Worn Out chapter 14
Dr. McCoy and Professor Xavier entered the medical room. Pietro looked over from where he sat then looked around as though he were looking for someone. "...Wanda?" he said quietly, it was almost a whisper.
"She's not here, Pietro." Xavier told him "You're not well enough to have too many visiters." Hank removed the old I.V. and replaced it with a new one. Dr. McCoy took the teen's temperature.
"99.9." he then took off the old bandages at his cuts. "The swelling's down too. You're doing a lot better. There's just the lingering fever and the cuts only need to heal a little more. Soon you'll be out of this bed."
"I can leave soon? Out of the hospital?" he asked hopefully.
"You're in no condition to leave yet. Between your malnourishment, the infection and your attempted suicide; it could be awhile. I won't lie." the Professor put his head down.
"How dare you disobey me! Ungrateful brat!" Magneto yelled at his young son. He hit him across the face that knocked him on the floor.
"Please don't hurt me..."
"We're not going to hurt you, Pietro." Hank told him. "We're here to help you."
"I want Wanda back..."
"Did Magneto hit you a lot?"
"If I didn't fallow him he threatened to beat me or Wanda. I thought she'd be safe from him in that place. I wanted to run away with her when I could get away and free her...I couldn't remember where, the way...I kept searching for her...trying to remember..." Pietro shook his head. "I have to end it..."
"But what about what Wanda said? This is your chance."
"I don't understand..."
"She said they aren't mad."
"I don't understand..."
"What don't you understand?"
"I don't know." he lowered his head to hide his eyes under the hair that hung over his face. "You know...there's this...song...playing in my head..." he wrapped his arms around himself. "It hurts."
"What is the song about? What does it sound like?" Xavier listened closely as well as Hank.
"I don't know. I can't understand it. It sounds muffled...but it's sad."
"How does it end?" there was silence. Pietro looked up.
"It hasn't ended yet." Xavier stared at him.
"Is it trying to tell you something?" he asked after a minute.
"It's sad, something about death. There's darkness. It's wrapped around me."
"When it wraps around you, does it feel comforting?"
"It's killing me." Pietro smirked. "And I like it."
"Pietro," Xavier said. "Do you want to stay in the arms of darkness," he paused. "or in the arms of your sister?" Pietro felt a sudden jolt of pain and hid his face again. "You have to accept help in order to get better."
"No...you don't understand. I can't be helped." he looked up again with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face. "This will kill me. There's no stopping it. It's ok. It's ok." Pietro frowned and looked away.
"Please let us try to help. Just ask for help, please. Do you really want to die, Pietro? Do you want to leave your sister again?" a tear rolled down his cheek.
"No..." he whispered. "Wanda...Please help me. She said we could be together." he squeezed his eyes shut then opened them. "Please help me!"
The Professor smiled. "I'm going to ask you some questions." Hank took out his notepad. Pietro nodded shakily. "Have you been beaten by your father?"
"Yes, you knew that." he looked away.
"By other kids?"
"Yes."
"Bullied?"
"Yes."
"Did your sister ever hit you?"
"She didn't mean to."
"Have you used drugs before?"
"Sometimes."
"Cutting?"
"Not much."
"Have you ever felt unwanted, abandoned, alone?" Pietro was quiet. "Is it painful to think about?"
Pietro was pushed out of a car in front of an orphanage in the pouring rain. It was closed during the late night. He shivered in the cold. Lightning flashed which was fallowed by thunder. Pietro sat on the steps of the orphanage trying to get as close as he could to the building to keep as dry as he could.
"N-no...no...I don't want to..."
They did find him. They did...but not till the morning. He lay curled up on the steps soaking wet. He was sickly from being out all night in the rain. The boy couldn't even move he was so tired. They picked him up and brought him inside.
"Pietro, are you alright?"
"It hurts to be alone."
"Why don't we talk about this."
"I don't want to."
"Why not?"
