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The infirmary during the first week of summer is always busy. New campers that don't know how to go a day without getting injured, crazy Ares campers, the competitive Nike's campers, the know-it-all Athena campers, and we could go on and on. Before Jerry, Grace, and Yan came, it was very difficult, as Will was the most skilled medic out of Kayla and Austin.
But now, he had his new siblings, and the honorary cabin 7 member, Nico di Angelo. AKA his boyfriend.
When Nico came to camp, he would hardly eat, had restless nights, and was always tired and/or weak. Now, with a healthy body, visible muscles, and a solid 8 hours of sleep, Nico had never been better. Well, maybe he was better when he had Bianca and Mama, and they lived in Italy, but Nico didn't like to think about that.
During stressful weeks at the infirmary, Will regresses and hardly takes care of himself. He doesn't notice this, but his siblings and Nico do. Will was washing his hands, slightly twitching and his eyes felt like they weighed 60 lbs. Grace put a hand on his shoulder. Despite her looks, she was strong and grabbed on tight, nearly setting Will off balance. "Will, I haven't seen you walk out of the infirmary in days." He just silently stood there, slowly processing the simple sentence his younger sister had said. Austin added, "He's been 'sleeping' in the infirmary beds. So he could always be ready for when a new patient walks in."
Gracie shook her head sadly. "Y'know," Yan butted in, "we could just take shifts. I know you were staying up later before we were here, but you have us now." Austin and Kayla's faces fell. "Yeah, sorry if we weren't doing enough things in the infirmary back then." Kayla apologized. Will tried to tell her that it was fine, but a yawn just came out. "C'mon, man. You need rest. I slept through the day, so I can take these shifts, 'kay?" Jerry assured.
All of the sudden, Will had this surge of emotions pulse through him. They were hurting him the longer it was inside, like it was shutting him down. And the only way to bring them out was through words.
"Stop it! I don't need your help! Just, leave me alone!"
He was genuinely shocked at what came out of him. Will had definitely been frustrated with his siblings before, but he'll usually just rant about it to Nico later that day, get it off his chest, and be calm next morning. But this word vomit of emotions was crazy. And he wasn't even that upset at them, just numb and not really processing what his siblings were voicing.
Not to mention this aching pain that he had everywhere. His sinuses were stuffed, his eyes were watery and puffy, and he had this terrible stomach ache. But that hardly mattered, because he just hurt his siblings.
Jerry and Kayla were a bit more hot-headed, and usually they'd just comfort Jerry and distance themselves from Kayla.
They were doing the latter to Will.
"I- guys I'm so sorry, I-I don't know what happened, I didn't mean to--"
Kayla abruptly paused him. "You're like, really sick right now." All of their faces were scrunched up in worry and confusion. "Yeah. We can like, feel an aura from you." Gracie added. "I agree. And that's coming from the worst medic here." nodded Austin. "You need to head to bed." Jerry demanded. "And not in the infirmary. Go to our cabin. Actually, go to the Hades' cabin. You need a lot of darkness and quiet."
Yan quickly ushered him out, walking with him to Cabin 13 to ensure that he wouldn't just pass out on the grass. Yan sighed. "Hopefully Nico's asleep as well. Get some rest. See you tomorrow."
Will just silently waved him goodbye.
He had a spare key to Nico's cabin, so he quickly unlocked it. The cabin was dimly lit, and it had the sound of running water. Oh. He's in the shower. Will's face flustered. He decided to look around in Nico's closet and wardrobe's, hoping that there was something big enough for him. All that he found was an oversized hoodie and some short shorts. Guess this'll have to do.
With no secluded space to change in, he just changed in the corner next to Nico's bed. Unfortunately, the bathroom door swiftly opened and Nico came out with a towel wrapped around his legs. They just stared at each other for a second.
"Will?"
"Nico?"
"Why are you shocked that I'M here, this is my cabin!"
"Uhh... Here, let me explain."
Nico looked down, and then his face flustered. "C-Can you change first?!?"
Will quickly pulled up his shorts. "Okay, I have a reason for this,"
"No, first, I need to scold you."
"Huh?"
