Poor Peter Parker // Irondad

Chapter 14

It took me a while to accept the fact that I was awake. Or, that I was supposed to be awake, at least. First, the tingly smell of antiseptic reminds me that I'm in a hospital. The feeling of rough, grainy sheets rub against my skin, irritating the crap out of me. I can taste a tinge of copper on my tongue, and the sound of a heart monitor starts beeping into existence. The oddly luminescent, red color of my eyelids becomes apparent. Then finally, my sixth sense lets me know that I'm not the only person in the room. Immediately, I hear the pace of the heart monitor rise due to my suppressed panic.

My head flies up, grasping at the colorless sheets in search of anything to protect myself with. Panic overflows as I struggle to rip the sheets off myself, my blood pressure rising due to my quick change from inactivity to spontaneous panic. Tony's standing beside me, trying vigorously to calm me down. My brain tunes his voice out, replacing every sound with an annoying ring. I can feel the fear in my eyes, the worry worming around in my mind--I'm terrified.

But what am I so scared of? Is it Arsenic? No. Was it the fact that I didn't know where I was? No.

Maybe it was the fear of Tony finding out I was Spiderman. Maybe it was the overwhelming sense of guilt I had for putting Tony's life in danger just so I could keep up my childish act of a double life. But if I told him, I'd have to stop. And I don't mean just stop being Spiderman. I'd have to end it all.

"-ter! Peter!" Tony's hands gently clasp my shoulders so he can square up my shoulders with his. He tries to get my eyes to meet his, but mine just won't stop looking everywhere but where he is. My mind seems to be on 'fight or flight' mode, and I guess it's chosen flight. "Kid!"

My breath hitches in my throat, then everything hits me at once. The memories, the feelings, the senses—Yes, this was indeed, a sensory overload.

"Peter?" Tony's voice changes from panicked to concerned as he notices me clam up immediately. My hands cover my ears, his volume sounds like he's screaming. The irritating feeling of the sheets becomes even worse; it's almost like sandpaper against my body. I reach for the cord to the heart monitor and rip it out, throwing it to the ground. The cold linoleum floors send painful shivers up and down my legs. "What is going on?"

"Shh!!" I shush him, placing my hands over my ears again. Everything hurts.

"Peter—"

"SHHHHHH....." I drag out this shush dramatically, placing a finger in the air to stop him. I don't even have the current mental capacity to process the next thing I say, "Sensory overload." I whisper.

"Sensory what?" Tony questions at a much quieter volume. I finally become aware of my clothes—My clothes have been changed into a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt.

"It's when all my senses freak out on me." I whisper quietly, my eyes still closed as tightly as I can possible make them.

"Does this happen a lot?" Tony whispers as he finally realizes what's going on.

"Mildly." I shrug as I gingerly take my hands off my ears. I peep my eyes open slightly and make my way to the light switch, shutting it off. "Better." I sigh.

"Why does this happen?" Tony asks as he watches me curiously. He's probably wondering why my leg doesn't hurt.

Wait.

Why isn't my leg casted?

"Woah." I start, placing my palms up to stop him. I look down at my injured leg through the waistline of my pants, only to find a white bandage wrapped around my left thigh.

"Yeah, we had some questions too." Tony crosses his arms and squints at me skeptically. "How is it not broken anymore? You broke your femur clean in half."