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Leo Valdez felt awful. He had been fine when he woke up on Monday morning, but as the day wore on, his head and throat had begun to hurt, and he had begun to cough. He had work to do. He was in the process of building the Argo II. And besides, he almost never got sick. Surely, it would be gone in the morning. And even if it wasn't gone, it wasn't too bad. So he ignored it.
On Tuesday, when he rose from his bed after a night of very little sleep, (which was not unusual for him), he was relieved to find the headache gone, but annoyed that the cough and the sore throat were worse than they had been the day before.
"Are you alright, Leo?" Nyssa asked at breakfast.
"I'm fine, Nyssa," Leo told her.
Nyssa looked unconvinced. "You're drinking tea. You never drink tea."
"I'm allowed to try something different every once in a while," said Leo.
Now it was Wednesday, and another annoying symptom had made its appearance. He was sneezing and sniffling constantly. He could no longer hide the fact that he was sick.
"I can't taste anything," he complained to Nyssa at lunch. She gave him a sympathetic look.
That night at dinner, she saw that he looked absolutely exhausted. "You should skip the campfire tonight and go rest," she suggested.
His quick agreement showed how tired he truly was.
On Thursday, all he really wanted to do was stay in bed and sleep, (or try to) but the building of the Argo II had to stay on schedule! And he was the leader. It was his project. He had to be there. So he struggled through in a daze until lunchtime. He wasn't hungry in the slightest, but he ate a little to keep up appearances. When lunch was over, he stood up from the table and was immediately hit by a wave of dizziness.
I'm fine, he thought. It'll pass in a moment. But it didn't. His vision was growing dark. He was forced to grab on to the table to stay upright. He couldn't see! Why couldn't he see?
Nyssa was looking at him in concern. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"Dizzy", he managed. Nyssa was saying something more, but the words seemed muffled, far away. He collapsed, then, but Nyssa caught him in her strong arms before he could hit his head on the stone table. She sat on the bench, setting him down beside her, and supporting him so he stayed upright. After a few moments, he stirred and opened his eyes, but Nyssa could tell by their unfocused look that he wasn't seeing properly. She could see that he was a bit disoriented and was beginning to panic at being restrained and being dizzy and not being able to see.
"Hey, it's okay, you're okay, I've got you, you're okay," she said in the calmest voice she could muster. Gradually, he seemed to calm. His eyes came back into focus. He seemed like he could sit upright on his own now, so she let go of him. "Can you stand up?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so," he said shakily, and then stood up slowly.
"Let's get you to the infirmary," Nyssa told Leo. "Come on."
"No!" said Leo. "There's nothing they can do. I've just got a cold and I don't sleep enough. That's all."
"You're at least going to go rest," Nyssa said sternly.
"But the Argo II! It can't get behind schedule and I'm the leader! I have to be there!" Leo protested.
"Leo, we're your siblings. We can be trusted. We can manage for one afternoon," Nyssa said, trying not to sound exasperated.
She walked with Leo back to their cabin, Leo grumbling all the while. "Why did I have to get sick now? I don't have time for this! I have work to do!"
"Everyone gets sick sometimes. You're no exception. You're a human, not a machine," Nyssa told him. Leo smiled a little at that, remembering that Jason had told him something similar. "And besides, even machines need maintenance." Nyssa continued. " What happens if you run a machine on and on without taking care of it?"
"It breaks down," Leo grudgingly answered.
"Exactly," said Nyssa, seeming to feel that she had adequately proved her point.
When they got to the cabin, she stayed until Leo had flopped onto his bed with a sigh. Then she headed off to the construction site.
Leo wanted to go to sleep, he really did. But it wasn't happening. He sat up and fiddled with his pipe cleaners for a while, then he laid back down and stared at the wall.
A few hours later, Nyssa came back to check on him. "You really should let one of the Apollo campers look at you to make sure this isn't something more serious than you think it it," she told him.
"I'm fine, Nyssa!" he said irritably.
"You blacked out earlier, for no reason at all! You just stood up! You're not fine," she told him.
"Fine! If it makes you happy," he relented.
Will was frustrated. "I've never treated a fire user before. So I don't know if you have a fever or if your natural body temperature is just higher than most people's." Nyssa took the fact that Leo did not make a joke about his natural hotness as a sign of how bad he was feeling. "You haven't been sleeping much, have you, Leo?" asked Will.
"Not much," answered Leo.
"Well," said Will. "There's nothing much I can do for you. You're tired and overworked, and you've got a cold. You just have to get some rest and maybe take some cold medicine."
"See, Nyssa, told you I was fine! That was totally unnecessary!" grumbled Leo as they walked back to the cabin. When they got inside, Nyssa, ignoring his grumbling, made him take some cold medicine.
The next day, Friday, Leo felt marginally better. He worked on the Argo II with his cabin, and they got a lot of work done.
But Saturday, after a night full of tossing and turning, he felt awful again. But that didn't stop him from working.
Nyssa looked at her brother worriedly. He was so pale and he looked so exhausted. As she watched him, he stopped and broke into a coughing fit. She would not have him blacking out again, not here. He could get hurt. She decided she should do something. "Leo, come here," she called. He came over slowly.
"What is it?" he asked.
"You're either going to take some medicine or you're going back to the cabin," she said.
"But Nyssa, I don't need that stuff! It's disgusting!" he protested.
"Oh, don't be a baby, Leo," Nyssa said, rolling her eyes. "You heard me. Those are your options." Leo took the medicine. Then he went back to his task, under Nyssa's watchful eye.
That night, he fell exhaustedly into bed and slept soundly.
The next morning, he woke feeling much better. Not completely well, but the worst was definitely over. He smiled. The smile quickly faded away however when he saw Nyssa. She was sniffling and her nose was red. "Leo!" she said grumpily.
Leo retrieved the cold medicine and poured some. "Here, take it," he said.
Nyssa scowled. "But it's disgusting! and I'm not that sick!" she protested.
"Oh, come on, Nyssa, don't be a baby," said Leo, smiling.