The night was cold and unwelcoming. The harsh wind roughly stroked his exposed face making it feel like uncountable pointed needles jabbing his skin at once. The pale moonlight struggled to pierce the thick layer of clouds that night. His legs which aced for the touch of the floor felt numb under the leather boots he hadn't taken off in what felt like a week or maybe more who knows. Life for him was like that of the barbarian, there was no time in his life for sleep or having a proper meal, all he had been doing was to work on his fusion reactor and save his life when that flying monk that chased him through the streets of New York. Sometimes he felt like giving it all up, sometimes he missed his Rosie- her slender, soft and warm fingers intertwined into his own cold ones, her comforting embrace under the spell of which even the worst day felt like a fairy tale's ending. He missed those evening teas, her soft chuckle on his boring jokes and the normal life he had 10 years ago. Those days felt long gone when he had walked upon the street and no one cared to look upon the scientist but now the hint of his mere name infused fear in their heart. His mind relished the fear, but it all felt wrong to his heart. But these thoughts were useless to him now, nothing could be done now that the damage has been done, these appendages were infused into his spinal cord and removing them meant making both of them lifeless and his Rosie was gone to a place beyond the reach of science.
The thoughts blurred in his mind as he pressed the bullet wound, blood rushing from between his fingers down the fabric of his pants. The metal arms punched holes on the wall of the grey building as they ascended his limp form on the structure. He cursed under his breath as the pain increased in the left side of his abdomen, the rapid and vigorous movement of the arms helped a little in his condition. The bullet wound was a little gift from the NYPD when they open fire on him earlier that day near the grocery store. The owner of the store managed to recognize him despite the disguise he had put on. The black-rimmed glasses didn't keep his identity hidden as proficiently as movies had shown them to be. The police officers had him cornered against the wall when his 'tentacles' decided to take control of the situation as they ripped the back of his trench coat and revealed themselves in a rather very threatening fashion. Without a second thought, bullets were raining on him but here too the arms came to rescue him as a motherly instinct, shielding him from the open fire, yet a bullet manage to pierce through the appendages and perforated the left side of his abdomen, inches above his harness. The coldness of the night wasn't being kind to him on this dreadful day. His tentacles were taking him to a hospital despite knowing his reputation as the fearful supervillain would only invite hostility and he feared they might even refuse to treat him but he was also aware of the fact that nothing and no one else can help him other than a doctor.
The dizziness grew strong as he struggled to keep himself awake, the loss of blood had drained the last bit of fight left in him. He decided to submit to the inevitable, there was nothing left for him in this world anyway. No one in this world wanted to do anything with him and this world doesn't need the brilliant yet corrupted Otto Octavius. In the moment of defeat, a light pierced his eyes, sending a stinging pain in his head, at that moment it felt as if his skull would explode. His dizzy mind comprehended an image of a blurred window. Instinctively, the tentacles lunged towards the window in hope of finding something to heal his wound.
*
The sent of antiseptics, disinfectants and medicine tickled her nose. The freshly wiped tiled floor shone brightly as it reflected the light of the fluorescents on the roof of the hallway. The sound of friendly chatting, discussions and emotional breakdowns fell into her ears as she walked down the hallway towards her cabin, the report file of Kylie Moore pressed against her chest as her eyes scanned her playlist for the perfect song to listen to while on her way. Despite the constant sounds that filled the hallway she could hear the whispers of prayer made for the wellbeing of someone close to the heart. Those prayers reminded her of her time in this hospital and to this very day, she despises remembering those days.
While her mind was lost in the thoughts of the days long gone a name echoed in her ears, a name known to her and to which she was very familiar with her. It was her name someone was hollering from behind.
"Sam!" The pitchy voice repeated itself. Turning to face the possessor of the voice, Samantha passed the person calling for, who was sprinting towards her with a solemn look.
"It's a request to you to please maintain the decorum of the hospital, Kyle. If not for me so please do it for the patients." Warned the woman as she halted on her path to turn towards the enthusiastic colleague.
"Apologies, Dr Samantha Wright." Teased the younger man in a mirthful tone, a mischievous smile playing on his thin lips. "Anyway, why haven't you gone home yet, Dalton called for you." He continued ignoring the death stare his fellow had passed him for imitating her.
