Chapter 2: Peter
"Nathan look" Peter said. "You don't have to stay here, I know that you have a life and a family and a job and your power. I want you to get back to that. I don't want to be a burden." "Peter look" Nathan said, his voice was filled with exasperation. "Just shut up okay?" Peter flinched. He had been completely taken aback by Nathan's rudeness. "I'm sorry" Nathan apologized "I didn't mean for it to come out sounding so rude. You are seriously in no condition to stay here all alone by yourself. You're obviously falling apart here physically, emotionally and mentally. And you obviously need me here, isn't that kind of why you called me?" Peter stared at him helplessly. "Yeah I suppose." He said. Suddenly his phone began going off. "You might want to answer that" Nathan said. Peter couldn't think of who could possibly be calling him. He than looked at his phone and saw that Niki's name was written in bold white letters.
"Hello" Peter said reluctantly "Hey honey!" Niki said. "You didn't forget about our date did you?" Peter bit down hard on his lip. It had actually completely slipped his mind that he had a date with Niki. It had in fact seemed like years ago when he last saw Niki even though it had only been a week ago. A week ago. Peter thought sullenly to himself. A week ago when everything was nice and normal, back when he had his powers. Peter tried to think long and hard. He tried to remember when exactly the weird turn of events started to take place, when his powers little by little started disappearing, when the pain started, when the attacks of weakness started. His mind drew a blank. "Peter?" Niki asked. "Our date remember?" Peter suddenly snapped back into the present. He didn't realize that he had been crying. It completely shocked him when he felt the tears stream down his cheeks and when he heard himself let out a quiet sob. He couldn't possibly go on a date with Niki. Not in the condition he was in. The thought of even explaining to Niki why he couldn't show up made him feel like crying even harder. Before he knew it, he was sobbing like an idiot.
"Are you all right honey?" Niki asked. Peter wiped off his tears. "I can't make it" He sobbed. "Honey? What's going on?" Niki asked. Peter was unable to answer that because he was yet again interrupted by another sobbing fit. Nathan motioned for Peter to hand him the phone. "Peter's not feeling very well" He told Niki. Somehow it seemed like Nathan was downplaying the whole thing. He handed Peter the phone. "She wants to talk to you" He told him. "What's wrong?" Niki asked instantly. "Why aren't you feeling well?" Peter swallowed his tears. "I don't really know, but I really don't want to talk about it." He said. Peter thought about it for a while. He hadn't really forgotten about his upcoming date with Niki. He had actually repressed it because he dreaded it so much. As a matter of fact he had actually been thinking about Niki quite a lot ever since he first started experiencing his symptoms. He knew that eventually he was going to be unable to hide everything and that eventually he was going to have to talk about what was happening to him. He did not want Niki to have to worry about him. She already had a lot of problems of her own to deal with including her son Micah who had become a real handful ever since he lost his father. The last thing Peter wanted was to become yet another one of her problems. Niki was not making it easy at all. It didn't seem like she was ready to let it go.
"Peter seriously" She said. Her voice was filled with worry. "I know something really serious is going on with you, and I don't want to just ignore it." Peter groaned inwardly. "If you're not up for a date than that's just fine, I'll come over." "No please" Peter begged. "Really you don't have to" "I'm coming over!" Niki said stiffly. Nathan once again motioned for Peter to hand him the phone. Peter reluctantly handed it over. "Look Niki!" he said, "I seriously don't think it's a good idea. Peter's seriously not doing very well, he's in no mood for visitors right now." He than brought the phone into another room. Peter listened nervously to their conversation. He didn't hear the whole thing but he heard bits and pieces of it, enough to know what they were talking about "He's been over dosing on muscle relaxants or something." He heard Nathan say. Peter couldn't believe his ears. Nathan was getting everything all wrong. Peter continued to keep his ears open, but Nathan closed the door behind him so he couldn't hear any more. In what seemed like hours Nathan hung up and returned to the living room. "Niki says she's really sorry you're sick" He told Peter as he handed him his cell phone. "Unfortunately she still wants to come over."
