M.J. took another sip of her water as her dad carried on with his most recent part of the conversation. By now, she had been there for over an hour and dinner had long been finished, but she still hadn't worked up the courage to ask about Gayle yet. Part of that was likely because her mind had wandered to all the worst-case scenarios ever since her failed attempt to call her before. What if something had happened to her? What if she was hurt, or worse?

She kept telling herself that he was being ridiculous, that it was likely that Gayle had gotten a new phone and a new number at some point and that was all there was to it. Still, she couldn't shake her concerning thoughts. Plus, if something had happened, maybe whatever it was wouldn't have happened if she had reached out to her sooner.

Wow, maybe Peter was rubbing off on her in ways she hadn't realized.

"Mary?"

Realizing that she'd been caught in la la land, M.J. refocused.

"I'm sorry, dad," she apologized. "I must have spaced out for a second. What were you saying?"

"I was just telling you that new teaching position at NYU that I'm looking at pursuing," her father said. "I was explaining how the pay isn't the best and I'd only be teaching a couple of classes at first, but it's a start."

"Yeah," M.J. said, likely trying a little too hard to perk her tone up. "That's great, I hope you get it."

Her father merely shifted his head to the side a little, eyeing her curiously.

"Mary, what's going on?" he asked. "Is there something on your mind?"

Giving in, M.J. decided there was no time like the present to get it out there.

"Yeah dad, actually there is," she said, straightening up in her chair.

"What is it?" her father questioned.

"It's Gayle," M.J. replied after only a moment's hesitation. "I've been thinking a lot about her recently, and I've decided that I want to invite her to the wedding."

"I see," her father said, his tone measured.

"Anyway," M.J. continued, "I tried to call her just before I came over here, but all I got was a message that her number was no longer in service."

Her dad averted eye contact at that point, something that didn't go unnoticed by M.J. Still, she proceeded.

"I know that neither of us have mentioned her in a while, but I was wondering if maybe you had heard from her recently, or maybe if you have her current working number?"

Her father hesitated just a little too long before finally responding.

"No, I haven't heard from your sister, and I haven't gotten a new number in a while either."

M.J. eyed her father. He looked back at her, seemingly unshaken, but she wasn't convinced.

"You know something," she asserted, pointing at him.

"No, Mary, I don't," her father doubled down.

"Your hesitation earlier is giving me other ideas," M.J. explained. "Now, I'm going to ask you again: what do you know about Gayle?"

Finally averting his eyes, the man shook his head.

"Yes, I know about your sister," he said in a more serious tone. "But you're not going to like it."

M.J. froze, her heart feeling as though it had stopped beating.

"Why?" she questioned. "What happened to her?"

After a brief hesitation, her father answered.

"Mary, your sister's in prison."

M.J.'s eyes widened.

"What?" she asked. "Gayle in prison? For what?"

"Stealing a priceless painting," her father explained.

M.J. said nothing, the revelation sending a wave of shock that sent her mind into a tailspin. She leaned forward, running her hand along her forehead and through her hair as she tried to process what she'd just been told.

"When did this happen?" she finally asked.

Her father leaned forward on the table, folding his hands together on it.

"After I got sober, I went to track down both of you," he explained. "You were easy to find, but I couldn't find anything on Gayle, until one day I saw about her on the local news back home. Apparently, she'd been convicted just a week before I found her."

Mary Jane's jaw dropped.

"So... you knew about this for the last couple of years, and you never told me?"

"I wanted to see how receptive you were to me coming first," her father answered. "I know that you were on the outs with both of us, so I figured that, if you could warm up to me, maybe you would to her too."

"Except for the fact that you and I have been on speaking terms now for over a year, and yet you still never said a thing to me about it!" M.J. pointed out, her tone growing harsher as she became more upset. "Why didn't you tell me, dad?"

Her father hesitated again.

"WHY!?"

"Because Gayle doesn't want anything to do with us, Mary!" her father snapped back, catching M.J. off guard. The man then composed himself again before continuing: "When I finally tracked her down, I got in to see her. I tried to get her to talk to me, to tell me her side of the story, but she said that she didn't want me in her life and told me never to come back. I didn't want you to have the same feeling walking out of there that I did!"

M.J. could only stare at her father, the whole thing hitting her like a giant tidal wave.

"I know you don't want to hear this, Mary," her father added, "but your sister, the happy, responsible girl you knew when you two were growing up, she's gone."

Mary Jane looked away as she struggled to control the million thoughts bouncing around in her head like pinballs. Her sister in prison? That didn't make any sense; Gayle had always been the more responsible one between the two of them, just like her father had said. The idea that she would do something like this just didn't make any sense...

"Where is she?"

Her father narrowed his eyes at her.

