A Different Choice.
May Parker was sitting up in her bed, feeling a lot stronger than she had over the last few months. She was presently reading the newspapers, dominating the headlines were the robberies committed by Spider-Man. The thought of the arachnid criminal made May shudder, she'd always hated spiders and hated the thought of a mutant who could do what they could do, but she tried to focus her attention on other matters. Many of her so called friends had shown up over the last few days when it was announced she was getting better, showering her with attention, but truthfully May didn't know what to think about them at the moment. She had been aware, as she had told Peter, of people's presence, and she had indeed been aware of the presence of her friends, but she hadn't known their visits were so few and far between. Anna Watson and that dreadful and obnoxious niece of hers had visited a couple of times, but Mary Jane had always left after a few minutes, always politely excusing herself to get a few moments to herself. Mary Jane may have thought she was being polite, but May was not stupid. She may be an old, frail, and sickly woman, but Mary Jane was forgetting she had been a teenage girl herself, and though there was a wide gulf between Mary Jane's present teenage generation than what May had seen and lived through at that age, she knew enough to guess that Mary Jane didn't like being so close to a sick woman. May wondered if she would retain that same attitude when she was May's age, but she didn't dwell on it too much.
The girl's attitude made May do her best to ignore her, though it was hard and with Anna's presence nearby it was easy to focus on something else. May frowned as she remembered her friend's own attitude which left much to be desired. Anna had done her best to balance her concern for May, though it did make her slightly ill since Anna spent more time moaning about Peter's so called lack of attention to his sick aunt. When May and Anna had set up that date for Mary Jane and Peter, May had done it for the best of intentions, but now she was wiser about her friend, especially that disgusting display where Anna placed her hand on Peter's shoulder.
Whilst she was surprised and a more than a bit worried about Peter threatening Anna, May could understand her nephew's anger towards the woman beyond putting a hand on his shoulder. Peter had never liked Anna, and the feeling was mutual. May was not blind to how overworked her nephew was, but Anna didn't have to hound him. May knew that, even if Ben had lived, Peter would have eventually had to get a job and earn money sooner or later. She and Ben had been too old, and they couldn't support Peter forever, that had been the reality, but she hadn't expected Peter to accept it on Ben's death though she knew Peter had already guessed it for himself.
After checking the time, May relaxed. She had a simple way of getting through hospital, all she had to do was look the clock, note the time and date, and tick off the minutes and hours to the moment the doctors could say she could return home. Home. The word went through her mind, and though she had tried on many occasions to avoid thinking about the things Peter had needed to pawn for cash for her medical treatment, she couldn't. She hated the idea of Peter having to part with some of the things she and Ben had gifted him with over the years, just as much as she hated the thought some of the things that reminded her of Ben were also sitting on some shelf in a pawn shop, but she understood where her nephew had come from with only the wages from that awful restaurant supporting him and her.
May looked up as the door to her room opened, and she smiled at the sight of Peter as he walked into the room, closely followed by Heather. She was a bit surprised to see the girl, but it was a pleasant surprise. Peter kissed her on the cheek gently. "How are you?" he asked her while Heather stayed back to give the two Parkers time to themselves.
"Much better, I can't wait to get home." To prove she was much better May got out of bed, and started moving around the room. Heather smiled as she took in May's improved mobility.
Peter had told her that May had begun walking again. True, it had been hard since her legs had not been used for a number of weeks, so she had needed to learn how to walk all over again. She had told Peter it was the same with her mother. It made Heather smile that both May and Louise were recovering so quickly.
May suddenly turned her smiling face towards her. "Hello, Heather dear," she said warmly at the teenager with her nephew. "How's Louise?"
"Much better, thank you," Heather smiled back, then she surprised May when she walked over to stand next to Peter. May's eyes widened with surprise as she noted their closeness. "Are you two-?" she began, but couldn't finish the sentence.
