Peter sick in Avengers tower part 3

"We've got to restrain him." Strange said as Peter's body collapsed into his arms. "If he wakes up and lashes out again, it could hurt someone else." Strange laid Peter back on the bed and stuck his hand out to pull Bruce up. "You okay?"


"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm more worried about the kid. I thought we had him calmed down, but I walked over to him and he freaked out. I was about to take his arm so I could inject the contrast material and the sedative for the CT scan."


"Needle phobia?"


"Most likely. It's the only thing that explains his sudden panic. I should of thought about that before approaching him. He was already pretty unstable." Bruce ran a hand through his hair, a worried expression on his face.


"You couldn't have known, but from the looks of it, it's a good thing I got here when I did." They both looked at the tiny kid in the bed. Who knew someone so little could be so strong?


"I'm glad you did. Let's go get that scan. The sooner we get this over with, the better for everyone." Strange rummaged in a drawer and pulled out the metal straps. Tony protested when they walked toward the bed.


"You can't strap him down, he's just a kid!" Tony moved slightly in front of Peter.


"He's a kid with super strength and an extreme needle phobia. Unless you want to get rag doll tossed into a wall again, I would suggest you let us tie him down. He needs the scan and the surgery, and I'm not sure how long the sedative will keep him asleep thanks to his powers." Strange used his no-nonsense doctor tone, and reluctantly, Tony stepped aside. He couldn't bear to see the kid tied down like an animal and strapped to machines, so he left the lab, leaving Bruce and Strange to talk about all the medical stuff.


Tony didn't get very far before Steve, Nat, and Bucky met him. "How's the kid?" Bucky asked.


"He has appendicitis. Bruce called Stephen in and they're gonna scan him and then rush him into emergency surgery." Even as he said the words, Tony felt their weight press down on him. It had snuck up on him, just how much he cared for the kid. He hated seeing the teenager, who was normally a ball of sunshine and rainbows, so scared and feeble. He couldn't bear it if anything happened to him. Peter was the best of them all.


And if anything happened to him on his watch, well, May would kill him. Tony knew he needed to call her, but he couldn't bring himself to make the call. He had no idea if she knew he was actually Spider-Man or not, so that was one thing Tony had to be grateful for, he didn't have to try explain an injury from patrol. But still, that didn't make it any easier to tell her her child was possibly dying. He took his phone out and put it back away, promising himself he would call her as soon as Peter was out of surgery. She wouldn't even be starting to worry until then, if he was lucky.


Until then, there was nothing to do but pace.


~Bruce's POV~


They got the kid through the scan successfully, confirming what he had already known. Poor Peter's appendix was inflamed badly, and it was likely a matter of minutes before it burst. With all the crazy events of the day, Bruce was shocked it hadn't already. Guess that's what happens when they have speed healing, he thought.


Immediately, the two leapt into action. They wheeled him into the operating theater and washed up quickly. They changed into fresh scrubs and pulled masks on. Bruce let Strange take lead, as he hadn't been doing too many surgeries when he practiced in Kolkata.


They worked quickly, stabilizing Peter. They started the operation, and they had just removed his appendix and were beginning to stitch him back up when they heard a moan. Bruce looked up at the kid's face, and was shocked when he saw brown eyes staring back. "Strange," Bruce whispered. "He's awake."


"Wh-what's going on?" Peter stammered. "Where am I?"


Bruce had never been more grateful that they had strapped the kid down. He looked like he was about to panic again, and for good reason. He had just woken up in the middle of his surgery. Banner quickly motioned Strange away, and Strange understood, carefully concealing the bloodied scalpel and pushing away the tray where Peter's now-removed appendix lay.


"Hey, Pete. How do you feel?" Bruce was careful to keep his tone calm and keep the kid's attention on him. Strange was quietly filling a syringe with more of the sedative, and Bruce knew they could not allow him to panic before he was injected with it.


It took a minute for Peter to be able to formulate words. "I feel weird. It feels like the bottom half of me is missing," Peter mumbled nervously. Bruce surreptitiously took off his gloves and dropped them on the floor, and then he reached to stroke Peter's head gently. This had the dual effect of calming Peter and also preventing him from seeing anything.


