Nurse Parker

He was fifteen when he first got the ‘power’; the power that could help he become someone different who could be much more special than puny Peter Parker.
The mere thought had him thrilled in anticipation. However, the scientist in him warned him to not hastily utilize that power before a thorough examination. Peter discovered via the test that he had the amazing abilities that were similar to that of a spider. Super strength, agility which surpassed all Olympic gymnasts, and that super ‘spider’ sense. They were awesome. Nevertheless, what clearly didn’t come with the package was the spider web. And the nerd in Peter pouted in disappointment because the web was the signature of any arachnid species. He wanted it to perfect the spider-themed hero he aspired to be.

So, Peter manufactured one. He used his gained ultra-human abilities to sneak out at night when his aunt and uncle asleep, and boy the climbing wall ability made it so easy for him to break into the Empire State University and take advantage of their lab. Within a short period of one month, Peter completed the synthetic web along with his prototype of the ‘webshooter’. He knew already it was a great innovation, perhaps second only to the arc reactor. If he sold it to any technology companies, Oscorp, Stark, Their family wouldn’t be worried about earnings again. Or he could use this for the good cause. Justice. It was a good way of building his reputation too. It was him who had all the power to decide the future. Arrogantly, the teen Peter put his invention back in his backpack and slipped out of the building.

Had he ever realized, the price of his ambition.

That night, Uncle Ben was waiting for him outside the university when he jumped down from the wall. It seemed that Peter was never good at hiding a secret from his family. Uncle Ben suspected and decided to follow him to the Empire State U where he’d seen his nephew disappeared inside.

He caught Peter and demanded him the truth on the spot. Out of shame and alarm, Peter fought back to his uncle’s reprimand. The walk back from the university had been filled with anger, disappointment, and silence until they reached that convenient store where the robber was committing his crime. They heard the owner called for help and it was Uncle Ben who tried to stop the robber.

A gun shot rang the area shortly after that.

In his dream of that distant past, the recollection of unimportant details reduced to just a blurry, fragmented scenario. It felt like he was witnessing it through a cracked window on a raining night, just his uncle, himself, his swiveling emotions that stood clear and vibrant. Peter knew from the start how this movie was going to end when he began to see the scene of the teen shaking in fear while kneeling down to watch his own uncle lying on the cold pavement. Like a guest invited to the movie night who had no authority over a remote control, all he could do was just sit and suffer, watching the boy provided the dying man he loved most in the world nothing but a nonsensical apology that was so ridiculously useless.

Abruptly, the scene cut to the inside of the ambulance. Of machine noise that monitored his uncle’s status. Then, finally, it finished at the hospital where Uncle Ben on a patient cart was sent to the ER. Peter found his younger self, standing around the bench outside the operation room. The distressed Aunt May in uniform appeared in front of him. Slowly, she took his hands in hers and gave him a gentle squeeze. The teen Peter's hands were shaking uncontrollably. And his face covered in tear.

Peter woke up with a horrible feeling. Again. He lifelessly maneuvered himself from his unruly bed. Garbage started piling in his house. Again. It had been a week since Wade’s departure from Peter’s life.

Peter got dressed and went to work, the routine which he’d been doing since before he rescued the masked mercenary from his balcony railing. His life resumed to a normal rhythm in which no one interrupted him at night for a medical treatment or for a chat over takeout food. And it was horrible. Peter had struggled since then to regain his sense of pre-Wade normality. And he failed each day. He still waited for Wade outside at the balcony, bundled in his blanket until he fell asleep. Mysteriously, his foots seemed to know a way back to bed as he continued to wake up on them every morning. Peter started buying the Daily Bugle just for any traces of Wade’s whereabouts, or his wellbeing but the man seemed to be drop out of the world’s surface.

The problem was that Peter’s struggle had increasingly worried his colleagues. Lacking was his normal spirit that he never knew having one, but his colleagues insisted of its disappearance. He was still arguably effective but it was far from his best performance. Everything he had done come out halfhearted and any mistakes, regardless how small they were, could easily send him back to the mental pitch of failure where it was gleefully pleased to remind him of the latest person he had failed to help. The first was Uncle Ben, and the recent one was Wade.

