p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"1. Peter Parker (5 years old)br /May was finally enjoying her long-awaited weekend. Finally, after working a month straight AF with 12-hour shifts to keep afloat the apartment they had recently acquired with Ben and pay the rent, this space was more than wonderful, it was sacred. It was an exciting day because and simply because it was relaxing, I was in the company of Peter who had finally and slowly but surely outgrown his diaper a few months ago. The little monkey boy with almond eyes was running all over the park, playing with his dog Milo, a little white /While Peter was running around with some little friends from the park, May met up with her classmates' moms and chatted for a good few hours at an impromptu picnic. Ben on the other hand had to work and it was really a pity that he missed days off like this with /After playing for a while, May watched as Peter slowed down and ran intermittently through the freshly mowed grass. Peter picked up his dog and sat down as he watched the other children play. Actually, Peter didn't know where or when that pain in breathing had come from, along with the ugly pressure he now had, he felt a little better when he sat down, he sure was weak, that's what they said about him at school. After a few minutes of May's deep analysis, she decided to approach Peter to check that he hadn't fallen or had any injuries while /"Pete, love...are you okay?"br /"May! Yeah, I'm just...I'm tired."br /"Are you hurt anywhere?"br /"No, I just..." And as if by magic and her years of ER experience May detected the soft wheezing coming from Peter's /"Peter, come let's go sit in the shade" May took him by the hand as she watched him cling to his puppy /"Did I do something...wrong?"br /"No love, I just want you to breathe here quietly next to me, you know, to rest..."br /"It's okay, May" May definitely didn't want to rush into a rushed diagnosis, but she would have to see a pediatrician /Peter sat on the park bench leaned back against May, as she looked at his chest with only a few degrees of concern and watched as over the minute Peter's erratic breathing pattern returned to normal./p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"2. A flu situation/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /The next time Peter's unexplained symptoms hit was when he had an episode of the flu two months later. It had been a really wearing round of snot, coughs, fever, and all the wonderful things that come with the cold, which to Ben's surprise and her own, hadn't lasted 1 or 2 weeks, May was already panicking when she marked Tuesday of the third week and woke up in the middle of the night to Ben's voice in a frightened tone from the /It didn't take anything else, for her to get up in one motion and she was opening the bathroom door in two /"Come on baby, breath, I'm here, just get all that ugly stuff out of your nose."br /And there he was, Ben, rubbing the back of Peter who was looking three colors paler and who was currently in the plan to pull a lung out of his insides with a round of underworld /"Ben! What...what's wrong with him?" May said as she scrambled to wet a cloth and wipe it over his /"I don't know, I heard noises from Petey's room and I don't know...he was choking on so much coughing or something."br /Peter proceeded to push himself against the toilet as he vomited what little he had managed to hold back, his lips were /"Heyyy, Heyy, hey, I'm here Peter. it's all right, it's going to be okay, it's just the flu" Ben could only gently rub his /Unfortunately, again the wheezing could be heard much louder throughout the bathroom as Peter ineffectively tried to clear his lungs, and however, it was that was getting down. br /He honestly didn't know how he had gotten like this, his aunt May took good care of him and his uncle Ben too, he had listened to everything they suggested so he wouldn't get sick and be a strong boy but he had still gotten sick and he didn't like this flu at all, it was the worst. He just wanted to cry because he couldn't breathe like he used /"Ben, turn on the hot water in the tub now" May in her attempt to open Peter's airways remembered that this was done when they didn't have any medicine at home and she didn't know if it would work, but it had to be /"It's ok hun, it will get better," Ben said not very convinced, and giving May a look of real /May sat on the tile holding the sweet boy as the minutes passed and the steam built up, at last, they could hear a small improvement in the boy's breathing. Tired from that batch of scares simply Ben sat next to May on the bathroom floor, watching as Peter fell asleep on his /"What the hell was that, honey?"br /"I hope it's not what I'm thinking Ben."