"I can't. I couldn't...I wouldn't get close to anyone once Wanda left...I don't want to go on like that. I don't want to think about being like that." Pietro looked blankly to the window, which spilled light into the room.
"What was it like in the orphanage?"
"Kids picked on me and the adults hated me...then...I went into foster care but I never stayed in one place for too long, no one wanted me..."
They talked for a few hours and they really seemed to progress. The two older mutants thought that Pietro was improving. "I want to move..."
"You can go around the room." Hank took out the I.V.
"What's that for anyway?"
"The infection. You won't need it soon."
Pietro got off the bed and stretched. He walked over to the window to look out. The trees looked dead because they had not grown their leaves yet for it was not yet spring. He looked at life differently now. Everything seemed gray and painful as if the world was rejecting him...was it that? Or was it himself who...rejected the world? Even so, what let him carry on? What was there for him? He felt dead inside...empty...but hurt. There was something else. He didn't know what though.
"When is Wanda coming back?" he quietly asked but didn't bother to face them.
"We'll see." Hank said while smiling. "We have to go now." Pietro got back into bed and Hank put the I.V. back under his skin.
-The institute-
Hank and the Professor were in his office. They talked about how Pietro was doing. "Wanda's visit did wonders." Hank stated.
"Yes, he's finally improving. He still has a long way to go though. " the other mutant nodded then looked out the window. It had grown dark and you could hear the slight patter of raindrops.
-The hospital-
Pietro looked out the window from his bed. It had started to pour and the sky lit up with lightning which was fallowed by the roars of thunder. Pietro looked around the room nervously, swearing he was seeing people.
Pietro blinked, he was in a different room. He got up from the bed. No one else was around as he walked to the window. Lightning flashed again and Pietro darted around. He caught a glimpse of someone running down the hall. Pietro walked out of the room and into the hall. He found no one. Someone grabbed him from behind as lightning filled the sky once more and Pietro opened his eyes to the hospital.
He had just fallen asleep. The nightmare got him worked up and was now on the constant watch for someone. He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep that night.
The Professor and Dr. McCoy walked the stairs of the hospital to come to the floor Pietro was on. They soon found themselves in the infirmary where they found Pietro who was searching around the room for someone. His eyes were droopy and he shook with nervousness.
"Did something happen, Pietro?" Xavier asked.
"I thought I saw people last night. Not just in my dream but in real life too. Someone is watching me..."
"I'll be right back." Hank told them before walking out of the room.
"Did you get any sleep?"
"Some but if I don't watch for them, they'll get me."
"You're probably just tired."
"No...they're there; I can feel them."
"No ones here except us, I assure you." Pietro continued to look around.
"Are-are you sure?"
"Yes, don't worry." Beast then re-entered with a tray of food and a drink. Pietro sat up. He looked again around the room then down at the food, which was on a table next to him. While he ate, the Professor asked questions. "What was your dream about?"
Pietro stopped for a second. "I was somewhere else and there was a storm too. Someone else was there too but I don't know who. It was dark...the person grabbed me from behind then I woke up."
"I see what has you so upset."
"I should have done something."
"About what?"
"About Wanda and that place..."
"Could you have done anything?"
"I could have run away with her."
"Could you have? Where would you have gone?"
"I- I dunno..."
"And if you had, would you and her have been punished if you were caught?"
"Maybe...defiantly..." he looked down.
"You have to learn not to blame yourself for something as though it was completely your fault. Your father was the one you sent your sister away."
"I guess." there was a pause.
"That's it for today. I can see you're exhausted."
They soon left and Pietro was alone. He had no idea what time it was anymore but he felt unusually tired and decided to get some rest.
He had no idea how long his rest lasted before waking to a strange crashing noise. "That's strange..." Pietro got off the bed and searched the room but to find nothing. He ventured out into the hall and heard another sound. It sounded like someone being hit. He looked over towards the padded room to see the door open and the light on inside. He slowly walked towards it. His feet bore no shoes or socks and the floor was cold. He got to the door and looked in.
