed in relief when I felt a slight breeze coming through her nostrils.
Careful not to cause any trauma to her wound, I wrapped my arms around Amara's lower back, and gathered her legs into my other arm.
I lifted her up and out of the passenger seat and kicked the door shut, speed walking to the elevator.
"I'll need gauze and antiseptic," I mumbled pushing the up button with my pinkie. " Maybe peroxide, a needle and thread. I'll definitely need some hard liquor...what the hell is taking so long?"
I jammed my finger on the button four more times, stumbling back when the door opened and a red haired girl almost ran into me.
"Watch where you're going!" I growled just as she mumbled, " Excuse me."
Orthus walked out of the elevator behind her and sat next to my feet. The girl did a double take and spotted Amara nestled in my arms before her face contorted into something of shock and confusion.
"Is that Amara? What is she--" the girl trailed off when she saw the bloody shirt and jean jacket that hung loosely over Amara's chest, "Oh no..."
I ignored her and stuck my foot in the door to stop the elevator from closing, casually walking inside and whistling as a signal for Orthus to follow.
The girl watched in horror as Orty got up and walked back into the elevator, sitting obediently at my feet.
"It's you!" she turned sideways and slid into the elevator just as the doors were about to close.
The girl reached out to touch her and I shot her a glare so cold that she flinched. I scrutinized her face, wondering why she looked so familiar, and then raised my brows when I realized that she was the spitting image of the girl Amara had in her car last night.
Ah...the sister.
"It's happening," she mumbled to herself, "Right now."
The elevator door opened and the girl walked out without a word. I blinked, a little taken aback by her calmness. The girl reached Amara's door and fumbled with the keys to open it.
"Who are you?" she asked, her tone was quizzical, as if she was making sure of something .
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Zachary. I'm a friend."
The girl furrowed her brows and stopped moving, echoing the name in confusion before looking up at me.
"But that's not your real name?"
My eyes flew open and I looked down at her, narrowing my eyes.
"Move."
To my surprise she did, still sporting that confused look on her face.
I kicked the door open, and stalked inside, heading straight for Amara's bedroom. I reached her doorway and stopped in my tracks when I saw another familiar redhead lying on his back.
The boy was so fascinated with a medium sized green snake that was coiled around his arm that he didn't even notice me standing there.
"Asclepius?" I asked, surprised to see my nephew lounging around in Amara's blue floral sheets.
"What the--"The boy's head whipped around and he sat up so fast that I was sure he got whiplash. His bright hazel eyes finally rested on me, standing in the doorway and he inched his long frame off of the bed.
"Wait a minute old man, we don't use full names around here," he said, using his hand to cover the snake's head and whispering, " There are humans around, don't you know this?"
I rolled my eyes and brushed past him, carefully laying Amara face-first onto the bed and reaching into the waistband of my pants for a knife.
"How did you know where to find me?" I asked, getting ready to cut off the jacket that I used to patch up Amara's wound.
"That's a stupid question," Asclepius replied flippantly, "I know everything."
With a scoff, I leaned forward and gingerly held the jacket ready to cut it off. The boy grabbed my arm and took my knife, patting my chest and shoving me away from the bedside.
I stayed silent for a moment, waiting for him to give me a serious reply. Asclepius met my gaze and rolled his eyes.
"Alright, alright, stop twisting my arm. I was feeling a little prophetic last night and ended up having a dream about you. Well not you, you weren't that important," he nodded in Amara's direction, "It was about her."
Amara's sister walked into the room, eyes widening when she saw Asclepius standing there with a snake in one hand and my knife in the other.
"What's...what's going on?" she asked narrowing her eyes at the sight of the two of us hovering over Amara's unconscious body.
"Ah, you're back. Won't you do me a favor and get me some apple juice...preferably in a juice box." he said, reaching under the bedframe with his right hand and pulling out a large, black case.
The girl and I stared at him for a few seconds, watching as he lifted the case onto the bed, and opened it to reveal an array of medical supplies.
Asclepius turned to me and uncoiled his snake from his arm.
"You're standing there looking like you want something to do. Here, hold Spike for me and close your mouth, or you'll catch flies." he said grabbing my hand and placing the snake in it.
Asclepius reached around Amara's back and unbuckled my belt from around her waist, throwing it in my direction.
