Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With the Light

Chapter 89: Can't Stand The Heat

"You should have come to me sooner, Gwen," Dr. Emma Hudson frowned as she finished bandaging Gwen's arm. "Did you try and give yourself first aid?"

"I thought it was enough," Gwen Stacy said in some embarrassment. "I guess I was wrong."

"How did this happen?" Dr. Hudson asked, as Gwen stood up. "You were clearly attacked by somebody."

"Yeah, by some crazy lady," Gwen nodded, wincing as she stretched a bit. "I don't know her real name, but the police have her in custody already."

"That's New York for you," Dr. Hudson sighed. "You should be all right now, but you should still have a day or two of bed rest."

"Bed rest?" Gwen asked in dismay. "But I have classes-"

"-which aren't as important as your health," Dr. Hudson reminded her firmly. "No buts, Gwen-you need to give yourself a break. You're still suffering from stress. Have you been doing anything to deal with that?"

"I've decided to just focus on my studies for now," Gwen replied, trying to keep the agitation out of her voice. "I'm not trying to balance it with a job or anything like that."

"Well, that's a start," Dr. Hudson nodded approvingly, "but I'm not sure it's enough."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked curiously.

"One of the challenges in practicing medicine is making sure you treat the cause of a problem, not just its symptoms," Dr. Hudson explained. "It's good that you're taking more time for yourself, but is that all you need to do?"

That thought remained with Gwen as she settled her bill and left Dr. Hudson's clinic.

SPIDER-WOMAN #89

CAN'T STAND THE HEAT

Relaxing on the couch the next day, Gwen closed her eyes and took several moments to absorb the Enya music she had playing on her smartphone. Her Drama 300 class was going on at that moment, where the class would be discussing what they, as actors, could bring to whichever character they chose to play as.

I was going to choose Cosette, what with how my own life growing up could help me understand what Cosette had to go through, Gwen thought to herself. With the way things seem to be going, I probably should have gone with Desdemona-her name means 'unfortunate', or 'unlucky', after all, Gwen continued sardonically.

Gwen had been trying to deal with the stress of trying to balance her career, her schoolwork and her superhero activities as the spectacular Spider-Woman by focusing solely on her schoolwork. She'd also cut back the amount of time she was patrolling as a hero, devoting it to her studies instead.

Unfortunately, Gwen had been forced to confront her old enemies Polestar and Scorpia as Spider-Woman. While Gwen had won those battles, she'd been badly hurt. Her battle with Polestar had left her too injured to meet her boyfriend Randy Robertson's mother Louise, preventing her from trying to build a better rapport with Louise. Gwen's battle with Scorpia had been even worse, forcing her to miss several days of classes.

Even when she'd been able to attend, Gwen had trouble keeping her focus. She was worried about everything from her missing out on good-paying work and being broke, to her problems with Randy's parents, to her guilt over the chaos Polestar and Scorpia managed to commit despite her best efforts, to her bad grades over the previous semester, to the disastrous tea leaf reading she'd received from her friend Marie-Ange Colbert, which had portended bad luck and hatred.

It figures, Gwen realized. The moment I actually start listening to everybody and start taking more time for myself, I keep having to get involved as Spider-Woman!