"Don't tell me I forgot to call dad." Said the doctor in a regretful tone as her shoulder which was upright with pride shrugged with guilt. Regret dripped from her refined voice as the image of the faces of her worried parents came in front of her eyes.
"Relax Sam, I told them you were called for surgery." Reassured Kyle as she placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her worrying form.
"I...I should probably call them. They must be worried, I shouldn't have been this careless." Whispered Samantha as she looked up into the eyes of Kyle, who looked down at her with sympathy in his eyes. The man had witnessed her career from the time they were in college, he was a year junior to her. He had seen her spend countless hours in the operation theatre, operating on people with decisiveness to cure everyone. She had devoted her whole career to this hospital- to her patients, never letting anyone of them down. Kyle was the close observer of Dr Wright's life and he knew how outside the four walls of the hospital and her house she has no life. He knew about the childhood that was snatched from her and the adulthood she didn't want to appreciate.
"You don't need to worry Samantha, Dalton knows you are a surgeon and especially one who is needed when we have people like Doctor Octopus crawling on the walls of the city." Told the handsome man, his voice was low with disdain. Dr Kyle Monroe was never a patron of the city's very own Supervillain.
"For once can you talk without bringing that mad Doctor into the conversation." Rebuked the woman, her tone indicated the hint of irritation in it. One could find Dr Kyle always ready to discuss the reign of terror of the mad scientist who went rouge ten years ago after his government-funded experiment on fusion failed.
"Fine." The handsome man submitted to the wishes of the woman standing in front of him as she tugged her away with him towards the end of the hall.
"I won't tell you how much of a menace Doctor Octopus is but you better collect your stuff and leave for home now, it's already quartered past eleven, or else Dalton's heart would burst out of his chest." Expressed Kyle in a serious tone. Samantha silently complied with his suggestion as she walked wordlessly beside him. Her cabin was not far away from where they had been conversing and in no time they were in front of Dr Wright's cabin. The walls of the moderately sized cabins were decorated with her degrees and photos of her and an old couple framed with wooden frames.
"Please let me check on Kylie one last time." The sudden outburst of words startled the young doctor as he passed his colleague a tedious look.
"The surgery was successful, Sam. She is all right." Reassured Kyle but like many other of his reassurances, it was futile.
"I'll also call dad on the way and tell him I'll be home in about half an hour." She said hurriedly as she walked past the younger fellow, passing him an apologetic smile.
"Ya, you can surely reach home if you will be ready to leave first." Mocked Kyle as he saw her form disappear right the corner.
The sound of her footsteps hitting the tiled floor filled her heart with a funny feeling, she wasn't able to comprehend why she felt that way, ignoring the inscrutable feeling Samantha silently stepped inside the room to find the young girl sleeping tranquilly under the effect of the heavy sedation she was given during the surgery a few hours ago. Her innocent face appeared at peace which felt warm to Sam like a ray of hope. The child had been admitted earlier that evening when she fell unconscious due to sharp pain in her chest. The doctors struggled with operating the blocked artery and had called for her at the moment she was about to call it day. Dr Wright spent five hours operating on the little girl but to her satisfaction, the operation was a success.
Scrutinizing the monitors for a steady heartbeat she made sure her condition was stable when she decided to take her leave. Pulling out the phone from her coat's pocket she decided to do what should have been done a long time ago- call her parents. Even luck seems to be upset from her as she looked down at her screen to find no network on her phone. Every bit of her personal life was shattering into pieces in front of her life and she didn't know what she should be doing about it. Her life hadn't been like a fairytale but that was not the reason for her grief because she was aware of the fact that no one's life is happily ever after. But she still had reasons to be happy- her parents, witnessing them joyful and proud of her gave her the consoling realization that she might be able to repay the debt they had burdened her with. But life wasn't even sparing them, with the years that had passed they had grown farther and farther from each other. The once happily married couple was now two people suffering each other's existence. With a heavy sigh, Dr Samantha walked towards the only corner of the third floor where a signal was available- the stock room of that room, where all the medical supplies were available.