He pulled out a pair of large, curved scissors and started cutting away at my jacket and muttering to himself in Greek.
"What kind of thrift store built bullshit is this," he asked, looking back at me with wide eyes, "I hope you don't wrap all critical wounds like this, old man. No wonder she's on the verge of death."
I scowled at him, and Asclepius looked past my shoulder to where Amara's sister stood frozen. The color had long drained from her face and she bit her nails vigorously.
"What's the holdup on that Apple juice love, you haven't moved from that spot since I spoke." he said, casually walking past me and heading into the bathroom.
With that, the girl walked out into the kitchen and I heard the sink in Amara's bathroom turn on. I looked at Spot, who had curled up in my hands, and I walked to the other side of the bed where Amara had a chair and desk situated next to the window.
I sat in the chair and not long after, Asclepius walked out of the bathroom carrying a green basin and a rag.
He placed the basin on the nightstand and reached into his briefcase to pull out a pair of blue medical gloves.
Amara's sister also walked back in with a cup of brown fluid in hand, and Orthus limped into the room, happily wagging his tail as he made his way over to me and sat at my foot. The redheaded girl walked up to Asclepius and held the cup of juice out to him.
Asclepius spared the cup a glance and then looked at her, "What's your name, love?"
"Clara."
"Ok Clara," he spoke in perfect English, "I just washed my hands in the bathroom and put on gloves as to not contaminate the wound that I'm going to be cleaning. Seeing that I have clean gloves on, I can't touch that glass, so could you stick a straw in there for me?"
"Okay..." she replied heading back out into the kitchen with the glass in hand.
Asclepius scrunched up his face and mouthed 'humans' at me, shaking his head.
He peeled back the blood slicked flaps that he had cut and cursed in Greek.
"What is it?" I asked, immediately getting up from the chair.
When he saw that I stood up, Orthus also got up and barked. Spot raised his head and flicked his tongue in the air at the sound.
"Sit down, Ranger Rick, she's just got a slight infection. And maybe a little bit of a lot of poison in her system, but it's fine."
His tone was satire but his expression said otherwise, and Asclepius stared at the wound warily.
"Poison?!" Clara exclaimed.
The girl had returned from the kitchen with a straw inside the glass, we both looked at Asclepius worriedly.
"How was she poisoned? Is she going to die?" Clara asked.
Asclepius chuckled darkly and I sank back into the chair running my hand over my face.
"She consumed a poison called Ricin. It's a glycoprotein that prevents her cells from making the proteins needed to repair and create new cells. In turn those cells die, along with the tissue made up by the cells, the organs made up by the tissue, and the body made up by the organs. All of it. Just dies, you know..." he stuck out his tongue and closed his eyes to imitate a corpse,"...Death."
" Anyways, it was a good effort on the assassin's part," Asclepius looked at me pointedly, " It's a guaranteed slow kill, but she's been taking this poison for months now. Luckily, our attempted murderer didn't know enough about the poison to carry out the job in a more efficient fashion. They should've sent you instead, old man."
Asclepius looked at me again and I shot him a cold glare. Here I was relieved that I had gotten the man before he could kill Amara, when in reality he had already poisoned her.
"If you had been just a few moments later than you were, you would be asking me to bring her back from the dead, and I would need a couple extra millions in drachma for that."
"Who sad I was paying you?" I asked in Greek, shooting Asclepius a challenging glare.
"Well, geez Uncle if you want her to die just say th-"
I narrowed my eyes and pointed a finger in his direction, "Try it, and you'll be dead before noon."
I walked past the bed and passed by Clara, gingerly handing her the snake in my hands. Orthus was ready to follow me but I pointed back into the bedroom and gave him a stern look, "Stay."
"Where are you going?" Clara asked me.
"Out." I grumbled, brushing past her and speaking to my nephew in our native tongue, "If I come back and she's not breathing..."
"Yeah, yeah you'll slit my throat, gut me, and feed my entrails to the dog. I get it. You really need to expand your vocabulary, all you ever talk about is death and killing people. No wonder you're still single." Asclepius called after me, forgetting to reply in Greek instead of English.
"He'll gut you?" I heard Clara ask.
I chuckled as Asclepius muttered curses under his breath and opened the door to Clara's apartment, looking out warily at the large flock of birds that darkened sky above.