xii. i'll be quiet now (2)

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May hums quietly as she walks inside the apartment. She closes the door behind her and locks it, being careful not to drop the takeout she was carrying. She sets it on the coffee table and looks around for Peter.

She frowns. He was always holed up in his room lately. "Peter?" She calls, knowing he won't answer. He doesn't speak much and she has no clue as to why. She had noticed it before and looked at him strangely, wondering why he wasn't the chattering little boy he used to be.

She walks up to his door and knocks softly. "Pete. You wanna come out for dinner?" She asks. He doesn't answer and she doesn't hear him move. She sighs and pushes the door open.

"Peter why have you been so quiet late-" she starts but her mouth drops open when she sees Peter laying there with a note and four empty pill bottles on the ground. "Peter!" She screams, rushing to him.

She tries to shake him awake but he stays unconscious. She feels for his heartbeat and feels it. It's sluggish but it's there. Tears are streaming down her face now.

She hefts him up, yelling at him to wake up. She brings him into the bathroom and tries to wake him up some more. A sob rips from her throat as she tries to wake her baby boy.

"Come on! Peter!" She yells. She has no idea how many pills he took and she's so so scared. She finally decides to stick her fingers down his throat he gags and she does it again, trying to make him throw them up.

She repeats the process until she's pretty sure most of the pills are gone now. Her eyes flick over the many pills in the bathtub then she shakily pulls out her phone and calls the police.

"911 what's your emergency?"

--

Tony yawns and blinks in surprise. When was the last time he'd slept? He doesn't remember so he shrugs. He suddenly hears his phone ring and looks up from his work.

What was he even working on? He shrugs and looks around for his phone. He scratches his head when he doesn't see it. "Uh Friday answer it for me." He says. "Will do, sir." She responds and he hears the tired voice of May Parker.

"Tony?" She asks. "May? Hey, what's up?" He asks. "It's, uh, Peter. Can you... can you come to the hospital?" She asks and he hears the sadness in her voice. His eyes widen and concern floods through him. "Why? What happened? Is Peter okay?" He asks, standing up.

"Ah, no. Just-just get here okay?" She asks, then hangs up. He frowns, worry evident on his face. He's in his suit and flying to the hospital in seconds. As soon as he lands down he races inside.

He completely ignores the shocked gasps and murmurs of civilians as he races to the front desk. "Peter Parker. I need to see Peter Parker." He gasps. The wide eyed nurse blinks and looks down at her computer.

"Room 210." She says. He runs down the hall and when he finds it, he yanks the door open and steps in. The sight in front of him makes his blood stop cold. Peter was laying on the hospital bed with deathly pale skin and tubes connecting him to machines.

He had an IV in his arm and he looked so small. He feels tears sting his eyes and hears May clear her throat. He sees her holding one of Peter's hands in the chair next to him.

"He, uh, he's in a coma." She mutters softly. And his heart breaks. He drops into the chair next to her. "What-what happened? Was he hurt on patrol? Why didn't Friday tell me?" He rushes out.

May shakes her head. "He took pills. A lot of pills." She whispers. His heart nearly stops. His chin trembles as he looks to his kid. Peter was so still and so silent.

His kid wasn't supposed to silent and still. He was supposed to be chattering and bouncing off the walls excitedly. He'd been so quiet lately and he had no idea why.

May sniffles and hands him something. He blinks in shock and looks down at the small crinkled paper she had placed in his lap. He opens it up and his breath hitches. Because it says something that shatters his heart and makes it fall to pieces. ~I'll be quiet now.~


--

Ned and Michelle notice that Peter doesn't come to school and shrug it off, thinking he's sick. There was something they had both noticed and pointed out to each other.

He didn't talk much anymore. And it was strange. They were used to their friend being bubbly and happy and ranting like there was no tomorrow. During the school day they notice his absence like a missing limb and both make note to text him later.

Then during the decathlon meet Michelle is interrupted by Abe gasping and pointing at the TV. They all look toward it and are shocked by the sight. Michelle turns it up immediately.

"Tony Stark was spotted at Queens Memorial Hospital last night and today with a woman we now know is May Parker. The aunt of Stark's protégée intern Peter Parker. We don't know much yet, except for the fact that Peter was rushed into the hospital unconscious and has not left yet. We're all curious and hopeful for the Parker family."

They're all horrified, even Flash. Because nobody wanted him to be hurt. "Oh my god." Ned chokes out, putting a hand over his mouth. Michelle stands up, her usual facade gone. "Let's go Ned." She says softly, and grabs his arm. The others watch in shock as the leave the building and they sit in silence.

--

Tony and May hadn't left the hospital since they'd arrived. The most they'd done was go out in the hall to get food from the vending machine and for bathroom breaks.

Tony holds Peter's hand and rests his forehead on their hands while May is taking a bathroom break. "Come on Pete. You gotta wake up for me kid. I don't like you being quiet. If you wake up for me you can speak as much as you want and I'll never complain." He says, his voice breaking.

He doesn't even lift his head when he hears the door open. He knows it's probably May. But he hear two pairs of footsteps. "Mr. Stark?" The familiar voice of Peter's friend Ned asks.

Tony sighs and looks up, turning around to see him and Peter's other friend Michelle. "Hey kids." He says softly. "What... what happened? You guys were on the news." Michelle says.

Tony shrugs. "He, uh, took a lot of sleeping pills. He might not wake up." He says with a broken voice. Ned immediately tears up and Michelle frowns sadly. The door opens again and May steps in. She spots the kids and nods to them.

She plops back in her seat and runs a hand over Peter's arm. "Oh my sweet boy." She whispers. "Why-why would he do that?" Ned asks sadly, tears trailing down his face.

"He wrote a note. He thought-thinks- he thinks that we want him to be quiet." May says. "He has been rather quiet lately. I didn't think... oh god..." Michelle whispers, running a hand over her face.

Immense guilt was flooding through all of them. What had they done? They're confused when the door opens again but they understand when they see Happy.

"I, uh, I heard." He says quietly, looking over Peter. He wishes so badly he'd listened to everyone of his rants. All of them do.

This is getting long, so I'm going to make a part 3.


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