Chapter 4

Darkness. That was all that Percy saw. Did he regret it? Nope. Like he said, An Eye for an Eye. Now he would probably need a Seeing Eye dog. And at school he would need a wheelchair for a little while. Someone would have to push him around. He didn't trust anyone. Well that excluded Annabeth. Did she really care?

"No Percy. Don't think of that stuff. No one cares for you. Your life proves it."

Great. Now he was talking to himself. Was he insane?

It was probably true. From living in that Hell Hole for most of his life, he had become a bit mentally unstable. When he was in severe pain he would have the hallucinations. Half the scars that decorated his arms were caused when he spazzed out and rampaged himself. Now Annabeth knew. He had made her swear not to tell anyone.

Oh no. His school work! Now he would have to learn braille. Well maybe Annabeth could come and write the problems for him. He would just solve them and tell them to Annabeth, than she would write them down. He sighed as he waited. Annabeth had left the room to meet her parents. He was kind of lucky he couldn't see anymore. No more Hallucinations. Now he would never be able to truly see all the stuff he wanted to see. Specifically Greece. In Athens. It would've been nice to see it. Pity. He would probably be fired from his job. There was no way he could be a McDonald's cook in the situation he was in.

He heard footsteps enter the room. He tensed. Whenever he heard that sound, it meant Gabe was back. But Percy relaxed when he heard Annabeth's soothing voice.

"Boys, friends, Mom and Dad, Meet Percy Jackson. The one who sacrificed much for me."

Annabeth POV

My mind reeled from the news. How could Percy just lay around and take it?! But he made me swear, and I was normally true to bets. As I waited outside Percy's room I thought of all the things he had sacrificed, just for a girl who only spoke to him once.

Sight.

His Job.

His schoolwork.

Why? Selflessness, Annabeth thought. She had once openly insulted him for being a nerd once, when Rachel from the Evil Populars group tried to roll with us. She had brought up the conversation. Everyone had said their own thing about him. Thalia said nothing. Neither did Nico or Jason. That was another one of My Own Personal Mysteries of Life. Right next to Why Percy Jackson Did What He Did.

I heard footsteps and looked towards the sound. My family rounded the corner. No not just them. Thalia, Nico, Silena, Beckendorf, Jason, Piper and Leo.

"ANNABETH!"

A huge group hug enveloped me. My mom was kissing me all over. My dad held me tightly. Bobby and Matthew tugged on my shirt. Malcolm didn't join in on the hug. He just stood by the wall looking at me with an unnerving expression. I barely noticed though because Jason cleared his throat.

"Well, Annabeth. Do you mind if we meet the nice guy who gave up a lot for you?"

Annabeth bounced the idea around in her head. Maybe he would like that. He seemed more happy when she had thanked him. "Umm. Sure. Just be quiet around him. He's really shy."

I pulled them into the room. There we saw Percy. He was lying back and looking up at the ceiling, no, His face was just looking up at the ceiling.

"Boys, friends, Mom and Dad. Meet Percy Jackson. The boy who sacrificed much for me." We huddled around his bed and all my friends said hi. Thalia looked at me like "Him!?" The hi was wholehearted but then his breathing hitched. He started breathing quickly and short.

"What's wrong!"

"He's having a panic attack!" Malcolm screamed. Mom hit the buzzer and tried to get him to relax. She was a nurse for a short time and dealt with this sort of thing.

A doctor came in and told everyone to get out.

After a grueling five minutes of waiting and chewing finger nails off the doctor finally came out. I knew exactly why Percy had flipped out. This was one of the scenarios in his story. Gabe and the foster kids had surrounded his bed and beat him up. Unconscious or not.

"Well he had a panic attack, probably caused by so many people surrounding him at once. He has been through a heavy ordeal. He's unconscious now. You'll have to come back later."

Athena left the doctor with a phone number. Bobby finally whined "Annabeth!"

"What is it Bobby?" I asked, distracted. "Can we Play LEGO'S now."

