Chapter 5

It's been a month since Rachel had that party, and I think we've grown closer. We talked a whole lot more now, and usually hung out after school. What really got me bothered is that Annabeth couldn't be separated from Luke. That boy that seemed to know everyone and everyone seemed to know him. I mean, yeah, he was a cool guy, but I don't like the idea of him and Annabeth being… together.

Winter came early that year. Rachel, Annabeth, Nico, Grover, Bianca, Juniper, and I were outside as the snow rained down. (The only reason Luke wasn't there with Annabeth was because he has stuff to do after school)It was snowing all day, and by the time school finished, there was about five inches. We decided to have a snowball fight.

Rachel and Nico took my side, while Grover, Bianca, and Juniper took Annabeth's side. Soon, it was like World War III at the park. We had built forts, large supply of snowball- everything. And we were completely soaked by the time it was over about an hour and a half after we finished– it was forfeit from both teams. Though, technically, my team won.

Bianca and I were cracking up as we lay in the snow after I hit her square in the face with a snowball. "Why don't we go to my house for hot chocolate?" Rachel asked after we calmed down.

Everyone agreed then we walked like penguins to Rachel's house. Where we spent the rest of the day drinking hot chocolate and watching movies. That was probably one of our best memories. And one of our saddest.

That night, Rachel's driver took us Annabeth, Nico, Bianca, and I home. Rachel was in the car, too. The car was a Range Rover, and a pretty new one at that. Rachel rode in the front while Bianca took a window set, I was beside her, then Annabeth had the other window seat, leaving me and Nico squished together.

The snow had started to mix with the rain, and it was heavy, the moon was hidden behind dark clouds, making it dark in the streets. We were listening to music, talking about the day, when the driver pulled over on a bridge leading to another part of town. We had an oil leak apparently, and the driver went to go check it out. Rachel turned the music up loud, and locked the locks until the driver was done for precaution.

She shouldn't have turned the music up so much. We couldn't hear, nor see, the driver banging on the door trying to warn us. He was trying to open the door, but didn't succeed. I was tickling Bianca, Nico was singing along to the song, and Annabeth bobbing her head up and down when we faintly heard Rachel shrieking.

Then I saw the headlights, coming our way. Hard rock blasted through the speakers as Rachel struggled to find the unlock button, and then it happened.

It was all a blur, though painfully slow. The car collided with ours, and we were pushed back from the sudden force. The car must have been going pretty fast because we were knocked out of our spot. The Range swerved and hit the side of the bridge, and toppled over onto its side. We were all hurt and screaming over the rock music, when another car smacked into ours and broke the cement from the bridge. Both cars went flying over the side of the bridge, falling into the street under it. Our car landed on its top and the music instantly shut off. The other car landed on ours and all I saw was blood and car parts everywhere.

My head throbbed; my arm was bent on an odd angle and exploding with pain. My face hurt. Someone was sobbing. Beside me, Nico was moaning in pain, Rachel and Bianca were out cold, and I couldn't see Annabeth, but I'm sure she was the one crying.

I fought back screaming from the pain, and then smelled… gas. The leak. The car could… "Everyone, we have to get out of this car!" I yelled, my voice hoarse and cracking, but we couldn't get out the car.

The door was completely crushed. Nico understood, and then kicked the front window open, it wasn't hard, and it was already broken. Nico went first; he took Rachel out with him. Then Annabeth went, though she looked incredibly pained. I went to take Bianca, but she woke, and started panicking. Her seatbelt wouldn't budge.

I heard yelling from outside, but I focused on getting Bianca out, though the pain in my arm was making me dizzy and light-headed, I felt like passing out. Nico crawled back in, then pushed me out of the way, and then fumbled with Bianca's belt. It felt as if my arm was completely ripped off. I bit my lip until I felt blood.

"You have to go!" She screamed, crying. "The car's going to explode and I'm stuck!"

"NO!" Nico and I yelled.

Finally, she slid out from the top, and then as we started crawling out painfully, Bianca cried out. Nico and I were out, when we noticed she couldn't move from her spot, her leg was messed up. By now, I didn't care that everyone saw me crying.

Then, the car on top caught fire. Gas led straight to the car Bianca was stuck in. It'll explode in seconds. Nico rushed back in to help Bianca, who was pushing him away because she, too, saw the fire. I yelled then pulled him back. He pushed me away then elbowed me in the nose. He was going back in just as the cars exploded. Nico and I flew back and hit the asphalt, and promptly passed out.

"-Saved your life. Please, Nico, please! You have to understand!" I heard someone say. I opened my eyes slightly, and then saw Annabeth and Nico arguing.

Annabeth saw me, and then rushed over, but I lost consciousness as soon she grabbed my hand.

Then next time I woke, my mom and my step-dad were speaking with someone in white. My mom was crying. I felt numb all over. I went to lean up; the doctor took a needle then put it to my neck. I slowly fell asleep.

"Annabeth, I think he's awake." Someone whispered.

I groaned, "He is!" I was immediately squished by a two pairs of arms. I groaned in pain and peeled my eyelids open. I was facing Rachel and Annabeth. Rachel looked awful. Her hair was up, but her face looked dirty and scarred. She wore baggy clothes and her eyes looked tired and had dark bags under them. Annabeth looked a mess. Her blond hair seemed darker, her gray eyes looked black and had smudged eyeliner and several bags under, she wore a ragged sweat shirt and her hand was bandaged, as was her head.

