Who would have known? Who would have guessed? Who would have thought that one day, the fearsome Annabeth Chase would see what the inside of an ICU looked like? Certainly not her, and certainly not Percy Jackson. He couldn't even remember how it happened; one minute he and Annabeth were out in the bustling city having a good time, minding their own business, the next minute he's flat on his back, head spinning and Annabeth's under the front wheel of a 4x4 Range Rover. He vaguely recalled the driver rushing from his car, cell phone pressed to hear, requesting for an ambulance and paramedic immediately. He also vaguely recalled the torturously long journey in the back of the vehicle, sirens wailing and lights flashing, as they surged through the busy streets of New York. The only thing he could vividly remember was the feeling of absolute terror and despair as he crawled towards Annabeth's unconscious figure, muttering her name over and over, his voice steadily rising as anguish flooded his body. And the way she looked, it was heart breaking, enough to leave a scorch mark on anyone's memory; blood streaming steadily down her pale face from a giant gash on her temple, and mangled limbs sticking out at all the wrong angles. Sure, Percy had seen some terrifying things, fought in the most bloody of battles, and felt the freeze of fear coursing through his veins; none of those, however, could even begin to compete with what he was feeling now, sitting by the hospital bed with Annabeth's frail hand gripped tightly in his own. This was, by far, the worst experience of the demigod hero's life.

"Hey, Jackson?" Came a strong voice from the direction of the doorway. With great difficulty, Percy wrenched his eyes away from Annabeth's ghostly face and turned to see the familiar face of Will Solace, the best demigod healer in Manhattan.

"Oh, hey Solace." He said, his voice void of all emotion. He glimpsed the sorrow that filled the healers eyes at the sound; of course, he'd only ever heard Percy speak with power, determination and sheer volume, so naturally, hearing the dull, hollow tones the emanated from him now, that would be a shock to anyone's system.

"I've got to tell you something Jackson," Will said, speaking slowly and with care, "You might want to step outside." It was a suggestion, but from the way he delivered it, Percy knew it was a request. Fear gripped his stomach as he carefully prized his fingers out of Annabeth's and hauled himself out of his chair, making his way past the doctor and into the sterile corridor. Will silently closed the door to the private ward and adjusted his clipboard as he turned to face the gaunt expression of the son of Poseidon. "Okay Jackson, this isn't easy to tell you buddy but, well, we got the scan results back today." Percy's gut gave an almighty wrench, Annabeth's life depended on these scan results, and if they were bad…no, he couldn't bring himself to think it. Instead he forced himself to listen to exactly what Solace was saying to him. "The impact from the accident has caused severe damage to Annabeth's brain and spinal cord, rupturing a fair few of her major organs. We think-"

"Just tell it to me straight Will." Percy whispered, straining to keep his emotions in check, to stay strong. "Is she going to live?"

"Honestly Percy, the most likely scenario: no, she isn't going to live." Percy felt his heart plummet to his knees. "She's comatose, her body is slowly shutting itself down. She's struggling; her body is weak and yet she's still fighting, my guess is that Athena's secretly willing her to survive, but a Goddess can only do that for so long. Given the severity of her injuries, it's a miracle she's managed to hang on this-"

"How long?" Percy interrupted, his mind swirling, desperately trying to digest all of this information being thrown at him. He leant forward and gripped Will's shoulders, staring at him with desperate intent, "How long does she have left Will? Tell me, how long?" the silent few seconds that followed were the loudest Percy had ever experienced. He tried to withhold the tears that pooled in his eyes, blurring his vision as the son of Apollo shook his head sadly,

"Looking at her situation, my guess is that she's probably got about 3 days, 5 days tops." He felt Percy's arms go limp and the expression that spawned, the complete and utter hopelessness that spilled out of every crevice of his old friend's face, it broke the young man's heart. He watched as Percy slumped against the wall, sliding down it until he was sitting against it, held his head in his hands and began to silently sob into his knees. An aura of pain leaked into the atmosphere, slowly suffocating anybody who happened to view the emotional scene. Something stirred from deep inside the experienced medic. It awakened slowly, yet as fast as lightning, and electrified his blood stream; it was the very same feeling he used to get every time he saw a fellow demigod injured in battle. The spark ignited and a fire lit in his eyes; he was a healer, a son of Apollo, patron of medicine! There was no way he was going to stand back and pretend there was nothing he could do while the life of one of the most trusted demigods he'd ever met drained away. "Who am I kidding?" he muttered to himself and then, with new found hope and determination, he moved to a crouch in front of his weeping friend. "Hey, Jackson, listen to me. Ever since leaving Camp Half Blood, my skills in medicine have both soared and plummeted. Sure, I have access to all of the best medical equipment New York has to offer, but what's the use of that if I can't get my hands on any Nectar or Ambrosia?" The young doctor stared intently at all he could see of Percy's head, his dark hair, silently pleading for him to stop crying and making himself suffer. "Percy? Dude, I need you to look at me." When Percy didn't look up, Will sighed and ran a hand through his blonde locks. "Oh, for the love of Zeus and Hera. Percy Jackson, I think I have an idea that may just save Annabeth." He watched as Percy finally looked up into his face, detecting the small spark of hope that brightened his magnificent sea-green eyes.

"I swear to all the Gods on Olympus, if you can find a way to save Annabeth, I'll-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Will stopped him, holding a hand up to silence the older demigod, "You can negotiate repaying me later. Right now though, I think you'll be very intrigued as to what I have in mind, am I correct?" He couldn't help but smile a little as Percy sat up a little straighter, nodding his head.

"Right now, I'm willing to hear any idea that will mean the survival of my Wise Girl." Percy could feel his heart rate begin to race as hope began to replace the fear that gripped his insides. His mind was still as little fuzzy, but he could already sense his reflexes sharpening with every passing second. His sea-green eyes locked with the sky-blue ones of the demigod opposite him and something passed between the two of them; understanding.

"Well, you remember the golden fleece, right?"

Author's Notes

Hey Guys!

Yeah that's right, I'm back with another Percabeth fanfic! And guess what? This one is going to be much longer; hopefully 10+ chapters at least!

I got a guest review on my short-fic 'A Proper Easter Morning', asking for more Percabeth. Well, my dear anonymous reviewer, I hope this is what you were hoping for!

I'll try to update as often as I can, some weeks I may be able to update more than others, so please excuse an irregularity in updates! Remember to drop a review and tell me what you think, maybe even give me a few suggestions as to where you think I should take this story?

Thanks for reading Guys!

Hattie x