Nico knew something was off when he approached his cabin. The door was slightly ajar and light spilled out onto the landing in the early dusk. His hand touched the cool hilt of his Stygian sword as a wave of uneasiness traveled through his bones. Pressing his ear against the crack in the door, he listened to the sounds of someone shuffling around his cabin. They were probably trying to ransack the place by the sounds of it. 

He took a step toward the shadows that drifted lazily away from his cabin from the slowly setting sun. His eyes closed tightly as he felt his entire being melt into the shadows; he became one with them and allowed himself to be guided by darkness. It wasn't that hard, though. He had lived most of his life in the shadows.

When he appeared inside Hades Cabin, he immediately drew his sword from his sheath and stalked into the center of the room. The door to his bathroom was completely open, allowing the light to shine through to the dark room. All his clothes were scattered on the ground around his bed. 

A shaft of light shone down on his bed, illuminating the figure underneath his covers. Dark hair spilled around the head of his girlfriend, Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, who was sleeping in his bed. He hadn't even realized that she had come to Camp Half-Blood. And why had she made his room look like World War 3?

"Reyna?" Nico whispered. He bent down and brushed her wild hair out of her face. With a frown, he touched her forehead again. It was burning up. If he had some marshmallows on him, he probably would have been able to roast it because her forehead was so hot. "Reyna, wake up."

Her eyes flashed open, and before he knew it, she had him pressed against the wall with a knife against his throat. Recognition lit up her dazzling yet red-rimmed eyes, though, so she took the knife away from him. 

"It's just you," she said. Her voice sounded very nasally, which was definitely strange. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"I could say the same thing to you." Nico watched as Reyna stumbled back over to his bed. She sat down on the mattress with a loud sigh. "What's wrong with you?"

"That's a great thing to say to your girlfriend that you haven't seen in two months."

"Yes, sorry." He paused. She was swaying back and forth as she sat there staring at him. There was something wrong with her, but she obviously wouldn't tell him what was wrong. "It's so good to see you, Reyna. Now, tell me what's wrong with you."

"I think I have a cold," she explained with a nod. "That's all."

"You're burning up. Colds don't usually give you a fever."

She narrowed her eyes, saying, "I only have a cold. I cannot be sick."

Nico saw the daggers in her eyes, so he just nodded. He took a couple of steps forward, placing the back of his hand on her forehead again. He frowned, saying, "Have you taken anything for your cold?"

"Who do you think I am, Nico?"

"Right." Nico sat down on the edge of the bed next to Reyna with a soft sigh. Both of them were pretty stubborn when it came to taking care of themselves, and he knew that. He just wished that she cared about herself like he cared about her. "I'm pretty sure I have some ambrosia in the bathroom. Do you want to take that?"

"No. I'm fine. Seriously."

"Yeah, I don't believe you."

Reyna glared at him. It usually would have looked more imposing, but with the red blossoming on her cheeks and neck, she just looked sick. It was pitiful, really. His strong girlfriend that could kill him with a flick of her wrist was taken down by a cold or whatever else she had that made her look terrible.

"Will you just get under the covers? You're shivering," he said to her. 

"That sounds nice."

He stood up and pulled the covers over her body. She looked so small under the blankets that a pang of fear hit him. This girl here was all that he had left in his life. He didn't want her to be any sicker than she was. However, he knew that she wouldn't tell him everything that was wrong with her, so he devised a plan to stuff some ambrosia in her mouth and force feed her while she was sleeping. That way, she would be happy and healthy in a couple of days.

In theory, that plan sounded perfect. She would wake up and just start chewing before she even knew what he was doing and then she would be healthy. In reality, it was a disaster.

As Nico approached the sleeping girl, he grinned to himself. This plan would work out so well, and he was already congratulating himself on each step he took toward Reyna. When he got close to her, he reached out and slowly opened her mouth. A soft snore erupted from her open mouth, and the air hit his face. It smelled a little strange, like she was actually sick. His mother used to tell him that she knew he was sick based on the smell of his breath. Was this what she was talking about? He wasn't sure, but he was glad that her wisdom was still guiding his life even though she was gone.

He slipped a small piece of the ambrosia in her mouth and quickly shut it with his other hand. He wasn't really sure how she was supposed to chew it since she was sleeping, but he thought that she would be fine. She wasn't. 

Nico's eyes widened when he saw her start to choke on the piece of ambrosia. Reyna woke up with fear in her eyes as she began coughing hard. He helped her sit up, and he slapped his hand against her back hard so that she would be fine. That just made her cough harder, though. 

"Do I need to do the Heimlich?" Nico asked her quickly.

She shook her head. "Water."

"Yes! Water." Nico ran to the bathroom and grabbed the cup he kept in there just in case he got thirsty at night and filled it up with water as quickly as he could. When he got back in his room, he presented her the cup. "Here's your water."

Reyna downed the cup of water as fast as she could. Thank goodness that she stopped coughing. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he accidentally choked her to death because of some ambrosia. 

"What in the world were you thinking?" she asked him angrily. Her voice sounded so strained.

"I wanted to make you feel better!"

"You made me feel worse."

"I'm sorry."

She sighed and ran a hand through her wild hair. "Okay, fine, I am sick," she said softly. "I've been drowning in tissues back at Camp Jupiter, and I thought that if I came here, I'd feel better after seeing you."

"You obviously don't."

"No." Reyna shook her head. "It didn't help that I traveled all day and night to get here in the middle of a rain storm."

Nico shook his head but let out a soft laugh. "You're ridiculous."

"I know I am," she said with a small smile on her face. "But I don't have the strength to go back to Camp Jupiter, so I have to stay here until I get better. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course it is. I'll nurse you back to health."

"Thank you, Nurse Nico."

The two of them shared a smile together. "You're welcome."

---

After a few days of taking care of Reyna, she finally got better enough to show her face to the other campers. She still had a small cough, but otherwise, she was fine. Nico, on the other hand, felt awful. His throat was so dry and aching worse than anything else he had ever felt before. For some reason, there was so much mucus in his nose that he couldn't stop blowing it into the tissues that littered his floor.

When he woke up earlier this morning, he knew that he had caught whatever Reyna had. He could barely breath through his nose because of the immense amount of mucus in there. However, he couldn't tell her that she had gotten him sick because she was already gone by the time he woke up.

Nico pulled his jacket over his quaking shoulders, hoping that would keep him warm as he made his way outside. As he reached the door, it swung open in front of him, revealing Reyna standing there. She had a new box of tissues in one hand while the other held a paper bag filled with ambrosia. She must have known that he was sick before he did.

"I will murder you for getting me sick," he announced to her as she stepped into the cabin. "I promise you that."

"Let's see you try," Reyna said in a teasing tone. The light in her eyes danced as she gazed at him.

"When I get better, obviously."

"Well, until then, I will take care of you. Just know that I won't go easy on you like you did for me."

Nico glared up at her but was interrupted by a coughing fit. She rested her hand against his back gently, forcing all the anger in his body to dissipate. Of course he wouldn't kill her; she was his girlfriend and he loved her more than anything else in this world. No matter how much he didn't like being sick, he would be a good patient and allow her to baby him. He missed her more than she knew, and this was a good way to keep her with him for longer than a few days.

"Fine," he said. Nico didn't sound as upset as he should have. "You can take care of me."

"Good." She took him by the arm and led him over to his bed. The covers looked all neat since he had everything washed after Reyna started feeling better. "Now, let's get you to bed, okay?"

"Okay."

She tucked the covers around him just like his mother used to do. He smiled softly up at her as she said, "Goodnight, my little Nico."

"Goodnight, Reyna."