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Ben woke up in the infirmary. The first thing that caught his attention through the haze of sleep and exhaustion was the bright LED lights hanging from the ceiling. The next thing he registered was Niles Gibbs, one of the Apollo kids and Ben’s friend, hovering over him. Niles’ brown hair had a white halo around it thanks to the lights, and a bloody bandage was wrapped around his upper arm.
The next thing that hit him was the pain. It bloomed from his right thigh, and it came so suddenly that Ben nearly screamed as his eyes screwed shut.
”Holy shit!”
”I know, Ben, I know. I’m sorry, but you need to stay as still as possible or you’ll only make it worse.”
”Make what worse?” Ben snapped. He opened his eyes and turned to Niles, whose now-panicked facial features took on a note of pity. That was never a good sign from a child of Apollo.
”Your… your leg…”
”Yeah, it hurts. What’s wrong with it?”
”It’s gone, Ben.” Ben turned to find Timmy standing on the other side of the bed. He hadn’t noticed his presence before, but he was instantly grateful for it as Timmy reached out to take one of his hands.
”What do you mean-” Ben cut himself off as memories came back to him. There had been a monster sneaking up on Patty, and Ben had stepped in only to have one of the monster’s claws slice through his leg. He must have fainted, because the last thing he remembered was Patty stepping over him to slash at the monster with his sword.
”The cut was way too deep to fix. It was already mostly severed, so we went ahead and amputated it while you were knocked out. I’m so sorry.”
”Patty. Where’s— Where’s Patty?” Ben croaked out.
”I don’t know. He brought you up here, but then he went back out to fight again. The battle’s still going on, but he hasn’t been brought to the infirmary yet, so I assume he’s probably okay,” Niles answered.
”I need to-”
”What you need is to stay still as much as possible. If Patty comes in, I’ll let you know, but you better stay right there.” Niles fixed Ben with a stern glare, and if Ben hadn’t been lying in a hospital bed and missing a leg it would have been like getting glared at by a tiny kitten.
”I’ll stay with him,” Timmy volunteered. Niles looked up and nodded at him before leaving to go check on a bundle of blankets that Ben could only assume was another patient.
”There’s one good thing that came out of this, at least,” Timmy said. At Ben’s curious stare, Timmy grinned and lifted up his left leg. The metal underneath the leg of his skinny jeans glittered in the shitty infirmary lights, and Ben frowned at the prosthetic being shoved in his face.
Timmy had lost his leg years ago, right before he had been brought to camp. Ben hadn’t known him personally back then, but he did remember hearing something about him being attacked by a monster (Ben still didn’t know which kind) on his way home from school, and he was brought to camp to keep him safe while he healed.
”We’re a matching set now. Like salt and pepper shakers! You’re the salt, and I’m the pepper!”
”You can barely even handle pepper on your eggs, tough guy,” Ben joked. His leg was still in a tremendous amount of pain, but he smiled weakly as Timmy’s laugh reverberated around the nearly full-to-bursting room.
’Maybe I’ll be alright, he thought as he slipped into unconsciousness.
”Come on, we’re almost there,” Foley muttered. Ali huffed out another breath, his arm wrapped securely around Foley’s shoulders as they walked. Ali’s bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt was balled up and pressed to the gash on his forehead. Patty was right behind them, watching to make sure they made it there safely. He had a large gash in his chest from a monster’s claws, and his own shirt was slowly turning red with his blood, but he had insisted on fighting until the end of the battle.
Several Apollo children rushed past them in the opposite direction, probably to attend to the demigods still out on the battlefield now that the actual battle was over, but the trio kept pushing on until they reached the infirmary doors.
The first thing that greeted them was a mass of wounded demigods. It was usually like this after a battle, but Patty still had yet to get used to seeing so many wounded campers at once. He did a quick sweep of the room, but his eyes lingered on one bed in particular.
Ben looked like he was already laying in his coffin. He was stretched out on a cot, eyes closed and chest barely moving with each breath. With a sinking stomach Patty realized that the majority of his right leg was missing.
”Oh, gods…” Ali muttered next to him. Patty barely heard him.
As Patty moved to approach Ben’s bed, he noticed that Timmy, Ben’s half-brother, was already sitting at Ben’s side, both hands clasped around one of Ben’s pale ones. Timmy looked up at Patty, and Patty knew that whatever he had to say wasn’t going to be good.
”He’s been asleep for a few hours. Niles gave him some ambrosia, but it’s still too early to tell if he’ll make it.”
Patty didn’t respond verbally, but he did reach out and take Ben’s other hand in his. Ben’s skin was cold and clammy, but at Patty’s touch his eyes slowly flickered open.
”Patty?”
”Hey, Ben.”
”Is the battle over?”
”Yeah, it is. We won.” Ben smiled, but he frowned when he saw the blood on Patty’s shirt.
”You’re bleeding.”
”It’s just a scratch, I’m fine.”