"I can't believe you told her everything." Peter cried. He covered his face in his hands with embarrassment. "I can't believe you told her I was taking muscle relaxants. I am NOT. You know that." "And I can't believe you were eavesdropping" Nathan shot back. "I was talking to Niki we were having a private conversation, you weren't supposed to hear any of it." "It doesn't matter" Peter said sounding defeated. "I did hear it. Now she knows, she knows about everything. I can't believe you!" "Look" Nathan said, "She was really worried about you. When I told her she was very understanding. She really cares about you." Peter continued staring down at the ground. "She was going to have to find out eventually right? It's better that she knows about it in advanced isn't that right?" Nathan asked "I don't want her to come over" Peter moaned. "Could you please call her up and tell her not to come over?"
"Believe me" Nathan said, "I've tried telling her not to come, that's why I told her about your condition, but then she pretty much insisted on coming over. I don't think she's going to change her mind." Peter continued burying his face with his hands. "What time did she say she'd be over?" He asked. Just than the door bell rang. "I suppose that would be her" Nathan said. "Why don't you get the door?" Peter asked sullenly. Nathan did as he was told. "Hello Niki!" Peter heard him say. "Thanks for coming I suppose." He led Niki over to the couch where Peter still hadn't budged. Niki's eyes filled with tears.
"Peter!" She cried flinging her arms around him. "I had no idea your health was so bad." "Nathan told you everything?" Peter asked. He once again covered his face with his hands. Right than he really wished he could disappear. He really wished that he could use his invisibility power, but of course he couldn't because he didn't have his powers, if he had his powers he would have healed himself already, and wouldn't have to be in the situation he was in.
"Everything!" Niki said. "It all sounds so horrible." She began stroking her fingers through his hair. Peter backed away from her. "I'm fine" He said. "No!" Niki just about snapped, "No you're not. At least not according to Nathan. And Nathan says that he got all that information from you. So obviously you're not fine. You've been having attacks of weakness, you're in pain, you don't have your powers. Hell you've even resorted to taking drugs, what are they muscle relaxants?" Peter was becoming more indignant by the moment.
"Nathan told you that?" He cried even though he knew very well that Nathan told her that, it still exasperated him. He once again buried his face. "Well he's wrong!" He snapped. Immediately he felt bad that he chose to explain his weakness that way. He figured that Nathan was probably going to take it the wrong way, but for some reason he just wasn't thinking at that moment. "I don't know why I said anything about muscle relaxants" Peter admitted. "But I did not take any. I promise you I didn't. I was just trying to explain what the attacks were like. I couldn't think of any other way to describe them. I couldn't think of anything else to compare them to"
"Well how would you know what the drug affects are like?" Niki asked "If you've never taken the drugs?" "That's the thing" Peter said. "I don't know what it's like to be high on muscle relaxants. I've just seen the drug reactions during my career and believe me it was not pretty. I know they cause muscle weakness. And now I'm experiencing that. I almost wish I was taking those medications because at least then I'd know why I keep experiencing muscle weakness. And then I could do something about it without using my healing powers, which I don't have anymore." He took a deep breath. "I don't know why I'm having these attacks. All I know is that I hate having them. I hate being weak. I hate having to explain my weakness. Neither of you understand it at all. I really should have kept my mouth shut. And I'm really mad at myself for not." He once again got himself up from the couch, but once again the muscles in his legs knees and ankles gave out. Niki firmly grabbed onto his arm and stopped him from folding to the floor.
"Thanks Niki!" Peter said. He wiped the bead of sweat from his fore head. "You were about to have another one of your attacks weren't you?" Niki asked almost accusingly. She stared sharply at him making him feel increasingly uncomfortable. "No" He lied "Um it was a false alarm, I'm really okay, in fact both of you guys can just leave if you'd like." "No!" both of them shouted almost in unison "I can take care of myself; I don't need to be baby sat." Peter said trying to smile a tiny bit which of course was not easy to do, even the muscles in his face were starting to feel weak. He knew that nothing he was saying was true but he didn't think it would be fair for either Nathan or Niki to have to stay with him. Nathan had very condescendingly lectured him about how he had a life. As condescending as the lecture was, Nathan was right. Peter felt increasingly guilty when he thought about what a burden he was for his brother. On top of that he wasn't too enthusiastic about Nathan being there. In fact he was still kind of mad at him for telling Niki everything. If it hadn't been for him, and his stupid big mouth, Niki wouldn't have been there in the first place. Niki was a whole different story. Peter could not stress it enough that she had so many problems and that he was about to become one of them. For some reason that thought caused his body to become cold all over, or maybe it wasn't the thought that caused it, but for some reason he was suddenly freezing. He began to shudder. Before he knew it he was unable to stop.
