Work Text:
"Peter? It's me. Ned. Your best friend."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I'm really glad you're...here. You really scared us. I've never seen May so worried."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Me, too. I was terrified."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I know you're probably wondering what happened, but all you really need to know is that you're going to be okay. And I'm going to be here as long as you need me to be."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Mr. Stark let me stay overnight at the Avengers compound. Just saying, when you wake up, we have to talk about how you have your own freaking room at the Avengers compound!"
Beep. Whoosh.
"Anyways, right now you just need to worry about getting better, okay?"
Beep.
"I miss you, bro. I'll talk to you again soon."
Whoosh.
—
"Good morning, Peter."
Beep. Whoosh.
"You gave us quite a scare, honey. But you've survived through what the doctor called the critical period. You've always been my little fighter."
Beep. Whoosh.
"The nurse is just here to take your vitals. You shouldn't feel a thing."
Click. Puff, puff, puff. Whoosh.
"Your blood pressure is doing better today. It looks like you don't need any more transfusions. That's really good, Peter."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Dr. Cho says you're responding well to the ventilator, and that they may take it out in a few days. You're so strong. I'm so proud."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Know that your Aunt May loves you so much, okay?" Sniffle. "So, so much."
Beep.
"I hope you can hear me."
Whoosh.
—-
"Hey, loser. It's MJ."
Beep. Whoosh.
"It really sucks to see you like this. My portraits of you in distress were way off."
Beep. Whoosh.
"That was a stupid joke. I'm sorry."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Just so you know, I heard Mr. Stark and Ned talking about you being Spider-Man. Not that I hadn't already guessed it before. I just thought you should know."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I didn't know if that would give you...I dunno, closure. Or whatever. Just in case-"
Beep.
"Never mind. Life just really sucks without you."
Whoosh.
"Please come back."
—
"Hey buddy. It's me again. Ned."
Beep. Whoosh.
"You probably have, like, zero concept of time, right? Anyways, it's been five days. Since, you know."
Beep.
"Except, you don't know, because we all agreed not to talk to you about it because we thought the negativity might make it wor - forget it. Forget I said anything. I shouldn't have said anything."
Whoosh.
"May says that they're thinking about taking the ventilator out tomorrow morning. That's pretty exciting."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I've been keeping track of all your assignments. But don't worry about doing them right now or anything. I'm just letting you know, uh, I've got your back."
Beep.
"Always."
Whoosh.
"Gosh, I miss you."
—
"Alright Peter, we're going to take out the vent, okay? You may feel a large tickle on the back of your throat but I promise it will all be over soon."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I'm right here with you too, Peter. You're doing great, sweetie."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Alright, on the count of three. One..."
Beep.
"Two..."
Whoosh.
"Three."
Thwip.
...
Beep.
"There you go Peter. That was great. The vent's out now."
Beep.
"You're breathing on your own, sweetie. That's so great! I'm so proud of you, okay?"
Beep.
"So proud."
—
"...take him for some scans to check the swelling on his brain. He should be back in about a couple hours. You can wait here, Ms. Parker."
Beep.
"Okay. When do you think you'll have results?"
"Within a few hours. Peter is Dr. Cho's highest priority patient."
Beep.
"You hear that? Everyone here cares about you, Peter. I'll talk to you again when your tests are done."
Beep.
—
"Welcome back, sweetie. I told you I'd be right here."
Beep.
"The nurse said that Dr. Cho will give us results in about an hour. So it's just us for awhile."
Beep.
"Your friends really miss you. Ned has texted every day for updates."
Beep.
"Tony as well. But, you know how he is about visiting. He sends his best wishes."
Beep.
"Do you remember when you were little how we used to go for ice cream at that one ice cream shop by the zoo? The triple scoop?"
Beep.
"You loved it so much. And Ben and I always let you get way too much ice cream. But how could we ever say no to your beautiful puppy dog eyes?"
Beep.
"When you wake up, I promise I'll take you back there. And I'll let you get anything you want. Just like I used to."