“Parker, you look like shit.”

Peter snapped himself out of his own painful thought. It seemed he had been standing like a statue staring at the patient ward’s wall for a while now until the chief nurse, Jemma, mentioned his name. Peter started to really look at their surrounding – there were other nurses beside his boss around who were clearly listening to their dialogue.

“Sorry, ma’am. I… I’ll go washing my face and be back.” Peter apologized.

The head nurse snorted.

“No. You go home. And don’t come back until you stop looking like a walking corpse.” She scolded.

Now, it was time for Peter to actually panic. No, he couldn’t go home. He wanted to be here where he could help other people out and be useful for once in his life.

“No! Ma’am, I can—“

“You can nothing, Parker! This is order!” She barked which had an immediate effect on Peter who shut his mouth obediently.

“But my shifts… it’s going to be chaotic to find someone to fill in.” Peter tried to reason.

“We volunteer.”

Another female voice said from behind Peter. A small group of 3-4 nurses, both male and female appeared. They are those who Peter used to fill in their shifts before. His fellows of the same profession gave him their supportive smile.

“Go rest, Peter. We’ll take care your shifts until you’re ready.” One of the male colleagues reassured.

“Works will not go away in just a few day, dude. This is the hospital!” Another tried to light up the mood.

They all laughed but the terrifying head nurse who just watched with indifference.

“Good. Parker, be back in 3 days or you’re fired.”

And with the last order, she walked away. Peter turned to give his gratitude to his friends. To be frank, he was feeling deeply guilty that his personal problem compromised his performance badly that they had to intervene. With a weak smile he could offer, he promised them to be back very soon and in his old top form of Nurse Parker. He'd fix this.

Peter wasted two days away with sappy movies and a large box of chocolate and he was still not feeling better.

Currently, Peter was lying down in front of the TV, rolled in his most comfortable blanket like a big burrito as he watched a Titanic rerun, trying his best to be emotionally engaged with the protagonists’ romance. The key was Peter was trying here. He assumed that a very emotional drama would help release his stress but it didn’t. All he got so far was a pair of redden eyes and disgusting snot. There was a few moment after crying that Peter felt it would work but depression stubbornly returned, and he had to start over again with another movie.

Peter was busy stuffing his mouth full of chocolate and some chips when his phone rang. It was Aunt May. Therefore, Peter had no choice but to receive the call.

“Hello, Aunt May. How do you do?” Peter greeted with a wavering voice. It was resulted from the movie’s climax and not at all his own vulnerability.

“Not bad. How about you, Peter?” His Aunt asked. However, as Peter was preparing to conjure a lie, she warned him with a stern voice.

“Be truthful to your aunt, Peter. I’ll always know something is off with you.”

“How did you know that I’m not alright?” Peter asked. Aunt May hummed knowingly.

“I have my own way but that’s not the point.” Yeah, her own way was that someone kept her updating about Peter’s life. Of course, that was why she called him in the first place. Two years since her retirement, his aunt still had her own spy monitoring Peter and he didn’t have a clue who was the person.

“Peter, you’re not alone in this. You can talk to me everything.” Aunt May said, her voice laced with kind and understanding. And there was no way out in this but to tell her what bothered his mind.

When he started talking, he seemed not be able to stop himself. With the exception of the fact that Wade was Deadpool, Peter told Aunt May everything about him. Their meeting, their last confrontation and the effect on Peter when Wade was gone. Also, Peter may cry along the way but that was a small detail.

“I know it was my fault. I scared him away. Had I not freaked out on him, he’d not freak out and disappear. And we could be having the talk and I can still be there for him. He needs help, Aunt May. And I want to help him – because I like him.” Peter confessed.

Aunt May hummed thoughtfully on the line.

“Well, I think you’re right, Peter. You did scare that poor man.” Aunt May finally spoke. Her voice was void of accusation. However, Peter couldn’t help but wince at how frank she was when confirming him about his mistake.