Nico started going on a long rant. "You've been working in the infirmary all day! Literally, ALL DAY! Twenty-four hours! Will, you're getting sick and overexerting your healing powers! I can tell because I've been feeling you get closer to death every day! And today, it's at it's worse! Look, I'm no Apollo kid, but you're definitely sick."
"Oh... I'm sick?" Will shortly responded.
"Yes! It definitely started today, seemingly minutes ago, but you still weren't doing okay earlier this week!" Will slowly nodded, guilt infesting in him. "Look, I understand that when it was just you, Kayla, and Austin, times were rough. You had to man the infirmary practically by yourself. But you have Jerry, Yan, and Gracie now! And hell, even I can take over a shift!"
Will sighed. "I know Nico. And I'm so, so sorry. And that ties into why I'm here--"
Nico silenced him with a tight hug. "It's okay. I mean, it's not okay, because you're being so damn reckless, but there's no need for explanations as to why you're here. I'm just glad you've got some sense in you."
Will wanted to thank him, but the satisfaction of Nico's words put him to sleep.
~
Will woke up to an intensely bright and warm man staring over him. He had tan skin, his hair was blonde with brown roots, and his skin was freckled. Oh. His dad.
Wait...
"DAD?! Why are you here?" Will quickly jumped up so he could sit upright in the bed, but he immediately regretted it, pains aching throughout him. "Will! You scared me! Don't move, son. Somethings awfully wrong with you." Apollo said with a startled face. Will grunted, "Thanks."
But Apollo was right. Will was just aching all over, stiff limbs, a ringing in his ears, a stuffed nose, basically everything bad about being ill. Apollo kids rarely got sick, and when you're gifted with exceptional healing powers, it makes your immune system even stronger. But Will was 100% under the weather.
On his side was his boyfriend, who had worry practically painted on his face. "To answer your question, Will, I prayed to Apollo that you'd have some sense next year and not get yourself sick. But as soon as the sun was up, Apollo came over here to check on you." he explained. Nico had his hair in a ponytail, beads of sweat running down his forehead as he drowned himself in worry. Despite the pain, Will gave him finger guns and said, "I like you with your hair up."
Nico flustered, but quickly reprimanded him. "Don't move Solace. Your dad already told you, do you need me to tell you too?" Will just laughed in response, even though each chuckle made it feel like a knife was getting plunged through his abdomen. "That was smooth, son. But seriously, stop moving." commanded Apollo. His words were laced with power, and Will was now paralyzed in the same spot, only being able to talk and blink. Apollo cringed at his actions, his sense of humanity peeking through. "My bad,"
The trio sat in silence as Apollo focused on trying to figure out what was wrong with Will. The god took about thirty seconds to diagnose him. "You're sick."
"Well no shit." Nico bit back. "Yeah, but it's self inflicted sickness," continued Apollo, making Nico's comment water under the bridge. Pre-Lester Apollo would've turned Nico into a bad poem in a blink.
"Self-inflicted?!" Nico and Will said in sync. Apollo nodded. "Some of my children have plague powers. They're quite hard to harness, and require some kind of strong emotion. If it's strong enough, they'll give everyone nearby a bad plague, deathly if the emotions are strong enough. But Will clearly wasn't that upset, because the illness didn't even spread outside his body."
They just looked at each other for a moment, until Will spoke up. "So, if I get upset enough... I could kill people?" Apollo shook his head no, and then shook his head yes, and then paused with a quizzed look on his face. "Well, I started coronavirus." he supplied. "Not helping," Nico complained through gritted teeth. "Okay, you can, but it'll have to be a really strong emotion." Apollo confirmed. Will still didn't look better. In fact, his face looked very uncomfortable. "Dad, can you like, un-paralyze me? I need to scratch my eyebrow."
"Oh, sorry. Whoops." Apollo took back his spell, and Will started scratching himself all over. "Anyways," sighed Nico, "when is he gonna be fine?"
"How am I supposed to know?" asked Apollo, genuinely confused. "You're the god of prophecies, right?" explained Nico. "Oh yeah. Here, gimme a sec." Apollo was still getting used to his godly abilities months later.
