Pulmonary Problems and Pressing Phobias

<Guys I think this is one of my personal favorites that I've written so far, it's in a bit of a different style, but I hope you like it! Thanks so much to @fandomxlol for the ask! Also, I know there's a lot of Pepper and Peter interactions, but I feel like that's not represented enough. I do love me some Irondad though, so I'll try to work that in more into the next one. Enjoy! 😘>

Peter did a backflip off the building as his Spidersenses went haywire. He landed gracefully and immediately shot two webs in opposite directions, catching the two muggers by surprise! "Suck on that, losers!" He yelled.


The one mugger just smirked. "You think you're so cool, Spider-Man, with your fancy Stark gizmos and your stupid spandex suit. But you're no match for any kind of real villain."


"That's what you thi—" suddenly his sense went off again. He spun rapidly, and then he felt something sticky oozing out of his chest. In shock, he looked down. A knife handle was sticking out of his chest. There was no one holding it, and when he turned around, the two muggers had disappeared too. What the hell?" He thought. But his mind was so foggy and he felt so tired. He made it to the front step of Avengers tower before darkness overtook him.


He woke up in his comfy bed in the tower. Groggily, he opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Shit, that hurt! Why did it hurt so much? He opened his eyes all the way. Oh. That was why. He looked down at the gauze covering a large patch of his bare chest. He racked his brain. What had happened? Then he remembered. He fumbled for his phone, then did a double take. It was Saturday, September 28. He wasn't sure in his still disoriented state, but he was pretty sure it had been Wednesday when he had passed out. Had he really been out for four days? He needed some answers. He started to pick up his phone and text Mr. Stark to tell him what in the everloving heck was going on, but right at that moment Pepper waltzed into his room with her calming parental presence, with Bruce right on her heels.


"Hey, Pete. How are you feeling now?" She asked him, sitting beside him on the bed and stroking her fingers through her hair in a way that he couldn't help but relax.


"Okay..."


"You got stabbed. You passed out as soon as you got here and you were rushed into emergency surgery and you've been recovering for the past few days. You should be out of danger now though, Bruce has been keeping an eye on you and he says that everything's looking a lot better. He wanted to keep you in medical one more day, but I told him we should move you back here. I may not know anything medical, but I know what helps people feel better, and being in a room you're comfortable with is a huge part of that. And see, I was right!" She explained everything in her matter of fact, but cheerful way that she did everything. She ruffled his hair fondly.


Bruce stepped up beside him. "I just wanted to check on you one more time, I have to leave for my business trip, but I've assigned the best Shield doctor to make sure there are no later complications. This is Dr. Haven."


In response, a young medic with curly blond hair poked his head into Peter's room. "Hi, Pete, I'll be checking on you later. I just wanted to introduce myself." Peter managed a small half smile. He hated all doctors except Bruce and Dr. Strange, but this guy seemed nice, and he seemed like he knew what he was doing. Hopefully he actually did.


"Aw, shit, I've got to catch my flight." Bruce stood up and practically ran out of the room, yelling a "feel better, Pete" over his shoulder. The other medic started to leave too, but then suddenly a massive cough overtook Peter. His lungs were burning with every breath, and his whole body shook with the effort it took to pull in air. The medic ran back to Peter's side and put his hand on Peter's back.


"Hey, get control, it's okay." Pepper was on his other side, gently stroking between his shoulders until he stopped coughing.


The medic looked at him with concern. "That looked like it hurt."


Peter's grimace was enough to tell him that that was obviously true. "Okay, I think we need to take you back to medical and take a scan, just to make sure there are no further complications," he said gently, adding the last part hastily when Peter looked up with a panicked look.


Peter looked at Pepper. "Do I have to?"


"It's probably for the best," she said gently. "I'll get Tony and we'll stay with you the entire time, I promise."


