Chapter 8
Peter was slowly waking up. The first thing he felt was pain. He had the biggest headache and his body felt weird too - sort of heavy and floaty at the same time but also a bit nauseous. He just wanted to fall back to sleep but it hurt too much so he opened his eyes to see if he could find out why he felt the way he did. It didn’t take long to realize he was in the Medbay as he laid there staring at the familiar ceiling.
He turned his head to see Tony asleep in the chair right up against his bed and he was holding his hand. He felt warmth in chest staring at his dad and how much he loved him but that didn’t last long since it immediately turned into guilt because he knew whatever happened to him that he worried his dad – again.
He stared at the ceiling again trying to remember what happened but it was all fuzzy. He couldn’t remember a thing. He slowly picked his head up to look down at his body to see what kind of damage he did this time but was glad he didn’t see anything wrong with him. He started moving parts of his body to make sure but the only thing that hurt was his head. He couldn’t help let out a groan as he laid his head back against the pillow and unfortunately it woke up Tony who has Peter radar even when sleeping.
Tony blinked a couple times trying to wake up and as soon as he saw Peter he smiled and went over to the bed to sit next to him. “Hey kiddo, how ya feeling?” He asked as he swatted away Peter’s hand that automatically went to his forehead. “Nope, don’t touch that, you have stitches.”
Peter groaned a little bit more. “Owe.” He moaned and couldn’t help it because he was so out of it and his head hurt. “Stitches? Oh God, what happened?” He asked anxiously staring at his dad who had tears in his eyes with a look he couldn’t decipher. Was he mad? Sad? Angry? Hurt? Scared? He didn’t know but it was worrying him that he did something wrong. He was always doing something wrong to cause trouble. “Dad, what did I do? How bad is it?” He asked again starting to tear up because he always cries when he sees his dad cry or anyone else for that matter.
Tony took his hand back and held on tight, squeezing it and then rubbing his knuckles with his thumb. Then he leaned over and gently kissed him on the top of his head and sighed heavily. “You’re alright. You got a concussion and a half dozen stitches. Not bad this time, kid. Could have been worse, how are you feeling?” he asked again.
“My head hurts really bad and I feel funny,” Peter replied slowly. Even his speech was off and heard his words slur a bit like his tongue wasn’t working. “Am I going to be ok?” He was getting scared because of the looks his father was giving him and even in his foggy state he could tell there was something he wasn’t telling him.
Tony gave him a reassuring smile. “You’ll be just fine, kiddo. I’ll get Helen to up your dose so you can go back to bed. Then hopefully the next time you wake up you’ll feel much better.”
“But what happened to me? I can’t, I don’t remember anything,” Peter asked sounding scared with a shaky voice. He hates not remembering what happened but his dad looked even more worried after he said that.
“What do you remember?” Tony asked.
It was all blank. He laid back blinking away his tears but couldn’t remember a thing and the longer he tried the more scared he became. “Um, right now, nothing. I can’t think straight, I’m s-sorry. My head…” Peter said crying, “It hurts and I feel sick to my stomach.”
“Hey hey hey, no apologizing,” Tony demanded in a sweet voice smiling at him, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles again.
Just then Helen walked in which confused the hell out of him. He didn’t know how much time had passed because didn’t his dad just say he’d get her like a second ago? How long had he been thinking and not saying anything? His head was throbbing so much he couldn’t talk anymore because it was making it worse. Tony and Helen exchanged some words he didn’t pay attention to and she came over and fiddled with the IV and then left. A minute later the pain was thankfully subsiding and his eyes were getting heavy again.
“How are you feeling now?” Tony asked with a smirk while he carded his hair.
“Hmmm…feels nice,” he mumbled loving how it feels when his dad plays with his hair, not to mention the drugs taking effect.
His dad looked down at him and gave him a warm smile. “I bet it does, buddy. Close your eyes and let the medicine work. I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning and we’ll talk about everything.”
Peter did what he was told and closed his eyes as the pain was going away and sleep was taking ahold of him again. His last thought was ‘morning?’ He had no idea what time it was or even the day for that matter but at the moment the only thing he cared about was being pain free and going back into the darkness again.
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Peter woke up in the morning with a headache, not a bad one, just a dull ache but having no recollection of waking up earlier. He was confused when he opened his eyes to see that familiar ceiling of the Medbay and not knowing how he got here. The story of my life he thought to himself. He turned his head to the side expecting to see Tony but instead, to his surprise, it was Ned who was sitting by his bed playing on his phone. He started getting anxious with the thought that his best friend had gotten hurt somehow so he had to come here for help, because why else would Ned be here? Or was it him? Was he that injured that they brought him here to see him?