/p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" we don't want to hear/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hello? May?"br /"Ben, tell me. I'm on my way home. Did you pick Peter up from school? Do you want me to bring something to eat?"br /"No, no, May-"br /"Please don't tell me you left Peter waiting again, if you want I can get off, I'm only two stops away and- "br /"May! Peter is...in the hospital."br /"WHAT?! Oh my God, what happened to my baby!"br /"I got a call about half an hour ago from Miss Hanssen, she said Peter was playing, and all of a sudden he couldn't breathe."br /"Shit Ben, I told you... I told you to take care of him! What hospital are you at?"br /"I'm at Elmhurst Hospital Center."br /"You know I don't like it there, Ben!br /"May! I couldn't go to your hospital, it was the first place closest to the school!"br /"I'm sorry, I."br /"Just get there please, they're saying a lot of things I don't understand and I'm... I'm scared."br /"I'll be there, I promise"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /ustrong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Elmhurst Hospital Center/strong/u/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"May rushed in a few hours later through the ER and the first thing she did was look for an ex-co-worker at the front /"May! Come with me. Ben is in the pediatric ER waiting room over here."br /Jackson saw the anguish in his friend's eyes and all he could do was pull her through the corridors and hallways of the hospital with May /"I don't understand what happened to him! Yes, he had the flu and was ...recovering. I...I... it's my fault ."br /Jackson stopped in a small sofa space and grabbed May by the shoulders to try to reassure /"Hey, hey. When they brought your nephew in, he had bronchospasm, a severe one. But he's fine now, I promise. " May wailed even louder and all she could do was cry into the Indian man's /"It's my fault, it's not the first time, but it wasn't this bad before, I swear Jackie. I just, I don't make ends meet, even with Ben's support and the allowance, I didn't have enough to pay for a pediatrician." br /"It's going to be okay May, I understand. I promise...I'll help you if you need it."br /"No! I don't want to... Jack, I just want my baby." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"After trying to offer her something to drink and convincing her that she had better be a little composed in front of Ben, they reached the ward and from there they could see the pediatric resuscitation /"May, I. I can't handle this alone. There's been a lot of doctors and I..."br /"Shhh, love. I'm here, I'm here" They gave each other a hug and proceeded to go in escorted by their friend, because who knows what crazy thing May would do if she couldn't easily get in to see her /When they arrived they saw Peter hooked up to all the machines May would never want to have seen, including a ventilator, instantly she knew this was serious./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"4. What about the money?- One week later /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter was taken to the pediatric intensive care area, while May was already fighting on the phone outside the ward trying for the sixth time to get someone to cover her shift due to force majeure reasons, but it was proving almost /"May, don't stress about it if you want to go and I'll stay with him. Actually, you heard the doctor, he's better."br /"Not now Ben!, either I get someone to replace me or I get kicked out Ben. And I'm not moving from here until the pediatric pulmonologist comes in (who has deigned to show up) and you don't tell me he's fine when I see his sats fluctuating horribly."br /"Hey May, I understand, but ... the nurse will be watching and -"br /"precisely Ben, I know who the nurse is, I know her, I know her work and she's excellent and if she doubts he's getting better, I do too. Let me believe in my people. I haven't spent more than 7 years of my life in this career to know when they are telling you what you want to hear."br /"May, you're going to lose your fucking job. I can't go on like this! This is already an expense I don't know how we're going to pay for, I need you to go to work, for Peter's sake and for the sake of this family. God!"br /"Excuse me? If you had been more attentive to him, this wouldn't have happened, if you saw him sick that morning you wouldn't have sent him to school Ben!"br /"I wasn't the one who neglected him! I didn't cause this, you know who should be here, his fucking father!"br /"You've lost your mind!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Suddenly and with a really furious face, the nurse came out from the inner critical care room and closed the door behind /"May! We heard you from the central nursing station! Get a grip you two and yes, until you sort your shit out I'm taking you off my ward."br /"Jackie, don't...don't do this to me."br /"Yes, I am doing this, May. Now I don't give a damn what you two are dealing with. But May, you know damn well I need silence to work and the kids need silence to get better and you guys aren't giving me that right now, so shut up and work out your differences not here, at the fucking parking lot."br /Ben raised his hands and took May by the hand to gently pull her towards the elevator./p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"ustrong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Parking lot:/strong/u/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Tell me, May," Ben said, as he sat at a small