“From what I’ve gathered about this Wade from your story. The man’s heart is really fragile. He depends on you to be the stronger one in the relationship. When you’re weak, so is he.”

“I failed him. I failed everyone. I cannot be a good friend to him and not a good nurse too.” Peter sniffed, hiding under the blanket in hope that both of the pain and himself would disappear from the world.

“I don’t think so.” Aunt May interrupted gently. “You can’t always play the dependable one for him, Peter. Sometimes, it is important to let him know that your heart bleeds too so he’ll careful next time when he handles it in his hands.”

Peter emerged from the cocoon.

“You said next time?”

He could practically hear Aunt May’s smile.

“If he lives up to anything that you described so highly about him, he’ll learn the lesson. Then, he’ll come around.” She said sagely.

“Thank you, Aunt May.” Peter whispered softly, grateful.

“Oh, and Peter, did you remember that day you came to me and told me about your resolution?” Aunt May asked. Peter blinked at a sudden change of topic.

But of course, Peter remembered.

It happened after Uncle Ben’s funeral had passed for three months. Two months after the court. The police caught the culprit who shot his uncle. Aunt May and himself were there when the judge sentenced him to life in prison for the horrible crime he committed which took away the life of the man beloved to them. At that moment, Peter felt that justice was such a hollow consolation compared to the warmth of his uncle’s body when he hugged Peter and Aunt May or the brightness of his smile. Peter realized that he didn’t want it. He didn’t even desire to avenge the man who killed Uncle Ben. All he ever wanted was life. Peter wanted to save what was drained off from his uncle. So, he made up his mind.

After high school, Peter went to the nursing school and he became a nurse. Whenever people blatantly commented about how he could do better, Peter just shrugged it off.

And the power that fate bestowed upon him? Peter utilized his super strength just when he needed to handle a stubborn patient or usher an unruly guest out of the room. His spider-sense was to help him avoid getting mugged when he took a shortcut alley at night. And his sticking-wall ability? – It was useful only when Peter had to change a lightbulb without a stepladder.

Nevertheless, before Peter made the decision of no turning back, he came to Aunt May for her opinion.

“I remember.” Peter finally spoke. “I was afraid of making a mistake. That’s I’d be a burden to everyone.”

“Could you recall what I said to you when you told me?”

Peter finally smiled. “You said ‘Peter, you’ll make a great nurse.’”

Talking was indeed a miracle medicine. Peter felt instantly better and he was able to keep the feeling with him even after he ended the call with Aunt May. His phone beeped several times before he went to bed. Not surprisingly, Aunt May told the girls and now they flooded Peter’s message box. Peter answered them so they would let him sleep. (“Yes, I’m feeling better now.” “No, I’d not approve any of you threatening Wade with body harms that include gonadectomy as well.”) The girls promised to pay him a visit as soon as they could and Peter was immensely grateful. He had a good life and it had blessed him with two beautiful women and their friendship grew stronger each passing year.

Peter was still worried about Wade but he was no longer overwhelmed with the worriment. Owing a great time to Aunt May’s wisdom, he finally saw that there was still hope for their relationship. Because there was still hope for anyone who could hope. Out of the blue, an idea came to his mind.

Peter went outside to put a sign on the balcony railing. It read:

‘Will date only an uninjured man. Peter.’

He smiled to himself. Now, that was all Peter could do for his part. He’d leave the rest up to Wade.

The next day that Peter was back to work, the assembly of villain and terrorist groups went by the name ‘The True Avengers’ planned to sabotage the entire city of New York. Notwithstanding, having the most pathetic name ever (To mock the New York’s best team of heroes according to their evil spokesman), they were terribly successful in assembling hundreds of armed troops. Leading by super-enhanced leaders, these squads were dispersed throughout the city. Instead of attack the political landmarks, they aimed to siege the locations where people’s spirit would be utmost vulnerable. Places like mass transit, shopping centers, and schools.

Hospitals.