Amazing Spider-Man #543
An Incident on the Fourth Floor
As Mary Jane sleeps in a chair, Peter tries to have a conversation on Aunt May who is still on life support. He hopes that the blood transfusion that she gave her will help her survive the gunshot she has suffered. He then sits by her bed waiting for her to stop talking, but she does not. The next morning, when the nurses come to check May’s blood, Petker swipes the test results and is upset when they show no change in May’s condition. He goes back to May’s room to tell Mary Jane that the results show that May has developed an immunity to his blood the last time he gave her a transfusion.[2]
That’s when the hospital’s Chaplin, Reverend Bill Whitcomb, comes into the room. As Peter hides from sight, the reverend tells Mary Jane that he was informed by the nursing staff that May may not have much time left and asks if Mary Jane has arranged for her “aunt’s” last rites. At that same moment, Detective Robert Delint is given the file on Aunt May’s shooting, which has been deemed suspicious.
Back at the hospital, the Chaplin has left and Peter is furious that he’d come around asking about May’s funeral arrangements. Mary Jane tries to convince Peter that this is necessary and asks what May believed in. Peter says that all she believed in was him. At that same moment, Detective Delint is asking one of the nurses about May’s shooting and is told that she was the victim of a drive-by shooting. The nurse is suspicious of the Reilly case as her blood report went missing requiring a second printing and that it found traces of radiation and a variant of spider venom. Since Mary Jane has been by May’s side non-stop, the nurse suspects she might be trying to poison the woman she claims is her aunt. With all the strange circumstances as to how May arrived at the hospital, the nurse thinks that she was shot by Mary Jane’s husband/boyfriend and then they have been poisoning her so she doesn’t talk.
Detective Delint decides to confront Mary Jane and get some answers. As he approaches May’s room, Peter’s spider-sense goes off warning him of danger and hides. When Delint begins demanding answers from Mary Jane, she refuses to provide any and so he handcuffs her to the door. That’s when Peter turns off the lights and confronts Delint in the dark. When the officer tries to shoot him, Peter’s superior speed allows him to evade the bullet and knock the officer out.
With their situation now compromised, Peter has Mary Jane tie-up Detective Delint while he goes out and steals an ambulance. As Mary Jane steals and forges some patient transfer papers, Peter prepares Aunt May for transport. They then use the ambulance to move her to another hospital. However, they are told to leave her in a room with other patients until they can get May a permanent room. After everything is transferred over, Mary Jane pulls Peter aside and says they can’t keep going like this forever because either they will discover the forgery they committed to move May or they’ll run out of money. Peter can’t think of anything right now but assures her that he’ll come up with something. However, when Peter goes outside to catch some fresh air he can only take stock of all the crimes he committed as Peter Parker, crimes that could send him to jail for the rest of his life.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Aunt May
Continuity Notes
There’s a lot going on here. Let’s get down to it:
Peter Parker publicly revealed that he was Spider-Man in Civil War #2.
Peter renounced the Super-Human Registration Act in Amazing Spider-Man #535, making him an outlaw.
This resulted in the Kingpin ordering a hit on him and his family in Amazing Spider-Man #533.
Jake Martino, the sniper, shot Aunt May in Amazing Spider-Man #538.
Peter gave May a blood transfusion in the hopes his blood will save her last issue.
Peter gave his Aunt a much-needed blood transfusion in Amazing Spider-Man #10.