table in a makeshift cafeteria set up by the health /"You know who the father is perfectly well. And YOU! Knowing the situation we're in financially...he can perfectly well answer for his duties as a father and don't give me that crap anymore... he's the one who should answer"br /"And what do you want me to give him to this idiot millionaire who's probably a womanizing drunk? I don't want that for Pete!"br /"May, I don't know if you've seen our debts recently, but... this damn bill is bordering on fifty thousand. I never went into debt for anything unimportant, and every day here is over five thousand dollars May."br /"And what are you planning? huh, take him home and let him die? "br /"May listen to yourself. I don't really know...what you will do, but I want a solution and don't ever tell me again that I don't care about Peter because... believe me, I give my life for my son..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /ustrong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Doctor's office:/strong/u/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Shit, I suspected it."br /"No-, I can't believe it. you knew this the whole time?" Ben turned to look at her as the doctor took a deep look at the posters he had recently put up in his office to try to disguise the /"Me, no Ben! I mean...yes, but no. You don't understand. To diagnose this you need medical tests and labs, but...yes, I had a suspicion that possibly Peter...had asthma."br /"Don't fuck with me, May" Ben snorted and walked out of the /"Complicated situation, isn't it?"br /May could only lean her elbow on the desk and look at the pediatrician who took her other hand to comfort /"Peter has severe asthma, he has not gotten better to the treatment we have given him in the time we wanted. He has improved, yes, but I still can't get him off the ventilator."br /"Don't tell me that Shawn" May just cried over her colleague's /"I swear May, I'm doing what I can."br /"I know, I know, it's just that it's unfair, and I... I can't do this anymore. I have so much debt and ...- "br /"May, look at me.". May with two weeks of insomnia, greasy hair, and without a single day of showering looked at him. "I'll pay for Peter's medical bill."br /"No, no, no! Shawn, what...what's wrong with you? Are you out of your mind?"br /"May, it's the least I can do for you. You saved my father from dying from his heart attack, he loves you! And ...you know that whether you like it or not, money is no problem for me. He would be happy to help you at any time."br /"I...I don't know what to say. "br /"I do May, go home. Take a bath, sleep, and rest. I'll keep an eye on Peter and promise to report anything to you."br /"Oh God...is this a dream?"br /"No May, this is your friend, who wants to help you and ...he's a doctor who tells you he understands you and is definitely extending you a helping hand for all your work as a nurse. I don't know what we doctors would do without you, so...come on!"br /May could only cry tears of joy, as she walked out with a calmer Shawn to meet a tired-looking /"Stop by tomorrow for consultation with pediatric nursing, it's at 11AM. She'll help you with what you need to know."br /"I don't know what to say Shawn...I-"br /"Go, do me that favor. You're going to make a hole in the PICU."br /May grabbed Ben by the shoulder and /"Is he going to die?" was all Ben could /"No, and neither are we. God help us always Ben."/p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"5. They say that with age it comes off, and even more so with a bite. - Midtown High (Peter Parker 14 years old)/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter came home from a crappy day only to feel even more the absence of his Uncle Ben and the two-month anniversary since he passed away. What stressed him the most was those weird things he could do since he was bitten by the bug and even though he was thinking about a lot of things today, he just wanted to lay down and watch /"How was school lab?" He just sighed, there wasn't much to say after all. br /"Typical..."br /May sat down on the couch, as Peter gave in to lay his head on his aunt's legs unable to refuse a premium scalp massagebr /"You're wheezing loudly again, honey."br /"So...there's nothing ...we can do... to make it ...better."br /"You know next week I'll double shifts and maybe-"br /"No, leave it. I know what ...you're going to say"br /"Pete, I really have to do this, it's my duty-"br /"May, it's okay. I don't want to be a burden...I know we can't afford health insurance with your new job and, it's okay, I don't need it, I'm fine."br /"You call it fine to have 7 attacks in the last month?