This takes place after Heroes Of Olympus

I own nothing

PERCY'S POV

I watched as Nico tossed and turned on the air mattress that Mom put on the floor of my room. He had a really crappy week so far, and so we let him stay in the apartment. He got here two days ago, Sunday afternoon. It was spring break, so there was no school this week.

It was about noon on Sunday, and I was watching TV while my mom was at work. I was supposed to meet Annabeth at the airport later, since she was coming up to visit. I had heard yelling from outside, so I looked out the window and down to the street, and there was Nico, running around a corner with a hydra chasing after him and a cranky hobo who was throwing rocks at Nico. The kid looked exhausted, even from where I was looking. Instinctively, I ran outside and just as I turned into the ally, he slammed into my chest. I barely managed to catch him, but because he couldn't see me –his back was to me when he bumped into me- he struggled and tried to slash at me.

"Stop it, Nico! It's me!" I grunted when the flat of his blade slapped my side. It took him a minute to register my voice and regain his feet. I didn't miss the warmth of fever that came off him when he had fallen on me. I saw the paler skin and sunken eyes that told me he was tired and sick. I looked up and saw the monster getting ready to spew poison on us. I pulled Nico out of the way at the last minute, and told him to stay put behind the garbage cans and that I'll take care of the hobo and monster. I did so easily. I threw my sword at the hydra's chest, knowing to chop off its heads would be a bad idea. The monster exploded into dust. The hobo….well, he was easier. I gave him ten bucks, and he left singing some song that he was probably making up as he went along.

I turned to Nico. He was sitting down with his back against the wall, knees drawn up, and his head resting on his knees. He looked clean, so I know he hadn't been on the streets for very long. I walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, right away knowing that something was wrong with him.

"Come inside. You look like you could use some cold water and something to eat." I said.

"No food…my stomach might as well have an atomic war in it right now. It's like a time bomb ready to explode." Nico shook his head no. That worried me a little. Nico was almost always hungry. Maybe not always the healthiest or cleanest person I know, but he doesn't really have a permanent home, so it's understandable.

"Come inside anyway." I said, and helped him up. He followed behind me quietly, and in the silence of the elevator, I could hear the uncomfortable and unhappy growls that were coming from Nico's stomach and the weird faces he kept pulling –weather he noticed it or not- gave away that he had a pretty bad stomach ache right now. We got into the apartment and I went to the kitchen to get him some water while he headed towards the bathroom, hopefully not to puke.

He came out a few minutes later and I pointed to the couch. He sat down heavily, and closed his eyes. There were a few scrapes on his face. I saw a glace of red on his wrists. I had known that Nico had a history of slitting his wrists when he can't stand the stress and the pressure, but I know it also takes a lot for him to break down enough to do that.

"You okay?" I asked as I handed him the glass of water. I expected him to give me the same answer of 'I'm fine'. But instead, he shook his head no. I sat down next to him and waited for him to explain. He took a long drink of water and sat there for a few minutes in silence.

"I can't find Bianca." He said.

"What do you mean you can't find her? She's in Elysium." I was confused. He looked at him, and the things I saw flash through his eyes made me want to curl up and cry: hurt, confusion, betrayal, sorrow, longing, hopelessness…

"She chose to go for a second life." He said. His voice cracked. "I'm never going to see her again."

"Nico…." I wrapped my arms around him. I expected him to pull away and say he doesn't need a hug. But he didn't. He pretty much went limp. After a few minutes of him regaining a little of his composure, he told me everything. From when how he found out the Doors of Death were open, to looking for his sister, finding out she was gone, finding Hazel, seeing me at Camp Jupiter, the search at Camp Half Blood, being in Tartarus (during that part of the story, he was literally digging his nails into me and shivering), being trapped in the jar, the quest to close the doors, the fight with Gaia, all the way to going back to his father in the Underworld, getting a few days of peace before getting sick in Persephone's garden, getting yelled at and verbally abused by her, Hades, and Demeter and how he had been on the street for two days, not eating, having no clean water and being miserably sick.

He broke down in my arms then, and I just held him and let him cry. The poor kid never seemed to get a break. I thought my life was bad. But I had family, and people liked me. Nico….he hardly had anyone. No one at camp really liked him other than the Stolls who were dealing with their own problems at the moment.

"I feel like I'm gonna puke." He muttered.

