Hey guys! I'm going to be very real right now: this semester was getting to be a little full. I was working two jobs, I was taking a grad class, and I was trying to finish my last hands-on undergrad education course. Then the governor of my state closed all K-12 schools which shut down both of my jobs. On top of that, my university moved all of their classes online which cut my senior year short and my May commencement ceremony has been postponed.
I'm upset about the way that my last year of college has ended and I'm even more upset with how my country has been handling the COVID-19 outbreak. I understand that people are getting incredibly sick and dying, so I am very appreciative that my university has taken every precaution to ensure that we stay healthy and safe. I'm just a little bummed right now.
I hope that every one of you is safe and healthy right now. I hope that you find light in these dark times. If there's anything that I can do for you or your family from behind my computer screen, please don't hesitate to let me know in the comments of this story. I'm going to be trying to update more now that I am at home and my classes are asynchronous. I'm sending you all love right now 3
Peter woke to his phone going off and sunlight in his eyes. His head felt like an angry leprechaun was going crazy on a jackhammer in his skull. He guessed that's what happened when he fell asleep after sobbing for most of the night. As he sat up and reached for his phone, the pain in his knee flared up and he hissed out in pain. Biting his lip, Peter finally got ahold of his phone and swiped to answer it before realizing that it was a video call from Tony.
"Hey kiddo!" Tony said, sunglasses obstructing half his face and a ball cap pulled down.
"Hey Tony," Peter said, sitting up and trying to look as if he hadn't just been asleep. He figured it was late.
His suspicions were confirmed when Tony pulled his sunglasses off and squinted at his screen.
"Are you still in bed? Isn't it like noon there?" Tony asked, concern seeping into his tone.
"I guess? I think I just needed the sleep." Peter confessed, moving to get out of bed and immediately regretting it.
His eyes screwed up and he bit his lip, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a whimper. He took a deep breath through his nose and slowly let it out before looking back at Tony. In the time it had taken Peter to work through the pain, apparently Tony had made his way into a deserted gift shop.
"Don't take this the wrong way kid, but you look like shit. Are you okay?" Tony asked.
"I think I slept through my pain meds schedule." Peter said, hoping Tony wouldn't pry too much about why he had slept so late.
"I want you to have Friday call Bruce up to the penthouse so he can give you your medication and he can look at that leg without you putting pressure on it." Tony said.
Peter tried to protest but Tony was having none of it and soon Bruce was knocking on his door and giving him his pain pills before examining his knee. After a thorough check of his knee with Tony keeping watch from Peter's nightstand, Bruce pulled his pajamas back down and covered his leg with his blanket before stepping back and sighing.
"I don't want you to leave this bed for the rest of the day." Bruce said, adjusting his glasses on his nose and turning slightly to address Tony, "His knee cap is swollen and, now that I think about it, we may take him back down to medbay to get an x-ray on it this afternoon."
Peter deflated as Bruce continued to talk with Tony about his knee. He really didn't want to have to be re-admitted to medbay, especially while Tony was away. As Peter continued to mull over how he was going to fair being confined to his bed for the unforeseeable future, he was pulled back to the immediate conversation by Tony speaking.
"I'm going to head home today."
"What? No!" Peter exclaimed, twisting so he could look directly at Tony.
"Uh, yes! You're still hurt and I'm not letting you be stuck in medbay by yourself because I know how much you hate being down there even when I'm there." Tony said, putting his sunglasses on and heading back outside.
"You can't just leave! You're on vacation with your family! Morgan will be devastated!" Peter tried to reason as Bruce laid a hand on his shoulder to help calm him down.
"Peter, we never should have left you while you were still recovering. Pepper and Morgan can stay behind and enjoy the park while I go back home to you." Tony said, apparently searching for his wife and daughter amongst the chaos that was Disney.
"I'm fine." Peter said, though at this point he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince.
His statement, however, stopped Tony dead in his tracks.
"So fine you that you cried yourself to sleep last night?" Tony asked, not unkindly.
Peter turned his head away, avoiding Tony's scrutinizing gaze.
"That's what I thought." Tony said.
It wasn't long before Tony found Pepper and explained the situation to her. Morgan was on one of the little kid rides and so Tony waited until she got off to say goodbye to her. Morgan did indeed pitch a fit, but not for the reason that Peter thought she would.
"I want to go home and help take care of Peter too!" Morgan exclaimed.
