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The washed-out white walls of the hospital were becoming familiar to Will’s dull blue eyes. The world, once filled with colour, was nothing but grey and white to him now. The smell of antiseptic and pain killers in the air had become so constant that even when he got home to shower he could still smell it, no matter how much scrubbed his skin raw.
“Hello, Mr. Solace, back again?” The nurse, Pippa- or Piper or whatever it was- gave him a sympathetic smile.
Once upon a time, it would have made Will smile back, albeit hesitantly. But right now, he was just very, very tired. His shoulders were slumped, his coat heavy on his shoulders, the sketchpad in his hands felt as brittle as his sanity at the moment.
“Yeah, I- I had some new things to show my boyfri-” He swallowed thickly, “Nico.” Will said, voice empty, eyes downcast, “I thought he’d maybe like to see them.”
“I’m sure Mr Di Angelo would love them.” Piper -her nametag flashed helpfully towards him- said in an encouraging tone. “I saw the last ones you left, you’ve really gotten good! I can see you becoming a famous artist someday!”
Will gave her a bland smile, “Nico’s the real artist, I’m just- He always liked to see the things I did and stuff. Hey, who knows? Maybe if I become actually good at it, he’d wake up, huh?”
Instead of the tone being joking, the words came out painfully earnest and hopeful. Will couldn’t help but flinch at himself.
“He’ll wake up.” Piper said, patting him on his shoulder.
“Yeah, maybe.” The blond whispered, “Anyway, I have to go. Thanks.”
Piper watched him leave, a sad frown on her face. She always did hate seeing visiting families looking so forlorn.
“Hey,” A passing nurse hip checked her. “You okay?”
“What? Oh, yeah, hey Annabeth.” Piper said, wiggling her fingers in greeting. “Just- you know, worried about Will Solace.”
“Hm? The blond with a sketchbook?” At Piper’s nod, she asked, “What’s his story?”
“Tragic accident, artist boyfriend in a coma.” Piper sighed, tired fingers playing with lose strands of her hair. “He brings him pastel art every time he visits. Thinks it might wake him up.”
Annabeth raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Why?”
“Apparently, Nico, his comatose boyfriend, told him once that a good picture can move a person’s heart.” Piper said with a sigh. “He probably thinks it will help him wake up… for his sake, I’m hoping he’s right.”
Annabeth gave her a sympathetic look and patted her shoulders before gently steering her back to their jobs.
The sound of the heart monitor was as comforting as it was terrifying. It was a constant reminder of what he still had and also of what he could lose any time. Will swallowed back his tears as he made his way towards his usual seat.
It’s almost been a year now, and it still hasn’t gotten any easier.
The pale figure on the bed seemed smaller than before, still unmoving, and eyes open but it not really there.
Will could feel his heart beating in anxiety and his hands shook as his opened the sketch pad and flipped through the pages.
He used to be so bad at art, Nico laughed at him and made fun of him for it, but it was always in good humour. And besides, Will found all of his ‘bad’ drawings and pastel paintings carefully preserved in a wooden box under his boyfriend’s bed.
But now as he flipped through the pages of his sketch pad filled with pastel drawings, even he himself could see he’d improved.
But no matter how he’d improve, Nice still didn’t wake up.
“It was a beautiful day today.” Will said in a quiet tone, “I thought I’d draw the view from my room for you. Do you remember the last time we were there?” He choked, “You were trying to convince me to go out and watch some horror film- I forgot what it was.”
The blond laughed wetly, “It was so stupid. The truth was, I didn’t want to go out and see some stupid horror film because I wanted us to stay in and watch some romcoms instead.”
He held up his pad and showed Nico a pastel art at his point of view, the sunlight filtering through the glass window in his room, the world moving on despite the fact that Will felt his world slowly crashing to the ground.
When no reaction was forthcoming from Nico, the blond kept talking. “I tried really hard on this one, I even bought those expensive pastel brand you liked so much and- I made sure to catch the view at the right lighting and time like you said and I-”
Something warm and wet felt to his lap and Will’s breath hitched, “I just- Nico, I-” His hold on the pad was shaking and he lowered it face down to his lap, shoulders shaking helplessly, “I just want you to wake u-up.”
The heart monitor continued to beep steadily in response to Will’s words.
Nico didn’t wake up today either.
“What are you doing?” Nico grumbled from where he was getting coffee. His hair was mussed up, eyes tired, and demeanour grumpy. He was like a grumpy kitten in the mornings.
“Nothing.” Will said neutrally as he continued doing whatever it was on his notebook.
