Solangelo 3

WILL

I can feel his sudden panic. His heart starts to beat fast, his eyes grow wide.
'It's okay, you're okay. It'll wear off in a bit don't worry.' I say, suddenly questioning how my teammates convinced me to do this. They really wanted to win, 'I'm sorry.' I say quickly, 'Gods, this was stupid, I'm sorry.'
I take everything out my pockets that I have. I start to mix a revival draft. It's done in less than a minute. I give it to him without hesitation.
He moves again, fingers first, then his arms. He sits up, then suddenly grabs his sword and spins me round.
I'm face down on the floor, his sword to my chest.
'Are you kidding? Are you kidding?!' I shout at him, 'I thought you were having a bloody panic attack.'
'Sorry, darling.' He says sarcastically, 'had to use what I had to my advantage. There are no rules in capture the flag.'
'Gods, I can't believe you.' I say, not sure how annoyed I am with him. It's not something to fake, and he knows how seriously I take those things.
'I told you I was competitive.' He says, sitting on my back to restrain me and working out a way to tie my hands and feet together so I can't get away.
'This is new level. I can't believe you actually did that.' I say, and he doesn't reply, 'you know how seriously I take your health.' He still doesn't reply, 'Nico?'
I turn my head and try to see what he's doing, just as he falls to one side. My hands are tied together, but I scrabble over to him as best I can.
'Nico? Nico.' I say, trying to pull my hands free. The best I can do is nudge him with my head. He's completely out off it. Normally such a light sleeper, but he won't budge.
'Hey!' I shout, 'I need help!' But my voice is lost in various battle cries. I hear a victory call in the distance. I keep calling out.
'Nico, you're okay. You're okay.' I say, all the time trying to free myself.
'Gods, What happened here?' Percy asks, wading down the stream.
'Percy! Undo the knot. Undo it!' I say, lifting my hands to show what I mean. I can tell how hysteric I sound but I don't care.
He cuts the knots with his sword and I go about checking up on Nico; opening his eyes, seeing for response, but there is none.
'I need to get him to the infirmary.' I say, lifting Nico up.
'Here, Will, let me.' Percy says, taking Nico from me. I follow quickly behind him.
I can tell my team won, but their celebrations are quickly ended when they see Nico being carried out. We go straight for the infirmary, Percy crashing through the doors with Nico in his arms.
He places him on the bed and Nico starts convulsing. I'm by his side in an instant, but I'm quickly pulled away.
'You know the rules, man.' Percy says, pulling me back.
'Percy, you can't be serious. Let me help him.' I argue, pushing against him.
'They got this.' He says, 'let them do it. Trust them.'
'Don't...' I say, struggling against him. But he resorts to physically restraining me. He picks me up effortlessly and hauls me out of the infirmary. By the time he lets me go I'm furious. I'm still trying to get to Nico. I've never seen him this bad before.
'Calm down, Will. He's in good hands.'
'They don't know what I gave him. It could be important.' I shout, 'Let me go!'
I try to barge past him, but I can't. In a desperate last bid, I punch him in the nose. He barely even flinches, just lets blood fall as he continues to hold me back.
'He'll be okay.' Percy says, over and over, not letting me past, 'I promise he'll be okay.'
'I'm sorry.' I say, suddenly processing what I've done, 'Oh, Gods, I'm so sorry. It's broken. Oh Gods.'
'It's fine, Will, honestly. I've had a lot worse.' He says, laughing a little.
'Let me...let me help...' I say, sitting him down, and pouring all my energy into this. Into fixing his nose.
'You've got a good swing.' He says, lightly touching his nose.
'Don't touch.' I say, batting him away, 'I'm sorry.'
'No, it's impressive. I underestimated you.' He says, watching me work.
'I'm...um,' I talk to keep myself distracted, 'It's medical. If you...if you know the body and all the...um, all the nerves,' I keep working on his nose, cleaning him up, 'then it's easy to know...' I pause for a moment, 'um. It's easy to know what'll hurt.'
'I'm impressed.' He says, 'and you're right.'
'Right? About what?'
'It hurt.' He says.
'I'm so sorry.' I say, 'I just...' I look up to the infirmary.
'Trust me, Will, I get it. If anything happens to Annabeth...' he pauses, looks away, 'I get it.' He says again. He knocks my hands away lightly, 'leave it, I don't mind. Sit.' He says, gesturing to the patch of grass beside him. I do as he says, and we don't speak, just sit and wait for news.