Pepper and Tony tried to explain that they were supposed to be at the park for the rest of the week and that Pepper would still be there with her, but Morgan had inherited both of her parents' stubborn genes and she was not easily dissuaded.
"If I may interrupt," Bruce stated, his hand squeezing Peter's shoulder, "Why don't you guys pack up and leave tonight so you'll be back by morning? All we're doing is taking some x-rays of his knee and maybe keeping him under observation for a few hours."
Peter watched as Tony and Pepper had a silent conversation before Tony turned back to his phone.
"Alright, I'm going to stay here at the park for a few more hours with Morguna while Pepper packs our stuff back at the resort." Tony said before looking down at his daughter, "We'll leave this evening and be back later tonight."
"And we'll come back again once Peter is fully healed and he can come with us." Pepper added.
"Okay!" Morgan cheered.
"That sound good with you kiddo?" Tony asked Peter.
Peter nodded his head. He was starting to feel tired again now that the sharp pain in his knee had turned into a dull throb.
"Good because you don't have a choice. Try not to give Bruce too hard of a time." Tony said.
"I never give Bruce a hard time." Peter said, smiling up at Bruce.
"Well keep it that way. Call if you need anything, kid. Take care of him Bruce." Tony said.
"He's in good hands here Tony." Bruce said.
The phone call ended and Peter suddenly found a small med-team filing into his room. He was gently lifted off his bed and into a wheelchair. Bruce pushed him to the elevator and the group made their way down to the medbay floor in silence. Peter was still contemplating his conversation with Tony and Bruce seemed to be giving him some space.
The next few hours slipped by in a blur.
After Peter had some x-rays done on his knee, Bruce came in to explain that when they had tried to put his knee back into place after the accident, they had done more than just tear some ligaments.
"It appears that the emergency medics were right about your knee already trying to heal. I'm afraid that we need to go in and remove some bone growth that doesn't belong. Your body was trying to heal the injury while your kneecap was out of its socket and you now have some abnormal growths grinding together whenever you walk or bend your knee. Have you ever heard of bone spurs? That's kind of what they are. It shouldn't take too long to cut them out and then you'll be healing properly and good to go within the next week." Bruce explained.
"Are we doing the surgery now?" Peter asked, nervously picking at the blanket thrown over his lap.
Bruce's eyes softened as he took in Peter's nervous mannerisms.
"No Peter, we're going to wait until tomorrow. The growths do not appear to be growing anymore and I think we both know that you'd rather wake up with Tony here." Bruce said.
Peter hesitated before nodding slowly, avoiding eye contact with Bruce.
"Also, I figured that since we slipped you past the Leeds, we could get you into the ICU and you could spend some time with your aunt." Bruce suggested, a smile growing across his face as he watched Peter's eyes light up.
Bruce then helped Peter back into the wheelchair and, once making sure the hall was all clear, pushed him down the hall towards ICU. Bruce made sure Peter was settled before checking over May's chart and vitals real quick.
"Is she doing any better?" Peter asked, squeezing May's hand slightly.
Although she was warm, the way her hand laid limply in his own still unsettled Peter.
Bruce looked up from the chart, a sad smile gracing his features.
"No, but she's also not doing any worse." Bruce tried to reassure him.
Peter sighed and nodded his head. He already knew the answer before he asked his question.
"I'll leave you two alone." Bruce said, setting down May's chart and slipping out the door.
Peter listened to Bruce's footsteps fading down the hall before turning his attention back to May – or rather May's blanket. Peter couldn't bring himself to look at his aunt's lax face as he spoke to her, he was too used to her lively features and expressions whenever he would talk to her. Looking at he now just felt wrong. Instead he found patterns in her bedspread as he spoke to his aunt about anything and everything she had been missing while in the coma.
As Peter spoke, he found the courage to glance up at May's face every once in a while, however he always ended up looking back down at the duvet.
"So Tony, Pepper, and Morgan are coming back tonight which I wasn't really on board with but now that Bruce says I have to have surgery… I guess I'm glad they're cutting their trip short. Pepper said that when I'm better they're taking me with them which got me thinking that when you wake up, you should come too. I know you've always wanted to go and now we have the perfect opportunity to do so. I mean, I feel like anytime Morgan wants to go that Tony will just drop everything and – " Peter stopped talking as he looked up at his aunt, the rest of his sentence getting caught in his throat.
Peter felt like he couldn't breathe because May was staring right back at him.
