I rushed through the hospital, panting frantically as I put out a few small fires with my webs.

“Hello?! Is anyone there?!” I shouted. Nothing. I carried on rushing around, calling out. Dammit, why’d I tell the firemen I could deal with the higher floors. This place was too damn big for me to cover by myself. I barged through another door and called out again.

“Hello?! Anyone?!” I shouted. Silence. I looked around and paused. There was more smoke down the hall to my left. I ran then pulled myself down the hall with a web. Smoke pooled out from underneath a door. I ripped the door off its hinges and felt heat wash over me. It was a small room, with a small fire burning away at the curtains by the window. A child lay on the floor wheezing, as smoke swirled around them. I grabbed the kid pulling them out the room before quickly webbing at the curtains to get rid of the fire.

I looked down at the child, the heavy waft of smoke pouring off them as they wheezed. I needed to get them to safety.

“It’s gonna be ok” I said clutching them to my chest. I rushed to the next room over and leapt out the window, holding the kid tightly as I fired a web and swung down to the street. I landed and rushed over to an ambulance, handing the kid off. They clutched me tightly, reaching out to me as I pulled away.

“You’re gonna be ok. Everything’s going to be okay” I said to them, before turning and leaping back into the hospital. I landed in one of the windows and began searching about frantically as I called out people. Whatever Max had done had caused electrical fires to start all over the hospital. The fire had spread, and I hadn’t been able to stop it.

I’d done my best to stop the small ones and get people to safety, but it hadn’t been enough. Thankfully the firemen had arrived quickly. They’d probably dealt with the larger fires and stopped this from turning into a massive catastrophe. Considering the faint wisps of smoke that had reached this level were starting to clear out now they’d probably dealt with all of them. I paused, listening closely as I looked around. I’d checked through here already. It was empty. I made my way to the closest window and crawled onto the wall, then up to the roof.

It rained heavily as the low but keen rumbling of thunder echoed high in the clouds. I watched the arcs of lightning, barely visible flashes of light now, as they gradually travelled further away. I looked down out onto the street, scanning as I watched police cars and MDA vans cordon off the road. Tents lined the streets near the hospital housing patients, but still too many people milled about, unshielded from the elements. I swung down back down, and fired webs, creating covers above people’s heads to shield them from the rain. People cheered and applauded calling out to me, but I could only muster a half-hearted wave back. I swung back, landing on the roof of the hospital. I glanced back at the hole in the roof and sighed. I’d managed to get as many people out of the hospital as I could, but the lightning strike had killed people. A few people had probably died in the fires too. I hung my head and slumped to the floor.

I pulled out my phone, cupping my hand to shield it from the rain as I switched it on. I had tonnes of missed calls, from the gang, and a few from Liz. I could call them back. I speed dialled Aunt May and brought the phone to my ear silently praying everything was ok. I hadn’t seen them, but they would’ve been part of the massive crowd. I could easily have missed them. I clenched my fist tightly as the phone continued to ring. Nothing bad had happened.

The call picked up, the sound of sirens and chatter echoed barely audible over the phone.

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“Hello?! Aunt May?” I said.

“We’re alright Peter, we’re alright” Aunt May replied softly.

“Thank God” I responded, my voice cracking with emotion, as relief flooded through me.

“I didn’t- I didn’t know if you got out safe” I said, tears streaming down my face. “I couldn’t- I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”

“Don’t cry Peter, this isn’t your fault”

“I- ok…” I sniffled. I let out a breath.

“The doctors and nurses were great. They your grandpa out quickly and Spider-Man showed up to help people. Now the firemen are putting out the fires”

“That’s good” I said, grinning as I wiped at my eyes.

“Oh- your grandpa wants to speak to you. I’ll give him the phone now” May said. The sound of air shifting filled my ears before a voice came on the line.

“You really think a little fire could kill me?” Grandpa Will joked.

I let out a strained laugh as I lay back, the tension in my shoulders dissipating.

“It’s good to hear your voice” I said.

“It’s good to hear yours too son”

“I- you have no idea how glad I am to here you’re ok”

“Well, it’s a little cold, but I’ll manage. I-“ he broke out into a fit of coughs.

“Grandpa?!”

“I’m fine” he wheezed. “Just a bit cold”

“You sure?”

“Leave it son. I’m fine”

“Ok…”

“So, you taking care of yourself Peter?” he said cheerily.

“Yeah, but G-“

“How’s that girlfriend of yours?”

“Things with Liz are good. Great even” I said. “Look gramps are y-”

“Don’t worry about me Peter, I’m fine. Well as fine as I can be” he said, chuckling. I sniffed and nodded.

“Ok” I said. There were a few moments of silence and I gazed out over the street at all the tents and commotion. “Where are you?”

“Oh son, you don’t have to come see us I-“

“I’m coming” I said firmly.

“Alright. We’re in one of the tents nearby. Ours is the one closest the hospital entrance. They’re probably going to move me to a different hospital soon, but I’ll call you if they do before you get here”

“Great”

“Well it was nice talking to you Peter, but some nurses are bringing some equipment over to me so I’ll probably have to let you go now”

“See you soon grandpa ”

“See you soon son. Oh, and bring Liz with you if she can come. Haven’t seen her in a while”

“I will” I said. There was another rush of wind and then May’s voice came over the line.

“I can assume you’re coming then ”

“Yeah. Grandpa’s doing his usual ‘I’m fine’ spiel and I just wanted to see if he was actually ok”

“Well, he’s doing better than he was a few weeks ago, and I don’t think he was concerned at all when the explosion happened. That’s Grandpa Will for you. Tough as nails. Your like mum was like that too. I guess you get it from them” Aunt May said warmly.

“I wish” I responded chuckling. “Well, I’ll be there soon. Bye May”

“See you soon Peter” she responded. I hung up and let the phone fall to my side.

I pulled off my mask, wincing before the iciness of the rain soothed my skin. I raised my face, closing my eyes as the water washed over me. It was refreshing but still only a temporary reprieve from the disappointment. I let my head hang again. A bunch of thoughts rattling through my mind. Today had been bad. I’d made a ton of mistakes, but one thing stood out to me as glaringly obvious; I would’ve gotten here faster if I’d been patrolling like usual.

I knew it was bad to think like that, to beat myself up over what could’ve been, but it was the true. I’d been so happy hanging out with the others but today was a grim reminder of what was at stake. It made me reconsider everything. My dedication to this, whether I was actually making a difference, and most of all my relationship with Liz. I really didn’t want to end my relationship with Liz. I saw my friends at work, so even if I didn’t hang out with them it’d ok. But Liz? If I did end things what else would I have to look forward to? Dammit I was getting all mopey again.

I leant backwards. I felt at my face. I healed faster and didn’t really scar, but the burns wouldn’t fade for a few days. Annoying. How was I going to explain this one off to Liz? I lifted up my phone and called her. She picked up almost immediately.

“Pete? I- I don’t know if you saw the news but… something happened“ she said, her voice filled with worry.

“Yeah, I saw. I called and everyone’s ok”

“I was worried. You weren’t picking up my calls and I thought you might’ve been visiting and something happened to you and-”

“I’m fine. I was out with the gang when I saw it on the news. I’m on my way now. I can come pick you up, Grandpa and Aunt May want to see you again”

“No, no, no. I’ll meet you there”

“Alright” I said, smiling. “Sorry to make you worry”

“It’s fine. See you in a bit Petey. Love you”

“Love you too Liz”