An assistant was beating up Hyram by punching and kicking him in the stomach. Pietro gasped in reaction and accidentally moved the door, which made a creaking sound and drew the attention of the assistant.
Pietro hurried away but his head grew dizzy and he continued to quickly walk as fast as he could using the wall for support. Pietro wasn't sure why he felt so weak and fell. He laid on the floor and saw the assistant walk up to him before he blacked out.
"Pietro? Pietro? Wake up. We're back."
"Hm...?" Pietro opened his eyes and looked around. He was in the bed in the sick bay again. Dr. McCoy and Professor Xavier stood near him. "What?" he then remembered what had happened. "Hyram!" he shot up.
"What?"
Pietro was frantic. "The assistant guy! He was hitting Hyram!"
"Pietro, what's this about?" Xavier asked.
"In the padded room! I saw him!" Hank stuck the thermometer in his mouth.
"This is a serious matter you claim happened."
"102.4. It was probably a delusion made by the fever."
"No! I saw it!" Beast pushed Pietro to lay down. "Ask Hyram!" the two adults looked at each other.
Xavier met with the head Nurse while Beast stayed with Pietro. Beast went over to one of the cabinets. He took out a pill bottle then went over to the sink to get some water. He came over to Pietro who had gotten up again. Hank gave him the pills.
"What are they for?"
"Your fever." Pietro took them with the water.
"It happened. I'm sure of it."
"Pietro says this happened." Xavier spoke after he explained what Pietro had told him to the head nurse.
"I assure you there is nothing of the sort here."
"May I speak to Hyram?"
"He's over here." she led him to Hyram's room. She knocked on the door and the teen stepped out.
"What?"
"Hyram, Pietro clams you got beat up. Is that true?"
"Well, well, well, what's this? You come knocking on my door saying someone hit me? This hasn't happened before in the ten years I've been here. You care?"
"Hyram, we need an answer."
"Listen, you ask questions like that, you'll find answers but they'll get you into trouuuuble!" Hyram laughed then slammed the door.
"We'll investigate, Professor Xavier. We'll get to the bottom of this. However..." she paused. "Hyram hasn't been in that room since two days ago."
Hank took the bandages off to look at Pietro's cuts to see how they were healing. The swelling had tremendously decreased but still slightly lingured which would explain his fever. He re-bandaged them.
Pietro shook his head. "It happened..."
"Delutions can seem very real." the Professor came back in.
"Pietro, Hyram wasn't in the padded room last night."
"But-"
"They're going to investigate but in the mean time focus of getting better."
"I'm not crazy..."
"I'm not saying you are. But you are sick."
"I'm not crazy...I saw it..." Pietro whispered.
"Pietro, would you like to go for a walk to get your mind off things?" Hank offered; Pietro nodded. He helped him get up and walk out of the room.
"It happened...it did..."they walked around the hospital not yet the outside because Beast wasn't completely convinced Pietro wouldn't run for it.
"Pietro, part of getting better is admitting that something is wrong or that you don't understand and you may not be right."
"I want out...Wanda said we could be together..." he looked desperately at Beast as if he were pleading.
"Then you have to show us you're well enough to be around others and you won't hurt yourself."
"Why don't I have any energy?"
"Part of it's the infection and part is because your depressed and have a lot going on in your head. We'll help you and then you'll have that energy back." Pietro tripped and grabbed Beast's arm to keep himself from falling and gasped for air.
"It's like I said...I have no energy..."
"Let's go back to the room." Hank said while leading the boy back.
FeatherWings- How'd you like it?
L'ange-Sans-Ailes- he's finally talking isn't he? he wants to be with his brothers and sisters! and thank you for the complement!
AC-chan- I would never kill Pietro!
Latina Jun- I hope you liked this chapter too!