“Ned? What are you doing here? ” he asked startling Ned who jumped out of his chair.
“Peter! Oh my god, you’re finally up! I’ve been waiting forever! How are you feeling?” he asked as he took his seat again moving it closer to the bed.
“Me? I feel ok, a little rough with a slight headache but I’m fine, what are you doing here? Are you hurt?” Peter asked with scrunched eyebrows.
“Me? No, not at all. I’m here because you’re the one who got hurt last night. Do you remember anything?” Ned asked.
Peter raised his bed so he was sitting up making it easier to talk. Now he was freaking out that something was terribly wrong with him because Ned would never be here if there wasn’t. He thought back at the last thing he remembered. At first, he didn’t remember much but seeing Ned jolted some sort of memory that they were together last night. Was it a party? Shit, then it came rushing back and he felt all the shame and humiliation running through him all over again. He felt his cheeks heat up and knew they were red. He remembers what Flash and his friends were doing to him but he doesn’t remember how he got here.
He was too ashamed to talk to Ned about it so he dodged the question with a question. “Um, where’s my dad? Why isn’t he here?” Now he was getting nervous that his father was sick of him getting hurt and he didn’t even want to be in the same room with him anymore because his dad is always here when he wakes up in the Medbay. He knew he was too much trouble.
“Oh, Mr. Stark had me come down here to sit with you so you weren’t alone when you woke up. I was upstairs in the penthouse. Dude, I stayed the night at the Tower! How awesome is that! I hope you don’t mind but I slept in your bed which is like, the most comfortable bed on the planet by the way. I can’t believe you get to live here! This place is amazing!” Ned said rambling fast.
Yea, because the only reason I live here is because my aunt is dead he thought to himself but he didn’t say that out loud but felt the pain behind it. Nothing was making sense to him and he was getting frustrated. He needed answers. “Ned, you’re getting off track. Where’s my dad?” he asked again.
Ned shrugged, “I’m not sure where he went but he seemed to be in a hurry. He just said he had something important to take care of and he left. So um, do you remember what happened to you?” he asked one more time but Peter was preoccupied that his dad left him. Where would he need to go in a hurry? “Peter?”
“Huh?”
“I said, do you remember what happened to you last night?” Ned asked again.
Peter nodded which made his head throb a little and he didn’t want to tell Ned all the embarrassing things that he went through but he also wanted to know how he got here. So, he half lied and dodged it with another question. “I remember a little bit but how did I get here?”
Ned looked down at his feet so he knew something was up with him. “I uh, I found you in a shed in the backyard at the party we were at. You scared me to death Peter! You were unconscious and your head was bleeding! I don’t know how you got in there, how you go hurt or what happened because I was inside the whole time. I was hoping you could tell me.”
Peter still felt shame run through his veins so he answered it vaguely. “I think I got hit in the head with a rock? How did I get here though?” he asked again pointing to his bed.
Ned looked over at him and then back down at his feet. “This is the part you’re not going to like but when I found you, I sort of freaked out and called Mr. Stark.”
Peter’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. “You what? You called my dad when we were at the party?! Oh my god, so everyone saw him come get me? Fuck!” Peter shouted. Jesus, now his dad is going to have all sorts of questions on top of everyone else at the party! Why the hell would Iron Man come and pick up stupid Peter Parker!
Ned waved his hands. “No! Nobody saw you with him so stop worrying. You woke up for a little bit and panicked that he was coming and didn’t want anyone to see you together. You made me drag you to the neighbor’s house where he picked you up in the front yard. Peter, what’s going on, I need to know! I deserve to know! What does Flash have over you that you let him do all that shit to you? And I’m almost certain he hurt you last night since he was the last person you were with!”
Peter laid back and closed his eyes because his throat was getting tight and he was trying not to cry. Just thinking about that asshole Flash raises his anxiety levels to the max. He didn’t want to tell Ned anything but he felt bad that he’s kept it from him this entire time. He was so conflicted on what to do so he laid there for a little while longer until Ned told him something that made him panic even more.
“Peter, I’ve been worried about you. You haven’t been yourself at all lately and I know I’m not the only one that’s noticed. So last night, when I was here with your dad waiting for the doctor, I um, I ended up telling Mr. Stark everything I know about how Flash has been treating you…”
“You what!?” Peter shouted.
