Chapter Text
“Just relax your throat, don’t worry, you’ll be okay, just relax so I can get this in. It’ll be easier if you swallow with the tube”
This was the fourth time a nurse was trying to get the feeding tube back in, but I was too exhausted and overwhelmed with everything that had happened. My brain was protesting the fact that the feeding tube was back, and I just couldn’t focus enough to relax my throat. I kept on gagging on it and dry heaving until my throat was raw cause I didn't have anything in my stomach to throw up.
“I can’t, I can’t, I don’t know why but I can’t”
“Shh you’re okay, just relax, Will, you’re okay, just relax your throat. Come on, you’re good, take a deep breath and relax your throat, it’s just a few seconds and then we’ll be done, is there anything I could do to make you feel more comfortable?”
I scanned the room, and found the brown bear I hadn’t seen in a while on the floor by my stuff, which had been taken out of the original bag and replaced with a paper bag that looked sad. I locked eyes on it and quietly asked for my stuffed bear, my throat hurting with each word and swallow from gagging so much.
“Mhm, yeah of course I’ll grab you the bear” Silena, the nurse not my dead friend, said, walking to where it was sitting on the floor, picking it up and bringing it over, tucking it between my left arm and my body. The brown fur was soft and comforting on my arm, though I couldn’t feel it much as the majority of my arm was either bandages or a patient gown (I’d been changed into one after my previous clothes had an unfortunate battle with a box cutter and blood).
“Ready? Just relax, you’re okay, you’re safe, nothing's going to hurt you, the tubes just for your own good, we need you to gain some weight.”
The mention of weight gain made me feel like shit and I closed my eyes, trying to forget numbers and food and the way it feels in my stomach. Food feels horrible. It makes me feel like I’m going to throw up and it just spins around in my stomach, making me feel ill. The pain of not eating was better than how I felt while or after eating. The feeding tube certainly didn’t make anything better, it just made me feel so much worse, so icky and gross and nauseous at the feeling of weird gross slush in my stomach, not even food.
“Would you rather a slightly stronger sedative to help with this? No shame in needing help, Will”
I shook my head really quickly. I didn’t want my senses to be dulled even more, what if we got attacked? There’s demigods here, and a decent amount of them, what if the monsters could track our scents?
I’d given up fighting against the feeding tube itself, I was too groggy, tired and in pain to have the energy to do so, I just wanted to get it over with so I could try to sleep everything off. I hope I don’t wake up.
“I think I can relax, I probably can” I said hesitantly, swallowing the taste of blood from my mouth and then trying to relax my throat.
“Ready?” She asked, lining the tube with my nose and looking at me.
“Uhh I think so” I said warily, closing my eyes.
“Okay, just relax, you’ll be okay, swallow with the tube so it’ll go down easier, it’s for the better. I’m going to start now, just relax, three, two, one”
I shut my eyes really tightly and just focused on that, the darkness behind my eyelids and the way light slightly slipped in, and just kept thinking of those things instead of the tube. I just tried to stay calm and swallowed along with the tube while trying to ignore how uncomfortable it was. Just swallow, breathe, swallow.
“Okay, all done, I’ll just tape the tube to the side of your face and you’ll be all good. How do you feel?”
My least favorite question. At least it was over with and I hadn’t panicked like the last few times.
“Tired. I don’t know if I’m able to sleep though, I don’t think I can sleep” I asked, feeling my eyes closing. The fear and adrenaline had been so jacked up to the maximum that I hadn’t noticed how exhausted I was till it died down.
“Oh hun..that makes sense unfortunately, the tubes going to be uncomfortable for a bit until you get used it it, I know this is the first time you’ve been conscious for the process. You’ll be okay, your body will get used to it. You need to sleep though, try at least, take some medicine first, just to help possibly prevent nightmares according to Cassandra, and then try to sleep. Here open your mouth” She brought a small cup that contained a white Panadol looking pill and a second light blue pill near my mouth, which I took and swallowed dry, which got a disapproving look from Silena, “Will, don’t swallow your pills dry, you shouldn’t swallow them without water”
“It’s fine, I’ve been doing it for ages and I’m still alive” I said ever so slightly deliriously from exhaustion.
She gave me a kind of sad look which I didn’t really understand, then sat down on a chair next to me and let me make a sorry attempt at getting some sleep.
I couldn’t twist around a lot considering I was hooked up to an IV for fluids and had gotten a couple of blood tests which were bruising on the back of my hand.
I slowly drifted off into hopefully no nightmares, dreams, or anything, I hoped that I possibly could sleep peacefully for once.
Maybe?
☼–꥟–☼
Apollo (the god) POV]
The fact that Will’s condition wasn’t getting better was bad. Like really bad. The poor kid must have been so on edge already, and loud noises definitely don’t mix well with him. He must’ve been terrified.