"Okay, well, it's gonna take three days."
"Three?!? Oh gods, how are they gonna last without me..." worried Will. "Way to be egotistical, Will." smiled Nico. "Anyway, we can get some things assorted. I'll take a few shifts, okay?"
Apollo nodded. "And I will too! I swear on the River Styx, son!"
Will and Nico just looked at each other. "Dad, when have Styx promises ever gone good for you?" asked Will. Apollo's Styx promises had caused a lot of indirect deaths. "Yes, but I'll be better. I promise on the River Styx." Apollo added. "Okay, you need to leave before you make any more stupid promises," Nico forced Apollo out of the cabin. "And go talk to your kids." he demanded.
~
"Here." Gracie handed Will some tea. "Dad gave us this really good herbal tea recipe. He almost gave us a gods-only seasoning. Be happy you didn't explode." She smiled as she said that. Austin was humming a tune that should slowly begin to heal Will as long as he hears it three times a day. "How's the infirmary going guys?" Will asked, trying to not make a strong face at how disgusting the tea was. "Jeez. Stop worrying about that Will." Kayla complained.
"Yeah, don't think about it, okay?" Yan requested, rubbing Will's back. "You can ask Nico, though. He'll kiss your ass and tell you either way." Jerry smirked. "Man, can you not?" Austin argued, pausing his humming. "He's true though." laughed Kayla. They all chuckled, washing their worries away. "But seriously, Will, don't worry about it. Camp will survive without their head Medic for three days." reassured Nico.
Will smiled. "Thanks, guys. And I'm sorry for snapping at you. I don't know what happened." he confessed. "Awh, it's okay!" Gracie pulled him into a hug. His siblings all hugged it out and then cleared the room. Nico gave Will a chaste kiss on his cheek. "I'll bring you dinner, okay? Bye, Will!"
"Bye, Nico!"
And even though his body still ached, he fell asleep with a smile.
Will woke up slowly. His eyes were practically glued shut and he was internally screaming from the uncomfortableness. "Will, you don't want your food to go cold." Nico reminded. He was next to Will, fidgeting with something in his hands. He put that down and reached over to grab Will's food. It was ribs and fries, but Will's sense of smell was gone, so the aroma of the ribs wasn't there.
"Thanks, Nico." He willed his eyes open as his stomach growled. "I know we told you to not worry about the infirmary," Will perked up, expecting the worse, "but everything's been going good." Will sighed in relief. "I mean, I think the campers are a little creeped out when Apollo's popping their bones back in, but everything's been smooth sailing." explained Nico.
"I feel a little bit better..." Will supplied. Nico shook his head. "There's no need to rush it. Apollo said that you have two more days of resting ahead of you." Will pouted a little. "You should be happy you have a break. You were really overexerting yourself back there."
Will took a bite from his ribs and nodded. "Yeah. I guess I should enjoy this break... but I don't have my awesome boyfriend with me." complained Will. Nico rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'll be here as soon as my shift is over, okay?"
Solace was satisfied with this answer, so he waved his boyfriend bye and drifted to sleep.
~
Next year, Will started his infirmary shift with a new mindset. There was a new Apollo camper named Cadence. She was eleven, and hadn't really found an exact power yet. Cadence was dabbling in all of the abilities of an Apollo kid, and so far, her favorite was being a medic and poetry. "Will, where's the cleaning solution?" She asked her older brother, who was washing his hands. "I think Nico's using it. We're running low though, so don't waste anything, okay?" Cadence nodded in response.
She walked over to the ravenette who was calmly cleaning out an infected wound. "Can I use the cleaning solution when you're done?" she asked. "Yeah. You can have it right now, actually." He dully responded, trying to focus on his patient. Cadence cheerfully thanked him and started to walk off. "Wait!" Nico called after her.
"Yeah?" She turned her head around. "How's Will doing?" asked Nico. She paused for a second before she responded. "Really good. Why?" Nico didn't answer her question and just smiled. "That's good. Thanks for keeping him safe, kid." He ruffled Cadence's hair, and then went back to work on his patient with a smile that just couldn't be wiped off.