"Come on." I pulled him up and helped him to the bathroom, leaving a cup of water within his reach. He threw up almost as soon as he sat in front of the toilet. Violently, too. I tried not to gag, but it was hard. It was nasty.

"I'm going to go IM Annabeth….she's supposed to come today. And I might as well ask my mom to bring home something for your stomach." I said awkwardly. He only nodded, looking miserable. I could see the cuts on his wrists clearly now. They were fresh. I sighed and left. I told Annabeth I wouldn't be able to meet her at the airport.

"Why not?" She asked, looking disappointed. I heard Nico coughing up whatever was left of his organs.

"Nico came here today, and he's in pretty bad shape. He's pretty sick right now…I don't think leaving him alone is a good idea. Bianca chose to be reborn….he's depressed." I explained. She looked worried now.

"Ok. I'll be there later then." Annabeth said. We waved, and then I sent an IM to my mom. When she heard that Nico was here and sick, she said she'll come during her lunch break to bring him something to calm his upset stomach.

About two hours later, Nico was about ready to pass out. He'd been vomiting his guts out for nearly the whole two hours, and after a while, there was pretty much nothing but stomach acid coming up. His throat must've been burning. His forehead was red with fever and he was shivering as though he was freezing. I made him lay down on the couch and I brought a pot over to him in case he would puke. I was really starting to worry now. Nico had gotten really sick, really fast. He hadn't eaten anything to keep his strength up, and he hadn't really been in the greatest conditions the past few days. Even I knew that puking up stomach acid was very bad. My mom got home just as Nico fell into a fitful sleep.

"How is he?" She asked, putting a small bag on the counter and pulling out some anti-acid tablets for children.

"I think we should bring him to a doctor or something…" I said. "He's really sick." I told her how he had been on the streets for two days without clean water and no food, and how sick he was getting. Less than 15 minutes later, mom had me and Nico in the car on the way to the hospital. When we got there and Nico was taken away to get tests taken, I sent another Iris Message Annabeth again and told her to meet us at the hospital.

She got there an hour later.

"How's Nico?" She asked, sitting next to me in the waiting room. "And why did you bring him to the hospital? You never explained."

"He was getting really sick, and was puking up stomach acid, and was just seeming to get worse." I said. "The doctors said they're pumping his stomach. He has chemicals and toxins in his system from drinking water from the streets, although he told me he tried to boil it first to make sure it was clean, I guess he didn't do a good job of that."

Annabeth winced. "I heard getting your stomach pumped sucks. A lot. Did you try to give him nectar?"

"Yep. And he couldn't hold it down. Heck, he was barely able to hold the water down." I sighed. I know he must've felt like crap and it wasn't his fault that he was so sick, but I really didn't want to have to pay the hospital bill. We could barely afford rent. Annabeth winced again.

We sat in the waiting room for a long time. When a doctor finally came in to talk to us, we found out that Nico would have to stay overnight for probably two days. I asked how much it would cost. When I heard how much, I almost asked if I got a discount for saving the world twice. But I decided against it.

When we went in to visit him later that evening, he was barely awake, and looked miserable still. He whimpered when we tried to leave and begged someone to stay with him. I discovered that night that Nico is afraid of hospitals. Mainly of needles, but any hospital just scared him. Not to mention gave him a raging headache from all the people dying and all the souls crying out to let free but unable to because of the doctors refusing. I asked the nurse for some extra pain killers for him. She said they couldn't risk giving him anything, so he suffered alone through that.

He was able to come back to the apartment the next day. They gave him a few pain killers, because although he wasn't puking his guts out, he still had a bit of a stomach ache, and just overall wasn't feeling good. The doctors said he had a cold, which I could clearly tell from his red nose and coughing. Mom had went ahead and blew up an air mattress in my room for him, and declared that he would stay here until he felt better. Then he would able to leave, only if he wanted to.

When we got to the apartment, the first thing Nico did was lay down and take a nap. He slept for most of the day before coming back out, and sitting on the couch with me and Annabeth for a while.

"Feeling better?" I asked him.

"A little." Nico yawned. He still had that exhausted look to him.

And that's what lead to now. He had nightmares the whole time he was napping, but didn't tell anyone. Now, he'd having more nightmares. I know what they are too. Tartarus is torturing him. I have those nightmares too. You never can get used to it. They get worse every time….

Review this pointless drabble?

And has anyone read The Chronicles of Nick? They're pretty good…