Nico’s dark eyes squinted, “Are you drawing me?”
Will automatically closed his notebook. “Nope! Definitely not! You’re not allowed to see it!”
“What?” Nico stomped his feet llike a kid and Will smirked. The dark-haired young man flushed, “I show you what I draw all the time! And it’s a picture of me! I have a right to it if it has my face on it!” He insisted.
“How’re you sure I’m drawing your face?” Will waggled his eyebrows suggestively. At Nico’s scandalized look he laughed, “I’m just kidding! You should’ve seen your face!” He cleared his throat, “Anyway, I’m still not showing you, you’ll make fun of it.”
“I don’t!” At Will’s look, he amended, “Okay, maybe I do, but you know it’s just harmless teasing.”
Will looked at the earnest face before him and sighed, pushing the notebook towards his boyfriend. Nico made a victorious noise and flipped it open.
There was silence.
Will sighed again, “Told you it wasn’t good.” He looked up at Nico and to his surprise, the dark-haired teen was looking down at his sketch with a surprised and awe-filled look.
He met Will’s eyes and smiled sincerely, “It’s great, Will.” He said, voice strangely thick. “Thank you.”
At the time, Will thought Nico said something very important after…
He wondered what it was.
“Will.” Hazel said, her voice serious, face sad when the blond opened the door to her.
“Hazel, when did you get back?” Will swallowed, “Is something wrong? Did something happen? Is Nico okay-”
“Nico’s s till the same. I visited him last night. I saw you’re drawing.” Hazel said, letting herself in. Surprisingly, Frank was not with her. Will closed the door behind her and gestured for her to sit while he got them some iced tea he still had in his fridge.
“Yeah? Did you think it was good?” Will asked, as he brought her a glass of iced tea. “I’ve- I’ve been working hard on it but I guess it wasn’t-” His shoulders slumped, “It probably wasn’t good enough since Nico didn’t-”
There was silence.
“You can’t really think he’ll wake up just because of a drawing, do you?” Hazel asked quietly.
Will closed his eyes, “Nico said that a good picture can move hearts.”
“Yes, but-”
“I have to believe he’ll wake up.” Will whispered, “If I don’t then-”
Silence fell on them again.
Hazel continued to look at Will with sadness in her eyes. “The picture you drew… it was beautiful, you’ve really improved.”
The blond nodded absently, because that’s what everyone said. That he got better, that the way he drew as really something now.
“But if my brother was awake right now, he’d hit you.” Hazel said, surprising Will. She sighed, “Have you forgotten what he’s always told you?”
“I remember everything he’s told me.” And he did. He remembered all of Nico’s art tidbits: which brand of pastels were good, which paint brand to use, what a good canvas cloth felt like, how to capture a moment-
Hazel shook her head and stood up, “No, you think you do but you forgot the most important thing about making art.” She took from her pocket a folded piece of notebook paper. “I got this from Nico’s bed, under his pillow.”
She placed it in Will’s hands, “Think about it.”
As the door shut close dbehind her, Will unfolded the paper and his eyes grew wide when he saw the rough, amateurish sketch he did of a grumpy Nico in his kitchen one morning.
It’s great, Will. Thank you.
“But it’s not even that good.” Will laughed lightly when Nico thanked him and gave him a kiss. “It’s all messed up lines and wrong proportions.”
“Good or bad, it doesn’t matter.” Nico told him seriously, when he leaned back. Will’s arms around him. “If you put your heart into it, it will definitely reach the other person.”
Will raised an eyebrow, “That sounds suspiciously wise. Did you hear it from somewhere? Google it?”
Nico frowned but admitted, “I got it from a tv show.”
“Ha! I knew it!”
“But it has a point!” Nico insisted, “What makes an artwork famous is not just the colours or texture or how ‘pretty’ it looks, what makes an art beautiful, what moves people’s hearts is the fact that you put your own heart into making it.”
Will smiled down at the dark-haired young man, “Yeah,” He said, “You’re right.”
Will woke up from his dream, eyes wide, heart beating frantically. His hands were covered in paint and pastel, his shirt had charcoal smudges and if he had a mirror, his face probably hadn’t have been spared by the mess. He’d fallen asleep, making a new drawing for Nico, to see if this time the picture would reach him.
That was it… Will thought, not fully conscious, mind still trapped in the dream, in his memory. The reason why none of whatever I drew or made reached him… It’s because I tried so hard to be good at it that I forgot to put what I felt into them.
