A Good, Normal Day
Peter was on his way home. He had just finished patrolling. He managed to stop a woman from being mugged, helped with the traffic and showed off some of his flips and moves, not to mention he got a free hotdog for showing a vendor his tricks and stuff gaining him some more customers. So basically, it was a good day. Great even. He sent Happy the usual hundreds of texts and got no reply, but at least they were read. So yeah, it was pretty much a normal, goodish-great day.
He walked into his apartment, music booming softly in his ears. It helped with his super-hearing. Sometimes his senses would blow through the roof and the noise and light, everything around him was over-whelming. He kept the music at its lowest volume. It was soft enough to not cause discomfort but loud enough to block out the rest of the world. And he just liked to listen to music. He walked into the living room and was greeted by a sleeping May. She often took naps on the couch before her shift, but she had said she would be working all day that day. Something was off. He knelt in front of the woman and shook her gently.
"May?" He asked softly, voice almost a whisper. No answer. He tried again.
"Hey May?" No answer. Not a sound. Even her breathing was shallow. His gentle shaking soon turned harsh and panicked as he stared at his pale, unconscious aunt. Her lips were blue-ish most likely from the lack of air. Peter took a deep gulp of air and fought back his tears. He couldn't lose her. She was everything he had. He gathered himself and dug into his pocket for his phone, calling the emergency line. The ambulance was outside the apartment in less than half an hour. Though, for Peter that was too long. He could've gotten his aunt to the hospital within 5 minutes if he swung, but he didn't even want to think about what the quick woosh of air and altitude would do to his aunt in her condition. And he couldn't risk revealing his identity. They (The ambulance) drove to the hospital with the sirens blaring, but Peter's mind was elsewhere. The sight of his aunt hooked up to machine's just so she could breathe properly terrified the fuck out of him. She looked absolutely horrid and Peter could feel his heart drop into his stomach.
As soon as the ambulance arrived the nurses rushed May to the E.R. and one led Peter to the waiting room and explained to him how 'the doctors will do their best' or how 'he'd get any and all news of her condition ASAP.' Peter rolled his eyes. He'd been to the hospital before. He'd seen TV dramas before. They'd keep him here waiting and anxious and only notify him if he could visit his aunt in her room of if she was.....he sighed, he was going to be there for a while. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. Hours past. Hours of silence and stillness, the world around him blurry and dull. No word from any nurses. No word from any doctors. No, nothing. Peter could've sworn he was losing his mind and that it was all some sort of delusion. Hallucination. Dream. Nightmare. Anything, anything, but reality. He looked up to see a doctor staring at him, pity written all over his face.
Peter felt his heart stop and throat clog. He knew that look.
"She's alive but.....not for very long.."
"How long?"
"Mr. Park-"
"W-Can I see her?"
"....Yes but...she isn't at her best-"
"Which room?"
"Mr.-"
"Which room?" Peter practically pleaded, tears stinging his eyes. The doctor sighed and mumbled a 'Follow me' before he started walking, leading Peter to his aunt's room. He quietly took note of the feelings that clouded Peter's eyes and the way his expression remained distant and hurt. The kid knew what pain, responsibility and what guilt felt like. It hurt the doctor to see such a young kid know such intense feelings, but he kept to himself and left the boy and his aunt to give them some privacy.
Peter sat in the seat beside the bed and took in the sight of his aunt. The tears he tried so hard to hold in fell down and kept going.
"May!" He cried. He took her hand in his and held on tightly, not ready to let her go. He hid his face in the covers covering her body as his tears stained the sheets. He muffled his scream by biting his bottom lip. Images of the plane crash and his dead parents flooded his mind, followed by his dear uncle Ben covered in his own blood, dead and cold in the street, but the image that broke him was his wonderful, beautiful aunt in a casket. Dead. He looked up when he felt a small hand caressing his head gently. It was his May. His beautiful May. She brushed his hair back lovingly and smiled softly at him.
"May...." Peter whined, her kind heart causing pain to his own.
"I'm sorry Petey....I'm so sorry.."
"Please don't leave me! Y-Yo-You're all I have!"
"I know my dear...I'm sorry.."
"Please.."
"There's....-I'll always be with you, Pete. Always and forever." Peter sniffled. He didn't want to, he knew that he couldn't, but he had to...he had to accept the fact that, his aunt, his one and only relative, the only family he had, wasn't going to be able to stay with him. He'd be alone. Despite what May always said he was alone.
Take it back, it was not a good day.