Paul

It was hard to have him like this. Duh, I know. But like, it was worrying.

He went to do something in his room and Sally got home not much later as I was just grading a few papers for my Advanced Comp class. It was interesting. They got to choose their own topics, it just had to be a informative paper.

"Hey, sweetie," Sally said as she put the bags down on the counter. It was just two of them and then milk. Nothing she couldn't handle on her own. "how were the kids today?"

"It's Monday," I remarked and she chuckled a little. "My first hour class was half asleep. And so were most of my classes until lunch."

"Of course," my wife figured as she put the milk in the fridge. "Is Percy in his room or did he go hang out with a friend or something?"

"No, he's just in his room," I assured her  as I put the paper down to help put away the groceries. "I don't... I know that Chiron technically doesn't want us bringing him to the doctor because he's like, a demigod and all and they have the infirmary but..."

"But...?" Sally asked. "Did something happen today?"

I sighed.

"I mean, nothing physical," I assured her. "He said he ate and what not so he's okay there but he just... Seemed off when I got home and I asked if he was doing alright and he said he was fine. Ate some lunch earlier, took a nap, had a nightmare, and then Leo stopped to visit for a little bit. I asked about the nightmare and he just said it was demigod stuff and..."

I paused.

"After that, I reminded that he can like, talk to me about demigod stuff," I explained to my wife. "I might not understand 100% of it, but I'll listen and try to give feedback. But he just... He said that he knew that we wanted him to like get better and talk about his problems but I don't... I'm not sure if he even knows what they are, Sally. And if he does, he sure as hell doesn't know how to talk about it. When I asked he just said that he was tired. He was exhausted. Mentally and emotionally. And I'm no psychiatrist or anything but..."

It was scary to think that on top of this, there might be another problem that won't just go away. But it's a possibility.

"Most of the 17 year olds in my classes don't have that problem." I insisted, putting some flour away. "it wouldn't hurt to set up an appointment for him just to make sure that he's not dealing with anxiety or anything like that. When the last time he was checked?"

Sally thought about it.

"The summer before he went to camp," she told me. "He used to get checked every summer after he was diagnosed with the ADHD but... Then he went to camp. And I've thought about it but Chiron it feels like can read my mind. Every time I think about making an appointment he sends out a reminder to like, not. But yeah, it would be good, especially if camp isn't doing it."

•••

Sally Blofis

Paul called the hospital as I went to make sure my son wasn't feeling too bad about anything.

Percy was just laying in bed, and he did look tired. Just going between sketching and looking at his phone. Probably looking at a reference? Who knows.

"Hey, sweetie," I said as I knocked on his door, which was open as I peeked in my head in. Earned his attention. "Can I come in?"

Nodding his head, Percy sat up a bit as I walked in and sat down at the edge of his bed sort of next to him.

"What's uh...  what's up?"

"Just got home," I answered his question as he moved forward a bit too actually sit next to me, which meant I pulled him into a side hug. "are you feeling alright? Paul said that you seemed a little off when he got home, said you were tired."

Percy shrugged.

"I mean, yeah, I'm tired," my only child confirmed as he leaned into my touch, which made me smile. "But I've been tired like all summer and until now, so it's not like it's anything new but..."

"Yeah," he figured. "I'm just tired."

Rubbing his back a little, I figured I'd bring it up.

"Do you want me to make an appointment or anything?" I asked Percy being he hasn't been to a proper not demigod in training doctor in years. And they're super good with most things, but they ignore a lot of mental stuff, and it's dumb.

Percy shrugged.

"It's not they're doing mental stuff, mom, I don't think that like..."

"With Dr. Meijer," I clarified. "Not with camp. I know camp won't check anything like that because we haven't gotten updated forms for you ADHD since before you started there. If anything else, it'd be good to know where your ADHD stands."

After thinking for a moment, probably trying to remember who Dr. Meijer was, he nodded.

Telling him I'd be back in a few, I called the hospital and firstly asked of Meijer still worked there and he does, and then I asked for times he was available. For a check up, mental and physical. He's been seeing different doctors of the years but he's overdue for a mental check up.

So we could either go in for an appointment and leave in 10 minutes, or wait two and half weeks.

Walking back to Percy's room, I peaked in and he looked over, knowing I www going to say something.

"So they have an appointment for 4:30," I told him, being it's 4:00 right now. "or they have one in two and a half weeks and it's pretty open after that."

Percy looked at the clock.

"I'd like to not wait two weeks. If you're okay with that."

Smiling, I told him to get ready then and I told the lady we'll take the appointment and she put us down and we got ready to go. They normally take like two hours, maybe three, so Paul was staying home to start dinner so then I could come home and finish it if need be.

Paul can cook, so I'm not too worried about it. As much as I love to cook and bake, I wouldn't marry a man who couldn't at least learn how to cook something more than spaghetti.

Luckily, Dr. Meijer is a demigod himself. It was why I picked him when Percy was little. He was pretty fresh out of college but he had like two years of experience with kids and he's a demigod. Son of Apollo. Demigod doctors have this little code they put on their files so parents know if they're a demigod or not and Poseidon gave me the code when he found out I was pregnant. It was nice.

And then Chiron told us not to send our kids to the hospital outside of camp. Especially if you live in the city.

Parking at the hospital, Percy looked a bit nervous, though. Which, he was never afraid of hospitals as a kid when he was in them, but going in was rough sometimes.

"Hey, it's going to he alright," I assured my oldest and only son, giving his shoulder a little squeeze. "Mr. Meijer is a demigod so you don't have to limit yourself, okay?"

Percy nodded his head, looking tired, a little anxious, but also a tiny bit glad to be here.

Walking in, we got him checked in and they said he'd be out any minute. So we sat down and I figured I'd ask. He's 17 now, not 7 or anything like that.

"Do you want me to go in with you?" I mentioned.

"Um..." Percy said as I sat his doctor come out through the hall doors. "No, I think I'll be okay on my own."

They called for his name and I gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Just breathe, alright?"