Will buried his worn face in his hands, “It’s not because I’m not good enough, it’s because I forgot that you never did care if it was good or bad, Nico.”
The reason you kept all those bad paintings and drawings from before… was because you could see how much I loved you in them.
Piper stopped in her tracks when she saw a certain blond man being held back by a nurse.
“Sir, please,” Came the annoyed tone of nurse Drew. She had hands on her hips, eyebrow raised in disapproval at the unkempt man before her, “We can’t let you in looking like- like-” She gestured at Will Solace’s whole appearance, face smudged with pastel, clothes not much better. In his hand was a paper torn from his pad.
“Please, it’ll just be a second, I-”
“No, please be considerate enough to shower for the sake of the other patients and the one you’re visiting!” Drew’s eyes flashed.
“But-!”
“Drew!” Piper called out, striding towards the other. “It’s okay, he’s alright to go inside if he wants to.”
Drew’s nose wrinkled “No it’s not-”
Piper narrowed her eyes and flashed her nurse badge that clearly said head nurse at her. The Asian nurse pursed her lips and harrumphed.
“Fine, but HR will definitely be hearing about this!” Drew warned her, “Favoritism amongst visitors isn’t tolerated.” She walked away.
Piper rolled her eyes and looked at Will, who was flinching guiltily. She glanced at the young man’s attire wondered if she’d made a wrong choice and she was encouraging crazy man’s antics.
But Will had a fire in his eyes she hadn’t seen in a while.
He had determination squaring his shoulders instead of defeat.
Piper smiled. “Finally had a breakthrough?” She gestured towards his hand.
Will nodded, “Yeah, I think this is it.” He said breathlessly.
“Well, then…” Piper said stepping aside with a smile, “What are you waiting for, “Go get him.”
Will flashed her a bright smile, “Thank you.” And then he was off.
For his sake, Piper really wished this was it.
Nico looked as the same as he left him. Eyes open, body frail, and pale on the white sheets. Will’s heartbeat picked up and he approached the bed.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been trying so hard to be actually good in art that I forgot-” Will swallowed thickly, eyes burning. “You didn’t care if I was bad at it or good, you loved it as long as I put my heart into it and all this time- all this time I’ve been drawing landscapes and the sky, hoping to remind you what’s waiting for you when you wake up. I thought if I were as good as you, you’d be so amazed, you’d wake up.” He laughed wetly.
“I didn’t need to be great at anything, I just had to remember how much you meant to me and how I’m so scared of losing you.” Will approached the bed and held up his latest pastel art.
Tears blurred Will’s vision and fell to the white sheets.
“Please wake up.”
“You seem distracted.” Annabeth commented from where she was going through the appointments of the day. Piper’s gaze kept wandering to a certain room of a comatose patient.
“It’s been two hours since Will Solace got into the room.” Piper sighed, “I wonder what happened.”
“Hm? Blond artist guy?” At Piper’s nod she said, “Last I passed, he was asleep. Seemed like he tuckered himself out.”
Piper smiled sadly, “Guess it didn’t work.”
“What didn’t work?” Annabeth asked, but before Piper could answer, both their pagers vibrated and the room that flashed was Nico di Angelo’s.
Piper’s breath caught as she followed after Annabeth and headed to the said room.
When they arrived she almost let out a relieved cry, blinking blearily at them was Nico di Angelo. Will had a tight grip on his hands, eyes red and puffy but a relieved smile on his face.
As the doctors fussed around the two, Piper saw a certain piece of paper on the ground. She bent to pick it up.
It was the pastel art Will had with him and it seemed different somehow.
It wasn’t a view from the window or the look at the weather outside.
It was Nico and Will. They were in Will’s kitchen, a coffee in Nico’s hands, a grumpy expression on his face. Will had his arms around him, laughing. It was the same sketch Will did years back, only this time, Nico had a few bandages on the sketch and it was done in pastel and much improved, though he still needed a few practices on the human anatomy, because his sole focus had been landscapes.
Piper didn’t know all this of course, but to her it was by far the best of all the art Will did.
It wasn’t perfect but it showed everything Will wanted.
Nico and him in the future. Nico awake and recovering and Will by his side.
It conveyed his hope for the future, his love, and his fear.
With feelings as strong as this, it’s no surprise Nico woke up.
Piper carefully folded the paper and placed it on the table. She looked at Will and at Nico, who was still mostly immobile, but was squeezing Will’s hands as best as he could. None of the doctors and nurses had the heart to pull them apart.
Piper smiled.
It could only get better from there.