This wasn’t even the first time he’d run off, but it was definitely the worst. From what I saw from Olympus, he was covered in his own blood. How did he even survive? It was a horrible thing to ask but a genuine question I had. Will had lost so much weight over the past two weeks and in one day alone he managed to hurt himself so badly he needed 32 stitches in his arm. My heart ached for him.
The first time this happened he’d nearly died of malnutrition and fever, but this time? This time was so much worse.
I’d barely left the hospital for around a day or maybe two, gods don’t have a good perception of time, since Will had had that extensive flashback, he was still recovering from the after effects of it, but when I came back, he was way worse than before, and so much closer to Thanatos than I’d liked for a child of mine.
Dear Thanatos had already claimed so many of my children.
I’d arrived at the hospital in the Sun chariot and walked into the building, looking in the direction of where Will always was. It was frankly sad that I’d memorized which room he was in, but a few years ago I wouldn’t have even known my son was here, or that he was struggling or anything. Ignorance really is not a bliss.
As I walked through the hallways I found a short kid with freckles that reminded me a lot of my children walking towards the exit. But they had a patient wrist band, and were unaccompanied, no way they were supposed to leave, especially not right now considering the entire building was still under lockdown due to firstly the cause of the loud noise which had scared Will, which was a patient who had thrown a chair (somehow they’d picked up the heavy chairs) during a psychotic episode, the poor kid, and then the noise which had terrified Will into ripping out his feeding tube and running off into the hospital. These two combined meant those doors were locked. The only reason I could get in was godly power.
But regardless of lockdown or not, a kid should definitely not be walking around, especially near the exit of the hospital. I was nearly certain they were trying to leave, so I stopped the kid in their tracks.
“Stop, kid, stop, where are you going? The building under lockdown you’re not going anywhere, you’re not going to leave this place”
“I need to get out of here,” They muttered.
“You can’t leave this place”
“No shit. Just leave me..”
The kid finally looked up from the ground to meet my eyes, and at first, they looked annoyed at me, looking me up and down before their eyes widened in shock.
“Lord-Lord Apollon? Are you Lord Apollon?”
“Huh? Look kid, this is not the right time, I know who you are don’t worry, but I need to make sure you’re safe first, then we can get to know each other all you want, you’re okay. But first, I need you to turn around and walk with me cause I don’t know where you’re supposed to be right now but I know for sure it’s not here” I said, slowly guiding the kid away from the doors and in the direction of the rooms, “Do you know where you’re supposed to be? Any room number or some activity you might’ve been at?”
“Will”
I stopped in my tracks and regarded the kid one more time, taking a good look this time, especially the scar tracing down their arm. Scabbed over but fresh. This is the kid I claimed. Not one of the demigods I knew was here, no, one of my kids.
“I’m-I’m in the room with Will. I’m his roommate. I’m sorry”
I rubbed the kid’s back and just walked with him back to the room where he was supposed to be, in the direction of the room.
The kid stopped in their tracks a few doors away from the room and just would not move.
“Is there still…blood in there?” They asked fearfully.
“No, you’re all good, no more blood”
They didn’t seem to believe me because they tilted their head in the direction of the room then took a few steps back.
“How do you know? How can you tell?” Apollo (that damn name. I hope this kid has a nickname) asked quickly.
“I’m a god. Of course I can tell. Just trust me, Apollo, it’s okay. I’m the god of truth, I can’t exactly lie to you”
They looked me in the eye with their deep green eyes and nodded.
“Okay. Uh Okay I think I trust you”
That was good enough.
———
A few moments later we got to the room and I sat them down on the bed that was a meter away from Will’s.
“Shit where did you find them?” The nurse in the room asked, immediately reaching for her walkie talkie, “They’ve been found, Lord Apollo found them” She muttered into the small communication device.
“They were trying to leave. I caught them as I was coming in to see Will” I said, then got distracted by the reason I was here.
Will.
He was asleep, but he didn’t seem to be getting the most peaceful of sleeps, especially after the day he’s had, he must’ve been exhausted.
There was already blood seeping through the bandages on his left arm, where just an hour earlier he’d made horribly deep and most definitely painful cuts.
Will started mumbling in his sleep, and he seemed in distress, or pain. One of them. I took this as the right time to try to wake him up before what I guessed was probably a nightmare.
“Will, sweetie, it’s not real, you’re okay, you’re safe” I said softly, rubbing his shoulder trying to wake him up.
He shook his head and awakened from his light sleep, swallowing hard, his body naturally protesting to the foreign object in his throat.
“Hey” He said with a weak smile, the sound of him breathing breaking the silence of the room.
“Hey dad, how are you feeling?” I said. He looked at rest almost, as if he hadn’t woken up from a bad dream.
“Fine, I don’t know. I’m just uncomfortable. It's okay, I’m sorry.”
I pushed his hair back and kissed his forehead and he leaned into me.
“I promise this time I seriously want to get better. I promise. This isn't like the other times, I promise.”
“It’s okay, I’m proud of you, we’ll take it day by day it’s okay, I love you”