Chapter 13
Three hours later, I was awoken by the sound of a girl coughing.
“Annabeth? You okay?”
She continued to cough and I summoned a glass of water and handed it to her. She gulped it down and panted. “Thanks Percy.”
“No problem. How are you feeling?”
“Better. Was this whole thing your idea?” she gestured to the bed and her newly healed cuts.
“Uh, yeah. I hope you’re not mad or anything.”
“Percy, why would I be mad? You saved me.”
“Technically it was Chaos who saved you, not me. It’s him you should be thanking.”
She laughed. “I will as soon as I can. And I don’t know what to tell you about the whole Jerome thing. I can’t remember anything that happened related to it. It’s really frustrating.”
I took her hand again. “I know, daughter of Athena thing.”
“You know me so well Perce.” She leaned forward off her pillows and kissed me. She winced and held her ribs. She sat back and groaned. “Nope, ribs still mending.”
I stood. “I’ll leave you for now. I have a lunch date and she’ll kill me if I’m late.” I swooped down and planted another kiss on Annabeth. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.
I took a couple moments to study her sleeping face, it was happy and peaceful. I texted Sam and told her to meet me in the café. She texted back ‘okay’ and I flashed out and grabbed some food from the line and sat down at a nice, quiet table in a corner. Sam flashed in and surveyed the room. She spotted me, gave me a thumbs up and sauntered over.
“What’s up Punk?” she stole a fry from my plate and popped it into her mouth. “Anything special happen today?”
“Remember the girl I told you about a while ago, Annabeth?”
Sam nodded. “What about her?”
“Well, she was exiled by the gods and Chaos rescued her. She’s recovering in the Hospital Wing at the moment.”
She spit out her fry and grabbed my drink, gulping it down. “What?”
I took my drink back and set it down gingerly. “Yeah, Annabeth is here now.”
“But didn’t she cheat on you?”
I took out my phone and showed her the photo of the evidence Chaos found. She snatched the phone from me and read the phone screen over and over again. “What does this mean?”
“It means that she was drugged or something.”
She still looked at me blankly. “What?”
“She had a potion put into a drink.”
“Ah, I see. Well that’s always a good thing right? Are you still together, I mean after she ‘cheated on you’ or something.” She used air quotes on ‘cheated on you’.
“Well yeah. A long time ago, I was told that my fatal flaw is personal loyalty. Even though she kind cracked that, it never completely went away.”
She punched me lightly on the shoulder. “Well, always the optimist right?”
I grinned my lopsided grin. “You know it Sam. Have you heard? Blacklist is on tonight.”
“Really?” Sam squealed. “I honestly can’t wait.”
“Want to come over later tonight? We can chase it together.”
“Uh, is that even a question? Yes!”
“Great.” I stood and threw the rest of my lunch in the trashcan. “I’m going to go visit Annabeth now. I’ll see you after dinner. Maybe we can catch up on last week’s episode before the new one comes out.”
She nodded and I flashed out and into the Hospital Wing. I ran over to Annabeth’s bed and sat down beside her. I took her hand and kissed it.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Hey Percy.”
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Ribs are feeling a little better. So, I wanted to ask…”
“Yeah Wise Girl?”
“Are we still... you know… together? I mean after I unknowingly cheated on you and drove you into space for 300 years.”
“Don’t worry about it. And I’d like to still be together if that’s okay with you.”
She leaned off her pillows and hugged me. “Of course it’s okay with. After I was made a goddess, I always wondered why you were never made a god as well, and I missed you like crazy.”
I petted her hair. “I missed you too.”
Chrissy came over with a syringe full of a clear liquid. “Miss Chase. I checked your vital signs and you’re doing well. I also found that while you were in the mountains, a special breed of hellhound bit and scratched you.”
“So what? I got bitten and scratched by lots of monsters and hellhounds.”
“Well, this hellhound was bred with a slow acting poison and its claws were coated with a small amount of drakon poison.”
“So what does this mean?” I asked. “Will she die?”
“Of course not.” She held up the syringe. “A good rest should help some. Though there will be some work to do. One poison is semi manageable, but two? We’ll need some time. Since she’s a god, they won’t kill her.”
I sighed with relief. “Oh good.”
“Now this syringe will knock you out Miss Chase. If you would like to say good night Mr. Jackson, now would me the time.”
I kissed her forehead. “Love you Wise Girl. Get better soon.”
“Love you too Perce.” Chrissy injected her with the medicine and Annabeth immediately slumped on the bed. I moved her down on the bed and tucked the blankets and pillows around her. I brushed some stray hairs off her face and kissed her one more time.
“Take care of her Chrissy.”
She gave me a small smile. “Of course sir. It’s my job isn’t it?”
I walked around the bed and gave her a hug. “Thank you Chrissy.” I released her and checked my watch. “Oh geez! It’s eight thirty. I have to run, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good night Percy.”
I waved and flashed out to my room where Sam was waiting, pacing in circles on the floor. She saw me and stormed over to me.
“There you are! I got us some popcorn.” She pointed to a clear bowl full of rich buttery goodness sitting on the coffee table.
I licked my lips. “Man that looks good.” I scurried over and stole a couple pieces. “Yep, tastes as good as it looks.”
“Ugh, you’re impossible! Just start the previous episode. Then we can have more popcorn. Wait, let me go get some drinks from my room. I hope you like Pepsi.” She hurried from the room.
I cued up the program and waited for Sam to return. She came back a couple moments later and plopped herself on the couch. She popped the lid and sipped the fizzy drink.
“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s start.” I pressed play and the episode entitled The Stew maker started.
An Hour Later
Sam and I were staring at the screen in shock when the episode ended.
“What just happened?” Sam asked.
“I think he’s her dad.” I commented. “And the woman in the photo is Liz’s mother. What do you think?”
“Mmm, maybe he’s her uncle? I don’t know. This show is so confusing.”
“Whatever, look. It’s nine thirty. Want to watch the new one?”
“I thought that’s what we were here for.”
I popped open a bag of cookies and pressed play on the new Blacklist episode. Xander jumped onto my lap and hissed in delight. I stroked him. “Hush Xander. Just settle down.” He flapped his wings and curled up, his little claws waving in the air. I continued to pet him while watching the episode.
A Couple Hours Later
The show finally finished and Sam and I were more confused than ever.
“I don’t even know.” Sam complained.
I sighed and leaned back on the couch. “I think this would best be muddled through with a nice long sleep.”
Sam stood and wiped cookie crumbs from her jeans and hands. “I think that’s a good idea.” She stretched and yawned at the same time. “Good night Punk.”
“Night Sam.”
She exited my room and closed the door softly behind her. I went over to my bed and collapsed backwards on it, my stomach facing up.
Xander floated down onto my stomach and sighed, contented. I turned my head to the side and fell fast asleep.