Not Her Mission

Phase 30

Peter Parker's Point of View

Poppy laid on the white medical table as three doctors worked to help her.

I stood outside the room and watched everything that happened through the glass window that separated us

I was so hyper focused on Poppy, I didn't realize Mr. Stark walked in.

He placed a hand on my shoulder. I jumped.

"Sorry," he said, "I just came to see how you're holding up."

"I won't be fine until she's fine," I replied.

We were both silent for a long time.

"If I take off her mask, would you be able to identify her?" Mr. Stark broke the silence.

I turned to make eye contact with him.

"Why would you need to do that?" I asked full of concern.

"She won't tell us who she is and now we can find out." He replied.

"Mr. Stark with all due respect, I don't think that's such a good idea," I stated.

"Why not?"

"Because she doesn't want us to know," I looked at her lying on the table. The monitor that she was hooked up to showed all her vitals were normal. I let out a small sigh of relief.

"And?"

"And we should respect her wishes. We can't call ourselves the good guys without respecting boundaries," I said.

Mr. Stark ruffled my hair. "Never change, Peter."

He left the room.

I was once again alone with my thoughts as I stared at Poppy. The doctors around her seemed to be relaxed and calm.

That was a little comforting.

One of the doctors left the room. She appeared a minute later in the room I was in.

"How is she?" I asked.

"It's hard to say right now. She lost a lot of blood and that bullet went through two organs," The doctor said, "We won't know anything for sure until she wakes up, but I think she'll be fine. We're going to move her to another room. You can join her there if you'd life."

I shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you so much."

I raced to the room where they moved Poppy to.

It looked like any other ordinary hospital room. She laid on a light blue bed. The walls were white and there were two dark blue cushioned chairs next to the bed.

I sat in one and scooted it closer to Poppy. I held her hand.

"Poppy... I'm so sorry. This is all my fault... I- I dont know if you can hear me but... I want you to know... I... I love you Poppy. I can be myself when I'm with you. I know you'll always have my back. It's so nice to have someone with me out there. And now look what I've done. I might have..."

Tears started to weld up in my eyes.

"I might have killed you. I might have killed the only girl that knows my secret. My only partner. My... only love. Oh God... I just killed the love of my life."

The only noise in the room was the ticking of the clock on the wall and the beeping of the machines she was hooked up to.

I didnt hear them. My thoughts were too loud.

"Remember when we took down that bank robber? The one with the tattoos all over her skin? And... and the only reason she didnt escape is because of our slingshot of my webs and your thorns. That was probably my favorite moment with you."

"Your eyes sparkled in a way I'd never seen before. You smiled at me and in that moment I knew. I knew I never wanted to be without you ever again."

I looked at Poppy laying on the bed. She was so beautiful. She was mostly still in her suit. There was a large patch on her abdomen that had been cut away because of the bullet wound. There was now white gauze that was almost completely soaked with blood.

"Poppy? I'm sorry. You didnt want to be with my tonight. It's all my fault. If I didnt beg you to come. If I didnt propose a stake out. If I didnt..."

"Please wake up. Poppy, I need you to be okay. Please. I cant do this by myself. I know I did it before but... Poppy I need you. Please... wake up."

Tears streamed down my face. I couldnt control them anymore.

I didnt care. All I cared about was Poppy.

"Please... I love you... come back..."