lacuna || Peter Parker (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

12

But it was Michelle Jones who helped him back up.

And as he lay in the hospital bed, for the second time this month, he could hear-he could hear...

"I reckon you did this to get out of that Spanish test we have tomorrow."

But he couldn't move. He couldn't see or feel or think, but he could hear her. His body was just dead weight. And, just as randomly as her voice had come, it was gone again.

The next time he woke up – or maybe, became aware is a better word – he could feel tingling in his body. But he still couldn't move, but this time, there was a soft and echoed beep, beep, beep in the background of his thoughts, and-

And-

"Ned's scared, Parker. Maybe if you just woke up to tell him you're okay, he'll stop annoying me."

There it was again!

He tried to reach out for it. He tried to grab a hold of that soft voice, but it slips from his grasp again, and he's gone, gone, gone...

"Please...?" Was the quiet whisper he heard as his mind dropped out again.

And this time, as noises filled his mind, and the tingling grew stronger, he fought harder than he had done before. And he wasn't sure...he still couldn't move, but there was something squeezing his hand – the tingling was particularly stronger there. And the beeping was getting louder, maybe even faster.

"Peter...?" She asked quietly. And Peter heard a disappointed sigh, as the beeping slowed down a bit.

"Okay, so it's been a week since that Spanish test, so you can probably stop pretending now, and wake up."

Peter reached. He stretched, but...he failed. And he fell again, but this time, it wasn't to the blackness of nothingness like the other times. This time, a part of him stayed-

The part that gripped onto the soft, warm hand enclosing his own.

Beep...beep...beep.

And there was a dull ache, through his whole body. And he welcomed it, because that meant he could feel. But it did hurt. It lives, but it hurts.

Beep...beep, beep, beep.

And there was still that contact, grounding him, keeping him from falling for ever and ever. And he didn't let go. he couldn't, and he didn't know why. But he didn't.

And he could hear movement around him, quiet tears being shed, but-but why? He had to help, he had to-

"So, I must admit, Ned's not the only one who's worried, right now." There was a pause, and Peter felt his heart jump a little.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

"May is too." Then a small, wet laugh. "And me, sort of. If you just opened your eyes...maybe I wouldn't be." She whispered, choking down a sob. And then there was a rustle, and loud words being spoken. Words so loud they banged around in Peter's skull painfully, words that didn't make sense, and he could feel panic deep in his bones, layered in fatigue and confusion and-

Beep beep beep beep-

The beeping was getting faster, and he could feel wind on his skin, and a scratching noise, like wheels on a floor. And he could hear her saying frantically-

"No, no, it's okay! He's nearly here! Please, he doesn't need surgery again..." And that word, that word made him feel frightened, and he wanted that hand on his again, but the voice was getting fainter, and-