The Emergency Room

Annabeth POV

"Annabeth, I saw something today at the party that I found very interesting," Thalia said slyly. She had a smirk on her face as she innocently raised the question.

"Really, what did you see?" I asked playing dumb.

We were sitting in the back seat of Jason's car as he drove us to the Grace house. I was sleeping over at Thalia's house tonight. We had just dropped off Piper and Calypso. Everyone was exhausted from the hours spent in the pool.

It wasn't a surprise that Thalia was bringing this up now.

I knew that she saw me kiss Percy's cheek, but she wasn't going to talk about it in front of Calypso. That would just be awkward.

"Annabeth, don't play dumb. I saw you kiss Percy," she said boldly.

Before I could respond, Jason beat me to it.

"Woah, Annabeth and Percy kissed," Jason exclaimed excitedly.

"It was just a kiss on the cheek today."

"Today? Like, there were other types of kisses on other days. Oh my god, are you and Percy together?" Jason asked. Thalia also looked at me for an answer.

"No, we're not dating. I actually don't know what we're doing, but we're not together," I said firmly.

"So, you two just share kisses, and that's it?" Jason and Thalia asked simultaneously.

I didn't even know what to say. I simply shook my head instead of answering. To be honest, that was kind of what we were doing. Percy and I kissed a few times now, and we never talked about what it meant. Something was holding both of us back from earnestly talking to each other.

I actually wasn't sure what my feelings for Percy were.

I just knew that I liked him a lot and wanted him to be in my life.

"Okay, wait, so-"

Jason faltered off by his phone's loud ringer.

"Oh, look who's calling," Jason said chuckling as he showed us the phone. Percy's handsome face popped up on his screen. I wondered why Percy was calling him now.

"Hey, bro," Jason said into the phone.

I watched as Jason's facial expressions changed from humor to concern. Thalia and I looked at each other in confusion before turning back to Jason.

"Woah, Woah, Percy where are you?" There was a long pause as Percy answered. "Okay, I'm on my way, Percy. Just hang on."

"Jason, what's wrong?" I asked immediately. I couldn't even think straight at the prospect that something happened to Percy.

"Thalia or Annabeth, can one of you please call Sally?"

"Yeah, of course," Thalia said as she fumbled with her phone.

"Jason, what the hell happened?" I asked louder and more seriously.

"Percy got jumped in his parking garage. He needs help."

Oh my god. Concern immediately welled in my chest. Percy had to be okay, right? I could barely breathe and sit still in my seat as we drove to Percy's building. Oh god, oh god.

***

The car wasn't even parked when I ran out of the backseat. Percy was sitting back against a stranger's car and clutching his knee. His parents, Sally and Mr. Blofis, were crowded around him.

"Seaweed Brain, are you okay?" I asked as I sat next to him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in alarm. I was taken aback. Considering how we were with each other, I thought he'd be happy (or at least reassured) to see me.

"I was with Jason and Thalia when you called," I said.

"Bro, are you okay?" Jason asked.

Mr. Blofis came forward and gave Percy a water bottle and an ice pack. "Percy, apply this to your knee."

"Paul, we need to take him to the hospital. What if something happened? It's his right leg, after all. We have to go to the emergency room just in case."

While I was confused why which leg he got hurt in matters, I didn't have time to think about it.

"Yes, I agree, Seaweed Brain. We have to make sure you're okay," I said firmly.

Mr. Blofis and Jason helped him up stand up and walk. Percy's pain seemed to be getting better. I was pretty sure that the pain he was feeling was worse when he got hit, and his leg was starting to get better now. At least, Percy can walk.

Dr. Solace met us at the emergency room. Percy was able to walk with Jason's help. He was doing much better now than in the parking garage, which was good.

We were all sitting in the trauma room. Percy was sitting on the table in just his underwear. His right knee area was swollen and red (I assumed from the hit he took). Percy was gently rubbing his knee, but his pain seemed to be mitigated.

"Percy, are you okay?" I asked as I nudged his arm.

His hand opened, and I held it softly. His parents, Jason, and Thalia were in the same room, so I didn't want to be too outward.

He smiled warmly as my thumb rubbed his hand.

At least, my touch was helping him.

"All right, Percy. I have your x-rays, and fortunately, nothing's wrong," Dr. Solace said as she walked into the room.

I smiled at Percy. He didn't seem that affected by pain anymore. However, his knee area was still red and swollen. His free hand was rubbing it slowly.

"Doctor, are you sure? Percy was hurting so much," his mom said.

"Percy was hurting a lot because the hit came upon his cancerous leg. It was the impact and shock to the already damaged bone that caused all the pai-"

"His what?" I blurted out. I couldn't stop myself.

His cancerous leg, What?!

My hand instinctually let go of Percy's hand as I stared at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I assumed that everyone knew of Percy's condition," Dr. Solace said. I looked around the room and realized that Jason and Thalia already knew of Percy's cancer.

I couldn't stop staring and glaring at Percy as Dr. Solace finished her discussion. Percy was looking everywhere but at me.

As soon as Dr. Solace left, Percy excused his parents and friends out of the room.

Percy and I were alone in the trauma room.

"Seaweed Brain," I acknowledged softly.

Percy took a deep breath before starting to explain the deepest secret of his life.

***

I had been so wrong about Percy in the past. Percy was a player but not for bad reasons. If anything, his desire to have physical short-lived relationships was understandable. Living with cancer must've been so hard for him.

I admired how Percy always seemed so alive and full of spirit despite cancer.

Gods, I had hurt him so much when Percy was already in so much pain.

I immediately shook the thoughts out of my mind. Percy kept his cancer a secret because he didn't want people to treat him differently (this included me as well). I couldn't treat him like he was a different person because that would hurt him more.

My feelings for Percy were complicated.

I liked Seaweed Brain a lot, and I couldn't stay away from him. Plus, I thought about him all the time, especially in the past week.

"Annabeth, you seem distracted," Thalia said.

"I cannot believe you didn't tell me about Percy," I said.

'You know that this wasn't my place to tell you. Percy didn't want anyone to know."

"Yeah, I get it."

"What are you thinking about, Annie?" she asked.

I sighed. "Honestly, I'm thinking about Percy. Sorry, let's just finish the project," I said. We were working on an English project about Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Thalia paused. "Annie, you like Percy," she said with a soft smile.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You heard me correctly, Annabeth," she said with a smile and nod. "Percy is a really great guy: so strong and so loyal. He likes you a lot, so trust me Annabeth, this is an amazing thing."

Thalia was 100% right about Percy.

Percy was an amazing guy in every way, and any girl was lucky to have him. Warmth and ecstasy exploded in my mind and body at the notion that Percy liked me.

I was fairly confident that Percy had feelings for me, but he was trying to fight them. However, I didn't want him to fight his feelings for me. I guess that answered the question of how I felt about Percy.

I liked him a lot, more than I was willing to admit right now.