"You cold Peter?" Nathan asked. "I suppose a little bit" Peter said absently. He continued shuddering. "Well that sounds like a huge understatement to me" Nathan commented. "Niki" He commanded "There are a couple bed comforters upstairs, go get Peter one of them before he freezes to death here." Niki did as she was told and rushed upstairs. "I'm okay" Peter said once again. "Really I'm fine" "Of course you're not" Nathan scoffed. He held Peter close to his body trying to get him to warm up. It did not work. Peter continued on with his uncontrollable shuddering. Niki came downstairs. "How's he doing?" She asked worriedly. She immediately wrapped the light blue down comforter around Peter. That didn't seem to work either. He was still freezing and was still unable to stop shuddering. Niki gave him a sympathetic stare. "You poor thing" She gushed. "Why don't I run you a nice hot bubble bath?" She suggested.
Nathan's eyes became almost as wide as dinner plates "Are you crazy?" he wanted to know. "He could very possibly have one of his muscle attacks in the tub. He could drown. He annunciated every word slowly as if he felt Niki wouldn't understand that concept. "I would not" Peter snapped indignantly. "I'd have to be pretty strange to drown in the bath tub, and I am not that strange." He continued shuddering. "Besides I'm freezing. It would actually feel nice." Nathan placed his hand lightly on Peter's fore head. "Well you don't feel warm." He observed. "But let's just make sure. Where do you keep your thermometer?" The thought of having a thermometer in his mouth made Peter feel like gagging. He covered his mouth as if he were about to vomit. "Do you need a bucket?" Nathan asked "No I'm fine" Peter said. "Okay fine than" Nathan said. "Where's your thermometer?" Peter once again gagged. That time he actually managed to vomit a tiny bit in his mouth. He swallowed. It tasted awful. "It's in the first drawer in the upstairs bathroom." He said reluctantly. Peter had always hated having his temperature taken. At least he did when it was done with the kind of thermometer that went under the tongue. He remembered when he was a kid it would make him gag so hard that he ended up throwing up all over anything and everything. Luckily he wasn't sick that often, so naturally he didn't need his temperature taken that often. Niki held on tightly to Peter's hand. "You don't have to stay here you know" He said weakly. "What about Micah? Who's taking care of him?" Niki stared at him quizzingly. "We talked about this last week remember? I took Micah over to space camp on Sunday. Remember? Both my father and I thought it would be good for him." Peter actually had not remembered that, because of course he had repressed his entire date with Niki.
"Space camp right" Peter said absently. "I knew that, anyway I'm sure you have other things to do, you know besides taking care of me." "No not really" She said. She squeezed his hand and gave it a light kiss. "Don't worry about that okay?" She said. Nathan came down the stairs. "All right" He said let's get this over with." "You don't need to take my temperature" Peter said. "I don't feel sick at all anymore. I'm better."
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Very funny Peter" He said. "I know you hate having the thermometer under your tongue." He said reasonably. "I know it makes you gag." Peter nodded his head slowly. "But I'd really like to take your temperature." Nathan explained "I know you don't feel warm right now, but it never hurts to check. Now open your mouth!" He commanded. Peter kept his mouth clamped shut. "Look" Nathan said, "I got you a bucket. You know in case you feel like gagging. That way you won't throw up on anything important like you did that one time when we were kids remember?"
