All Tangled Up

Chapter 3

I hardly slept that night.  I just couldn't.  I took advantage of the webshooters that I was still wearing, shooting several webs from one wall to another.  I gripped one, pulling myself up so that my chin rested on my hands.

I slowly lowered myself back down, then pulled up again, in another chin-up.  I did this several times before I grew bored, then I ripped the strand of webbing from the wall.  I ripped the rest as well, and then I had to stop, because otherwise the walls would have caved in.

Next, I did sit-ups, then push-ups.  I lifted my bed like it was a weight, although it wasn't heavy enough to do me any good.  Finally, I stopped working out, my breathing shallow.  I sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, closing my eyes. 

The next thing I knew, it was morning.  I heard prisoners shouting as their breakfasts were delivered.  My stomach growled.  I stood up, feeling stiff and numb from being in a sitting position on a hard, cold floor for the entire night.  I rubbed my eyes with my fists, blinking several times as a guard approached my door.

"You sure are young, kid.  If you were just a few months younger, you'd be in a juvenile prison, but nooo...you just aren't very lucky, huh?"  He shoved my food tray through the slot on my cell door.  If it weren't for my spider reflexes, it would have hit the floor. 

I wasn't lucky.  If I was, I would have made it out of the square before I was captured.  "You're starting early, aren't ya, kid?  You didn't even take the time to graduate high school first."  With that, he walked away, whistling.  I frowned, looking down at my food: instant mashed potatoes, a slab of some kind of meat (was it pork?), and a couple of spoonfuls of lima beans, all hardly even luke-warm.  There was a bottled water as well.  My appetite began to fade away.

I sat and ate anyway.  After I was finished, I set my tray on the table in the slot of the cell door, which the guard had failed to use.  I returned to the bed, sitting down.  I inspected my thigh, removing the bandage.  It was completely healed, except for a faint scar, which would be gone in less than 24 hours. 

A different guard appeared at my door, taking my tray away.  Our eyes met for a moment, and he gave a chuckle.  He pranced away.  I looked down at my feet.

Several minutes later, my nurse returned.  Her hair was just like before, except there were no loose strands.  She appeared tidier than the night before.  Perhaps it was because it was early in the day.

The nurse kneeled at my feet.  I lowered my pants without her asking.  I peeled back the bandage, which I had put back on.  She gasped when she saw how much it had healed.

"How did it..." Her mouth hung open.

"It's...it's a long story," I said.  She nodded, watching me for a minute.  I could tell that she was expecting me to say more, but, when she realized I wasn't going to, she sighed and returned to her work.  "Well, I can't really do anything to it, now."

"That's okay," I said.  "I don't need anything."  She nodded again, repositioning her hat and collecting her supplies.  She began to walk away.  I put my pants back on and stood up.  Then something triggered my spider senses.

At one point, the floor was slightly uneven, creating a small bump.  The toe of the nurse's shoe hit it, and she gasped, then stumbled, falling forward.  I was there to catch her in an instant.  I stared into her green eyes, finding panic.  I also found a hint of appreaciation, which shocked me a little.  Her hat fell off, and her red hair spilled onto her shoulders.

I lifted her up, planting her back onto her feet.  I shot a web at her hat, then placed it back onto her head.  Then all of the fear in her eyes disappeared.

"Thank you," she said, her voice trembling.

"No problem," I said.  "Anytime."  She blushed, then looked down at her feet.  "What's your name?"

"Mar-Mary Jane.  Mary Jane Watson."  She pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, looking back up at me.

"I'm Peter.  Peter Parker," I said. 

"Yeah."  She nodded, pursing her lips.  "I know."  I smiled.  It was nice to finally know her name.  I was sick of just calling her "the nurse".

With that, Mary Jane left.  I, once again, returned to my awful bed.  What else could I do?  I could have worked out again, possibly.  Instead, I decided to get a little more sleep.  I laid on my bed, tossing and turning.  I could never get comfortable.  Finally, I stood up to find a better place to sleep.  I climbed the cell wall, then curled up in a corner, which was formed by the roof and two walls.  I stared down at the floor below me, which was the last thing I saw before I drifted off to sleep.