Dream. Apollo’s right. Nothing hurts when I’m asleep.
* * *
“How are you feeling Edith?”
I don’t recognize the voice. Is she the one holding my hand? I still can’t find my voice or open my eyes. Maybe I don’t want to. I’m scared of what I’ll find if I do.
* * *
“Why isn’t she awake yet?” Apollo’s words are so visceral, so laden with emotion that my throat clogs.
I want to reach out to him, to comfort him, but everything’s so damn heavy. I’m so fucking tired.
“The doctor said it would take some time,hermanito.” Athena sounds so tender with him. It’s a far cry from their usual bantering back and forth or her threatening to kill him. “Be patient. She’ll wake up when she’s ready. She needs to rest, to heal.”
Someone sniffs. My gut says it’s Apollo. I don’t know what to do with that. I’ve never seen him cry. We’ve been friends since we wore diapers, and I’ve never once seen him lose control. I’ve never once seen him bested by his emotions.
I think he’s crying for me. It must be bad but I’m not ready to find out.
* * *
“Apollo?” My voice is croaky. The room is dark. The hum of machines fills the air, and someone’s here, bustling around my bed.
“He went to get something to eat, hun. He’ll be right back. Your boyfriend hasn’t left your side since you were brought in.”
I could have guessed that he wouldn’t leave me without telling me, but it still makes me warm inside. It’s who and what we are. Ride or die. Found family. He’s my person. An act of a god I don’t believe in couldn’t pull me from his side if it was him in this bed, and in my heart of hearts, it’s the same for him. He’s literally the best. But he’s not my boyfriend.
“He’s such a sweet boy.”
Is she talking about the same Apollo? Grumpy, smoldering, acerbic wit? Perhaps she got him confused with Artemis. He’s the sweet one. He’s the one everyonethinksis grumpy but once you talk to him you realize he’s actually kind of adorable.
Apollo, sweet? Maybe I woke up in a parallel universe. Maybe in this multiverse, Apollo’s not a cantankerous shithead.
“Humph.” It’s the only answer I can manage.
“That boy loves you.”
I love him, too. He’s the bestest best friend and chosen brother a girl could ask for. I hope he’s okay, but I’m too tired to ask.
* * *
Pain.
Pure unadulterated agony searing through my veins, my bones, my teeth... even my skin hurts. Why does everything hurt so much?
My eyes snap open, taking a second to adjust to the harsh, fluorescent lighting in the hospital room. “It hurts.” I claw at the hand holding mine, my voice coming out scratchy and broken.
“She’s awake.”
I don’t recognize the voice, but I want to yell at him to shut the hell up, my head hurts. Why is everything so damn loud?
“They dialed back your pain meds.” Apollo soothes me with both his voice and his hand stroking mine. I can’t bring myself to look at him yet. I’m too scared of what I might see when I do.
“Wh-what happened?” My mouth still feels funny, like my tongue is too big for the space it’s in. I try to swallow, again and again, but it doesn’t help.
Apollo’s hand leaves mine, and he stands. It’s only when he presents me with a cup of water and a bendy straw that I finally meet his eyes. “Small sips.”
Bossy fucker. I’m almost tempted not to drink just to spite him, but my lips are so chapped and dry it feels like I swallowed sandpaper. Or regular sand. All of it. All of the sand in the whole world.
