Take Care of My Heart

Chapter 6 - Am I Dreaming?

There was strange air about this place.

When Miles opened his eyes, he found himself face-up to a ceiling, but not of any hospital room, but a familiar apartment. He sat up on a couch to find that he was back in Uncle Aaron's apartment, just as he had left it.

How did he get here?

Am I dreaming?

Looking around to find all his things but no sign of the man himself, he quickly noticed something red, round, yet wrinkled, floating right next to him on a string, and he was somehow holding it... it was a balloon, a small one near the end of its life.

"Hello?" he spoke, his voice sounding normal instead of labored.

He panned around the room. There was his boxing bag, his plasma screen, his giant speakers... everything was still here, still intact.

"Uncle Aaron?" he called out again, but there was still silence.

He had forgotten how cozy it was here. There was a time when he could always hang here anytime he wanted, but those days were long gone now.

Miles turned his attention back to the balloon... his balloon... there was something about it.

"Shouldn't lose that." A grown man's voice suddenly spoke next to the teen boy, and he whipped his head to see his uncle sitting right next to him on the sofa, grinning broadly. "At least not until you get a better one."

"Uncle Aaron!" Miles dove to hug him, then pulled back, stunned. "How...?"

Uncle Aaron reached over to take his nephew's balloon, untied its know and then blew into the rubber until it was inflated back to full size. Retying it, he handed it back with a wink; his breath shouldn't have helium, yet it was somehow floating anyway.

"Am I really dreaming this," asked Miles, "or am I in... some other place?"

The bald bearded man could only shrug. "Does it matter?"

The teen looked sideways, then nodded. "Yeah... actually, it does."

He couldn't remember how he ended up in this place... the last thing he remembered was... going to sleep... being wheeled away.

"Don't worry kid," said Uncle Aaron, patting his shoulder, "this won't really matter anyway."

Miles turned back to his uncle, sad with nostalgia. "I really missed you."

"I miss you too." Patting him again, he got up from his seat. "You better get going soon."

"What?" Miles was confused. "Why?"

"Don't worry." The man paused, then turned back to him with an equally sad smirk. "We can catch up again some other time. If you do remember this, tell your Pa I said hi."

And with that, the scenery blurred in a chromatic aberration. Miles felt himself being pulled away, along with his strange balloon. He flailed his hands, trying to grab onto something, maybe a thread... he didn't want to leave.

*****

Gwen didn't keep track of many hours had passed since her best friend went in for surgery. It was too much for her to stay inside the building any longer, so went outside to loiter by the entrance.

The sky was turning dark, the orange glow fading behind the numerous skyscrapers and floating cars; it looked a scene out of Star Wars. This futuristic city was truly a sight to marvel at, but for her, it was now a stain in her memory.

There were far too many bad memories that took place here... the lying... the manipulation... the betrayal. This world was once a source of comfort after she fled from her own dimension. She had met other people like herself, she had found camaraderie... and all she wanted now was to be rid of this place. All this glamour, like the Spider-Society, was all just a show... a menagerie of smoking mirrors that hid its true ugliness.