Possession < Spider-Man • Book 1 >

- 39 -

chapter thirty-nine:

After all the build up to him finally watching Jaws, Caelum thought the movies were. . . okay. The characters were silly, but the CGI was good for it's time, and the plot definitely had a few holes that could use improving. It was okay. Granted, numbers two through four didn't exactly improve on the plot much, but he had to give credit to the director with making due with what he had.

Peter loved them, and grinned at the silliness of it all all throughout the movie. Caelum could've spent the afternoon sitting there, watching him, and still be fine.  

Eventually, a nurse came to check on him, and realized that that he wasn't unconscious anymore. The nurse, Mateo, according to his name tag, frowned at Peter. “You were supposed to tell us where he woke up."

“I forgot!" Peter lied. He just didn't want their time together interrupted. Caelum smiled, and the nurse rolled his eyes, looking at Caelum.

“You lost a lot of blood coming here. Make sure you eat a lot of solids and drink orange juice. I'll call the doctor in here to check on your face, and then you should get back to resting.” He gave a clear glare at Peter, who shrugged helplessly.

"Sir, what about my eye?” He asked hesitantly.

Mateo sighed, “It would be a miracle if you regained sight in it at all. We can give you medicine to keep it from irritating, but. . . the third degree burns on your face will definitely leave scarring. There is a procedure we can take if it shows signs of infection or inflammation. We'll use skin from alternative places on your body, for example, your back, and use it there. You wouldn't even notice the scarring.”

"Like plastic surgery?" He asked and the nurse gave a half nod.

“Almost. . . I'll call the doctor in here and we can discuss it there.” Caelum nodded and the man left.

Peter turned back on the movie. Ten minutes later the doctor came in just as one of the more handsome lifeguards were getting eaten alive.

“Hello, I'm Doctor Johnson,” the man smiled. He had curly brown hair and dark eyes with bags under them and stress lines on his face. He was at least older than thirty, maybe forty. “How are you feeling?"

Caelum frowned, glancing at Peter, "My face hurts," he admitted. He didn't want to say anything because of the movie, but his head was throbbing and it hurt whenever he even twitched a muscle in his face. Despite this, whenever his skin brushed against the pillow, he couldn't feel anything.

Doctor Johnson nodded, “We can get you painkillers for now, but I'll have to take a look at your face though, and your eye. I'm sure Mateo explained that you may not gain sight in that eye again.”

Caelum nodded and the doctor came to his side. He tried not to flinch when the man’s cold, gloved hands touched him. He untied the bandages, and pulled them off his face. He hissed as they peeled, the blood making them stick to his skin.

Caelum blinked his eyes, looking around and adjusting them to the light. The doctor stared at him, shocked and confused. “What's wrong? What's going on?"

“This is. . . I've never seen anything like this. . .!”

"What is it?” Caelum demanded, confused and a bit scared. Despite the doctor's warnings, his eyesight felt fine. He tried it, winking in one eye and then the other, but there was no difference.

Finally, Peter spoke. “Your eye ― well, your eye’s iris ― it's white!”

Caelum froze, “White?” He repeated. “That doesn't make any sense."