Volunteering for things was something of a crapshoot at the UCSF medical center. At times, work was just that. Any volunteering opportunity was an opportunity to learn and to advance. Sometimes, Jules volunteered for the opportunity to sit in on new, hotly anticipated procedures fresh from the pages of medical journals. She always enjoyed those moments when some new treatment made of algae or silver or some other miraculous piece of ingenuity came into the hospital and the doctors chattered on excitedly about how this was going to make such a huge difference in the lives of their patients. In Jules' experience, doctors, even with all of their journals, were optimistic and excitable. She liked to see it even if she was usually the first person called when things didn't go quite to plan. Sometimes, Jules volunteered for things when no one else seemed willing to take on the responsibility. Difficult patients or parents, the inevitable mess of ill children, the phone calls to other departments to track down equipment, ushering residents to the correct department. None of it was fun and some of it wasn't even her job, but Jules was the sort of person who jumped when someone needed to jump. To her, the job was the sum of all of these parts, the joy and the frustration all coalescing into The Job.

The type of volunteering Jules was doing that Sunday afternoon was out of the ordinary. She'd been present for a bone marrow aspiration more times than she could count. She was a nurse. She was necessary. But, this time, Parker had asked her to be there when he could not. Someone she respected had held out his hands and placed into the cradle of her own a very specific responsibility. Jules could tell that Parker cared for Liam, not more than any of the other children, but in the same way that Jules had a few patients with whom she felt close. It was easy to agree to chaperone Liam into his aspiration, but as she faced it, she suddenly felt overcome with nerves. It felt more important. More intimate. Like she was only now becoming aware of the exact procedure. She wanted to do well not just for Liam, who had a more than rational fear of needles, but for Parker. He'd been having a strange visit home and she wanted to give him some reassurance that the world had not fallen apart in his absence, but that he was missed all the same.

With a breath, she entered Liam's room to collect him for the aspiration. The moment she locked eyes with the boy, she knew he was terrified. All morning, when she would visit him on her rounds, he would look up at her fearfully, wondering if it was time, relaxing only when she would reassure him that she was only there to check his vitals. This time, though, she did not have the same reassurances and he seemed to know. Jules watched him look over to his mother who gave him a kiss on the forehead that looked exactly like the kisses Jules gave her own son when he wasn't feeling well. In a move that seemed very brave to Jules in that moment, Liam swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up straight as if to say he was ready. She'd been told Liam was a fighter and it was evident then. Crouching down in front of him so they were face to face, Jules gave him a little smile.

"Doctor Parker asked me if I would go in with you today. Is that okay with you?"

For a moment, Liam looked surprised before giving her a small nod. She supposed he wasn't asked for his personal approval much in these situations. Glad he'd given her approval, she gave him one more smile and a pat on the hand before standing again and motioning to the wheelchair she'd brought with her. In the chair, Liam looked smaller and more frightened, his mother looking quite the same as Jules reassured her they'd see her soon. They'd done this before, of course. They knew what this was like from start to finish, but Jules knew there was no solace in that knowledge. It was terrifying to lose sight of your child or to know something unpleasant was waiting for you just a few rooms down the hall.

The procedure, for all of the buildup, was a rather short one, the longest parts being the setup. Liam was given a mild sedative and a local to help ease the pain, but there was still a tiny tremble in his fingers as he lay on his side with his back to the doctor and the other nurse in the room. As she'd only been asked to chaperone the patient, the doctor and nurse originally assigned to the procedure asked that she keep an eye on Liam's vitals so they could focus on getting the aspiration over with as quickly as possible. When the doctor administered the local, poor Liam flinched and Jules felt her heart break for him. Jules gave the doctor a quick glance to make sure all was well before looking back to Liam.

"Liam, watch me," she told him quietly. When Liam looked up at her, she took in a slow, deep breath behind her surgical mask and let it out just as slowly, her hand rising and falling to indicate each breath she took. "Breathe with me, Liam. Big breath…"

Jules thought that, maybe, if she could get him breathing normally, he could be okay. For the most part, it seemed to help. A few large tears rolled down his cheeks once or twice and then it was over. He was bandaged up and a little groggy from the sedative, but it was over and he was taken back to his room where his mother waited, anxiously flipping through a magazine. As they entered the room, Jules gave her a little smile before helping the porter get Liam settled.

"You did such a great job," she told him quietly, kneeling down again to take a look at him. "I was so impressed. I think even Spider-Man would be impressed."

"He came to see me," Liam mumbled to her with his eyes closed, a small smile at the corner of his mouth. Jules had, of course, heard the story of how Spider-Man had climbed the hospital walls just to see Liam.

"Tonight, when you're feeling better, I want you to tell me all about it. Promise?"

Liam's response was a happy little hum, and Jules took that as a deal. Standing, she looked to Liam's mother and gave her the same parting words she'd given to a hundred mothers—the doctors would be around to give them any updates. His mother gave her the nod of a person who'd heard it before.

Back at the nurse's station, Jules sat down in her chair and reached for her coffee, curling the warm tumbler against her chest, allowing herself to stare into the middle distance for a moment. She hoped that Liam was a fighter. That Parker was as good a doctor as she believed him to be. And that, after everything Liam had gone through, it was true that his hero had come to see him. She knew what kind of world Liam lived in and that it was a long shot that any of these supers would be so kind. She also knew that, should she ever come face to face with Spider-Man, she'd thank him herself.