Sick Day Blues
“104.1. Higher than before, a lot higher,” May said as she stared worriedly at the thermometer in her hands. She looked down at Peter when she heard a groan coming from the bottom bunk of his bed.
“I’m fine, May. ‘S just a cold or something,” Peter murmured unconvincingly as he shivered. And he really thought so, especially since yesterday Ned had come into school with a cold. It seemed that half the school was sick with either the cold or flu. Even Flash had missed two days as he had come down with the flu.
“You are not fine, Pete,” May scolded softly. “Your fever is rising, you threw up your breakfast, and the medicine isn’t helping you at all!” When Peter didn’t say anything she leaned against his desk and shook her head as she sighed, “I really don’t know what to do, kiddo, or how to help you. I can’t even take you to a hospital because of your abilities. I feel completely useless.”
Hearing how small his aunt sounded Peter wanted nothing more than to reassure her that she wasn’t useless, and that she was an amazing aunt and he would be fine. But he couldn’t. Even with his eyes closed it felt like the world was spinning around him, and he was worried that if he opened his mouth he would throw up the water he had recently drank. He felt pathetic as he continued to shiver weakly.
Peter could feel May’s gaze on him, and almost jumped when she huffed, “That’s it, I’m calling Tony.”
He forced his eyes to snap open, and tried not to pay attention to his spinning room as he gaped at Aunt May. “Wh-What?! Wait, no, no way, May, I’m fine! Ple-please, he doesn’t need to know. Plus he’s like super duper busy with, uh, Stark Industry stuff.” Truthfully Peter didn’t know if Mr. Stark was busy, but what he did know was that he didn’t want his mentor to know how sick he was. He was scared that Mr. Stark would think he was weak, because what kind of hero gets sick? Peter had finally gotten Mr. Stark to think of him as a legitimate hero after beating Toomes, and he didn’t want to ruin that by making the older man think Peter was some sick little kid.
But May just glared at the thermometer, and determinedly said, “I don’t care if he has a meeting with the damned President himself, I’m calling him because you are not fine.” Softening her voice slightly, she added, “You just get some more rest, Petey.” Turning on her heels, she marched out of his bedroom and most likely towards the kitchen. Peter moaned weakly as he closed his eyes. Great, now Mr. Stark will know how weak I am. Peter wanted to do what May had asked and just sleep but he needed to hear the conversation between Mr. Stark and May.
From his room Peter heard May rummerging in her purse, most likely for her phone. Thanks to his enhanced hearing Peter could hear the dial tone perfectly, as if it was on speaker phone right next to his ears. The tone continued for another cycle before Mr. Stark breezily answers, “Why hello there Spider-Aunt, what can I do for you on this fine morning?”
Peter could imagine his aunt rolling her eyes as she said, “We have a problem.”
The teen heard Mr. Stark groan as he warily asked, “What are you going to yell at me for now?”
“Nothing, but there’s something wrong with my kid,” Aunt May said. From his bed Peter heard the squeaks of one of the kitchen chairs, and he could guess that May had sat down.
The phone was silent for another moment, before Mr. Stark asked in a much more serious voice than before, “What’s wrong with him?”
May sighed as she replied, “He came home yesterday from school with a slight fever. It wasn’t too bad at first, only 100.1. I gave him some tylenol, made him eat, and had him go to sleep early. He slept most of the night luckily, but this morning the fever was worse, at 102.3. I tried to get him to swallow down some light breakfast, but he threw it all up. I just checked his fever again and it’s over 104. It’s getting worse, he can barely keep liquids down, and I don’t know what to do because of his damned powers. Medicine isn’t working, and I just don’t know how to help my own kid.” Peter felt terrible when he heard the thick tears in his aunt’s voice, and he wanted to do was get out of bed and give her a big hug. But all he could do was lay there as his aunt cried over the phone to his childhood hero about what a pathetic sick kid he was.
From the phone Peter heard Mr. Stark curse before saying, “The medicine isn’t working probably because of his advanced metabolism. It’s not enough.” There was a rustle as if Mr. Stark moved the phone away from his ear as he yelled out, “FRIDAY, call Helen. Send her the directions for the Queens building, and tell her it’s an emergency so she needs to get there ASAP. And tell Happy to get a car ready” To Aunt May he said, “I’m going to head over to your place right now. I’ll pick you both up, and take him to one of my buildings with a medcenter. I have a doctor on call who’s worked on people with enhanced abilities before, so she’ll be able to help the kid.”
May sniffled before murmuring, “Thank you, Tony. I just- I didn’t know who else to call.”
