It was three in the morning when I heard the elevator ding, I immediately sat up- the elevator stopped when the others left. They said that there was no maid service tonight, I remember them telling Thor that. I tiptoed to the door, cracking it slightly.
"Mr. Stark!" I heard someone yell, it sounded so weak, like they were injured, definitely male. He didn't sound very old, a teenage boy. He cried out again, "Mr. Stark!" He was in anguish. I opened the door and stepped out into the hall, the cold floor on my bare feet sending shivers up my spine. I could see his figure shuffling up the hall, swaying back in forth. "Mr. Stark, is that you?" He gasped.
As my eyes adjusted I realized he was bleeding. "No, I'm not Tony Stark, are you okay?" I asked as I stepped closer, trying to get a good look.
He leaned heavily against the wall, his breathing labored. He was defensive. "Who are you?" He was doing his best to sound strong. I couldn't watch him like this, it was clear that he was badly injured.
I quickly walked to him, "My name is Ruby, let me help you." I spoke fast, because I knew he was going to object, but he fell forward, crashing into me, I looked into his eyes, they were a deep, comforting brown color. His skin was pale, glazed in sweat, and he was cold. I got him safely to the ground, examining him, his stomach had a large wound that blood flowed freely from, I quickly applied pressure to it, "You're going to be okay." I said as I took one of my now bloody hands up to his face, then promptly screamed, "Thor, I need help!"
"You have very strong lungs." The bloody person said.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name's Peter."
"Thor! Help!" I screamed again as Peter's blood pushed through my fingers, then I turned back to Peter, "Peter, don't close your eyes. Whatever you do, stay awake."
"Anything for you." He said, his voice so soft, so weak, but yet had plenty of sarcasm. His eyes rolled back into his head, but he managed to roll them back. I stared into those eyes as they glazed over more and more.
"Here, let me take him." Thor's voice said as he gently pushed me out of the way, and picked Peter up, "You're going to be alright, Peter." He said as he quickly carried him away.
I hadn't realized I had been crying until I brought my bloody hand to wipe them from my face, but quickly stopped myself. As I got to my feet I saw something laying on the floor by me, I gently picked it up, examining it. The mask of spiderman was ripped and covered in blood.
There was a blood trail leading down the hall that Thor had just carried Peter down, I followed it, and it lead to the infirmary.
"Why don't you take him to the hospital?" I asked as I quickly entered the infirmary, where Thor had laid Peter on the bed and several people in white coats surrounded him.
"Peter does not wish for his identity to be revealed to the world, which is understandable. Besides, these doctors are specialists on superhumans. They've seen some of the most gruesome wounds and have successfully healed them. They've even treated me, a god." Thor quickly told me, sensing my fear for his life.
"Tony only accepts the best, doesn't he?" I asked. The question wasn't angry, and I don't know that it was even really a question. I was more of pointing it out, getting to know him better without him being there.
"Your father understands when the best is needed, if they weren't the best, many of us would probably have died." His tone wasn't sharp, but just factual.
He was right. You need the best doctors for the worst injuries and illnesses. Had my mother had the best instead of the underpaid, overworked, med students- who knows, maybe she would still be here, and I would be with her, instead of in this mess. I pushed the thought out of my head quickly- before the tears came. "What happened to Peter?" I asked as I sucked in a large breath, I just needed the subject to be changed.
"I do not know. Your father, he is close to Peter, but he doesn't always share what Peter does." Thor said, choosing his words carefully, but being completely honest with what he said.
I looked at the bloody Spiderman mask that I still gripped tightly in my hands, "So, my father keeps secrets that could potentially get people killed." It definitely wasn't a question this time, it was what I could see clearly with my very own eyes.
"Your father keeps secrets that could potentially get people killed so the rest of your world- the rest of all the worlds in the whole galaxy- can live. Your father has no choice but to keep secrets." Thor turned to look at me, to stare into my soul through my eyes, "If you could have given your life, or your mothers life, to save billions of people, or the whole galaxy, the whole universe, are you saying you would not do it?"
