Make Me Feel
Disclaimer: I only own the Beautiful Girl and Zachary (A.K.A: Granite). I do not own Spider-Man, Oscorp, Doc Ock, any songs or bands mentioned, blah…blah…blah…
Notes: I got reviews! Again! Thank you DocOcksGirl31, Moon Avenger, Pirate Goddess, Repto, Seizure Squirrel, Toilet Paper Roll, mythical gurl, and Psyche 'pallasathena' Scyon for all reading and reviewing! I also thank anybody who read but did not review. (glomps)
Chapter 12
During the length of time Zachary was 'out of commission', Otto spent almost all of his time sitting with the young man.
He was continuously checking Zachary's wound and re-bandaging it. He would only leave the boy's side to eat, use the restroom, and change into clean clothes.
It was strange to him. He knew as a doctor that Zachary would be all right. He knew this perfectly, but for some reason there was a nagging worry in the back of his mind that something might go wrong. That his boy wouldn't be all right.
He had been startled the first time he had thought of Zachary as his boy. He had been sitting in a chair he had set next to Zachary's bed watching him drift in his injury induced sleep, and he had suddenly just thought of him as his boy. He was not only startled but also confused and slightly alarmed. It was almost like how when he had been younger and thought of Rosie as his girl.
That was what had alarmed him.
But the longer he had thought about it, the more he had come to tell himself that Zachary was his boy. When he really thought about it, it made plenty of sense. After all, he had taken the boy in, taken care of him, and in the mind of any logical person, that would make Zachary his.
On the third day after the 'incident' Otto was in his place sitting next to Zachary's still form. He had crossed his legs 'guy style' and had a book propped up against his knee. He would occasionally look up from the pages and study the lithe body next to him for any movement, maybe brush the youth's bangs out of his face and watch them fall back into place, and then look back to his book.
After returning back to his book for the umpteenth time he didn't notice the flicker of movement made by Zachary's eyelids. There were several more flickers and finally the right eye opened about half way. The left side of the boy's face was still reddish purple and extremely tender. There was too much pain to attempt opening the left.
The room was fairly dim but the eye in question still squinted after three days without light. A very small almost unnoticeable whine came from the back of the boy's throat.
Otto immediately looked down at his charge with a look of surprise and a relieved smile played on his lips.
"Your awake."
He closed his book and set it on the ground by his chair.
Zachary squinted up at the other man and opened his mouth to speak. All that came from his mouth though, were a few hoarse coughs and wheezes.
Otto knew immediately what the problem was and picked up a glass of water that he had set on the floor near his chair. He carefully held the glass up to the young man's lips and held it there as the boy drank. When Zachary was done he pulled it back and set it back down next to the chair.
"What happened?"
The youth's voice was still a little hoarse and a bit weak but he seemed to not have suffered too much damage.
"You were hit quite forcefully upside your head."
"By what, a truck?"
Otto chuckled lightly at that weak statement.
"No, by Spider-Man. The fool hit you with a large slab of solid concrete. It's amazing you didn't suffer from any brain damage."
Zachary looked at him with heavy eyes. He had finally worked up the nerve to open the left, even if only slightly.
"Maybe I did and you just don't know it yet."
Otto raised an eyebrow at that. But then he noticed the weak attempt at a wry grin that had fallen across the young man's lips. Otto quickly found a grin spreading onto his own lips.
"Yes well, I highly doubt that."
He shook his head and chuckled.
"You've been out cold for three days. Are you hungry?"
Zachary's eyes widened slightly at hearing that he'd been out for that long, but he was immediately drawn into the prospect of food. He nodded and stopped to wince at the throbbing in his skull.
Otto stood up and moved the chair back over to the desk it belonged to. He used two of his tentacles to set the glass and his book on the dresser and then turned back to Zachary.
"Can you stand?"
Zachary paused a moment and then answered.
"Uh…yeah. Yeah, I think so."
Otto nodded and walked over to the young man and pulled away the covers. Zachary took the hint and allowed the older man to help him to his feet. Otto paused and remembered that Zachary had been unconscious for three days and had been wearing the same clothes through out that entire time.
"Lets get you some different clothing first. I'll help you change."
Zachary instantly made an attempt to detach himself from the older man only to stumble and be pulled even closer.
"No, that's okay. I can do it myself. You can just wait in the hall until I'm done."
Otto noticed an almost frightened tone to the young man's voice. This alarmed him to know that the boy was actually scared of him.
"Zachary calm down. I'm just going to help you change. If I don't help you, you might lose your balance and fall just to crack open your already injured head."
The boy in question watched him with a weary look.
"All…all right."
Otto nodded but he was still troubled by the boy's fear. Carefully keeping a hand on the boy's shoulder so he would stay steady he helped the boy remove his shirt. It was a good thing it had such a low wide collar so it didn't catch or cause Zachary any further pain.
When he went to un-button the youth's pants he felt the boy go so stiff, you would think someone had fused his spine with a two by four. When he looked up at the boy's face it had been wiped clean of all emotion and his pupils were dilated. He looked positively pitiful with that added to the bruised temple and eye. When he looked back down he noticed on the way that small patches of the stone mutation had spread and were speckling along the left ribs.
He just shook his head and undid the young man's pants entirely and pulled them down to his ankles. He waited for the youth to step out of them and tossed them with the shirt onto the rumpled bed.
His tentacles stretched out behind him and began searching through the chest of drawers. One returned to him with a plain baggy black tank top, another with a pair of boxers and the third with black drawstring pajama pants.
He helped the boy out of his current underwear and tossed them onto the bed. He then helped the youth into the new cleaner and more comfortable clothes.
He stood up straight while still keeping a hold on the young man and heard Zachary exhale deeply as if he had been holding his breath.
He let the young man walk independently along side him to the kitchen but stayed alert just in case he stumbled or lost his balance.
Upon arriving Zachary collapsed into a chair and took a deep breath. His head felt like it was going to explode and it was throbbing in a less than enjoyable way.
Otto went to the pantry and began shuffling things around.
"Lets start you out on something that doesn't involve much chewing."
He stepped back with a can of Spaghetti –O's in his hand. (A/N: You really don't have to chew that stuff.)
He prepared the food and quietly served it to his 'patient'. He sat down across from the young man and watched him begin to eat.
"How do you feel?"
Zachary swallowed a spoon full of the small o-shaped pasta and tomato sauce before answering.
"Like I died."
Otto nodded and folded his hands on the table.
"Yes, after a blow like that I'm not the least bit surprised. You even look like you could have been close to death."
Zachary looked up at him sharply at that.
"What do you mean? What's wrong with the way I look?"
Otto then remembered that the boy hadn't seen himself. He sent one of his tentacles to fetch a small mirror from the bathroom down the hall and brought it back to himself. He then held it up in front of the youth across from him.
Zachary's spoon fell to the table and he stared at his battered face.
"I look like a hit fast-attack victim."
Otto lowered the small mirror down and set it on the table.
"You are a hit fast-attack victim. And Spider-Man victimized you."
He gently reached across the table and placed his hand over Zachary's.
"And he will pay for it dearly."
End of Chapter
Hey! I'm back. I went to Mackinaw Island, it was so fun. I hope you liked this chapter. I'm sorry if the last one was a bit rushed. Thank you for reading and Please Review!!
Stray-