Peter heard the slam of a car door on Tony’s end before he replied, “May, no matter what happens, you can always count on me to help out the kid, or even you.”
Peter thought he heard May say something else but it became too muddled to understand. A moment later he lost the battle against sleep as the world around him became blank.
Peter felt weird. He couldn’t open his eyes, but he could tell he was awake. Or, at least he thought so because this didn’t feel like any dream or nightmare he had had before. He felt the back of a cool hand on his forehead, and he whined because it was so cold. He felt as if he was freezing, like that time Uncle Ben had taken him to Central Park after a heavy snowfall and a mountain of freshly shoveled snow fell on him.
“Jeez, he’s really burning up,” a familiar male voice said. Finally finding the strength to crack open his eyes, Peter saw Mr. Stark with one hand on Peter’s forehead as he looked over his shoulder to someone else.
“Mista St’rk?” Peter groggily asked.
Quickly turning back to him, Mr. Stark gave him a small smile, though it didn’t mask the gleam of concern in his eyes. “Hey kid, heard you were sick. I’m here to take you to someone who can help you.”
Peter closed his eyes as he whimpered, “Don’t wanna. ‘S too cold.” Peter heard the footsteps of someone else come closer, and another cold hand touched his forehead.
“Oh God, he’s a lot warmer!” Aunt May (or atleast Peter thought it was May, it was hard to tell with the pounding in his head) exclaimed.
“We need to take him to Cho now,” Tony said to May. Turning back to Peter, he whispered, “Sorry kiddo, but you really need a doctor.”
Peter wanted to protest that no, he didn’t need a doctor, he just wanted to be in bed and be warm and to sleep thank you very much but before he could voice his protests, he felt someone drape a blanket over him. A moment later he felt someone else push an arm under his knees and back, and he was picked up and held against a hard chest.
“Wh-what?” Peter asked. He opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. It was so bright, brighter than usual and it made the pounding in his head so much worse. This was almost as bad as when he had gotten sick directly after being bitten by that spider.
Whoever was carrying him quickly walked out of his bedroom door and into the living room. Honestly Peter didn't care where they were going, he just wanted to escape the freezing cold that had settled in the apartment. He clutched the blanket in his hands as he burrowed his head into the shoulder of whoever was carrying him. The arms around him tightened as they left the apartment.
“Happy’s waiting outside,” Mr. Stark told Aunt May. Peter realized it must of been him who was carrying him, but he was too tired and cold to care anymore.
By the time the trio made it to the waiting car, Peter had passed out again.
“-fever over 110, not normal-”
“Start an ice bath and-
“-inject him with morphine, need to-”
“Peter it's ok! Just go back-”
“-not holding down liquids.”
“-enhanced abilities-”
Peter rejoined the waking world in bits and pieces. He heard the repetitiveness of a beeping sound near him, and whirring of machines somewhere further away. He also felt the softest blankets he had ever felt in his whole life settled over him, and he smelled that distinctive smell of hospital in the air around him. He slowly opened his eyes, and blinked as he was met with a softly-lit room.
The bed he was on (a hospital bed, it looked like) was reclined on an angle, so Peter was able to lazily glance around the room. He almost started when he saw Mr. Stark sitting right next to him. The older man was sitting on a chair, staring down at Stark tablet in his hands.
Peter couldn't help but notice that Mr. Stark looked completely different than he usually did. His hair was mused and not styled, and he was missing his usual business suit and pants. Instead, he was wearing sweatpants and an MIT alumni hoodie. There were dark circles under the man’s eyes, contrasting his pale skin. The teen had never seen Mr. Stark look so unkempt.
Peter coughed and called out timidly, “Mr. Stark?” Tony immediately snapped his head up as he dropped the tablet on the table near him. From the chair he leaned towards Peter, one hand on the teens head and an expression of relief on his face.
“Hey kiddo, I’m so glad to see you awake,” Mr. Stark said honestly.
“Where am I? What happened?” Peter asked. His mind still felt fuzzy, and the last thing he could remember was May taking his temperature in their apartment.
Tony furrowed his eyebrows. With a slight frown, he answered, “You got real sick. Your temperature was way too high, higher than it should be for a normal human. Your aunt called me in a panic, and we brought you here for Dr. Cho to check you over.”
“Dr. Cho? Wait, what about my secret identity?” Peter questioned with wide eyes. The heart monitor that was hooked up to him began to beep faster.
“Hey, calm down, it’s ok. Dr. Cho is trustworthy, I would never reveal your secret to someone who you couldn’t trust. She’s a great doctor, she’s probably the best at treating enhanced humans, plus she’s treated all of the Avengers at some point,” Tony soothed as he rubbed a hand up and down Peter’s right arm. The heart monitor began to beep normally. “You good now?”