Absentmindedly, Sam entered the stock room with the hope of finding a network signal in that room. To her relief, her phone did catch the network signal and the device started ringing. The word 'Dad' flashed on the screen as her heart rate increased with every rhythmic sound the phone made.
"Hello, Sam?" A deep voice came from the other end of the phone, a voice which had deepened due to years of chain-smoking but it had been twenty-five years since those lips have had the taste of cigarette or those lungs felt what smoke burning them felt like. All for of her. Many times she felt apologetic for her parents for they had sacrificed a lot all.
"Hello, Dad. Sorry couldn't call you earlier, they called for emergency surgery." She tried to explain herself as the regretful tone returned to her voice.
"It's fine dear. Kyle told me about it. How's the girl now?" A sweet reply came from the other side.
"She is fine now. I'm happy they called for me before it was too late." Dr Wright answered in a soft tone, feeling the relief infuse in her heart as if a large burden was lifted off it.
"So, do you want me to come and pick you up?" The question was accompanied with a concerned tone.
"No, it's fine. I'll take a taxi home." Answered Sam, not wanting to worry her father any more than he already was.
"You sure honey." Came one last question from the other side. The voice felt as if it was suppressing the emotional turmoil the man was entangled in at that moment.
"Dad, we can talk when I come home..." A whisper left the doctor's lips as she tried abysmally to reassure the man who had brought her up as a daughter. All she got in reply was silence- eerie and unhinged silence that stabbed her heart with every passing minute.
"I'll be home soon." Uttered Samantha breaking the arduous wall of silence with her words. The words managed to end the call but not the pain that was residing in her heart, giving her a sense of physical pain.
The coldness of the knob sent chills down her spine as she turned it to open the door when the sound of metal clanking against the tiled floor fell into her ears, infusing a dreadful feeling in her heart. She didn't want to look for the reason for the sound yet she had to because running away from problems was not the solution life had taught her, so with a heavy sigh, she turned towards the direction from which came the sound, her mind hoping it to be nothing. Slowly taking a step towards the metal racks peeping through the shelves. Analyzing that the dull room had nothing to offer her, Dr Wright turned to leave the room when a painful groan echoed through the hollowness of the stock room. The groan was enough to confirm the presence of someone else- someone in pain and who needed her.
"If you are hurt then this isn't the place for you dear. You need to go to the emergency ward. I can take you there if you want." She announced, acknowledging and addressing the intruder as she took a step behind the tall rack, with an anticipation to be greeted with the sight of a homeless man or maybe a teenager. But the sight that greeted her left her bewildered and speechless. Sam's voice struggled to leave her larynx. There stood a man rather tall, his naturally pale skin was drained of blood and it appeared white as chalk. The face appeared familiar to her as if she knew who he was, yet he was unknown to her. His body was struggling to keep itself upright, it was the long metal appendages that were assisting him in that burdensome task. Those tentacles which guarded him protectively caused a small gasp to leave her lips. At that moment all she wanted was to run- run far away from the hospital and go straight to her father and melt into his arms and cry away from the pain.
"Don't shout, please. I can't..." His distinguishable voice made itself heard for the first time. Words rushed out of his lips in a defeated way. With his last words as his tentacles failed to keep his body standing anymore. Landing on his keens, his upper body would have met the same fate if it wasn't for the doctor present in his proximity who caught his falling torse.
"What happened?" The words left Samantha's lips unknowingly as she helped him sit by the wall. Her experienced hand automatically started searching for the wound. The search was cut short as her thin fingers found the bloodied flesh that had accumulated around the small yet deadly hole the bullet had created. Scanning the damage in the dim light of the stock room she spoke unknowingly-
"If the bullet is not taken out it will start poisoning." The words came out of the doctor's mouth in a professional tone. The fear that had augmented in her heart faded into oblivion at the sight of her duty. It didn't matter to her who he was or what he did- all he was to her was a patient in a very urgent need of her assistance. " Either I can treat you here or down in the operation theatre and I think I know you do not have any desire to go down there." She continued, comprehending the whole situation in a matter of seconds as she stood up only to find a hand around her wrist holding her back.
"Where... are you... going?" Groaned the infamous scientist.