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter just closed his eyes and let the warm sunshine filter through his /"It was my fault. I did gym class"br /"What a pathetic excuse Peter, you know that...it's a trigger."br /"And you know I can't be exonerated if I don't have a doctor's order."br /"They don't accept the one from the kindergarten anymore, do they?"br /"May, they don't accept it since 4 years at school. I ...I'm sorry I was born that way, I really am."br /"Oh Peter, you are not to blame for this. It's just...you know since Ben died I can't...I-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter sat down next to his aunt and hugged /"You're not to blame for anything, just...it was a stupid accident, and I, I promise to work more hours at Delmar. Maybe I can get some allergy tablets."br /"You know that's not enough..."br /"Leave it alone May, I'll be fine, I promise."br /"Don't promise what you can't keep Pete."br /May got up choking back tears and locked herself in the /Just the same. That night he would end up on the floor of the hallway of his Queens apartment gasping for oxygen and watching his sats go down the drain. At least he hoped that the night he died, May would be by his side indulging his laughter. It was no different from the other nights because it wasn't just 7 attacks, it had been more than fifteen. He couldn't bear for her to see him crying for oxygen as he lay on the floor begging not to die, he would love a puff of his inhaler, but he couldn't have that luxury for the last 3 years. Life was a little unfair./p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"2. A flu situation/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /The next time Peter's unexplained symptoms hit was when he had an episode of the flu two months later. It had been a really wearing round of snot, coughs, fever, and all the wonderful things that come with the cold, which to Ben's surprise and her own, hadn't lasted 1 or 2 weeks, May was already panicking when she marked Tuesday of the third week and woke up in the middle of the night to Ben's voice in a frightened tone from the /It didn't take anything else, for her to get up in one motion and she was opening the bathroom door in two /"Come on baby, breath, I'm here, just get all that ugly stuff out of your nose."br /And there he was, Ben, rubbing the back of Peter who was looking three colors paler and who was currently in the plan to pull a lung out of his insides with a round of underworld /"Ben! What...what's wrong with him?" May said as she scrambled to wet a cloth and wipe it over his /"I don't know, I heard noises from Petey's room and I don't know...he was choking on so much coughing or something."br /Peter proceeded to push himself against the toilet as he vomited what little he had managed to hold back, his lips were /"Heyyy, Heyy, hey, I'm here Peter. it's all right, it's going to be okay, it's just the flu" Ben could only gently rub his /Unfortunately, again the wheezing could be heard much louder throughout the bathroom as Peter ineffectively tried to clear his lungs, and however, it was that was getting down. br /He honestly didn't know how he had gotten like this, his aunt May took good care of him and his uncle Ben too, he had listened to everything they suggested so he wouldn't get sick and be a strong boy but he had still gotten sick and he didn't like this flu at all, it was the worst. He just wanted to cry because he couldn't breathe like he used /"Ben, turn on the hot water in the tub now" May in her attempt to open Peter's airways remembered that this was done when they didn't have any medicine at home and she didn't know if it would work, but it had to be /"It's ok hun, it will get better," Ben said not very convinced, and giving May a look of real /May sat on the tile holding the sweet boy as the minutes passed and the steam built up, at last, they could hear a small improvement in the boy's breathing. Tired from that batch of scares simply Ben sat next to May on the bathroom floor, watching as Peter fell asleep on his /"What the hell was that, honey?"br /"I hope it's not what I'm thinking Ben."/p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" we don't want to hear/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hello? May?"br /"Ben, tell me. I'm on my way home. Did you pick Peter up from school? Do you want me to bring something to eat?"br /"No, no, May-"br /"Please don't tell me you left Peter waiting again, if you want I can get off, I'm only two stops away and- "br /"May! Peter is...in the hospital."br /"WHAT?! Oh my God, what happened to my baby!"br /"I got a call about half an hour ago from Miss Hanssen, she said Peter was playing, and all of a sudden he couldn't breathe."br /"Shit Ben, I told you... I told you to take care of him! What hospital are you at?"br /"I'm at Elmhurst Hospital Center."br /"You know I don't like it there, Ben!br /"May! I couldn't go to your hospital, it was the first place closest to the school!"br /"I'm sorry, I."br /"Just get there please, they're saying a lot of things I don't understand and I'm... I'm scared."br /"I'll be there, I promise"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /ustrong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Elmhurst Hospital Center/strong/u/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"May rushed in a few hours later through the ER and the first thing she did was look for an ex-co-worker at the front /"May! Come with me. Ben is in the pediatric ER waiting room over here."br /Jackson saw the anguish in his friend's eyes and all he could do was pull her through the corridors and hallways of the hospital with May /"I don't understand what happened to him! Yes, he had the flu and was ...recovering. I...I... it's my fault ."br /Jackson stopped in a small sofa space and grabbed May by the shoulders to try to reassure /"Hey, hey. When they brought your nephew in, he had bronchospasm, a severe one. But he's fine now, I promise. " May wailed even louder and all she could do was cry into the Indian man's /"It's my fault, it's not the first time, but it wasn't this bad before, I swear Jackie. I just, I don't make ends meet, even with Ben's support and the allowance, I didn't have enough to pay for a pediatrician." br /"It's going to be okay May, I understand. I promise...I'll help you if you need it."br /"No! I don't want to... Jack, I just want my baby." