As Luck Would Have It

40) What It Really Comes Down To

A few hours have gone by since the craziness at the community center, and the cloudy morning has now turned into a dark late-afternoon. The clouds were dense, not allowing any sunlight to breach through. Peter had spent most of the day swinging around on patrol, and to clear his head from everything else racing through his mind. It had been a while since he swung around just to do it, and not because he was in a hurry to get somewhere or was looking for people to help. It was rather peaceful, until a call from an unknown number interrupted him.

He landed on a flag pole and answered, learning that it was the doctor from the hospital. He was informed that May's operation had been completed and that he was free to come in to visit. Peter thanked the doctor for letting him know and said that he would be in as soon as he could. Ending the call politely, he leapt from the flagpole into the streets as he returned to web-slinging. His head clearing would have to wait another day, he thinks to himself.

Back in normal clothes, he walked through the third-floor hallway to May's room. He was excited to see May again, but also a little nervous to know what the operation had done to her, for better or worse. Even as he walked down the hall, he would glance at some of the medical staff standing behind desks and conversing amongst themselves in the hope that they would notice him and inform him of what her conditions were. Sadly, that didn't happen, and Peter carried on.

He reached May's room and walked in quietly in case she was sleeping. She wasn't however, and a huge smile appeared on both their faces at the sight of each other.

"Hi!" May beamed, her face practically glowing as Peter walked over for a hug.

"Hey, May" he muffled in her shoulder, "how are you feeling?"

They parted from the hug as May responded, "Good, really good, actually. I feel like I could flip out of the bed."

"Okay, wow!?!" Peter chuckled slightly, knowing that he missed this side of her. The side that always greeted him at the door after school for the past ten years. He was certainly glad to see it again, especially after worrying so much for her. May was also happy to see him smile again. She had been getting a bit concerned that he was taking to much responsibility for everything that had taken place in the past few days.

"So" she said, recovering from laughter, "how are you? Everything go well with the whole Lonnie thing?"

"Eh..." he sighed doubtfully, "more or less." May's eyebrows furrowed at the news, wondering what he meant. "I mean, he's in custody" Peter sputtered, "but he turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought."

"Oh..." May replied, "well, I'm sure its for the best, no matter what it took."

"Yea..." Peter said, not knowing what else to say about the topic. He couldn't really describe why, but he felt like he could have done better with Lonnie, had he gotten to understand him before the they ever crossed paths.

"So, what now?" May said out of nowhere, almost startling Peter.

"I guess I stay with you until you're able to go home."

"Is that all you want to do?" May countered. "As busy as you've been trying to get a job, chasing down neighborhood hoodlums, and taking care of me, don't you want to do what to give yourself a break?"

Peter puzzled what she could mean by this. At this point, he thought it was almost impossible to escape the responsibilities and needs of everyone around him. So to hear May talking about his needs was a bit surprising to say the least. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well" she began, "if I were in you're shoes, I'd want to spend time with people that are fun and make me happy."

"Who says you don't make me happy?" Peter reacted, still a bit confused about what she was saying.