”Patty-”
”Ben, I’m fine. I promise.” They both knew it was a lie, but Ben let the conversation drop anyway. Patty squeezed Ben’s hand and smiled when Ben tried to squeeze his hand back. Eventually Ben drifted off again, and Niles had to pry Patty away from his sleeping form to examine the cut in his stomach. Patty didn’t take his eyes off of Ben the entire time, though.
Ben didn’t set foot outside of the infirmary for a month and a half. When he did finally get the “OK” from Niles and the other Apollo kids to walk outside he found himself blinking into the harsh sunlight and coughing at the now-unfamiliar fresh air. Patty’s arm was wrapped around his waist to keep him from falling as they stepped off of the porch. Timmy was hovering behind them, holding Ben’s crutches for when he was ready to let go of Patty.
After taking a few tentative steps on his new leg, Ben felt confident enough to reach out for the crutches. Patty and Timmy helped get him situated before stepping back and letting Ben venture out on his own. He hopped around for a few moments, the smile on his face infectious, but one wrong step sent him sprawling into the grass. Instantly Patty was by his side and helping him stand again, but he could do nothing to stop the tears from rolling off of Ben’s cheeks.
”Ben, it’s alright, you’ll be able to walk on your own eventually.”
”It’s been almost two months, Patty.”
”Healing takes time. You’ll get there. Now come on, let’s get you back inside.”
The next battle came almost a month later. It wasn’t a big one, so not every demigod was asked to fight, but Ben still felt useless as he sat in the Aphrodite cabin and watched his friends go off to fight. He caught sight of Ali running past the cabin window, the scar on his forehead covered up by his helmet.
At least he wasn’t still cooped up in the infirmary. Niles has dismissed him about a week ago, since he had proven himself able to get around on crutches fairly easily. He always had somebody close to him, whether it was Timmy, Patty, or one of his other friends, but he was mostly able to move by himself. Still, he was banned from battle or anything involving physical labor until further notice, and he was not happy about that.
”Hey.”
Ben turned to see Timmy sitting on his own bed across the cabin. His half-brother hadn’t put on his prosthetic leg yet, and Ben eyed the metal limb with muted jealousy. He knew he shouldn’t envy Timmy for being able to walk— he was glad Timmy had figured out how to use his fake leg— but Ben still felt his stomach twinge with envy.
”Hey,” Timmy repeated. “You’ll be out there soon.”
”Not soon enough,” Ben grumbled. “I hate being stuck in here.”
”So do I, but you don’t see me complaining, do you?”
Ben didn’t answer, and Timmy sighed.
”Do you just wanna play Battleship instead?”
Once they could hear the victorious cheers of the other demigods, Ben and Timmy put their game away and hobbled as quickly as they could between their two working legs. Ben caught sight of Ali and Foley cheering along with the rest of the group, but he couldn’t see Patty anywhere. The two sons of Aphrodite hung back from the crowd until Foley caught Ben’s eye and dragged himself and Ali out of the celebration.
”Where’s Patty?” was the first thing Ben said to them. Instantly his friends’ faces fell.
”He’s in the infirmary. His arm-”
Ben didn’t bother listening to the rest as he started making his way towards the Big House. The three other demigods easily caught up to him, but he didn’t listen to them telling him to stop. He needed to see Patty.
Niles was waiting for them when they reached the main infirmary door. His expression was neutral, but Ben could already tell that whatever he had to say wasn’t good news.
”What happened?” Ben asked.
”A monster was going after the cabins, and Patty stopped it, but another monster snuck up behind him and managed to tear up his arm pretty badly. We had to amputate it; the monster literally cut through most of his bones and muscles. There was no way we could have been able to reattach it. He’s resting now, but I wouldn’t crowd him all at once.”
Niles stepped aside to let Ben and the others through, and Ben’s eyes immediately went to the only filled bed in the room. Patty’s already-pale skin was even paler, and he was laying on his side with his back facing the doorway. Ben’s heart broke when he caught sight of the stump that resided where Patty’s left forearm used to be. Thankfully Patty was right-handed, so the swordsmanship skills that he was so proud of wouldn’t be too affected, but Ben knew the pain of missing a limb all too well, and he didn’t want Patty to have to go through what he was currently dealing with.
Patty must have still been asleep, because he only stirred when Ben touched his shoulder.
”Ben?”
”Yeah, it’s me.”
Ben moved to sit in the chair next to the bed, and he let his crutches fall the the ground as Patty’s good hand reached out to grab at his own hands.
”Gods, now I know how you felt when I lost my leg. This feels awful, and I’m not even the one who’s hurt.”
Patty let out a weak laugh, and Ben’s chest fluttered weakly at the sound.
”Hey, at least I returned the favor I owed you.” When Ben raised an eyebrow at Patty, his friend’s smile only widened. “The monster was headed for the Aphrodite cabin. I stopped it before it could reach you and Timmy. You sacrificed one of your limbs for me; it’s about time I did the same for you.”
Fuck. Niles had told them that Patty had gone after a monster headed towards the cabin, but Ben hadn’t realized how close he and Timmy had come to being attacked until he heard Patty speak.
