[DISCONTINUED] Invincible ➳ Peter Parker

7 ~ The Nurse

Peter

I wouldn't have thought I was alive if it wasn't for the nurse.

I woke up laying on a cot, my entire body sore. A single fluorescent light in the ceiling lit the small room I was in. There were no windows and it looked like a hospital room, but I didn't think I was in a hospital.

Slowly, I started to remember how I got there in the first place. I got hit in the head by some guy that jumped out of a van after Camella left to—

"Camella!" I yelled. Did they get her too? I tried to get up but couldn't. I looked down and saw straps holding my wrists and torso down to the bed.

I strained against them, hoping I was strong enough to break them, but I barely had enough energy to lift my head.

I tried calling out again, but quit after I realized no one was coming to save me.

It was eerily quiet wherever I was. I couldn't hear anything from the other side of the door. I lied there for so long that I started wondering if I was even here. Like, alive. What if this is my eternal afterlife?

My thoughts drifted to Camella. What if whoever took me also took her? She could be in the room next to me. Or maybe they left her alone. Maybe she's looking for me. Or maybe she isn't. After what I said, I wouldn't blame her. Maybe this is just a dream. I'm so tired...

I don't know how long I dozed off, but I was awoken by a female voice.

"Peter, wake up."

"Camella?" My eyes hadn't fully focused yet.

"My name is Zoe. I'm here to check on you." My vision finally cleared and I saw a girl who couldn't have been more than a couple of years older than me. Her long brown hair was pulled into a ponytail and she was wearing green nurses' scrubs. She was smiling at me kindly, but there was something nervous about her expression.

"Where am I?" I asked. "Who took me? Why am I here?"

"It's alright," the nurse, Zoe, assured me. "You're safe now. You were in pretty bad shape when you got here. You were out for almost two days."

"Is this a hospital?" I needed answers.

"Kind of. You need to heal before you can talk to my boss."

Boss.

"You need to let me go. Right now," I demanded. I tugged on the restraints, but I felt even weaker than before. "Let me go!"

Zoe pursed her lips, an uneasy look on her face. She turned around and grabbed something off of a tray. I felt a pinch in my arm and the next thing I knew, everything was going black.

* * *

I don't know how much time passed while I was out, but when I came to, Zoe was by my bedside again.

"Please," I croaked, "you have to let me go."

Ignoring me, Zoe lifted a spoonful of fruit from a fruit cup and held it to my mouth. "Here. Breakfast."

I eyed the food warily, glancing back up at her.

"Come on. You haven't eaten in over 48 hours," she said. Real concern laced her voice.

I hesitated, then finally took the food. Something in Zoe's tone made me think that she really was just trying to get me to eat. Besides, maybe it would give me some of my energy back.

Zoe slowly fed me the fruit cup spoonful by spoonful. When she finished, she stood up and walked over to a monitor beside my bed. She took a blood pressure machine and wrapped the cuff around my arm.

"Why am I here?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Zoe hesitated. "I don't know."

I looked up at her. "I know who your boss is. I know what he did."

Zoe's hand faltered while she was squeezing air into the cuff but quickly resumed. She said nothing.

"Why would you want to work for him? All he cares about is himself."

She didn't respond. She continued with my check-up until she finally stood up and headed for the door.

"Please," I called out desperately. "If you help me, I might be able to help you."

Zoe paused with her hand on the knob. "I don't think you're going to want to help me." 

She opened the door and left quietly, leaving me to wonder what she meant by that.

{edited 13/12/20}