"I need to get that bullet out of you if you want to live and from what I can analyze you do desire to live." Came the simple yet stern reply from the woman as she sprinted towards the metal racks scanning for the supplies to operate upon the wounded man. Her skilled hand grasped the medical equipment in a hassle but surprisingly not even a single thing dropped from her hand. It appeared as if she knew what she was doing despite the fact that she surely was scared of the person upon whom she was doing so.
In no time Dr Wright was back on her spot near the Supervillain, pushing away the heavy trench coat she used the scissors in her hand tearing the cloth of his undershirt.
Dr Octavius was left startled by the sight of the woman in front of him who was thunderstruck a few seconds ago but now was curing his wounds, her hand moved like that of a machine with precision and perfection.
"This might hurt a little Dr Octavius." The words came from the woman, breaking the thin wall of silence between them as she rolled up the long sleeve of his trench coat. Running her thin fingers down his cold arm she found the vein she was looking for. Inclining the needle at the right angle she injected a liquid into his body. Once the pain settled in in arm the realization struck him that she had called him a name which was long forgotten- a name no one had called him in the past ten years that had passed.
Wiping the blood of the bullet wound she halted for a mere second to analyze the damage.
"You are lucky Doctor the damage is little, the bullet missed any of your vital organs," Sam spoke in the same professional tone, her eyes still fixed upon the wound. Without wasting another second she took the forceps in her hand and pointed it towards the bloodied flesh.
A stinging pain infused in Otto's left side of the abdomen as the forceps made their way inside his flesh, in search of the bullet. He suppressed the scream that ached to leave his lungs but still a small grunt escaped his lips. The grunt of pain wasn't left unheard by the doctor healing him. She had treated uncountable bullet wounds in her life- most of them were of police officers who endangered their life on duty and some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Don't suppress it. Just be careful not to be too loud, Doctor." Otto heard the refined voice of the woman yet again, her voice was devoid of any emotion until this very statement left her lips. It gave him a feeling that she felt sympathetic towards him. No one had felt that way for him in a long time and now it felt funny to him.
Dr Wright pulled out the piece of metal that had caused so much pain and damage, she tried to cause as little movement as she could to inflict less pain. The sudden act inflicted a throbbing pain in the scientist's abdomen causing another groan to escape his lips. Samantha kept her silence as she stitched and dressed his wound, she always preferred to work in silence as it helped her give the patient her undivided attention.
Once the bullet wound was satisfactorily operated upon, Sam pulled out the chocolate from her pocket which she had bought for Kylie but forgot to give her earlier and handed it to the Supervillain. The bizarre act forced Otto to fix the woman with a surprised look. Sensing his uncertainty the surgeon spoke-
"You must be feeling a little dizzy from the blood loss, eat this. It will help."
Yet again a funny feeling filled both of their hearts, Samantha had just offered chocolate to a mad scientist whose metal tentacles can kill her at any moment and Otto was treated like a normal person for the first time since that dreadful accident. Complying with her suggestion Otto eat the chocolate in silence, his eyes still fixed upon the crazy woman who instead of reporting about him to the police had treated his injuries like he was a normal person. Dr Wright, on the other hand, had just called for her father, she need to inform him that it would be impossible for her to return home that night.
The mad scientist saw her struggling with words as she talked to her father. After she had ended the call he dared to ask her the question which bugged him.
"Why aren't you going back home?" Asked Otto, his voice dipped in uncertainty.
"I can't leave you like this. You are not in a critical condition but surely I need to keep you under observation till morning." Came a simple reply from the woman who turned to face him.
"I- I can't stay here..." Doctor Octopus managed to protest before the surgeon stepped towards him kneeling on the floor in front of him.
"You let these arms of your move you in that frantic manner of yours, the stitches will surely pull apart and you will die from the rapid flow of blood. Just stay here this night, let your body rest and then you can go in the morning. I will not refrain you from going but you leave now and I can not promise you your life." Spoke Dr Wright, her tone serious as a stern look came over her face. She had managed to save every one whom she had operated upon and she will not let this mad scientist risk his own life. Her words fell into the scientist's ears and he could feel the intensity of them, she knew what she was talking about and even though a few hours ago this life felt worthless to him, losing it in such a pity way felt morally wrong.
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