No matter how many times he had to talk with worried families Dr. Percy Parker never got used to it.
First there was the fact that he never knew how they would react to him. On his world it was a coin flip. Dr. Jameson hated his guts and would constantly, and rather loudly, tell anyone that listened that his new methods for helping cure patients were dangerous and reckless.
'He's stuck in the past,' Percy though as he scrubbed his hands clean. His surgical mask was still on his face, the red and black design matching the skull cap he wore. His goggles, which allowed him to see microfractures in bones, had been removed though which was good because he had been wearing them far too long. 'He thinks Grey' Anatomy is radical. So me using Pym Particles in order to actually get inside of bodies to fight off infections or using Dr. Stark's laser cutters to make incisions…' He shook his head, dismissing such thoughts they weren't needed at that moment. Just distractions.
Percy finished washing his hands and glanced to the operating theater that was now empty, the last of the nurses and doctors having left with Mr. Morales. They had done good work, as they had done for the 11 months, but the simple fact was that Percy missed his team. The doctors and nurses of Nueva York could never equal them. Dr. Watson could always sense what he needed and get him the right tools, to the point that Percy wondered if she too had been infected with the Spider Virus that had granted him his enhanced senses. Harry there to crack a joke when things were getting tense. Dr. Connors to bounce ideas off of and Dr. Osborn and Dr. Octavius to debate new technology with.
He found himself shaking his head as he thought of the last three. It was so odd to consider that for many Spiders those three were bitter enemies. He didn't have supervillains on his world… just viruses and infections and the like that needed to be dealt with. Yes, there was a rivalry between the Baxter University and the Latveria School of Medicine but Dr. Doom was a good man who had taught Percy a lot! Dr. Connors wasn't some lizard man in his world but a dermatologist who had named the Lacerta Syndrome. Dr. Osborn would be horrified if Percy have told him that he was the 'Green Goblin' in other worlds; viridisglobin was his nemesis, the disease that had killed his wife and Nurse Stacey after it had rampaged through the Infectious Disease Ward. Dr. Octavius MIGHT have liked to have tentacles… but he wouldn't be mad enough to graft them onto his back without proper safety procedures!
'Your mind is wandering again,' Percy thought to himself. And he knew why. In the other room were Mr. and Mrs. Morales, brought to the hospital by another Spider who had, to Percy's own shame, realized they deserved to know what had happened to their son. They were sitting out there, waiting for Percy to tell them the fate of their child.
A kid who wasn't even old enough to legally smoke.
He let out a groan and slowly pressed his forehead against the glass that looked out onto the surgery suite.
It was never easy to meet with families. What didn't help was that Percy, thanks to him stupidly deciding that he needed to be a jack of all trades, was an attending physician as well as a surgeon. He did both and that meant double the families he had to meet with. Even giving good news was painful because he could see the hope and joy in their eyes and the fact that they weren't listening to a word he said as he tried to get them to understand the limitations their loved ones would have to adhere to. They just heard "came out of surgery" and though that was that. As Nurse Thompson had once joked to him, "They think the entire thing is a car, Perc. You change the motor oil on the 75 year old and he can get right back on the road!"
And that could very well be the case for him at that moment.
Finally manning up Percy walked out of the wash room and headed towards the lobby, sharing a few polite nods with the nurses and other doctors but otherwise focused on the family. They were exactly what he expected: a mother and father, clearly close and filled with love and concern for their son. The man strongly built, with dark skin and a face that his Uncle Richard would have called 'as trusty as a shovel'. The woman was smaller but he could tell she was fierce and determined. And Peter B. Parker hovering the background, a baby in his arms who was fast asleep, flopped over his lap in the way the only children could do.
"Mr. and Mrs. Morales?" he asked.
"Yes… how… how is he?" the man got out.
"Miles has made it out of surgery and is being taken back to the ICU for monitoring."
Mr. Morales relaxed a bit at that but Mrs. Morales merely continued to stare at him.
"Explain to me what happened." She jerked her thumb towards Peter B. "This one was only able to tell us in the most vague terms."
"I told you-"
She cut off the Spider-Man. "Silencio, blanquito!" she snapped and Percy winced at that; from the way Peter B. groaned he clearly knew he'd been insulted as well. "You told me that some deranged muscle man attacked my son. I want to know what the bastard did." She looked at Percy, eyes narrowed. "Well?"
He sighed and decided not to sugar coat it. "Miles has multiple broken ribs, bruising on his spinal column, microtears along his small intestines… and of course what one normally finds in Spiders. Torn muscles, damage to his shoulder joints, so on. All of which can be handled easily enough… his enhanced healing will get him up on his feet faster than all of you and I can start him on a pill regiment to speed that up."
"I don't know about drugs…" Mr. Morales said only for his wife to cut him off.
"And his head?"
Percy sighed again. "He multiple skull fractures and bleeding within the brain. I managed to set the skull back in place and once more will be working to seal up the damage."
"So 4 to 6 months at minimum with mood swings and personality changes."
Percy raised an eyebrow at that.
"I' m a nurse."
At once he was both relieved and worried.
Everyone knew that doctors and nurses were the worst patients. They worried about things that normal people didn't, because they knew just how wrong things could go, and how quickly. They constantly wanted to be involved, thinking that because they were part of the profession they should be able to assist in the care. And just to show that life wasn't fair even as they worried and fretted about a thousand little silly things they would ignore orders and prolong getting treated, because they were convinced that they, because of their own knowledge and experience, were immune to many of the issues that so many other patients had to deal with.
It made Percy want to simply spin on his heels and walk to the elevators. Maybe return to his world and see if Otto wanted to squeeze in a few rounds.
But instead he swallowed his fear and his concerns and focused on Mrs. Morales. Because he understood that it wasn't about him. Honestly it wasn't about her either. It was about her son.