I leaned up, painfully. I noticed my whole arm was in pain and bandaged, and in a cast. I felt bandage around my stomach and around my head. I had stitches on my face. My nose hurt, too. "What happened?" I didn't recognize my own voice.

Rachel bit her scarred lip and looked Annabeth. "There was an accident. Our car was hit twice. Then… it blew up." Annabeth spoke. Then burst out crying. Rachel held her and cried as well.

I was lost. Clueless. Depressed. "Percy, Bianca… She… was in the car. When it… blew up. She's dead." Rachel said, beside sobs.

The whole world stopped, and then felt like it was turning way too fast. I couldn't think, I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't see. Flashes of the crash came back to me. Soon, I realized I, too, had tears going down my face. I quickly wiped them away with my un-hurt hand. Rachel and Annabeth enveloped be in a hug and cried. Bianca was like the sister I never had.

"How long was I out?" I asked. I didn't want to think about Bianca anymore.

Annabeth wiped her eyes furiously. "Three days. You t-took a bad blow to the head. Your arm is broken and has second degree burns all over, your s-stomach suffered burns, too, and y-your nose is b-broken." She stuttered. It pained me to see her like that.

I gulped. Nico. "What about Nico?" I asked.

"His hand is b-burned. He has a few stitched on the head, a-and his back is burned. He's in therapy." Annabeth muttered against my hospital shirt.

He's in therapy. Because his sister died? I felt sick. Then, doctors rushed in and ushered Rachel and Annabeth out. They took several tests. About an hour later, they finished and allowed my mother in. She hugged me tightly, I resisted groaning in pain. She attacked me with questions, not leaving me to answer any of them.

"Percy, I love you. You gave me such a scare. Never. Do. That. Again. You hear me!" She yelled then hugged me. I swung my legs around the bed. "Percy, I don't think you should-"

"Mom, I need to see someone. It's important." I muttered.

She protested as I stumbled out of the room. I spotted Rachel talking with a man in black, probably her father. Annabeth leaped up from a seat and hugged me, pushing me back a few feet.

"Ow." I muttered against her hair.

"Sorry…" She blushed and pulled away.

"Don't worry; it's a good kind of pain." I said.

She mustered up a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. She glanced down the hall, to Rachel who was glaring at the man. "Her father's freaking out." She said.

"I would be, too." I looked back at Annabeth. "Is Nico here?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, they just finished doing some test one him. He's still pretty… upset about the whole thing. At the funeral-"

"I missed the funeral?" I interrupted. She bit her lip and nodded. I cursed under my breath. "Can I see him?"

She shrugged then led me down the hallway. Rachel caught sight of us, and then glanced at her father. He nodded, and then she took my hand. "Percy, I'm sorry about everything. It was my entire fault. If I hadn't turned the music up so loud- "

"Rachel, it's alright." I said. "I just want to see how Nico is doing."

She nodded, and then her dad called her back. I continued down the hall with Annabeth. A few doors down, the room that wasn't lit up, was Nico's room. It was dark and a figure laid still the bed, face first. Nico's hair was messy; he wore sweats and no shirt. I could see bandage going around his whole upper body. He had headphones in; I could hear the music from where I stood.

Annabeth was gone and I stepped in. I turned the light on then heard a groan coming from Nico. "Turn the damn light off." He said, sounding muffled against his pillow. I leaned on the wall on my good arm. He groaned again, except angrier. He leaned up and took the headphones off. "I said- "

"Hey, Nico." I said as he stared at me.

"Jackson." He muttered. He looked awful. His skinner looked paler – if that was possible, his eyes were completely black, he had dark bags under his eyes, and his hand had thick bandages. He was avoid my eyes.

"How you doing?" I asked.

He shrugged. "You?"

"Eh." I shrugged.

"Sorry about your nose."

I faintly remembered him elbowing me in the nose after I tried stopping him from going to his death. "No problem. Listen, man, about Bia-"

"Percy, save it. Annabeth told me everything. If you hadn't pulled me away from that car, I would've died. But, you know what? I'd rather it be me in that car, not her." He said, bitterly.

"Nico! There was no way of stopping Bianca from… you know! You on the other hand, she wouldn't want you to die! It'll cause us twice the misery, both of you dying."

"Percy, you were next to her. You could've helped out of that freaking seatbelt. You could've-"

"Nico! Sure. I could've helped her, but the thing is, I couldn't. Don't blame me for her death, Nico! It wasn't anyone's fault! Except maybe the pricks who his us in the first damn place! I tried to help her, Nico, I really did. I could've left her in the car and saved myself from burning my whole arm! But, Ididn't! She was like my sister, Nico. Don't think you're the only one who cared about her. Don't think you're the only one hurting."

He stayed quiet for a few minutes. Then, Annabeth and Rachel came in. Rachel took my hand and squeezed it. Annabeth dragged us to Nico then made us all hug. "Excuse me?" Rachel's dad came into view. I realized he and Rachel looked a lot alike.

"Dad?" Rachel looked at him, annoyed.

"The drivers who hit you. The police found them."