“Y-yeah,” Peter answered, leaning back against the bed as he closed his eyes. “What did I even have?”
“I believe I can answer that,” a feminine voice called out. From the doorway a woman wearing a lab coat strolled in, heels clicking against the ivory floor tiles. She smiled warmly at Peter. “We haven’t met while you were conscious and lucid, Mr. Parker. My name is Doctor Helen Cho, Tony called me in to treat you.”
“Oh, uh, hello,” Peter stuttered out.
Dr. Cho’s smile widened, and she turned to Mr. Stark. “You were right, he is much more adorable when awake.”
Peter felt himself blush as Tony chuckled next to him. “Yep, that he is.” Peter turned to glare daggers at the man, before he realized someone important was missing from the room.
“Where’s my Aunt May?”
“At work, kiddo,” Tony answered.
“Work? But it’s Saturday, she’s not supposed to work on Saturdays,” Peter protested. He became concerned when Dr. Cho and Tony exchanged a long look. “What’s wrong? Is she ok? Oh God did something happen, what-”
“Kid, kiddo, calm down,” Tony said as he got up to better comfort Peter. “She’s fine, but she’s at work because it’s not Saturday anymore, it’s Monday. FRIDAY has most likely already alerted her that you’re awake.”
“I sent her a text as soon as Peter woke up,” the disembodied voice of FRIDAY confirmed.
“Oh good,” Peter breathed in relief as he closed his eyes. He snapped them open a moment later when his mind processed what Mr. Stark had said. “Wait, Monday? But yesterday was Friday! So it’s Saturday.”
“I’m afraid you’ve missed a couple of days,” Dr. Cho said with a shake of her head. “You were brought into my care late Saturday morning, already unconscious because of your high fever. You’ve been in and out of consciousness since then, though this is the first time that you have been lucid.”
Peter stared at her for a moment, before turning his shocked gaze over to Mr. Stark. “Seriously? I thought it was just the cold or something, Ned was sick with it on Friday.”
“Why don’t you let the good doctor explain that for you,” Mr. Stark suggested, taking a seat on the bed as he wrapped an arm around the teens shoulders. Peter turned expectly over to Dr. Cho.
“You are the first enhanced teenager I’ve ever taken a look at,” Dr. Cho began, “but your sickness was fairly simple to diagnose. You just had a simple case of the flu, but your enhanced DNA caused your body to overreact. Had you not had your mutated DNA, you most likely would have only been sick for a few days, though you would not have had such a high fever, nor would you have been rendered unconscious for so long. However, your enhanced healing factor overcompensated your body’s natural immune systems, causing it to go into a state of overdrive. That’s why all of your symptoms became so much more stronger, your body was trying to get rid of the illness quicker than normal, but with the negative side effect of all the symptoms slipping into a dangerous territory.
“Along with that, normal medicine no longer works for you. While simple Tylenol, Advil, or prescription drugs will help an individual fight the effects of a sickness over a period of time, your body metabolizes them faster than they can affect you. My team and I needed to make a whole new medication with a higher level of concentration just to even lower your fever. I’ll be sure to share the formula with Stark’s database just in case you, or anyone with a similar biology as you, needs it in the future.”
“So wait… you’re telling me my enhanced healing and metabolism, the things that usually keep me alive and healthy most of the time, actually almost killed me?” Peter asked incredulously.
“Well, luckily you were never close to death, but we were concerned over you as the fever was becoming too high for even an enhanced individual. However, in essence, you are correct,” Dr. Cho admitted. “You will have to be much more careful in the future. As soon as you notice any symptoms of an illness, even if you believe it is the common cold, you will need to see either me or another doctor who understands your biology well enough to treat you before your body goes into an overdrive state again.”
“Huh,” was all that Peter said. His mind was still trying to process the whole the flu made you unconscious for like two days thing. “So, am I ok now?”
“At this point, you are.” Dr. Cho smiled. “Your fever dropped last night, and your body is reacting positively to the fluid treatments. I’d estimate that you will be able to be released from the medcenter tomorrow morning.”
“That’s great,” Peter grinned. “At least I won’t have to make up a ton of school work.”
“Seriously, kid,” Mr. Stark laughed. “When I was your age I’d already be planning on finding a way to miss as much class time as possible. Hell, I’d even pretend to be sick for a couple of extra days!”
“That’s lying, Mr. Stark,” Peter frowned. “Plus I’d just have to make up a lot more work.”