Peter sure did remember. He had thrown up all over an important essay that Nathan had written for school and had been very proud of. Unfortunately it was suppose to be due that very morning. It had taken him a really long time to forgive Peter, and he hadn't been too enthusiastic about having to explain to his teachers that he didn't have his essay with him because his little brother had thrown up on it. Peter managed to smile weakly at the memory, but continued to keep his mouth clamped shut. "Peter come on" Nathan said. "Stop being such a baby" Peter reluctantly opened his mouth and allowed Nathan to slip the thermometer under his tongue. "Don't worry" Nathan assured him, "It will over in only five minutes. It won't be so bad." He gave him a light pat on the cheek. Peter stared up at Nathan miserably. To him "only" five minutes seemed like a really long time. "All right" Nathan said. "Go ahead and close your lips" Peter miserably did as he was told. He surprised himself by lasting for the first three minutes without gagging. He than started to feel sick and began making loud moaning noises. "Quit whining Peter!" Nathan said rolling his eyes. "Nathan Seriously" Niki said "I think he's gagging. I think he really needs to throw up now" Nathan squeezed onto Peter's hand. "Hang in there" He commanded, "It's only for one more minute." Peter continued moaning. "My god Peter" Nathan said rolling his eyes. In what seemed like forever Nathan finally asked Peter to open his mouth so he could remove the thermometer. Peter right away started gagging. Nathan took that as a cue to leave the room. He took the thermometer with him into the kitchen. Peter then proceeded to vomit. Unfortunately he missed the bucket and ended up getting it all over Niki's fancy black high heals. "Damnit!" Niki swore under her breath. "Are you all right?" She asked trying to hide her annoyance. Peter's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry Niki." He apologized. "That was a really nice pair of shoes. I'm so sorry I wrecked them."
"It's okay" Niki said giving him a sheepish smile "They weren't THAT nice." She gave him a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. "Besides" She said, "You're sick. It's not like you threw up on purpose or anything." Peter managed to smile weakly. Niki once again squeezed his shoulder gently. Just then Nathan returned from the kitchen. He appeared very perplexed. "Either there's something really wrong with this thermometer or there's something really wrong with Peter." "Why?" Niki asked "What does it say?"
"90.1 degrees" Nathan announced reading the thermometer. "Obviously that's a very low body temperature." Peter stared at him looking horrified. "Let me see that!" Niki said sounding unconvinced. "You're probably reading it wrong" She swiped the thermometer from his hands and began staring at it.
"Oh my god!" She cried sounding horrified. "90.1!" She read slowly annunciating every word. Peter continued shuddering. "What are we going to do now?" He moaned. Nathan put his hand on his shoulder. "Well first things first. Let's try taking it again!" He suggested. "Please no!" Peter cried. Nathan once again slipped the thermometer under his tongue. I'm sorry I have to put you through this once again" Nathan apologized. "I'd just like to make sure we we're accurate." Peter once again made a loud moaning noise. "Poor thing" Niki said. "He's so miserable" Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Same as before Peter" He said, "It will be over in 5 minutes." Peter continued moaning loudly "All right" Nathan said. "Fine than we'll leave it in for four minutes."
Peter moaned and held up three fingers. "No!" Nathan said "Four" Once again four minutes seemed to last forever and forever it seemed like a huge déjà vu. "All right Peter!" Nathan finally said. "Open your mouth." Peter did as he was told. He gagged once again and then belched loudly. Nathan stared again at the thermometer.
"What does it say?" Niki asked eagerly. "Same as before!" Nathan answered. "90.1 degree's" He looked at the thermometer a second time. "Wait a second" He said. "It's actually 90.0 degrees, it's dropped one degree. Niki would you mind getting him another comforter?" Niki nodded her head. "Hang in there" She said to Peter wrapping the comforter a tiny bit tighter around him. "This sucks!" Peter moaned. "I want my powers!" Nathan didn't seem to know what to say to that, he just continued holding Peter close to his body. "If I had my powers right now" Peter cried "than I'd be able to cure myself, I'd make all these symptoms go away, I'd be able to get myself warm." He felt his breathing become very shallow. It was making him feel increasingly uncomfortable that Nathan wasn't saying anything about anything. The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for such a long time, that Peter was relieved when Niki finally came back down stairs. "Here you are" She said wrapping the second comforter around him.
