Chapter Text
Nico made his way back to the Apollo cabin, where Will was waiting for him. He seemed a bit confused looking over towards where Percy was still in shock, but Will decided not to question it.
“Ready?” he moved his gaze onto Nico.
“Yeah”
“Good. Now follow me,” Will turned around and led Nico to the infirmary.
The moment they stepped in the smell of antiseptic and other medicines hit Nico’s nose, but it was bearable. It wasn’t too bad inside, except it was crowded with injured demigods recovering from the war. On the first few rows of cots were campers who got slight injuries like broken bones or deep cuts. Deeper into the room were beds hidden behind curtains. Nico guessed those guys weren’t so lucky.
Other than that the infirmary had many windows on one side welcoming the sunlight. The walls were painted light yellow which made the room feel warmer and not at all cold and radiating death.
Will led him to the furthest bed in the corner which too had a curtain.
“This will be your spot,” he made a gesture for Nico to sit down and then pulled out a pair of gloves out of the drawer nearby. “So, how are you feeling?”
“Well, I’m not dying so not too bad.”
“Wow, Mr. Positivity over here. Anyway, let me take a look at your wounds.”
Nico stretched out one arm which Will carefully took. He gently raised the sleeve of the T-shirt and started inspecting the gashes.
“Mhm, now the other one.” Nico obeyed. “Alright, I’m going to have to restitch and disinfect them. Be right back.”
With that Will left Nico on his own and went to get the tools from another room. Nico took a look around. Opposite to him lay a sleeping demigod, who had a bandaged head. Nico didn’t recognize his face. Near the entrance were some familiar campers, some not so familiar, but they were all there at the battle. They were quietly discussing something. Careful not to disturb the sleeping. They didn’t seem to mind his presence.
Will came back with a tray containing needles, tweezers and all that stuff.
“Did you eat ambrosia?” Will asked.
“Uhh, no, actually.”
“Ok, you’ll have to take some when i’m done,” he dragged a stool and sat down in front of Nico. “How did you even get these?” he started undoing the stitches that Reyna made back in San Juan.
“Lycaon”
Will winced. “Yeah, these are pretty bad, but we’ll patch you up. You’ll be good as new.”
Nico watched him. He was so close that it was possible to see every little detail. His blonde curls fell in front of his concentrated face as his hands made their way through the cuts. They worked quickly, yet carefully, avoiding accidentally damaging the flesh. Nico got a little mesmerized by their movements.
“Did you sleep well tonight?” Will’s question caught him off guard.
“No, not really,” he answered after a few seconds, “Couldn’t sleep at all today.”
Will shot him an angry look. It made Nico a bit uncomfortable and guilty.
“Well now you’ll be staying here and getting all the rest and sleep your body needs.” His voice was firm and dedicated. “I heard Coach Hedge’s stories about your journey. They didn’t sound so good.”
Nico didn’t reply. He just kept observing Will as he finished with the old stitches and was now disinfecting the cuts. “Does it hurt?”
“Not really”
“Are you sure? I heard they burn like acid.” He looked up at Nico. Something about it made Nico’s heart sting a little bit. Will’s eyebrows tilted inwards ever so slightly and his eyes were… Was he concerned? Or worried?
“I’m fine. Just a couple of cuts.”
Will rolled his eyes, but decided not to argue with that. He did the rest of his work in silence, stitching then putting some ointment and bandaging the gashes.
“And all done. Just eat one square of ambrosia and you can rest.”
“Can I help out?”
Will took a few seconds to respond, “Are you sure you don’t want to sleep or something?”
“No. You said I can help, I want to help.”
A smile crept onto his face, “Alright then, come with me,” he led Nico to the same room he went to to get the supplies. It had a high shelf with cupboards from wall to wall containing all sorts of medical equipment, which was all sorted out, on one side. On the other was a sink, a fridge and a table. Will placed the tray on it and put the used equipment in the sink.
“Most of the time I’m going to ask you to get some stuff from here so try to remember where everything is,” he spent the next few minutes explaining what was lying where. Seemed pretty simple.
“Rule number one: always, always wash your hands before you touch anything,” Nico obliged, “Now, grab some bandages, cotton balls and nectar, please.”
Nico nodded and got right to it. After everything has been gathered they started attending demigods. Since it was early morning, Will was doing a check up on everyone, just rebandaging and feeding ambrosia. Their first patient was a kid from the Ares cabin, he had deep cuts on his legs and a broken arm. Will did most of the work while Nico just passed everything he was asked for.
They spent most of their morning like that until everyone was attended. Even some of the discharged campers stopped by to get checked. In other words, it was quite busy.
Nico followed the head medic everywhere, sometimes going back to get more stuff, determined to make up for the days he wasn’t there. He was still wrapping his mind around the “friendly face” part though, it was hard to believe that someone actually wanted his company, but Will sounded pretty sincere.
——
“Are you hungry?” Will asked. They were in the storage room tidying up after their busy morning.
“I could have a snack.”
Will reached for his pocket and took out two chocolate bars then tossed one to Nico.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” he took a bite, so did Nico, “Take a break.”
“But-“
“No buts. Doctor’s order. You’ve done enough, have some rest.”
Nico hesitated, “Only if you will take a break too.”
Will paused then smiled weakly, “I was planning to do the paperwork, does that count?”
“No, break first, at least a short one.”
His smile spread across his face, “Since when are you giving out orders? But, fine, I will.”
Nico couldn’t help but return the smile.
He returned to his bed to lie down and passed out.