Poor Peter Parker // Irondad

Chapter 8

*strong warning of violence and death, please be cautious*

My eyes peep open one at a time in an effort to not immediately blind me. All I see is white at first, until my eyes adjust. I'm in a hospital room. There's a white sheet draped over me, covered in blotches of red blood. Some parts are still wet. Then sound comes flooding in, making me uncomfortably aware of the blood rushing in my ears and the heart monitor beeping beside me. My eyes dart across the room as I struggle to find anything familiar.

Tony comes rushing in, eyes wide and arms flailing, "Peter!" He shouts out, rushing up to me. I just chuckle lightly at his wackiness, feeling a small pinch of pain in my abdomen from the laugh.

My head feels like someone tried playing the drums on it with steel pipes. "What happened?" I ask groggily as I run a hand down my face, retracting when I feel the rough texture of gauze wrapped across my head.

Tony tenses at the question. It seem as though he expected it but had really been hoping it wouldn't be asked. "I got a call from you at school..." He trails, obviously trying to avoid answering my question entirely, "You were hurt. I came as fast I could and found you passed out in an alley." He takes a ginger seat beside me on the cot.

"Oh." I realize as memories come flooding back to me. "Flash."

"Flash?" Tony questions with a raised eyebrow. "Is that the kid who bothers you at school?"

A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead at the question. Can I really be this upfront with my boss? I'm embarrassed I even called him. Could I be more unprofessional? "You could say that." I reply simply as I mess with the hem of the white sheet.

"You can't let him do this to you." Tony argues with stressed eyes. "Not gonna lie to you, Peter—this almost killed you. We have no idea how you healed this fast in one day, but somehow—"

I place my palm upwards as my jaw hits the floor, "You mean I've been out for an entire day?!" I freak out on him, "Oh my god!" I throw the sheet off of me to find myself in a pair of grey sweats and a white t-shirt. "I've got to get home. The kids probably haven't even eaten, the Gardner's are gonna be so mad, and oh, god—Amy's science project! I promised I'd help her finish it before the science fair—"

I hope Eddie protected the kids.  Eddie is the only kid older than me at the orphanage, he's almost 18. I never see Eddie, he's always out of the house before I have the chance to wake the kids up and I'm always back too late to see him before everyone heads to bed. He was rarely home otherwise and practically never lived at the house, considering how little anyone ever saw of him. So, all I can have is hope that he helped the kids out while I was gone and at least tried to keep them alive.

Tony places his hands on my shoulders in an effort to shut me up— "Woah, woah," He starts, "Let's backtrack here—I called them yesterday after I found you, okay? Everything's fine." He pauses, "But what kind of mad are you talking about here?" The dark look in my boss's eyes tells me that he already knows what it's supposed to mean. All I give him in return is a weak grimace. Then, as fast as my feet will take me, I snag my sneakers I find beside the bed and pull them on, "How are you okay right now?" Tony asks, genuinely concerned.

"No idea." I lie blatantly as I squat down to tie my shoes. "Thank you for everything, I'll see you—"

Wait, what time is it? Am I supposed to be 'at work' right now? Am I even in a hospital—am I at the Tower? "Where am I?" I question, shooting up from my sitting position.

"The Tower." Tony replies as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Time?" I squint at him.