"Does that help?" She asked nervously. Peter nodded his head slightly. "Yes thank you" He said. "Why don't I make you a hot drink?" Niki suggested. "Would you like that?" Peter felt his throat close up at the mention of drinking anything. Lately the muscles in his throat were becoming so weak that it was a major effort for him to swallow. "He'd like that very much" Nathan answered for him. "What would you like?" Niki asked. Peter continued to say nothing. "He doesn't really have a preference" Nathan explained. "Just any kind of hot liquid." "I'm actually not that thirsty!" Peter said weakly. "So don't bother. I'm perfectly fine." He gave her an a OK signal with his hand, then continued shivering. Niki firmly grabbed onto his shoulders and began shaking him. "Peter" She scolded. There was a hint of anger in her voice. "Look at you. You're freezing, you're miserable. You are NOT okay. You really need to get warm fast. The least you could do for yourself is to let me make you a hot drink, you need to drink something." Peter now realized exactly why he had dreaded Niki finding out about his symptoms besides the fact that he was adding to her problems. She was acting like such a piece of work at that point. In a strange way, Peter thought, she was beginning to sound a lot like his mother, but at least she wasn't forcing him to eat. He cringed at the thought. Peter had never by any means had much of an appetite, but at this point he had even less of one than usual. In fact even the thought of eating or even drinking anything made his stomach churn. "Shut up Mom!" He blurted out without thinking at all. "Niki!" Niki said correcting him. "I'm Niki." She than released her hands from his shoulders. "Peter just got a bit confused there" Nathan explained once again apologizing for Peter. "Peter" He said condescendingly, "That is not Mom okay?"
"It's not?" Peter asked irritably crossing his arms across his chest. "No it's not" Nathan said slowly "That would be Niki" "That's funny" Peter sulked, "Because she sure the hell is acting like Mom right now. 'You need to drink something' doesn't that sound familiar? Remember Mom when we were kids? 'You need to eat something'" he grinded his teeth in anger. "Well you know something?" Nathan asked. "Niki has a good point. You do need that hot drink right now. You're freezing and it's a good way to warm yourself up, you know as opposed to taking a bath and almost drowning." Peter scowled hard. He knew Nathan was right. Nathan was always right he thought miserably. "And it wouldn't hurt to eat something right now either before you waste away to nothing." Nathan continued
"No it really wouldn't hurt to eat something" Niki interjected. "Seriously have you eaten at all today?" Peter really wanted to slap Niki across the face, but he was far too weak to do such a thing. "Yes" He lied hoping Niki drop the matter all together. "What did you eat?" Niki pressed. "It's none of your business!" Peter snapped irritably. Niki stared at him worriedly, than she turned to Nathan. "I'm worried he doesn't eat enough" She told him. She was trying to speak quietly but Peter could still hear exactly what she was saying. He wasn't sure why it offended him so much but it did. He especially hated it that she was talking about him when he was right there. "You're absolutely right" Nathan said, "He doesn't eat quite enough." Peter slapped his fore head with his palm. "SHUT up, shut UP, SHUT UP! He suddenly snapped. That got Niki and Nathan's full attention. "What is your problem?" Niki asked sounding practically disgusted. Peter was too stunned to speak. Niki kept on talking. "Your brother and I are both really worried about you. We've been nothing but helpful, but obviously you don't appreciate it do you?" Peter sighed heavily. "Look I'm really sorry you guys" He said. "I do appreciate it really." His eyes glazed over with tears. "Just please stop forcing me to eat and drink. Please" Tears continued to blur his vision. "I seriously can't eat." He moaned. "Why not?" Nathan asked "Are you like physically incapable?" "Actually yes!" Peter moaned. Niki and Nathan stared worriedly at each other than at Peter. "Stop looking at me like that!" Peter snapped irritably. "Leave me alone both of you, I just want to be alone."
"Well" Nathan said, "That sure wasn't what you wanted a few hours ago" Peter sighed heavily. "Look" He said, "I'm really tired and sleepy." "Wow both?" Nathan asked. Peter rolled his eyes. "Look" He said again "I just really want to go to sleep" Of course he had only said that to get them off his back, but he soon realized that he really was feeling tired and sleepy. He couldn't even begin to guess why, considering the fact he hadn't done anything that whole day. He yawned widely than leaned his head on the back of the couch. "Niki would you mind keeping an eye on him for a little bit?" Nathan asked. For some reason Peter did not like the way Nathan put that, it seemed like he was once again implying that he needed a baby sitter. He might have as well come out and said, "Niki would you mind baby sitting him for a little while?" What did Nathan expect would happen if Niki wasn't 'keeping an eye on him'? "I'm going to go get him a couple of pillows from upstairs." "That would be great" Niki said. Nathan then headed up the stairs. "You know you don't have to keep an eye on me don't you?" Peter asked Niki. His voice came out sounding weak and breathless. Niki stroked his hair. "Peter listen to me okay?" She said. "I really don't think you understand" "Understand what?" Peter asked. Niki glanced at him sharply.