Tony tousled the teen’s hair. “You’re such a goody-two-shoes, how you even managed to lie to May about your night time activities I’ll never know.”
“Mr. Stark, stop! You’re being annoying,” Peter whined, trying to escape from the man’s clutches as he threw an embarrassed glance at the amused looking Dr. Cho. Tony just chuckled as he got up and went back to sitting on the chair.
“Well, I am very happy to see you are feeling a lot better, Peter,” Dr. Cho said. “We’ll start on solid food later in the day, and if all goes well, you’ll be released tomorrow morning, though I would caution you not to return to school until Thursday. I wouldn’t want you to spread such a contagious sickness in a breeding ground like a school during flu season. I’ll give your aunt a doctor’s note to send to your school when I see her.”
“Thank you Dr. Cho, for the note and for everything,” Peter smiled towards her.
“You are very welcome, Peter. If you need me, whether to answer more questions or if your fever returns, do not hesitate to have FRIDAY call me.” To Tony, Dr. Cho said, “I will be in the lab with the team. I’ll have FRIDAY record any more drug discoveries we find that can benefit enhanced individuals.” With that, she turned and and exited the room.
“I can’t believe I missed the whole weekend,” Peter groaned as he leaned back on the bed. “I had so much stuff planned!”
“What, building more LEGO sets with Ned?” Tony joked.
“Shut up!” Peter said in mock-outrage. The room was silent for a few moments before Tony broke it.
“You know, really had your aunt worried,” Tony said. In a smaller voice, he added, “And me too.”
“I thought Dr. Cho said I was never close to death?” Peter asked as he knit his eyebrows together.
Tony just shook his head. “You do realize that we still worry even if you’re not on death’s door, right? We worry whenever you get hurt on patrol, and we’ll worry if you get sick.”
“But heroes aren’t supposed to get sick,” Peter mumbled, looking at his hands. “Only little kids are supposed to get so sick.” He heard Mr. Stark sigh next to him, before the man cupped a hand on Peter’s chin. Tony gently turned the teens face towards him, and he had a serious but still affectionate look on his face.
“I’ve spent enough time with you to know how much of you self-deprecate yourself, kid, so listen to me when I say that’s totally normal and ok for you to sick. Everyone gets sick, including heroes. You wouldn’t believe how many times the good ol’ Captain came down with the stomach bug,” Tony smiled wryly. Turning serious again, he added, “And me too. I’ve been sick a ton of times, and I’m still a hero. So Spider-Man can still be a hero if the flu brought him down for a few days. He’ll just bounce back, and better than before.”
“Thanks Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered. Tony smiled and tapped him on the cheek as he leaned back against the chair.
“No problem, kiddo.”
The two were silent once more, before FRIDAY informed them, “May Parker just answered back. She says she won’t be able to leave work until her shift finishes at 4PM, but she’ll head over as soon as she’s out.”
“How’s she gonna head over to the Avengers compound from the city?” Peter asked confusedly.
Tony chuckled. “Kid, we’re not in the Avengers compound, we’re in one of my other buildings, near to Queens.”
Peter raised an eyebrow. “When’d you get a new building? And why near Queens, it’s not like it’s any good for business since it's pretty far from your main headquarters in Manhattan.” He swore he could see the beginning of a blush on the man's face as he avoided Peter’s eye.
“I bought it a month ago. It’s not supposed to be for S.I. stuff, it’s for you. Well, you know, if you ever get hurt or something on patrol and you need help quick. The building’s close to your apartment, and has a full medcenter. Plus, there’s even a lab so you and me don’t always have to travel to the compound to work on our projects. And I figured that when you wanted to have a movie marathon or something like that, you’ll be able to stay over the night whenever you want, even on weekdays.” Tony paused before he lamely added, “Well, I mean, with your aunt’s permission, of course.”
Peter stared at his mentor before his face broke out in a wide grin. “Holy crap, thank you Mr. Stark! You’re the best!”
Tony scoffed good naturedly, “Honestly it’s nothing, kiddo, what’s the price of a building to a billionaire like me?”
Peter didn’t answer, though he continued to beam at his hero. As much as Tony would vehemently deny it, the man had a heart of gold somewhere under that armour (both literal and metaphorical) of his.
“So, is the lab big?” Peter asked excitedly. “Do I get another room? Oh, can we give one to Ned? He’d love that! And Aunt May, too, of course! I can’t wait to see the look on her face!” Peter continued to prattle on in excitement as Tony shook his head fondly.
What did I do to deserve such a good kid? Tony wondered as he watched his kid continue to babble. Whatever the reason, he was just glad that Peter Parker was a part of his life.