Natalie's boarding school has burned down and she unexpectedly returns to her home, the Stark Tower. Her uncle Tony isn't waiting for her return at all and tries to hide her as much as possible from the outside world. But an unexpected romance with...
I opened my eyes, closing them immediately because of the passive-aggressive bright lights.
"Hold up, I saw some signs of life," I heard a familiar voice saying.
"Tony?" I mumbled.
"And now she's talking."
I slowly opened my eyes again, still confused about where I was.
"Sir, we can't send her home yet, no matter how much you pay."
Wait, I didn't recognize that voice. I looked at my right and saw a woman dressed in white sitting next to me.
She looked back at me and gave me a warm smile.
"Hey Natalie, how are you feeling?" she asked me.
"She's feeling fine," Tony snarled.
I looked at him. "Dude, may I answer for myself please? Thank you," I said with a raw voice.
Then I turned back to the friendly lady. "I'm feeling really dizzy, but that's it. By the way, where am I?"
"I see the painkillers are working." She spoke. "You are in the hospital my dear."
I tried to sit but didn't have the strength in my arms. "Oh, that sounds bad. Did I do something stupid again?"
"I'm never letting you outside of the Tower ever again," Tony mumbled.
The lady in white ignored him and pointed at my leg, which was wrapped in plaster, bandages and other hospital stuff. "You have been shot in your knee, my dear."
I looked at my leg and suddenly the memories of this morning came up. The man with the gun, the lady who died because of me. I got nauseous while remembering seeing her crashing to the floor of the train while blood flowed out of her neck.
"You just came out of your surgery," the lady continued. "You got very lucky, there is not that much damage on your bone. You may have to sit in a wheelchair for some time, but I'm positive that you'll recover."
"Well, give us a damn wheelchair and we'll go home," Tony yelled.
"Tony, chill. I just got shot in my fucking knee," I said, still raw voiced. My energy level was really low.
"You know people can't see me here. I paid this doctor a lot, so she won't tell anyone a relative of mine is in the hospital."
"Sir, everything is taking care of. She's registered as Natalie Jackson, just as you had requested, and I promise I wouldn't say a word about you being here, mister Stark," the lady, which was a doctor I assumed now, spoke to him very calmly. I wondered how she could stand him talking to her that way.
Just when she wanted to say something to me, a phone on the desk in the corner of the room rang. She picked up, listened, and said: "There's someone who wants to see you, miss Jackson." She said the 'miss Jackson' part extra loud.
"We don't have time for that," Tony snarled.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"A boy named Peter Parker," the doctor said.
"How does that kid know she's here?" Tony looked like he was about to explode. His face turned red and I could almost see steam coming out of his ears.
The doctor ignored him. "Would like him to come up?" She asked me.
"Yes please," I exhaled.
"Oh, you can't be serious." Tony rubbed his eyes. "Alright kid, I'll go home, he isn't allowed to see me. I'll send Happy to pick you up as soon as you can leave the hospital."
On his way out he slammed the door.
The doctor stayed surprisingly calm and waited for Peter to enter the room.
When he entered, she left us alone, which I appreciated.
"Natalie, are you okay?" Peter ran to my bed as soon as he saw me and sat down on a chair next to me.
"Yes, I am damn fine, Parker. How are you?"
He shook his head. "I thought you were dead."
"Look, it's only my knee. The doctor said I will recover."
Peter sighed out of relieve, laying back in his chair.
Then I remembered what Tony said. How did Peter know about all this?
I sat up straight, which went better this time, and asked him: "How did you know I was here?"
Peter's eyes got big and he stuttered: "It was all on the news, even a clip from you getting into an ambulance. I got to the nearest hospital hoping you would be there, and here you are."
"I was on tv?"
Peter nodded.
"Wow, I wanted to be famous, but this was not the way I imagined it would happen."
Peter grinned. "Well, it didn't take your humor away. I'm glad you're okay."
I smiled at him, to suddenly feel nauseous again.
"Hey, what's going on? Do I need to call a doctor?" Peter asked when he saw me turning pale.
"I am okay, but somebody else isn't..." I mumbled.
Peter looked confused.
"Somebody died, Peter." I continued. "I got the gun away from my head, but then he shot someone else."
I started crying.
Peter grabbed my hand. "Natalie, it's okay. It wasn't your fault."
"How do you know that?" I sobbed. "You weren't there."
Peter stayed silent and went for a hug.
I was glad he was here to comfort me, but I couldn't get the image of the dead woman out of my head.
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