Chapter Text
You open your eyes, and then slam them shut. The lights are blinding.
Too bright… Can’t see.
When you breathe in, the sterile, antiseptic tang of a hospital hits you.
No, can’t panic.
Trying to locate your pain seems like a Sisyphean task, it’s everywhere, everything hurts. A tube is snaking down your throat. You can feel the prick of an IV in your arm. You are vaguely aware of a weight on your left, something… someone gently pressed against you.
Think, what happened. Don’t panic. Open your eyes.
You remember assisting the police with a case. No, they agreed to help you. The kids, the mutant ones going missing. You found the trafficking ring responsible and were going to get to bring them home. After the briefing, it’s all a blur.
You hear muddled speech, it’s distant and warped. Adjusting your body, you feel rough sheets against your skin.
No…
Mask, you don’t have your mask. Whoever has been taking care of you knows, if not at least the person who brought you in. You squeeze your eyes. Like shutting your eyes anymore could stop the world from falling apart around you. You shift your head and something on your cheeks is slightly damp.
No time for tears Peter. Focus.
Your heart starts to race and you hear a monitor start beeping faster, the weight next to you shifts, and grabs your hand. It’s warm, and familiar.
“Darling, it’s okay. You’re okay, we’re safe. You kept them safe.”
You know that voice, you love that voice. From Sunday night dinners, and late nights on the Statue of Liberty. It’s him, the man whose hand’s light up with the auroras when you touch.
You snap open your eyes, rasping his name.
“Johnny”
It comes out more like a mumble with the ventilator. It hurts to speak.
Johnny’s hand tightens around your own, grounding you. His thumb brushes across your knuckles like he’s afraid to let go.
That’s when it slams into you. No mask, no excuses, no hiding. He’s seen you like this. Not Spider-Man, not the jokester partner swinging through the city. Just Peter. Just you, fragile, bleeding, breakable, you.
Panic spikes; the monitor beside you screams faster.
Johnny leans closer, voice steady and warm.
“Easy, Pete. You’re safe. I’ve got you.”
Someone starts moving to the right of you, chair legs dragging across the floor making a screeching sound.
“You’re… you’re awake.”
Reed’s voice cracks as he rushed forward, hands already on the ventilator.
You smack your lips a few times before a cup of water is pressed gently to your lips by Sue. She guides the straw for you to sip, brushing a strand of hair from your eyes at the same time. The stars adorning her hands fill your vision for just a moment.
You look to the left and see Ben in a chair with a concerned look on his face and a tight jaw. His hands folded in his lap, and he’s slightly slouched, fingers tapping against each other.
It’s like he’s trying to hold himself together and plea with the universe at the same time.
Okay, the entire family is here. I’m safe, we’re safe. In the med bay at the Baxter building.
Reed flies through questions at record pace. His eyes flicker between concern and calculation. You must have been out for a while, they’re the same ones they ask coma patients. Your mind feels foggy, any answers given are automatic. One thought circles through your mind as you reflect on the questions.
Coma, was I in a coma?
Your bones creak as you attempt to sit up, the pain you felt before seems like a light ache compared to now. Reed wraps another tube around your face, positioning it into your nose, and cool oxygen fills your lungs.
“How long was I out? What… what happened?”