Chapter Ten

An incessant beeping sound broke its way into my unconsciousness. It felt as though I was in a think fog and the beeps were the only thing making its way through to me. Never the less, I tried to wake up by wading through the fog.

I opened my blurry eyes a bit to see a bright light. A very, very bright light. I shut my eyes with a squeak. Then I heard voices. I wonder if I'm dead and am just in the 'tunnel'.

"Percy? Persephone? Are you waking up? If you are you better get on with it. Hades is going nuts without you." I know that voice. Hestia. Hestia Olympian. I opened my eyes a bit more this time.

"Thank goodness! Percy! Guys; Po, Hades, Hera, Mom, Demeter, Zeus! Persephone is waking up!" With that shout, everyone came pouring in. Hades ran to my side and clutched my hand like it was a lifeline. I smiled weakly. I am so tired…

I blacked out.

When I re-awoke, I was alone. Totally alone. The lights were dim. I turned my head and saw a window. But all I saw was my reflection. The rest was black. I tried to sit up but me abdomen protested the movement. I groaned before flopping back down.

A moment or so later, as I was moping at the lack of motion I was aloud, a nurse came in. She gave me a brief smile before filling me in.

"It's good to see you are awake, dear. You were pretty out of it for some time. Though you woke up once or twice when you were pretty drugged up. The last time you did that was Tuesday. It's now Thursday. Normally a stab victim like yourself would be patched up and ready to go in maybe a week. But you reacted to something and you were deceased for 45 seconds. That boyfriend of yours was mighty terrified." She gave another smile before leaving. I fell asleep a few minutes after.

The third time I woke up was at about ten am. This time, all the Olympians were here surrounding me. They all gave big grins to which I responded in kind.

And so I was caught up on everything that had happened. Cronus was sentenced to be executed next month. I had been in the hospital for two and a half weeks. They refused to tell me what I had but I figure that it was because they couldn't pronounce it. Ah, well.

The only time Hades and I got some one-on-one time was at lunch when the others when to the café to get crappy hospital sandwiches.

The first thing Hades did was kiss me. Gently and softly yet with an indescribable passion. It warmed my heart and made me feel complete. This was where I belonged. Not anywhere else but in Hades' arms. When we pulled apart we just smiled at each other and it felt like we were sharing a top secret joke.

Though, I suppose it is like that. Together we shared an experience that will never happen again. And only we experienced it. Not anyone else. And hopefully they never will. Some times these experiences of near death will bring you closer together while others will tear you apart.

And in that moment, with sunlight dancing on Hades' face, that he would always be the one.

And with that thought over and done with, I leaned in and kissed the love of my life with a smile on my face.

The End.