Crossed the Stars - TASM Peter Parker

12

May? It's me again. Juno got in an accident and is now taken into the hospital. Please come as fast as you can. I need you here.

It was the tenth voice mail Peter had left behind in the past seven minutes. He had brought Juno to the hospital where she was taken into surgery and hasn't come back yet. He is alone waiting in the empty room while the sun is already gone. The anxiety is slowly eating away at him.

How could he have let this happen? He will never forgive himself if Juno doesn't make it out alive. When he closes his eyes he can still see the image of her tears rolling down her cheeks, he can hear her painful screams break through the silence. He can't imagine how hurt she must've been.

He couldn't save his uncle Ben, he couldn't save Gwen... He can't lose Juno too. He is definitely the worst superhero ever and it doesn't help that he got so attached in the past two weeks. He was supposed to just help her, but it was so easy falling for someone so kind.

"Peter?" He recognizes May's voice but he doesn't move. "Peter, I got your messages." She sits down next to him in the empty white waiting room. "Where is she? What happened?"

"Surgery." Peter replies, not looking up from the floor. "I tried but I couldn't stop it." May places her hand on her nephew's back and rubs up and down comfortingly. "I should've done more."

"I bet you did everything you could." Did he? Was there really nothing else he could've done for her? He doesn't know. There must've been something. He should've prevented that crazy idiot from pulling the lever. At least they are all dead now, ripped away from this world to burn for an eternity in hell.

"Mrs. and Mister Parker?" Peter looks up for the first time, a man stands in front of them wearing a white coat. "I'm doctor Hendrix." May stands up. 

"Is she okay?"

"We successfully stopped the bleeding but she hasn't woken up yet, what exactly happened to her?" May looks down at Peter who shakes his head. He can't tell him the truth, he would never believe him.

"I don't know, I found her on the pavement." The doctor nods.

"She lays in coma, we hope she will wake up soon but it's unlikely." Unlikely? Peter felt his heart drop in his chest. How will he ever get passed this? Even worse, the people she knew from her universe, what will they think happened?

"Can we see her?" May asks the doctor. The man nods softly.

"Follow me." Peter immediately stands up and follows the doctor silently. He has to see her, at least to be able to hold her hand again, feel her soft skin against his. Doctor Hendrix stops in front of a door and nods at Peter and May before walking away. Peter pushes the door open and walks inside, the sight alone is enough to make his breathing stop.

Tubes are connected from her body to medicine and liquid painkillers. She has an oxygen mask on her nose to help her breathing and her body is limp against the mattress. He feels his world tumble down the longer he looks at her. 

"Peter?" May asks softly. "Are you okay?" The boy nods, walking over to Juno's side slowly and sitting down on the chair next to the bed. He stares at her, feeling as if his heart was just ripped out of his chest. "I will go talk to the doctor again." Peter hums, not sure if he cares anymore. May walks outside, looking for Dr. Hendrix.

"Juno?" Peter whispers, his voice just audible. "I'm so sorry. I have been a terrible friend to you, I promised you to have your back and I couldn't. I'm so sorry." Tears dwell in his eyes as he looks down. Juno's chest is barely heaving when taking a breath, she's weak. Too weak.

"Please just..." Peter doesn't know where he was going with his sentence, he reaches for her ice cold hand and rubs his thumb over the back. "Just don't die." He tries his hardest not to break down even if it's the only thing he wants to do right now. "What am I supposed to you if you're gone?" 

A single tear escapes his eye, he softly squeezes her hand in his, taking a couple of breathes to calm himself down. He has held dying people before but never did it feel like this. There is still hope for her, still hope that she might wake up from her coma and he will grasp that little bit of hope like it's all he has left.

"I can't loose you because..." Peter sniffles. "Because when I'm with you it feels like the world melts away and everything just gets better because you smiled." He rests his head against her shoulder and finally lets his tears go. "Juno, there's no one I'd rather be with than you." 

He doesn't know what he had wanted to happen. Maybe he had watched too many movies and hoped that she would squeeze his hand like they always do on TV, but she doesn't. She probably doesn't even have the strength to breathe correctly, why did he expect her to squeeze his hand? 

"Peter?" He doesn't move away from her, he wants to stay as close to Juno as possible in case it's her last minutes on Earth. "Doctor Hendrix says that he had never seen something like this. What happened to her?"

"They used her." Peter breathes out, sitting up straight and looking at his aunt while continuing to rub the back of Juno's hand. "They wanted her power and turn it into a nuclear weapon to destroy the fucking government and I couldn't save her."

"Peter--"

"I COULDN'T SAVE HER." Peter cries out, breaking down. He lifts her hand to his mouth and kisses her palm. "Please, Juno, wake up." May slowly wipes away her own tears while looking at him. "Don't leave me, please." She walks over and wraps her arms around the crying boy. "Don't tell me it will be okay, please. I can't take that. I just... I can't."

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Word Count: 1035

Written: 27/12/2022