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"After trying to offer her something to drink and convincing her that she had better be a little composed in front of Ben, they reached the ward and from there they could see the pediatric resuscitation /"May, I. I can't handle this alone. There's been a lot of doctors and I..."br /"Shhh, love. I'm here, I'm here" They gave each other a hug and proceeded to go in escorted by their friend, because who knows what crazy thing May would do if she couldn't easily get in to see her /When they arrived they saw Peter hooked up to all the machines May would never want to have seen, including a ventilator, instantly she knew this was serious./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"4. What about the money?- One week later /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter was taken to the pediatric intensive care area, while May was already fighting on the phone outside the ward trying for the sixth time to get someone to cover her shift due to force majeure reasons, but it was proving almost /"May, don't stress about it if you want to go and I'll stay with him. Actually, you heard the doctor, he's better."br /"Not now Ben!, either I get someone to replace me or I get kicked out Ben. And I'm not moving from here until the pediatric pulmonologist comes in (who has deigned to show up) and you don't tell me he's fine when I see his sats fluctuating horribly."br /"Hey May, I understand, but ... the nurse will be watching and -"br /"precisely Ben, I know who the nurse is, I know her, I know her work and she's excellent and if she doubts he's getting better, I do too. Let me believe in my people. I haven't spent more than 7 years of my life in this career to know when they are telling you what you want to hear."br /"May, you're going to lose your fucking job. I can't go on like this! This is already an expense I don't know how we're going to pay for, I need you to go to work, for Peter's sake and for the sake of this family. God!"br /"Excuse me? If you had been more attentive to him, this wouldn't have happened, if you saw him sick that morning you wouldn't have sent him to school Ben!"br /"I wasn't the one who neglected him! I didn't cause this, you know who should be here, his fucking father!"br /"You've lost your mind!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Suddenly and with a really furious face, the nurse came out from the inner critical care room and closed the door behind /"May! We heard you from the central nursing station! Get a grip you two and yes, until you sort your shit out I'm taking you off my ward."br /"Jackie, don't...don't do this to me."br /"Yes, I am doing this, May. Now I don't give a damn what you two are dealing with. But May, you know damn well I need silence to work and the kids need silence to get better and you guys aren't giving me that right now, so shut up and work out your differences not here, at the fucking parking lot."br /Ben raised his hands and took May by the hand to gently pull her towards the elevator./p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"ustrong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Parking lot:/strong/u/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Tell me, May," Ben said, as he sat at a small table in a makeshift cafeteria set up by the health /"You know who the father is perfectly well. And YOU! Knowing the situation we're in financially...he can perfectly well answer for his duties as a father and don't give me that crap anymore... he's the one who should answer"br /"And what do you want me to give him to this idiot millionaire who's probably a womanizing drunk? I don't want that for Pete!"br /"May, I don't know if you've seen our debts recently, but... this damn bill is bordering on fifty thousand. I never went into debt for anything unimportant, and every day here is over five thousand dollars May."br /"And what are you planning? huh, take him home and let him die? "br /"May listen to yourself. I don't really know...what you will do, but I want a solution and don't ever tell me again that I don't care about Peter because... believe me, I give my life for my son..."