life sucks but at least we have pizza

1.4K 66 24
                                    

Percy woke up to subtle vibrations.

It was weird. His body felt heavy. Slow, even. He could feel he was somewhere warm, and he could smell... he could smell... was that hand sanatizer?

He took an experimental sniff and then grimanced.

Whatever it was, it stunk.

Wasn't there something he was supposed to do? It was... he was... it was something grey? What was he...

He worked hard to keep up with his train of thought, but it was like his head was filled with cotton.

He felt the air around him shift.

Oh, right.

He was trying to figure out where he was, wasn't he?

A hand reached out and touched his arm and his eyes shot open. He tried to sit up, but the hand held him back. He struggled for a moment, but then stopped, because something about the hand felt familiar.

He looked up and his eyes focused.

"Steve?"

And then he panicked.

He reached for his throat and felt it. "Steve?" He asked again, looking up at Steve's concerned face.

Steve's mouth moved and Percy stared uncomprehendingly. Steve frowned and leaned closer.

Percy wasn't paying attention, because the pieces were coming together. His eyes glanced around the room and his breath sped up.

Steve gripped his shoulder. When Percy didn't respond, he pressed a button on a nearby device.

Percy slowly lifted his hand up to touch his ear. He snapped his fingers several times, first in front of his right ear, then his left.

Steve moved away from him and a nurse in colorful scrubs looked at him, concerned.

Percy looked at the nurse, his eyes wide. He could tell the nurse was talking to him, he could see his mouth moving, but...

Percy vigorously rubbed his ears.

The nurse gently grabbed his hands to stop Percy from hurting himself and held them. He looked Percy in the eyes.

His mouth moved slowly, he had an air of calm about him.

Percy looked from the nurse to Steve.

Steve wasn't paying attention, he was talking on the phone to someone.

But Percy couldn't hear that.

He couldn't hear anything.

Percy's mind sped up, going million miles a minute. There's no way what he's thinking is true. There's no way.

He opened his mouth and screamed.

Steve dropped his phone and the person on the other line was shouting, but Percy didn't realize. The nurse had jumped up and ran out of the room, but Percy didn't notice.

He closed his eyes and leaned back on the bed. His eyes glazed, because it was true. He couldn't hear anything. Not even his own voice.

———————
a day earlier
———————

"Tony." Bruce's soft voice fills the silent room and Tony and Steve stand up. "The test results from Percy's CT scan came back."

"And?"

"They're normal."

"Good!" Tony says, falling back into the hard hospital chair in relief. "Good, that's good." His face fills with trepidation. "So why do you still sound worried?"

Thoughts Can Hurt || Percy & Avengers CrossoverWhere stories live. Discover now