Venomous

2. Changes

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

I tried to reach over to shut off what sounded like an alarm, but for some strange reason, I couldn't move my arm. "Mrumph," I mumbled, my head moving slightly back and forth as the pain hit me full blast. Oof. I frowned, trying to use my ears since my eyes wouldn't open. I could hear voices in the hallway, and they were getting louder and louder, not because they were getting closer, but because they were just getting more heated. I recognized my brother Eddie's voice. He was upset. Finally, I was able to open one of my eyes just a sliver, recognizing that I was, in fact, not at home. The walls were bare and white. The bed seemed to have a railing. I shot my eye to the side, noticing the monitors beside me. I was in a hospital. "Eddie..." my voice was raspy and shot, and the effort it took to speak hurt. Truthfully, everything hurt. I looked down as much as possible, and noticed that almost my entire body was wrapped in a cast, explaining why it was difficult to move. What the hell happened?

"You're awake!" My eye moved as fast as possible towards the door, which Eddie had just slid open. He looked like shit. Truthfully, my older brother always looked a bit rumpled and messy. He didn't shave regularly – he said it interfered with his "creative process." But his zip-up hoodie was covered in stains that looked fairly fresh, and it looked like he hadn't changed his clothes in days. True to form, Eddie instinctively knew exactly what I was thinking. "Weeks, kid. You scared the shit out of me." I frowned, my face seeming to be one of the only things I could move with any kind of consistency, and even that was not without pain.

"What happened?" I murmured. Eddie sighed and pulled a chair up next to my bed, taking my hand gently, extra careful not to move or disturb it in any way.

"Parker...there was an accident. A bad one." I felt a lump in my throat, trying to recall the last thing I remembered. I remembered driving to Malibu with the intention of throttling Tony Stark. I didn't give a fuck how rich he was. I remember seeing Natalie with Stark's hand around her waist, pressing against her, his fingers nearly grazing her....no. I blinked hard, willing the tears to disappear. "We need to talk." A doctor came in, removing the tube so I could speak. I swallowed painfully and Eddie held a straw to my lips so I could get some much-needed water. The doctor exchanged glances with my brother before exiting the room and pulling the door closed behind him. I took a few deep breaths, certain that I didn't want to know the answer but needing to anyway.

"How bad is it?" Eddie's breath caught in his throat. Oh shit, it was that bad.

"I don't want you to freak out, okay?" He did his trademark shit-eating grin, like I had just caught him doing something dangerous or stupid or both.

"Eddie, the longer you don't tell me, the more freaked out I'm going to get." I coughed and Eddie glanced at me worriedly, getting to his feet and holding the straw in front of my lips again. I waved him off, needing him to tell me.

"At this point, the best-cased scenario is partial or total paralysis." Nope, now I couldn't stop the tears. They were coming. Eddie's rough fingers, always covered in some kind of dirt or ink, softly caressed my cheek. "I know, Park, I'm so – so – sorry." I bit the inside of my cheek. Hard. At least I could still feel that. Everything else, apparently, was up in the air.

"That's the best-cased scenario?" I tried to laugh at the lunacy of it all, but I triggered another coughing fit, which prompted another round of water sipping. Eddie looked over his shoulder before scooting his chair even closer, leaning down to speak to me directly.

"Do you remember my parasite?" I smirked. Venom was a little bit hard to forget.

"Tall? Dark? So much better looking than you?" Eddie smirked along with me.