TERRIFIED . . . annabeth chase

twenty four.

"JASON WILL BE fine," Val assured Piper, her voice edging on frustration.

Because, gods, she could understand why Drew hated Piper now. "When would Jason be better?" "Will he wake up?" "Do something useful, Val!" Like. Come on. Val wasn't Will, but she knew how to patch up someone enough.

And, besides, Val was also shot with an arrow, and she was healing Piper's boyfriend now. Even though she hadn't told anyone that she was shot, the least Piper could do was let her work so she could, oh, I don't know, get her boyfriend to be better?

"Are you sure?" Piper asked, for the, like, fiftieth time. Val was fuming. Percy, who was standing off to the side, probably noticed it, and she didn't get angry often enough for him to know her angry face.

"He'll just be unconscious for a couple hours," Val threw the bandages toward Percy's direction. She really hoped that he'd caught them as she examined Jason's aura. She didn't hear the bandages crash to the floor, so she figured she was good. "But he will be fine. Seriously, I can see his aura. He's further to death than I am."

"Why do you make those jokes?" Piper frowned, and Val kept her mouth shut as she leaned against the counter, looking for nothing, just so she didn't have to look at either of the people in the room. "That you're so close to death? You know you could tell them that you love them, and the curse would be gone."

Val stiffened. "Do you really think it's that simple? Just because you're the daughter of Aphrodite doesn't mean that it's simple for everyone. Look at me. I have most of the gods at my feet because of this. Because they know that I can't tell them that I love them. And if that's the reason why you have a problem with me, then get off my case. It was your mother that gave me this anyway."

"Is that why you hate me? Because she gave you this?"

"I don't hate anyone," Val gritted her teeth. The lines were blurred whether or not she hated Aphrodite. "But I dislike you because you proceeded to insult my best friend and I in about five seconds."

Piper's lip curled. "I didn't do that!"

Liar. Val didn't have that good of a memory, but she remembered that day.

"Oh, so you don't remember the part where you told me that I broke Annabeth's heart because I went around the globe because I will die in August and I wanted to, while she went to rebuild Olympus and go to school because she wanted to? Remember when you called me nice then said "how does someone like you become friends with Drew?", then said that I wasn't nice for making Annabeth worry about me?" Val snapped, and Piper shut her mouth.

"Val . . ." Percy frowned, and Val had forgotten that he was there. Her fists clenched around the countertop, turning white, before she started grabbing medical supplies to bandage where she'd gotten shot.

"Call Annabeth down here to check my work," Val said, her voice even. "Since she obviously don't trust what Will taught me. I have to heal up my own wounds."

Val grabbed the stuff she needed and swiveled her way out of there, going up the stairs to her room when someone grabbed her arm.

"Hey, you okay?" Percy frowned up at her, and her back throbbed, but she turned toward him anyway.

"Yeah," she said. Lies. Maybe she wasn't as different as Piper, after all. "Of course. Why?"

"That was an intense conversation," he said. "Just looking out for you. We're friends, Val."

Her chest hurt, but she swallowed it down. "I know. Thank you. But I really need to patch this up, it hurts."

Percy frowned. "What happened?"