"Okay," Peter said in a small voice. He hated medical, and Bruce wasn't there to stop them from sticking him with needles. He really hoped the scan would turn up nothing, because he couldn't deal with anything more right now. He felt like his brain was about to explode from everything that had happened to him recently. A small voice told him that he needed to take better care of himself, so he would have been alert enough to stop the mugger and so he could keep himself out of the medbay.


Tony entered the room and patted his leg. "Geez, kid, you need to stop doing this to my old heart." Peter managed a halfhearted grin as Tony helped him stand up. He looped his arm around Peter's shoulder as they walked, supporting the kid despite his weak protests that he could walk on his own. "Nope," Tony responded firmly to each one. "I am not having my favorite child avenger passing out on me again."


Peter rolled his eyes at his overprotective father figure. Tony really was becoming his dad.


When they got to the medbay, Dr. Haven was already waiting for them, along with a scary looking machine standing beside a bed.


"Alright, Peter, I need you to lie on the bed with your shirt off, okay?"


Peter did as he was told, but he was shrinking into himself. Pepper and Tony sat beside him as Dr. Haven examined him. "Deep breath." Peter inhaled, but then gasped as the pain shot through him again. Dr. Haven noted this on a chart before moving the stethoscope to another part of his chest. "Just try and breathe normally so it doesn't hurt as much, alright? I'm almost done, and then I'll take the x-rays."


Too soon, the Doctor was positioning the machine over him, and worst of all, Tony and Pepper had to step out of the room for this part. Peter didn't know when he had become so clingy, but some combination of stress and overworking himself had made him very dependent on his guardians.


He squeezed his eyes shut tight while the machine whirred above him, just wanting it to be over already.


"Peter, you can open your eyes. I'm done. I'm going to run these through Friday and I'll let you know what I find." That last part was addressed to Tony and Pepper, who had of course reentered the room the second it was safe to do so.
——————————————————————
Nononono! Shut up, shut up! Peter tried to block out the awful medical jargon above him. He knew he was panicking, but he couldn't help it. He heard words like "pneumothorax" and "collapsed lung"— and then he heard the word needle! Without even thinking, Peter jumped up from the bed and sprinted out of the medbay. He heard shouting behind him, but he didn't turn back, he didn't care! He was not dealing with needles, not right now, not today. He called his suit to him and rushed out the tower doors. He ran into New York, the buildings and streets blurring together through tears. He only stopped because his entire chest was burning , and his head was spinning horribly. He managed to pull himself onto a corner store roof and sat there, hugging his knees to his chest, trying to force his stupid body to just breathe! Just pull the fucking air in so he wasn't helpless and stupid—why wasn't his body working—why was everything happening to him—why couldn't he just die already! He didn't even know how long he sat there, but it was long enough that the tears had turned to panic and back to tears, and now he was just numb. He just sat there on that roof, rocking back and forth with his head on his legs. He didn't even register the gentle touch on his shoulder for several seconds.


Finally, he raised his head. Pepper and Tony were both in their suits, as if he was a threat! Oh god, had he hurt someone? What if he had hurt someone and he couldn't remember it, and—


"Pete? Pete?" Wait, that didn't sound like someone angry at him, that didn't sound like the executioner. It was Pepper, with her usual gentle motherly tone. "Are you okay?"


Peter glanced at her, not responding to the obviously rhetorical question. But Pepper didn't move, and Peter realized she actually wanted an answer. "No..." he whispered.


"I know that, baby, but it's going to be okay. Will you let us help you?" She wrapped him in a gentle hug, and Peter was embarrassed how fast he leaned into it and just sat there letting her hold him. He had been trying to hold on to everything himself for too long, he had forgotten that he had an entire family that loved him more than words could say. Another gentle hand curled over his own, and Peter felt Wanda's push on his mind. She looked at him with concern.


"Peter, why didn't you tell us you we're going through so much? We're here for you." At this, Peter started crying again. It was all too much. He dimly felt himself being lifted by the Iron Man suit, but he didn't remember anything else. He had fallen asleep, really truly fallen asleep and not passed out, finally lulled to sleep with the promise that he was safe.

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