Spectrum ⇒ Avengers [ 1 ]

Strange Surgery

The colours have been there for as long as I can remember.

The most unpleasant ones I encounter aren't usually people's voices, they're usually noises that irritate, hurt, confuse. Alarms, nails screeching on black-boards, things like that. Of course, I've met a few unpleasant voices in my time, but they don't make up the majority.

The heart monitor is blue, pulsing in short flashes in the corner of my eye.

Lee's wings brush against the low ceiling, the white blending to cream at the tips of the feathers as he sits opposite me, his head bowed in prayer. A strange sight, to see an angel praying. He doesn't have to walk around shirtless anymore, much to Killian's disappointment, because as soon as Tony had the time, he rustled together a vest with wing-holes, and straps to keep them down if needed. It gives Lee a bit of a hunchback, but he can actually now pass as ordinary in public- though he still hasn't left the tower.

I don't blame him. Anything could be lurking out there.

"Should it be taking this long?" He asks in a low voice.
I shrug helplessly. "I'm no doctor... They've never done anything like this before."

Restoring Killian's lungs is even more complicated than we first thought. Essentially, they had to find a way to let him transfer from using his gills in the water, to his regular airways on land. This had then led to many sleepless nights in Tony's lab, bringing him coffee and holding tools while he and Bruce tried to work on a device that would do just that. And eventually, they succeeded- in theory. The resulting piece of machinery was smaller than the palm of my hand.

I do have faith in Tony. If he can build something to keep his heart going, he can probably build something that would keep someone breathing. Unfortunately, this does not make the anxious feeling that clenches my stomach disappear.

"They've got the best surgeons in the world," I say, repeating what Sharon assured me three hours ago. "The best equipment, the best everything. He's in the safest hands on the planet."
Lee still doesn't look up, and I don't blame him. I'm not convincing myself, either. But what else can we do, than hope and pray and tell ourselves that everything will be okay?

I can still hear the hear monitor's incessant blue beeping. Killian is currently partially submerged, his gills taking oxygen from the water he's lying in, as doctors cut open his throat and do god-knows what. As I watch Lee, I wonder what it's like to leave the life of someone you love in another's hands, and hope to god I'll never find out.

My phone starts beeping, making me jump, and I quickly slide it out of my pocket and look at the caller ID. Peter. I quickly jump to my feet and gesture to the phone to Lee, who shrugs as I leave the room, hitting the call button as I walk into the hallway.
"How is he?" I demand, pacing to the end of the hallway.
"You'll never believe it." Peter says, his voice incredulous even over the line. "He's got amnesia."
"Amnesia?" I echo, slowing to a halt. "Are they sure?"
"Positive. He can't remember the fight, he can't remember the Goblin- he can't even remember that the Goblin exists! All he can remember is Oscorp and Harry."
"That sounds too good to be true." I say suspiciously. "Are you sure he's not bluffing?"

It was a blur, the moments after we emerged with Norman Osborn and the story of a lifetime. There were questions and problems and a ruined penthouse to answer for, and I don't know how we managed to cover it all up, but we did. Everything the Goblin created- the suit, the formulas, the bombs, the glider, were destroyed, and all we had was the damaged body of Norman Osborn to show for it. And boy, had the damage been bad.

I had been apprehensive about Peter going to the hospital with Harry, but he had just shrugged and said that he needed to be there for his friend, and besides, he wasn't going to get murdered the second Norman woke up. I wouldn't have put it past him.