"What?"

"I don't believe that she would do something like that," she insisted. "Where is she incarcerated at? I want to talk to her."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mary," her dad explained. "After the falling out you two had..."

"How do you know about that?" M.J. asked. "Did she say something?"

A nervous expression suddenly came over her father's eyes.

"Not really," he explained, "she just said that you left."

"So, you're more than willing to talk about me with her, but you don't think to say anything about her to me, even after all this time?" M.J. questioned. "What is wrong with you, dad? I don't care what she did or didn't do! She's still my sister, and I..."

M.J.'s phone suddenly went off; if it was anyone else, she would have ignored it, but she recognized Peter's ringtone instantly. After a moment, she answered.

"Hey Peter."

"M.J, come to the hospital."

"What, why?" M.J. questioned.

"It's Anne," Peter replied. "I'll explain more when you get here, but she's... she's hurt bad."

"Okay," M.J. replied, already getting up from her seat. "I'll be right there."

She then hung up, quickly gathering her stuff.

"What is it?" her dad asked. "What's wrong?"

"You and I aren't done," M.J. proclaimed, pointing to the man. "I'll be back, and when I am, you better be prepared to tell me where Gayle is."

M.J. then quickly hurried out the door.

Peter could only watch as Eddie paced the waiting area of the hospital, the man constantly doing something with his hands. In a way, it was almost unnerving to see him like this, since the man was usually the most upbeat and happy individuals he knew in his life. He was a far cry from that now, with worry and fear emanating out of everything he did. Peter had already tried to settle him down a bit, only for his attempts to end up being in vain. Still, his constant pacing and nervousness was giving him anxiety, so it was getting hard not to say something again.

Fortunately for him, he noticed Mary Jane coming into the room, so he got up and went over to her, making sure to keep a good space from Eddie.

"What happened?" she asked. "Is Anne okay?"

"No, no she's not," Peter replied with a heavy breath. "Her and Eddie were attacked in their home earlier. He hasn't shared a lot of details, but it sounds like they held her hostage while they tried to get information out of him. One of the men eventually resorted to using brass knuckles on her; he struck her multiple times in the side of her face and head."

"Oh my goodness," M.J. replied, her eyes suddenly filled with horror. "Is she going to be okay?"

"The doctor said that her right cheek bone was fractured," Peter explained through the growing lump in his throat. "They also said that she had some internal bleeding close to her brain, so they rushed her into emergency surgery to stop it before it got out of control. There hasn't been an update since then."

"Oh wow," M.J. sighed, glancing over in Eddie's direction. "How's Eddie handling all this?"

Peter glanced back to his friend, who had at least managed to stop pacing and was currently leaning against a wall.

"I've never seen him like this," Peter admitted. "He just seems so scared."

"I can't blame him," Mary Jane said.

"Me neither," Peter concurred. "It's hard to feel so helpless while the life of someone you care about hangs in the balance."

Peter then walked back over there with her, with M.J. especially coming up to Eddie.

"Eddie, I just want to say that I'm sorry about what happened," she said. "Your wife's a fighter, if anyone can make it through something like this, it's her."

Eddie glanced down at the floor for a moment before renewing eye contact with her.

"Thanks," he said, trying and failing to force a smile on his face. "Yeah, it's, uh... she's hanging in there."

A few seconds later, a doctor came up to the three of them, particularly looking at Eddie. The man's full attention shifted towards the guy in the white coat.

"Doctor, how's my wife?" Eddie asked.

"Well, the good news is that the surgery was successful," the doctor replied. "We managed to stop the internal bleeding, and all the structural damage was contained to her cheek bone. She's through the worst of it, but she'll have a long road before she fully recovers."

Peter was relieved at this news and was even more so as he saw Eddie visibly relax.

"Can I see her?" he asked.

The doctor nodded.

"It'll still be a couple of hours before her sedative wears off," he added before turning and leading them down the hallway. Peter, Eddie and M.J all followed the doctor down a couple turns, eventually coming to a recovery room. When they stepped through the door, the reality of the woman's situation set in, as almost all the right side of her head was being supported to keep it stable in lieu of the fracture.

Eddie came over to her, immediately taking a seat next to her as Peter and M.J. stood on the lower side of the bed. None of them said anything for a moment, the latter two only able to observe as one of their friends slowly had it dawn on him the severity of what had happened to the love of his life. Eddie took his wife's hand in his own, resting his head against his thumbs and closing his eyes.

Peter came up to him.

"I'm so sorry, Eddie," he said softly. "M.J. are happy to stay, but we can also clear out, if you'd like some time alone?"

Sucking in air through his nose, Eddie let it right back out a second later, seemingly contemplating Peter's offer as he lifted his head back up.

