Chapter 16: Prepared part 1

"All right, where are they?"

The usual company of Jason and Piper looked up to see Thalia Grace barge through the hospital doors, intent on seeing the newest addition to her family.

"Piper's still in the room," Annabeth said.

"Geez still? It's already been like, twenty hours since I've gotten the call. Plus, she's already had Zoe, so shouldn't it be easier to pop the baby out?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, smoothing over her own pregnant stomach. "For someone that's supposed to be a Lieutenant for the goddess of childbirth, you'd think you'd know more. Yes, it's common for second births to be faster, but it differs for all women. It's been twenty hours since she's gotten the contractions, but it still might take a little bit of time for her vagina to dilate. It's not an easy 15-minute-process."

"Dang it, Annabeth. Ick-snay on the agina-vay," Leo mock gagged next to her, covering his ears.

"Vagina. Vagina. VAGINA. Seriously, Leo, you're what? 28? Your wife already had a kid too so I have no idea why you're acting so disgusted. Unless, you're not performing well in the bedroom so I can see why it's a sensitive subject…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Me? Not performing well? I'll have you know Annabeth Anne Chase—"

"Not my middle name—"

"That I'm quite the debonair in the bedroom. Just the other night, I made Calypso—"

"Oh gods, shut up!" Thalia exclaimed, along with the cocoa-browned woman next to her. Hazel, having watched the bickering back and forth like a tennis match, was just about done with their quarrel as well. Except Hazel's face was flushed red, feeling quite embarrassed about the "birds and bees" discussion. Even after all these years, she still felt shy about such topics being spoken so blatantly in public. Thalia on the other hand, was just 100% revolted.

"I don't know what's worse," the 15-year-old Hunter began. "Talking about the ins and outs of childbirth, or Leo talking about himself doing the deed. Actually, my mistake. Leo is definitely 100 times worse to picture."

"Hey!"

"And seriously, shouldn't Piper be done by now? I don't like how long it's taking…" Thalia said, feeling anxious for some reason. She felt like her nerves were misfiring everywhere; like she was out on a mission for Artemis and that ominous feeling made her hairs stand on end whenever danger was approaching.

Annabeth frowned. "I'm sure everything is fine. We just have to be patient."

Just when Thalia was about to answer, she saw Percy come around the corner. But the expression he had made her body instantly fill with dread. Percy's eyes were deeply concerned, a fowl frown on his face. He kept running his hands through his hair, and he looked like he was distracted with far-away thoughts. To prove her point, she called his name out and he jumped up. "What's wrong?" Thalia immediately asked, knowing with certainty that it had something to do with her little brother.

"It's…"

"Spit it out!" Thalia shouted, not noticing the fact that she barely gave Percy three seconds to respond. But those three seconds felt like three hours, and she felt her anxiety grow.

"I just saw Jason for a moment. Something's wrong with the baby. I tried to ask him what happened but he kept mumbling to himself. Something about not breathing—"

She didn't need to hear anymore. She barely registered the commotion behind her as she sprinted towards Jason. Frantically, she asked a nurse for his room number and barely held down a violent threat when the nurse had asked what her relationship was with Mr. Grace. Fortunately, the nurse got the hint and rewarded her with the information she needed, and she ran even faster despite the shouts from the nurse who said visiting hours ended five minutes ago. Before she knew it, she was in the delivery department.

What she saw broke her heart.

Jason was sitting against the wall, his head in his hands. She saw his shoulders attempt to rise and fall in a rhythmic pattern, but hopelessly failed as tremors racked his body. He was in scrubs, but his face mask was missing and laid uselessly beside him.

"Jason?" She cautiously approached him. He didn't respond, nor did he even hear her. He was absolutely in his own world. It wasn't until she crouched down beside him and took his hands gently into hers that he finally looked at her fully for the first time.

The spark in his eyes that made the children of Zeus instantly recognizable was gone. His blue eyes were dull, almost as gray as Annabeth's. It looked like he had been through Tartarus, and Thalia would've believed it.

"Jason?" Thalia questioned again. "What happened?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. It was as if he was physically unable to speak, and she had a feeling that he knew once he said them out loud, it would all be a crashing reality and he was scared he couldn't make it.

So, she asked another question. "Where's Piper?"

"She's… she's in the room. The doctors are operating on her, and they said I had to leave. Thalia… My… My baby… He…"

"Jason…"

"He wasn't breathing," he started saying, each word getting more hysterical. "As soon as he came out something was wrong. It was all so fast. One minute he was in Piper's arms and the next he was taken away and… and then I think Piper went into shock and now the doctors are with her trying to keep her stress levels low or else something could happen… Thalia… I… I don't know what's… I didn't… I didn't even get to hold him. I didn't get to hold my own son."

Waves of grief hit Thalia as she fiercely held her little brother in her arms, trying to soothe him as best as she could as horrible sobs echoed in her embrace.

"I wasn't… Prepared… I didn't think… I wasn't prepared for this…" Jason would say through muffled tears, grasping Thalia's jacket as if he was trying in vain to grasp what little he had left of his sanity.

Thalia wished that she knew what to say, but the truth was, she wasn't prepared for this either. Even that bad gut-feeling she had earlier didn't prepare her for what her brother was experiencing. She was scared like Jason, but her brother was petrified and in agony. All she could do was keep him locked in her embrace, trying hard to shield him from the horrors of the world.

But for once, it wasn't a Giant or a Titan trying to take over the universe. It wasn't a crazy god or goddess trying to extract revenge upon them. It wasn't even a monster that constantly thirsted for their blood that was the problem. This time, it was the reality that Jason and Piper's newborn child may not make it past the first night of his life.