Beep.
"All you have to do is wake up."
Beep.
"Please."
—
"...show that the swelling has gone down some on its own, which is promising. We are lowering the dosage of pain medication in hopes that it will take pressure off of his brain so the swelling can go down further. Do you have any questions?"
"This is all good news?"
"I would say it is. He's making progress. At this rate he could potentially wake up at any time."
"Okay. Thank you, doctor."
Click.
"Did you hear that, Pete? You're healing so well. Hopefully soon I'll get to see those beautiful eyes again. I've missed them."
Beep.
"I've missed you."
Beep.
—
"Hey Pete. It's Ned again."
Beep.
"You probably don't know this since you're in a coma and everything, but today's your sixteenth birthday. So, uh, happy birthday!"
Beep.
"I know it must suck to not even be awake on your sweet sixteen, but I planned a sort of surprise that I hope makes up for it. Guys, come on in!"
Beep.
"Go ahead and say stuff. The doctor says he can hear you."
"Hey Peter, it's, uh, Dylan, from decathlon! Happy birthday dude!"
"Happy birthday Peter! It's Yolanda from English!
"Happy birthday!"
"It's really good to, uh, see you."
"Sweet sixteen!"
"Dude, the Avenger's compound is SWEET! Can't believe we doubted you actually worked here."
"Miss you so much!"
"Sorry you got kidna-"
"Hey, it's MJ. Happy birthday loser. All your presents are with your Aunt, and, if you're lucky, we'll save you some cake."
—
"Okay guys, lets sing!"
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!"
Beep.
"Happy birthday dear Peter..."
Beep. Beep.
"Happy birthday to you!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Ned, I think something's wrong."
Beep. Beep.
"Oh gosh, why is he shaking like that? Get the nurse!"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Oh no. Peter! NURSE! HELP!"
BEEP.
"C'mon Peter, don't give up on us now. You kids get out! GET OUT!"
BEEP.
"Starting compressions. Someone get the BVM. Get the AED up!"
BEEP.
"Heartbeat not detected. Shock advised."
"Clear!"
ZAP.
BEEP.
"Shoot, it didn't work. Try again! Come on, Peter!"
"Clear!"
ZAP.
...
Beep. Beep.
Sigh. "Thank God. Let's intubate and get him to the lab. We need to figure out why he crashed, and now."
Beep.
—
"...what happened? He was doing better! This isn't possible!"
"Ms. Parker, I am so sorry. I can't imagine your distress right now."
"Heck yeah, you can't imagine it. You're saying that he's back on the vent? How? Why?"
"As we lowered his pain medication in hopes of lessening the pressure on Peter's brain, it seems that the amount of pain Peter was in was enough to cause him to have a seizure." Sniffle. "Would you like a break before I continue?"
"No, please - please finish."
"Peter stopped breathing as a result of the seizure which caused his heartbeat to stop. While we got him back fairly quickly, the stress of the seizure aggravated the injury to his lungs. The lack of oxygen to his brain may also have worsened Peter's head injury, but we can't know for sure. He is back on the ventilator for now. Ms. Parker, Peter is in critical condition as of right now. We will continue to monitor his progress to see if his lungs will heal properly, but there is a chance that his lungs will never be stable enough to work independently from the ventilator."
"So you're saying he may never breathe on his own? Or that he may never wake up?"
"As of right now, it's up to Peter. There is a chance that he'll make a complete recovery. But I do need to prepare you for the chance that making Peter comfortable may be all we're able to do at some point."
"Get out."
"Ma'am, I know how hard this must be to hear..."
"I said GET OUT!"
Slam.
...
Beep. Whoosh.
"Oh, Peter...I'm so sorry..."
Beep. Whoosh.
Sob. "I'm so sorry..."
—
"Hey kid, it's Happy. Just wanted to let you know that I'm here and I'm thinking of ya. Try not to give your Aunt any more heart attacks, will ya? She's pretty worn out as it is."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Anywho, um, just in case I don't get to say this to you again for - for some reason...it's been great working with you, kid. You're so much like Tony."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Keep fighting, kid. I'll see ya around."