”That wasn’t a favor that you had to return, you fucking dumbass. Timmy and I could have taken it,” Ben said. “I don’t… You don’t need to keep me safe, Patty, not if it costs you your own safety.”
”Ben, respectfully, I would give up my life to make sure you were safe, and I know you’d do the same for me, so don’t give me that shit.”
”I just don’t want to lose you.”
”You won’t, dumbass. Even if I die, I’ll come back and haunt you as a ghost. I’m pretty sure my dad can swing that.”
”This isn’t a joke, Patty.”
At Ben’s serious tone, Patty’s smile went away again. “I know that, Ben. You’re not going to lose me.”
Ben didn’t realize he was crying until Patty’s hand let go to reach up and wipe away tears from his cheeks. Patty’s hand ended up flush against the side of Ben’s face, and Ben pushed further into his friend’s touch.
”I wish I had both hands so I could squish your face,” Patty laughed after a few moments of heavy silence. Ben laughed too, and he turned to kiss the palm of Patty’s good hand before his mind had fully realized what it was doing. Both boys froze, and Ben immediately pulled away from Patty’s touch.
”Uh… Sorry.”
”Don’t be,” Patty whispered. Before Ben could say anything else, the rest of their friends moved in to crowd around Patty’s bed. They must have been waiting for their turn to see their injured friend, and Ben felt bad about hogging all of Patty’s time when the rest of the group was obviously as worried as he was. He inched away as Foley moved to examine Patty’s new stump.
Until they left the infirmary, Ben could feel Patty’s eyes on him, but he pointedly didn’t look back.
When Patty was healed up enough to return to his own cabin, Ben went to visit him. Being one of the children of the “Big Three” meant that Patty didn’t have any siblings, half or full, to share his cabin with. Chiron usually chose to let the rules be broken when it came to table and cabin placements in regards to Patty and his cousins, though, so Ben wasn’t really surprised to see Cody, Jon, Awsten, and Geoff in Patty’s cabin, all sitting on spare beds made up with their bedding. They must be planning on having a sleepover or something. Awsten definitely wasn’t a child of the Big Three, but he had probably given up following rules a long time ago, so Ben didn’t really feel the need to mention it.
”Ben!” Cody yelled. “Welcome! We were just about to vote on the method of your demise.”
”Oh, can I have a say?” Ben asked.
”No.”
”Aw, but I wanted to die surrounded by cute boys,” Ben fake pouted. Everyone laughed, except for Patty.
”Did you bring the supplies?” Awsten asked once the laughter had died down. Ben nodded, then plopped down on Patty’s bed to untie the knot at the bottom of one leg of his pants. He had opted not to wear his prosthetic leg that day, and had instead used the empty space in his jeans to smuggle in a two-liter of soda. Awsten crowed in delight as Ben passed the bottle to Cody. Suddenly, Patty shot his cousin a look, and Cody seemed to get the message and coughed.
”Uh, hey guys, let’s go get cups and stuff from my cabin, yeah?”
”But we have c-” Jon cut himself off when he saw the look on both his half-brother’s and cousins’ faces. “Oh, right, yeah, let’s go. I think I have some chips under my bed, too.”
Soon everyone was on their way out, and Ben tried to get up to follow them but Patty grabbed his arm. Ben was forced to look at Patty, and he noticed how sick he looked. He was obviously on the mend, and he looked better than when Ben had first seen him, but he still looked like a slight wind could blow him over. His arm stump was still bandaged, but it had stopped bleeding weeks ago, and from what Timmy had told him Patty was slowly readjusting to life with one arm.
”We need to talk,” Patty said.
”About…?” Ben tried acting clueless, but Patty rolled his eyes, and Ben knew he wasn’t very convincing.
”About what happened in the infirmary? About how you’ve been avoiding me since then?”
”Yeah, uh, about that—”
”Aren’t you an Aphrodite kid? Aren’t you guys supposed to be good at feelings or something?”
”What?”
”You go and kiss me— not even kiss me, you kiss my fucking hand like some sappy lunatic— and I thought, y’know, maybe he likes me back, but then you don’t even come see me, and I thought you knew how I felt so— so it really hurt when you didn’t visit, and I thought I had messed everything up, Ben, and if you don’t like me back then you can just say so, don’t try and spare my feelings or anything, okay?”
Oh. Ben was an idiot.
”I’m an idiot.”
”I’ll say so,” Patty huffed. He looked upset and hurt and so vulnerable, so Ben did the only thing his mind came up with in terms of solutions and grabbed the front of Patty’s shirt to drag him in for a kiss. Patty made a surprised sound as their lips met, but he didn’t punch Ben, so Ben counted it as a win.
Later, when Timmy asked about the kiss, Ben tried to recall what the kiss had tasted like, but honestly it had just tasted like mouth. He could describe in detail, though, how Patty had seemed to melt in his hands, or how his skin felt like it was on fire where it touched Patty’s, or how his lips had felt numb and tingly for hours afterwards.
He also remembered how Cody had walked in on them some time later, and he doesn’t think poor Cody will forget it either.