Peter and Heather smiled shyly, and they nodded. May thought she was going to collapse with happiness that her nephew had finally gotten a girlfriend, in fact she looked like she was teetering on the edge, or at least she would have been if Peter and Heather hadn't both seen it. The old lady was surprised by how swiftly the two teenagers moved to steady her.
"I'm okay," she protested to them as they steadied her, looking between them. "When did you two start dating?"
Peter and Heather looked at one another. They hadn't exactly started dating, but they had spent most of their time snogging, but they assumed it was not a good idea to say that to May.
"We've only just started a few days ago," Heather smiled, wrapping an arm around Peter. May smiled, she was even happier when she realized the hug was loving instead of possessive. Her grin widened when Peter wrapped one of his own arms around Heather's slender waist.
May was just about to ask the new couple another question, but was interrupted when the door opened. May and the others turned, expecting it to be a doctor or a nurse. It wasn't, it was Anna Watson, and fortunately she was alone, which made Peter and Heather more comfortable, though for different reasons. Peter had not forgiven Mary Jane for that mess of a date, and though she felt more confident in herself now she was Peter's girlfriend Heather was more self conscious next to a girl like Mary Jane. Anna looked very surprised to see Peter and Heather together, here at the hospital, but that was simply because she hadn't visited May often enough to see the girl. Heather had actually visited the hospital since she'd met Peter, she hadn't been coerced into coming because of their friendship, but because she had genuinely wanted to see the woman who meant so much to the man she loved. May and Heather had quickly become friends whenever the old lady had woken up, and it warmed her old heart to see her nephew, who had always been so shy and lonely as a kid now had a friend. Louise herself had also visited, but that was to visit for checkups into her own health. The two women had also struck up a friendship, both pleased their kids had finally gotten some friends who were much the same. But it upset May so much that she had more in common with Louise than she did with Anna, and here she was now and she had no idea how to feel.
Anna looked between the trio, frowning slightly when she saw how close the two teenagers were to each other, before she turned to May. Her smile was so fake even May wasn't fooled. "You look so much better, May," Anna gushed at her friend, deciding to ignore Peter and Heather, "when do they suppose you'll leave?"
"Any day now," May replied diplomatically, saying nothing about Anna's obvious ignoring of Heather and Peter, but she didn't hesitate to drop a mention of her nephew into the mix. "I can't wait to get back home with Peter."
"Hmm," Anna replied, her bright expression fading at once at the mention of the teenager. Her clear dislike of Peter was so blatant Heather wondered how she hoped to hide it from May. She couldn't as May frowned slightly. Not realising that she was now in trouble, Anna finally turned to Heather, knowing who she was of course.
"And why are you here, dear?" she asked, though her expression was not welcoming, and bristling at being called by this dear woman who was known as a gossip and a shit stirrer in their neighborhood, Heather glared back at her for being patronized and wondered why it even had anything to do with her if she visited someone in hospital. Heather might have been a kind, sweet, gentle girl, but she was not a pushover. She had a bad temper when she was provoked. She also didn't hold back her temper either, who did Anna Watson think she was? "I'm visiting my boyfriend's aunt with my boyfriend in the hospital, is that alright for you?"
Anna was so shocked by the retort she glanced between her friend and the two teenagers to see if this was some sort of joke, but it was soon clear to her that it wasn't. "Boyfriend? Him?" she pointed at the clearly annoyed Peter. Anna was forgetting herself, she also made a tactical error in forgetting who was in the room with her.
"Dear, he's not reliable," she tried to say to Heather, who merely folded her arms, "he goes off and leaves people when they need him the most-" Anna shut up when she was interrupted by the very person she had been bad mouthing.
"I go off and leave people when they need me the most?" Peter repeated, his arms folded as he stood next to his girlfriend, gazing at Anna with undisguised dislike. "How do I do that? Was I doing that when our home was being threatened with repossession? Just because you rarely saw me at this hospital when Aunt May was taken sick doesn't mean I didn't go out of my mind with worry, I've already lost one parent figure in the last year, I couldn't lose one now."