Percy POV

I saw them. All of them. Vinnie, Gabe, Chad, Joe and Peter. They surrounded my bed and Restrained me to the bed. In the next hours of torture Percy only felt the cuts of knives, the punches of the cruel children and hear the evil laughter of them all. I struggled and after that was all done came the worst. I thought I had felt the worst. Then Gabe stabbed into him with no Mercy. He hadn't told this to Annabeth. He only kept it to himself. He would never forget. Never.

When he woke up he was in his bed. His broken leg hurt. He felt the sheets were off and probably on the floor. The T.V. Played a message. It sounded like they were talking about the car crash.

"Investigators are looking for whoever caused the crash. Only two were injured. A young girl name Annabeth Chase lost her vision due to glass piercing her eyes. A young man named Percy Jackson, who broke his leg due to the driver's reckless act, Became the only donor for Annabeth's problem. Reporters say that Annabeth is safely at home while Percy recovers from his injuries in hospital custody. We also have news that a dispatched reporter will give us a live interview with Mr. Jackson by tomorrow."

Oh no. Interviewers. Well at least he wouldn't see them. Maybe he could get an interview in the paper. He hoped so. Percy laid back and felt around on the bedside table. A glass of water, and… yes. The T.V .remote. He felt around and decided that this was the channel button. He hit the button and immediately the sound switched to the "How to Use your Remote Control" channel.

This is kind of easy, Percy thought.

He kept switching until he heard the sound of Peter Griffin.

"Oh. My god. Who, the hell cares!" I smiled at that. This isn't that bad.

He listened for about two episodes. A knock at his door made him almost jump.

"Come in!"

The door opened. Maybe it was the nurse. It was confirmed as the doctor when I heard the familiar voice of Apollo.

"Oh Percy! You're awake!"

"Yeah, I woke up a little while ago-"

"Giggity!" said Quagmire from the T.V.

I heard a snicker from Apollo and immediate silence when he turned off the tv.

"So. We did the math, and you should be able to go back to school tomorrow."

I smiled. "But there is your mode of transportation. The doctors say since your lack of vision, crutches wouldn't be usable." Apollo explained.

Percy could understand that. He could see himself running into random people and lockers. Then he would be more of a laughing stock.

"But then my twin sis, Artemis, suggested that we do a wheelchair, and someone could push you. Then when your leg is healed we go to the stick. Now who would push you? We called Mr chase, and he said Annabeth would be glad to do it. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes!" Percy said, more like screamed.

Percy could hear the smile on Apollo's face. "Alright then. So it's lights out now, and you should be getting to bed."

He heard footsteps from Apollo but a thought occurred to him.

"Apollo?"

"Yes son?"

"Uh, What happened today? I remember people walking in, then I remember being panicky, then I wake up here."

"You had a panic attack Percy. We don't know why, but those scars on your chest indicate something."

I froze. He saw them. He would find out. But there were no further words exchanged as he heard a *CLICK* and a door closing. Sleep time.

I leaned back and I drifted off to sleep.

Annabeth

I leaned on my bed while Thalia and Reyna got there sleeping bags rolled out. Sleepover. I don't know why but I felt weird after today. Maybe it was all that had happened. And all the scars on his arm. He either got cut or he… he cut himself. Thalia put in Perks of Being a Wallflower and turned off the lights.

We watched for half an hour before Thalia spoke something.

"Why do you think Jackson did what he did?"

Silence. Reyna spoke. "Maybe his mental stability isn't 'Up There'…"

Mental stability… Cuts… bruises…

Thalia spoke before I could say anything.

"I have a confession to make."

"Ooh gossip." Reyna said in her girly voice.

"Percy… He's well…. My cousin."

"WHAT!"

"If he's your cousin, why is he in foster care?! Couldn't your father adopt him?!" I hit her with a barrage of questions but she held her hand up. "My dad never liked my Uncle Poseidon. This was sort of a retribution."

"That's Horrible!"

"The same thing happened with Nico's dad."

"Nico is-"

"Yes."

That's horrid. No wonder he feels terrible. Silence reigned till the end of the movie.

"Night."

"Night."