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"br /ustrong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Doctor's office:/strong/u/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Shit, I suspected it."br /"No-, I can't believe it. you knew this the whole time?" Ben turned to look at her as the doctor took a deep look at the posters he had recently put up in his office to try to disguise the /"Me, no Ben! I mean...yes, but no. You don't understand. To diagnose this you need medical tests and labs, but...yes, I had a suspicion that possibly Peter...had asthma."br /"Don't fuck with me, May" Ben snorted and walked out of the /"Complicated situation, isn't it?"br /May could only lean her elbow on the desk and look at the pediatrician who took her other hand to comfort /"Peter has severe asthma, he has not gotten better to the treatment we have given him in the time we wanted. He has improved, yes, but I still can't get him off the ventilator."br /"Don't tell me that Shawn" May just cried over her colleague's /"I swear May, I'm doing what I can."br /"I know, I know, it's just that it's unfair, and I... I can't do this anymore. I have so much debt and ...- "br /"May, look at me.". May with two weeks of insomnia, greasy hair, and without a single day of showering looked at him. "I'll pay for Peter's medical bill."br /"No, no, no! Shawn, what...what's wrong with you? Are you out of your mind?"br /"May, it's the least I can do for you. You saved my father from dying from his heart attack, he loves you! And ...you know that whether you like it or not, money is no problem for me. He would be happy to help you at any time."br /"I...I don't know what to say. "br /"I do May, go home. Take a bath, sleep, and rest. I'll keep an eye on Peter and promise to report anything to you."br /"Oh God...is this a dream?"br /"No May, this is your friend, who wants to help you and ...he's a doctor who tells you he understands you and is definitely extending you a helping hand for all your work as a nurse. I don't know what we doctors would do without you, so...come on!"br /May could only cry tears of joy, as she walked out with a calmer Shawn to meet a tired-looking /"Stop by tomorrow for consultation with pediatric nursing, it's at 11AM. She'll help you with what you need to know."br /"I don't know what to say Shawn...I-"br /"Go, do me that favor. You're going to make a hole in the PICU."br /May grabbed Ben by the shoulder and /"Is he going to die?" was all Ben could /"No, and neither are we. God help us always Ben."/p
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p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"5. They say that with age it comes off, and even more so with a bite. - Midtown High (Peter Parker 14 years old)/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter came home from a crappy day only to feel even more the absence of his Uncle Ben and the two-month anniversary since he passed away. What stressed him the most was those weird things he could do since he was bitten by the bug and even though he was thinking about a lot of things today, he just wanted to lay down and watch /"How was school lab?" He just sighed, there wasn't much to say after all. br /"Typical..."br /May sat down on the couch, as Peter gave in to lay his head on his aunt's legs unable to refuse a premium scalp massagebr /"You're wheezing loudly again, honey."br /"So...there's nothing ...we can do... to make it ...better."br /"You know next week I'll double shifts and maybe-"br /"No, leave it. I know what ...you're going to say"br /"Pete, I really have to do this, it's my duty-"br /"May, it's okay. I don't want to be a burden...I know we can't afford health insurance with your new job and, it's okay, I don't need it, I'm fine."br /"You call it fine to have 7 attacks in the last month?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter just closed his eyes and let the warm sunshine filter through his /"It was my fault. I did gym class"br /"What a pathetic excuse Peter, you know that...it's a trigger."br /"And you know I can't be exonerated if I don't have a doctor's order."br /"They don't accept the one from the kindergarten anymore, do they?"br /"May, they don't accept it since 4 years at school. I ...I'm sorry I was born that way, I really am."br /"Oh Peter, you are not to blame for this. It's just...you know since Ben died I can't...I-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Peter sat down next to his aunt and hugged /"You're not to blame for anything, just...it was a stupid accident, and I, I promise to work more hours at Delmar. Maybe I can get some allergy tablets."br /"You know that's not enough..."br /"Leave it alone May, I'll be fine, I promise."br /"Don't promise what you can't keep Pete."br /May got up choking back tears and locked herself in the /Just the same. That night he would end up on the floor of the hallway of his Queens apartment gasping for oxygen and watching his sats go down the drain. At least he hoped that the night he died, May would be by his side indulging his laughter. It was no different from the other nights because it wasn't just 7 attacks, it had been more than fifteen. He couldn't bear for her to see him crying for oxygen as he lay on the floor begging not to die, he would love a puff of his inhaler, but he couldn't have that luxury for the last 3 years. Life was a little unfair./p