The arm Heather wrapped around his shoulder wasn't just to comfort Peter but to remind him not to say anything that might get him into trouble. May might not like her nephew being Spider-Man if it was revealed, but she would stand by him. Anna wouldn't, and she wouldn't hesitate to gloat if the cops tried to arrest Peter.
But Spider-Man was the last thing on Peter's mind as he glared at the old bitch in the room. He was focused on what she'd said about him leaving those who needed him the most, and though he agreed with her to a point he wasn't going to give her a victory. Not if it gave him a chance to let the bitch know what he really thought about her. "Check with the nurses, Anna," he spat in her face, making her glare at the spittle he'd sent her, but he didn't care. "I've been with Aunt May every chance I can get, whenever I wasn't studying at college, or working, and before things picked up I was tempted to drop out of college. I didn't, do you know why?" he asked.
Anna, although surprised by the diatribe and being spat on, glared back. "Because you're lazy-"
"No, because I told him I didn't want him to lose the chance to have an education," May's sharp voice rang throughout the room, and Anna blanched as she realised she had forgotten May, but before she had a chance to protest, give an excuse May began her own diatribe. The elderly, frail woman had had enough of her nephew being bullied by people she'd once seen as friends when all he was trying to do was keep her going. She had had enough!
"I knew Peter was working hard, Anna," she said, "and I couldn't stop him. He wanted to help support us after Ben's death. How else was he supposed to pay for my hospital treatment, with money from the trees out front?"
Peter was loving this, and he prayed this would be the last day he saw his aunt and Anna Watson in the same room with each other ever again. Heather was also watching with rapt attention, hoping this would bring Anna down a few pegs.
But Aunt May wasn't even started on Anna yet. "You call my nephew lazy, and yet you're the one who had money and refused to give any kind of thought to helping when you must have known we were struggling. Did she know, Peter?" she asked over Anna's shoulder.
Peter nodded. "She did, but she didn't care," he confirmed, ignoring Anna's desperate hand waves to keep it quiet, "I spoke to one or two doctors, and she was present during the meetings, either because she was leaving or because she was arriving, that the costs of the medication you were receiving was going to be raised again. She was there, and yet she seemed to ignore it. I kept a close eye in case some mysterious donation slipped in, but there was none. Plus," he glared at Anna, "you also went out of your way to boast about new purses, handbags, dresses or shoes that were on offer, and you said it all in an annoying sing-song voice."
Anna glared back. "You snotty little bastard," she whispered, but Peter was looking back at her with a bored expression. Ironically, it was almost identical to the one Anna and Mary Jane reserved exclusively for him whenever they saw him.
May shot to her feet, wobbled for a bit, somehow maintaining her glare focused on Anna. "That's it, get out!" she snapped, she desperately wanted to shout, but she was still recovering her strength.
Anna looked like she wanted to protest, but she sighed. As she paused on the threshold, she looked back at May imploringly. "You'll see, sooner or later your precious nephew will let you down, and then you'll see things my way."
Peter watched her go, suddenly concerned that Anna may have just been portentous there. It was his worst nightmare at the moment Spider-Man would somehow be captured by the police and his aunt would suffer a broken heart. Fortunately, Heather wasn't willing to let her new boyfriend suffer, and she instantly hugged him from the side, but it gave Anna a new target.
"As for you, you could do better."
Heather snapped at Anna at that point, furious. "Don't tell me how to live my life, you bitch," she hissed, sounding like an angry cat. She was shaking with anger. How dare Anna tell her who she could be with!
Peter had had enough, and before Anna could move he had gripped her by the wrists and shoved her out with the backing of some of his spider strength, and he closed the door.
He smiled apologetically at May. "What do you want to do when you leave the hospital?" he asked her to change the subject. It worked, and soon both teens were making suggestions about what they could do once May had left the hospital.
The end, til part 2.
Enjoy!