"Actually yeah, I think just being with her is what I need right now," he finally spoke up.

Peter gently places his hand on Eddie's shoulder as one last show of comfort and solidarity before escorting M.J. and himself out of the room to honor his friend's request. However, before he properly took his leave, he turned back one last time in the doorway, observing the sad, heart wrenching scene before him before finally walking away.

Part of him hadn't wanted them to leave, but Eddie knew that he needed to be alone with not just his wife, but also his thoughts. Truth be told, he was still processing everything that had happened over the last few hours. The fear, the horror of watching the person he loved more than life itself be used initially as a bargaining chip to keep him in line, then seeing her beaten, treated as if she were an expendable piece of trash...

Slowly, as he looked upon Anne's face, Eddie's fear from earlier slowly turned into something... darker. An anger, a rage that made his blood boil like a volcano on the verge of erupting. He could soon feel his lips tremble and his hand begin to shake, and he fought to regain control of his body. After a moment, he managed to quell the physical signs, but the feelings themselves were not so easy to get rid of.

In a weird way, perhaps he almost didn't want to.

"I'm so sorry, Anne," he finally spoke up, tears threatening to stream down his face at any moment. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you from this."

Eddie then leaned forward, his anger now beginning to form a new resolve within him.

"But I promise you, I will never let anything happen to you again," he said with conviction. "No matter what I have to do."

Peter didn't realize that he'd picked up his pace until M.J. caught up with him as they strolled down the street, pressing her hand against his chest to stop him.

"Woah there, Tiger," she said. "What's going on? Are you alright?"

Peter didn't say anything in response, but something in his facial expression or body language must have given away his thoughts.

"Peter, if you're trying to think of some reason that this could be your fault, I'm going to stop you right there," his fiancé said. "How could you have known that this would happen?"

He knew this she was right, but that didn't stop Peter from feeling the way that he did.

"I'm sure you're right M.J," he confessed, "it's just... earlier today, he'd told me about some guy he'd met that had contacted him about information on some new underworld overlord. He even asked me to help him with the investigation. Even though it was only a fleeting thought, something in me was worried that something like this might happen."

"You can't be everywhere at once," Mary Jane reassured him.

"I know, but I should be there for the people that need me," Peter retorted, his tone growing angrier. "What good are my powers otherwise?"

"You do nothing but good with your abilities," M.J. argued.

"Okay, so I can save some random old lady crossing the street, but I can't keep my best friend from almost losing his wife?" Peter questioned. "That's not good enough, M.J."

He started to storm off, but M.J. caught up to him and stopped him again.

"You need to calm down," she said sternly.

"No M.J, what I need is to be better," he rebuked her. "What I need is to prevent my best friend from going through the same thing that I did."

"I know that this is hard for you..."

"No, you don't know how hard this is, M.J!" Peter suddenly snapped. "You don't what it's like to be walking around with such huge guilt all the time, knowing that you lost someone when you could have stopped it, knowing that you ruined the lives of others in the process! You don't..."

Peter suddenly locked eyes with his fiancé in the middle of his rant, observing the hurt, startled and defensive look on her face. His heart suddenly swelled up with a new guilt.

"I'm sorry, M.J," he apologized in between breaths as he tried to cool down. "I don't know why I lost my temper like that."

Taking a breath herself, his fiancé responded.

"I do."

Those two words drew Peter's attention back to her.

"You carry things with you from your past," M.J. continued. "No matter how much you try, you just can't get rid of them and how they make you feel, because it involved those close to you."

Peter swallowed lightly as he allowed his mind to stew on M.J.'s words. On top of her being right, something about them sounded as if they came from personal experience.

"Are we still talking about me now?" he asked.

M.J. glanced at him, a look of "you got me" written on her face.

"I don't really want to get into it tonight, but I tried to reach out to Gayle," she explained. "I need some time to process what I learned before I discuss it though."

Peter nodded, accepting her terms.

"I'm sorry again," he said as he came up to her. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"It's okay," M.J. replied. "Well, it's not okay, but I know that it's not who you are. Now come on, I think we both could use some rest."

Peter agreed and the two of them soon resumed walking. He couldn't get his blow up towards her out of his head though. Where had that come from? One moment, he and Mary Jane were just having a regular discussion, then out of nowhere he just snaps like that? The more he thought about it, the more the whole thing just felt off. It was as if the anger had suddenly just shot up into him, like the rage itself had been pumped full of steroids.

It seemed like a ridiculous idea; people just lost their temper sometimes, himself included. Besides, he had other things he needed to focus on, like M.J... and maybe finding out who it was that had gone after his best friend.

Hope you're all still enjoying this, and also that you had a great Thanksgiving! As always, your support is appreciated.

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17