"It's not, I promise. You just feel weird because we had to give you some medicine, okay?"


Suddenly, Peter stiffened beneath Bruce's hand, and Bruce knew he had said something wrong. The kid was too smart, and Bruce immediately saw Peter's eyes flick around the room. His breathing became labored, and Bruce put his hands on both sides of Peter's head to prevent him from seeing anything else. "Just look at me, okay? It's almost over. You're safe." He hated lying to the kid, especially since he knew Peter didn't believe him anyway.


Peter flexed his wrists and found they couldn't move, and then he really began to panic. "Get off me! Get these things off me! I can't do this. Dr. Banner, sir, help me! Stop—"


He was abruptly cut off as Strange pushed the sedative into his upper arm. He went still, and Bruce slowly lifted his hands off Peter's face. "I hate seeing him like this, please let's hurry up."


Strange's face was tight. "I hate it too." He finished the stitches in Peter's abdomen as quickly as he could. He stretched out his hands and wove a healing spell over it, trying to prevent scarring. "He should be okay now, though. I think we should still leave him restrained for now. I'm going to put him on an IV drip, and I don't want him ripping it out as soon as he wakes up."


They moved him back to his bed in the medbay and Strange inserted the IV. They then washed their hands and Bruce went out to find Tony. They didn't have to go far. He was standing right outside the medbay, wringing his hands. Steve, Bucky, and Nat stood with him. As soon as the door opened, Tony was inside. He sat down on the chair and took Peter's small, limp hands in his own strong ones, after giving Bruce a look that said "remove these restraints right now or I will kill you." Bruce removed the restraints so Tony could hold his hand.


A few minutes later, May walked in. She pushed Steve and Nat out of the doorframe and strode directly to Peter's bed, high heels clicking. It didn't take a genius to tell she was angry, and for good reason. She pulled Tony Stark right out of his chair and cussed him out in a loud whisper. "What the hell happened to my baby? I get a call from Happy telling me Peter is in surgery, and I fu***** freaked. Why didn't I fu***** know earlier?!"


"May, I'm sorry, it was so sudden, and—"


"Don't you 'May' me! He's my child, I would advise you not to forget that, Mr. Stark. Now out!" She pointed harshly, and Tony wisely left. The other avengers all filtered out too, expect for Strange, who had dealt with plenty of overprotective parents in his time as a surgeon.


"Oh, Petey, I'm so sorry. Please feel better." She dropped into the chair Tony had vacated and gently took Peter's hands in hers. She sat like that for several minutes, gently talking to him and running gentle hands through his curls. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she held his hand tighter, bending down and putting her head on his chest.


"May...?" A soft voice inquired. Instantly, May's arms were around him, hugging tight.


"Oh, Peter, you're awake. Oh, thank God. I was so worried about you. When I got the call from Happy, all I could think about was you dying and me not being there for you. What happened exactly?"


"I don't know. It's all kind of blurry. I think they said I had appendicitis. May, I was so scared." His voice broke.


"Oh Petey, you poor kid. It's okay now, I'm here." She continued stroking his hands and his head, trying to reassure him as tears slipped down his face. Suddenly, he stiffened. "What's wrong, sweetie?"


"Ne...needle." He choked out, looking at the IV drip in his arm. He pulled his hands out of May's grasp, but Strange was there before he could rip it out.


"Peter, don't. It's necessary, okay?" He pushed Peter's hands back down to the bed, holding them there until the boy stopped shaking. "That's it, it's alright. I'll take it out tomorrow, I promise. You just need to stay here for one night so I can observe you and make sure there are no problems after the surgery. After that, you'll just have to take it easy for a while, no Spider-Manning for you. I'll take the stitches out in a few days, and if you're careful, you'll be good in no time."


"I can't do anything?" Peter whined.


Strange laughed. "Just for a couple weeks." He settled Peter's hands down completely, and stood up to see May glaring at him.


"What did you say about him being Spider-Man?!"


"Nothing, ma'am, nothing at all."

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