"Well duh!" She said, "You don't understand how serious this is. You're very sick. I want to take care of you. And I want you to let me." She gently massaged his spine. "I want you to want me to take care of you." She said. She then stopped what she was doing and looked Peter in the eye. Fresh tears began forming in her eyes. Peter stared at her indignantly. What did she think she was talking about? Of course he understood the seriousness of the whole situation. After all it was happening to his body. What could Niki possibly understand about any of it? What could Niki possibly do to make him better? Like Nathan, she did not have healing powers. Niki continued talking a mile a minute. Soon enough Peter could not understand a word she was saying. Pretty soon it all sounded like blah, blah, blah and a bunch of other gibberish. "Are you listening to me?" Niki asked. At least that part was coherent. Peter stared up at her slowly
"Yeah I heard you, weren't you like saying blah, blah, blah, blah, blah or something?" Niki smiled a tiny bit and rolled her eyes. "Was that really what I sounded like?" She asked. Peter nodded his head. "Wow touché!" Niki said. "You must think I'm a babbling idiot. I'm sorry." She continued massaging his spine. "Besides" She said, "You're obviously really tired so of course things are going to sound a bit incoherent to you." Peter once again yawned widely and leaned his head back against the couch. It felt very uncomfortable but at this point he was so tired he could go to sleep anywhere. "Hold on a second!" Nathan said. Peter groaned inwardly. He was just starting to dose off and was very rudely awaken.
"Nathan!" He whined. "I just thought you'd like to be more comfortable" Nathan said. He gently lifted Peter's head and placed a fluffy pillow underneath it. "There you are!" He said. "Now you can go to sleep." Peter was by that point so exhausted that he fell asleep instantly. When he awoke he found himself somewhere that was all too familiar. It was the same dark bleak cemetery that he had been visiting virtually every time he fell asleep, except for those rare times when he was visiting the morgue. As always there was a group of people surrounding a single grave stone and as always Peter was unable to see their faces that had always really scared him. As he walked towards the crowd they disappeared into a heavy fog. The fog was in fact so heavy that Peter was finding it hard to breath. Suddenly out of nowhere the single grave stone appeared in front of him. This was all too familiar. Usually Peter was unable to make out what the grave said, or else it would have no writing on it. This time the grave said in clear stone carved letters, Here lies Peter Petrelli. Suddenly the crowd of faceless people reappeared. They were all sobbing loudly.
"I'm right here you guys!" Peter said "I'm right here!" He began deliriously repeating it over and over again. He suddenly realized that he was safe in his own house, in his own living room, on his own couch. He breathed rapidly. "Are you all right Peter?" Nathan asked placing his hand on his shoulder. "You looked like you were in a having a fit or something just now." Peter drew in a deep breath "I'm dying!" He suddenly blurted out. "You're DYING?" Niki cried in disbelief. Tears filled her eyes. "No!" She blinked them back. "Please no!" She sighed. "I just saw my grave!" Peter explained. "In my dream I mean. Well actually it wasn't my dream it was uh actually a friends dream." Nathan rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid Peter" He said. "Okay fine" He said reluctantly. He really wasn't sure why he made up that alibi, but he then realized how stupid it really sounded. "It was my dream." He admitted. He than realized that his face was wet with tears. Once again he had started crying without realizing it. That had been happening quite a lot lately, and it was making him feel like he was really losing it. When he worked at the nursing home, many his patients had similar crying spells. So basically when that happened to him it made him feel demented so to speak. Now that he realized he was crying he was unable to stop himself. "Don't worry" Nathan said putting his hands on Peter's shoulders. "It was only a dream. You do realize that you don't have your precognition powers. It probably didn't mean anything."
"You don't understand" Peter cried. "It's not just the dream. I actually feel like I'm dying!"