"Well, you understand that right now is the most dangerous part of all of this," he said. "We need to make sure he is stable and that the body is given time to heal. Now, do you have much experience working with Spiders?"
"No," Mrs. Morales stated softly. "My son never bothered to let me know about…" She found herself unable to continue and as such just waved her hands about.
Percy grimaced at that. "I'm sorry. Its… well, a 50/50 shot if they let their families know."
"Part of me wishes he had," Mrs. Morales stated softly. "But the other half of me is glad he didn't because I know that it would have just left me a wreck." She shook her head. "I don't know-"
"Its hard," Percy stated. "Very hard. It hit my Aunt June really bad when I told her I wasn't going to take the safe job in accounting like she hoped and I was going to follow in her footsteps. I don't fight crime… at worst I've shrunk down to deal with fractures and tumors." Mrs. Morales shot him a surprised look at that, it clear she wanted to know more but Percy wasn't going to continue on as that wasn't the point. They weren't talking about him. "What's important is you are there for him. No different than an injury… no, wait, that's not right. Let's call it a disability. You need to be there, make adjustments, and understand the new normal."
He paused.
"Because nothing will ever be the same."
"I'm seeing that," Mrs. Morales said.
"When can we see our son?" Mr. Morales said, reminding the two that there were more than just them in the room. That made Percy blush a touch, ashamed that he'd forgotten that Mr. Morales was there.
"We'll take you-"
"Home."
Percy turned and paled as he saw Miguel standing in the doorway, having managed to sneak up on all of them.
If the head of the Society had been hoping to make a good impression of the Moraleses then he had misjudged the entire situation horribly. He was dressed just in some sweatpants and a set of webshooters, bare feet planted on the floor and chest exposed to reveal the bulging veins that were running up and down his torso. He was trying to appear like he was in control, what with his arms folded over his chest, but instead he came off as some monstrous sentry a vampire might keep guarding their castle's drawbridge. His sharp dark fingernails were on full displace as were his fangs thanks to his mouth curling up into a snarl. His eyes were bloodshot and red, only adding to the bestial vision he was.
"I don't know who you are," Mr. Morales said, already moving to place himself in front of his wife and Peter B, "but we don't want any trouble. We are just here to see our son-"
"You're son." Miguel scoffed. "Your son is nothing BUT trouble! All he does is cause trouble! If I had known he was cause all this madness I would have dealt with him sooner."
"Sooner?" Mrs. Morales said slowly and Percy swallowed as he realized she was keying in on just WHO Miguel was.
"Listen," Peter B said, leaping over Mr. Morales and landing in front of him, holding up his hands as Miguel began to approach, "we are all very tired and its been a long day-"
"Because of you people," Miguel growled.
"Excuse me," Mrs. Morales snapped, "what do you mean, "you people."?"
"Stay out of this. We'll be sending you back home soon enough."
"Miguel," Peter B. tried again, "Miles' is their son and he is hurt-"
"Then they are to blame for raisng a brat who thinks he knows better-"
"What did you just call my son, maldito saco de carne?"
Miguel though merely took a step forward, eyes narrowing and mouth twisting into a snarl. "Un problema causando poca mierda. Como su madre."
"Ooooo even I know that wasn't good," Peter B. muttered.
"What did you call my wife?" Mr. Morales snapped, growing just as heated as his wife.
"What she is," Miguel shouted, gesturing wildly. "You people… selfish, stupid! I see where you son gets it! Your entire world is endangered because Miles Morales thinks he knows better than me! ME! I am the god damn savior of the multiverse! If it weren't for me all of you pathetic little worms would be dead and I am SICK and TIRED of you constantly questioning me!"
"Miguel…" Peter B. began again.
"You keep your mouth shut!" Miguel snarled, jabbing a finger at the man. "You are already one step away from me taking your daughter away."
THAT was the wrong thing to say.
"I… have one rule," Peter B. said coldly. "Nobody dies." He stepped up, balling his hands into fists. "I will BREAK it if you touch a hair on her head."
"You won't last ten seconds. None of you will!" Miguel gestured wildly about. "My daughter is dead and all the rest of you are allowed to think you deserve happy endings? You, Jessica, these people!" He waved at the Morales.
"Miguel…" Percy tried desperately to get him to stop. "You are tired… not thinking straight…" He noticed the fresh scab on his arm and pressed his lips into a fine line. "You been shooting yourself up again? I told you to only do that when I'm around to help with the dosage-"
"Oh, so the man that beat my son nearly to death is a druggie!" Mr. Morales said with a scoff. "Wonderful. Some hero."
"I AM THE HERO!" Miguel roared. "Not you! Not the Society! Me! I make the tough decisions! Me! And I swear if I have to snap your neck-" he pointed at Mr. Morales, "-to save your ungrateful universe I will do so in front of your wife and pathetic, worthless, MISTAKE of a son I will!"
"Bad!"
Everyone slowly tuned at that… staring at Mayday who had woken up.
Mayday who was sitting on a chair.
Mayday who was holding a phone.
A phone… with a little light indicating it was recording.
"…give me the phone," Miguel said, holding out his hand. "Give me the phone Mayday…"
Mayday tilted her head.
"Bye bye!" she cheered before pressing a button.
At once Percy's own phone began to buzz. As did Miguel's. As did the ones from other rooms. The only one not frozen in place was Peter B., who rushed forward and drove his forearm into Miguel's throat even as he pinned him to the wall. But Miguel didn't struggle… instead he stared at Mayday, who merely watched him with the most evil grin Percy had ever seen a baby wear.
"Who… who did she send that too?" Miguel asked, his rage draining from him and leaving him with only growing terror.
He was right to be scared.
"Everyone."
Oh, we can be us