Beep. Whoosh.
—
"Hey peni- uh, Peter. It's Flash."
Beep. Whoosh.
"You're probably wondering why I'm here. That is, if you can even hear me like everyone says you can."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Just wanted that, uh, you really proved me wrong. I can't believe you actually worked for Tony Stark."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I'm also, uh, sorry this happened to you. You didn't deserve that."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Also, I only agreed to do this because I think the idea that you can hear is some BS but in case you can hear me, this conversation never happened and no one will believe you if you try to tell them. Got it?"
Beep. Whoosh.
"Yeah, you got it."
—
"May."
"Tony?"
"I caught him. Broke his nose and a few other things while I was at it. He's being put away in the securest facility in the states."
"He's really gone?"
"He'll never be able to hurt anyone again. I promise. It's over, May."
—
"Hey, uh, Pete." Sniffle.
Beep. Whoosh.
"I'm here because, uh, the doctor gave May some bad news and she said that, uh," sniff, "I may need to get ready to, uh, say goodbye."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I really don't want to say goodbye. You're my best friend."
Beep. Whoosh.
"We're supposed to be playing video games and building LEGO sets together. Not saying goodbye to each other."
Beep. Whoosh.
"But if this is goodbye, I just want you to know..." sob.
Beep. Whoosh.
"Your friendship is one of the best things to ever happen to me. And I love you bro."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Please don't let this be the end."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Please fight."
—
"Hey, underroos. It's me. It's Tony."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I'm really sorry I haven't visited. There's no excuse. I just...I guess I was avoiding it, seeing you like this."
Beep. Whoosh.
"Man, this is harder than I thought it'd be."
Beep. Whoosh.
"You know, Helen that we shouldn't talk about what happened around you because it could hinder your progress but Happy says that we're alike and I know that if I were in your position I would want to know. So don't tell May that I told you what I'm about to tell you."
Beep. Whoosh.
"You were taken on your way home from school three weeks ago by a man who wanted my money and had heard that you were my intern."
Beep. Whoosh.
"While he had you in captivity, he gave me a half an hour to come up with 10 million dollars. For every half hour I was late, a bullet went into you. And he was broadcasting live feed of you to every screen in New York City."
Beep. Whoosh.
"It took me two hours to find you."
Beep. Whoosh.
Inhale. Exhale. "You had been shot in the leg, stomach, chest, and head. Thankfully, by some miracle, the bullet to your head got lodged in your skull and not your brain, so they were able to operate and keep you alive."
Beep. Whoosh.
"There are no words to justify how I failed you. I should've been there sooner. This never should have happened to you. And now you might die because of me."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I promise, kid, that if you pull through this, you're never going to have to doubt my protection of you. Whenever you need me, I'm going to be right there, no matter what. And I swear to God I'll never let you hurt again. Not if I can help it."
Beep. Whoosh.
"But you have to come back for that to happen. Starks don't give out freebies. You gotta hold up your end."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I'm going to let your aunt in because she's probably a nervous wreck having not been at your side for the past ten minutes. But I promise you I'm here. I'm not leaving you. I'm right here if you need me, I promise."
Beep. Whoosh.
"I love ya, kiddo."
—
"...vitals are higher than normal, as well as his brain activity. He also seems to be fighting the vent at times."
"Well, spit it out. What does that mean?"
"It means that Peter is trying to wake up."
—
Beep. Beep. Whoosh.
"That's it, Peter. Keep fighting."
Beep. Beep. Whoosh.
"See his eyelids? His eyes are moving. He's waking up."
"C'mon Peter, let's see those eyes!"
Beep. Beep. Whoosh.
—
Lights. Bright lights. Beeping. Whooshing. Pain. Something in my throat. Where am I? Ow. So many sounds-
Tony. May. Ned. MJ?
Tears. Laughter. A smile. Tony's smile.
"Welcome back, Petey."