“Peter, I felt like I had no choice anymore! I know you’re mad that I did it but I don’t regret it. You got hurt and ended up in the hospital, Peter! Whatever it is has to stop! What the hell did Flash threated you with anyways? It has to be bad because --”
Peter cut him off. “Ned! P-please tell m-me you didn’t!” he said trying to slow his breathing that was starting to become erratic. “P-please tell me you d-didn’t tell him anything!” He begged. He just woke up and things were getting worse by the minute! He got a pit in his stomach thinking about how he’s going to have to explain everything to his father now and didn’t know if he even could.
Ned looked down at his feet again and back up to meet his eyes and Peter saw that they had tears in them but at this moment he didn’t care. “I did and I’d do it again because I care about you. I told him what I knew Flash has been doing at school but I told him I didn’t know why.” Ned admitted.
Peter’s brain felt like it was going to explode and he began spiraling fast. Oh my god, oh my god, his dad knew almost everything! He was so ashamed of himself for letting it get this far but he was doing it for Ned and MJ but how could he tell Ned that? Ned wouldn’t understand how critical it would be if the adoption got out and his life was turned upside down all because he knew him. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he ruined their lives. Knowing Ned, he wouldn’t care about himself though, only the fact that Flash was blackmailing him into doing humiliating things and would want it to stop. They were a lot alike in that way.
He sat up straighter trying to breathe but his breath was hitching and it was hard to get any air in. Then he heard the heart monitor alarm go off which wasn’t helping one bit. He was panicking even more because he didn’t want Ned to see him like this but he couldn’t breathe and wanted his dad! His dad that wasn’t here which made him start crying and only made it that much more difficult to breathe. He could hear himself gasping for air as he closed his eyes praying it would go away on its own.
The alarms were going off even louder now or it seemed like it because his senses were elevated and it felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. He covered his ears with his hands trying to block out some of the noise. He was trying to remember the breathing exercises but his mind was a complete blank except for the fact that his dad knows! His dad knows about Flash!
He didn’t know how long he sat there gasping for air thinking he was dying when he heard his father’s voice. “Hey hey hey, Pete! Pete! I’m here, I’m here, honey. You need to try to breathe, ok? This is a bad one but I’ll get you through it. Take a deep breath in, kiddo,” he instructed as he felt his dad remove his hands from his ears and place his hand on his chest as he was breathing with him. “Just like me, do you feel that? In for four, three, two one…and out for one, two, three, four…”
Peter was trying, he really was because he was worrying his dad – again. He took what he was hoping was a deep breath only to get a tiny gulp of air, but it was a start. He still had his eyes closed as he listened to his dad and tried to do what he told him. He knew his dad could get him through this but like he said, this was a bad one and it felt like was about to die and it was scaring him! Not being able to breathe is always scary!
“There you go, try again, ok? Nice slow deep breaths, in and out. Copy my breathing,” Tony said slowly with his hand still placed on his chest over his heart.
After what felt like forever, he was able to finally take a few shaky breaths and when he opened his eyes he saw how concerned his dad looked holding his hands so tight. Just seeing what he does to him made him cry harder. He wishes he was normal and not panic all the time and he’s sure his dad wanted a normal kid but got stuck with him instead.
“Pete, you’re doing so good. Close your eyes again and concentrate on your breathing and let everything else go, ok? I can see your wheels spinning.” Tony said still looking worried.
Peter shook his head because he didn’t want to close his eyes again. He noticed the alarm wasn’t going off anymore so his dad must have shut it off at some point and was relieved it was quiet again. “I’m s-sorry,” he stuttered out in between breaths.
Tony cupped his face and wiped some tears away with his thumb. “No apologies, Underoos. Just try to relax and catch your breath, ok? You’re still not breathing right. This was a really bad one but I got you.”
Tony went through another set of breathing exercises with him and finally he was starting to breathe normally again. He felt a little lightheaded from the lack of oxygen and laid his head back down on the pillow feeling the exhaustion take over like it always does after a severe panic attack. He closed his eyes as his dad carded his hair away from his sweaty forehead and was concentrating on even breaths.
He didn’t know if he dozed off or not but the next time he opened his eyes his dad was sitting in the chair right next him holding his hand. He figured he must have because he was just sitting on the bed a minute ago.
“Dad?”