"No, I would," I quickly said, "It would kill me to see my mother die again, but I would do it if it were her life I had to give up too."
"Thin you understand what your father feels everytime someone gets hurt because of a secret that has to be kept. It kills him, but he knows that he cannot die, because the world still depends upon him." Bruce's voice caught us both off guard, "One of the on calls sent us all word, I came us quickly as I could."
The blood, Peters blood, was drying to my clothes, to my skin. "Why don't you go take a shower, we will be here, for Peter." Thor said as he examined me as I moved stiffly due to the crusting and stiffening blood.
My eyes darted to where he lay, what if something happened while I was gone? What if he died? The thought went through my head so fast I didn't even have time to brace myself for it. I told myself to stop being crazy, I didn't know this person, why was I acting so crazy? The answer hit me just as soon as the thought went through. That person came in, bleeding, dying, calling for my father. After going on a mission assigned by my father, kept a secret by my father. We had both been hurt by him, even if it were on different ends of the scale. We were both his secrets.
The thing was, the thing that got me the most, was that Peter admired him, while I was angry at him, maybe even hated him, yet I was the one who was his child.
I pulled my gaze from Peter, to his mask, and back to Thor and Bruce, "Yeah, I do really need a shower." I said.
"And sleep. You need sleep." Clint's voice caught me off guard again, and had me spinning on my heels to look at him. Natasha was also at his side. "You did a good thing, probably saved his life." Her voice was bland, monotone.
I nodded my head, then sucked in a sharp breath and gripped his mask even harder, "Yeah, I will do that, I guess." I walked passed them and quickly headed to my room. I hadn't realized Thor had followed me until his hand caught my door as I tried to close it, I slowly turned to face him, my mind racing as to why he would follow me.
"Do you want to be alone? You just held someone's blood into them long enough for help to arrive, in my experience I have noted many young women do not do so well with that."
Truth was, I was shaken. I didn't want to be alone. I was confused, and my mind hadn't stopped racing since I had gotten here. My stomach was in knots, I felt like I was constantly on the verge of an anxiety attack, even though I didn't know him, he was one of the few people here I felt like was honest with me, I didn't feel uncomfortable to be around him. Every part of me wanted to tell him I wanted him to stay, every part of me except for my mouth. "No, I'm really alright. Thank you, Thor."
He smiled at me gently, "I'll be down the hall in my own room."
I returned the smile as I watched him leave, closing the door behind him. Making me completely alone once again. I took the hottest shower I could hoping to make the knot in my stomach disappear, but after an hour of sitting, crying, and it not working, I realized my plan had failed. I wrapped myself in the white robe that was on the back of my bathroom door and wrapped my hair up in a white fluffy towel. I grabbed Peter's mask off the side of the sink, and went straight to the large bed. I laid on the bed, trying to fall asleep, but no matter how hard I tried, all I could think about was Peter.
I decided to act on it. I put on my old clothes and went back to the infirmary, his mask still tightly in my hands. Bruce, Natasha, and Clint were sprawled out in chairs in a small waiting room, all asleep. I walked to the room where I had last seen Peter, and the last of the doctors were clearing out when I stepped in. I took the chair closest to his bed. I was deciding on what questions I would ask him and which ones first when exhaustion began taking its hold on me. I pulled my feet up next to me, and got comfortable, tucking my hand that still clung to his mask next to me, where I wouldn't lose it. I decided I would stay right there, because no one should wake up alone in a hospital room after nearly dying.
A nudge on the shoulder and a gentle kick on the foot was what woke me. I forced my eyes open, the room was bright, it took them a few seconds to adjust, but as soon as they did, they sprung open and my feet hit the floor. "Uh hey kid, Ruby, can we talk?" Tony, my father, asked me as he shifted uncomfortably.