May feels the bruise forming on her left hand but she refuses to let go of Peter's hand as they stand in front of the SHIELD Psychiatric Hospital. The door opens and a friendly looking black man with a clipboard greets them. "You must be May and Peter. My name is Sam, I am the head psychiatrist here at SPH. Come on in." They follow Sam through a long white hallway lined with inspirational quotes. Peter keeps his head down as he shuffles down the hallway. They reach a door Peter knows is Sam's office because of the professional gold name plaque on the door. Once inside, Sam offers them water as they sit down. May, no nonsense when it comes to Peter's wellbeing asks, "What paperwork do I need to fill out?" Sam starts telling them about himself and the hospital while May is filling out the paperwork.
"My name is Dr. Wilson, but I really prefer Sam. This facility is completely voluntary. We are only here to help you heal." When May is finished with the intake forms, Sam shows them to Peter's room. The room is nothing special, a standard twin-sized bed, a desk, a dresser and a closet. Sam leaves them with a quick "I'll be right outside."
In Peter's room, May and Peter are sitting on the bed engaged in a deep embrace. "You sure you want to do this Peter, you don't have to, we can increase your therapy and homeschool you." "We tried that already, it isn't enough. Besides this will give the time to rewatch all of Star Wars. By the time I get out of here I'll have the whole series memorized." May just chuckles and shakes her head. "Alright then, I love you." "I love you too." As May exits, she reminds him, "I'll be here at 2:00 tomorrow."
A moment later there is a soft knock-on Peter's door. Sam gives him a warm smile and asks if he is ready for a tour. "Yeah." They end their tour in the common room at 3:00, just in time to see some other patients pushing chairs into a circle. "Along with individual therapy, we have group sessions every day at 3:15." Sam takes a chair and motions for Peter to sit as well. Once the chairs were full, Sam got started. "Ok guys, we have a new member today. Anyone wants to tell him why we do group as well as individual therapy?" A blond man with piercing blue eyes says, "because it lets us know we are not alone in our struggles." "Right, now let's do intros for our new member." The blond man starts with, "I'm Steve, the rule is that we only have to share what we are comfortable with. I don't mind letting you know that I am a vet here to get a handle on my PTSD." Steve nudges the man with shoulder length dark hair and a prosthetic arm sitting next to him, who sighs and grunts, "Bucky." The next person to share does so with his hands, a red head girl translating for him. He signs, "My name is Clint, usually I have my hearing aids in, but they were bothering me today. I've been here a few years. At first I would never speak in these meetings but it actually really helps. Anyway, I was in a bad situation and at a certain point I just shut down. I haven't been able to shake the dissociative episodes since." Once Clint finishes his share, Sam asks Natasha, (the redhead girl) if she would like to share. After a brief shake of her head, A tall blond man with hair down to his ears speaks up. "I am Thor, the mighty god of thunder!" Peter is confused by this introduction but guesses the man experiences some form of delusions.
Sam informs Peter that group therapy is not mandatory, and that there are a few other patients in the ward he will run into. "Ok Peter, share as much as you are comfortable with." Peter takes a large deep breath and says, "I'm Peter. I passed out during math class about 2 weeks ago. I woke up in the hospital with a feeding tube. They kept me for 3 days and recommended this center to help me understand my anorexia. The doctor said if I lose 5 more pounds, they will put me on a permanent tube."