"Hmm, hello..."
"You must be Peter's friend right? I'm his aunt, he's currently asleep, I'm sorry he can't answer the phone right now, if there's anything you need, you could try reaching him tomorrow morning."
Stark's frown deepened as he asked, "Peter's asleep? That's unusual for him, why did he go to bed so early today?"
Stark knew that when Peter stayed at home, even if he didn't play games, he wouldn't go to sleep until at least 11pm. He didn't require a long sleep. For Peter, 4 hours of sleep was sufficient for him to be fully rested.
"He's been feeling a little unwell recently," Aunt May's tone carried a hint of worry. She said, "Last night, he didn't sleep at all, and the night before he seemed to be sleep talking, so he's been going to bed earlier lately."
Stark wanted to ask more, but thinking that Peter's elder relative also needed to rest, he finally hung up the phone.
The next day at noon, outside the entrance of New York University, a sleek black car stopped on the street by the school gate. Its understated appearance didn't draw much attention.
As Peter stepped out of the school gate, he carried his backpack in one hand and rubbed his eyes with the other, looking somewhat sleepy.
Suddenly, his eyes were dazzled by a car's headlights. He frowned, seemingly annoyed and turned around, wanting to see who was recklessly flashing high beams in broad daylight. But as he turned his head, he caught sight of Stark sitting in the driver's seat, wearing sunglasses.
Peter widened his eyes and quickly strode over, after he had pulled open the car door and sat in the passenger's seat, he turned his head towards Stark and said, "Why are you here? Is there anything going on with the Avengers?"
Jarvis started the car, and Stark spoke as he drove, "Same old daily tasks, fighting Hydra and stuff. By the way, Peter, when was the last time you had a health check-up?"
"Health check-up? I remember the last time was arranged by Doctor Schiller, our entire family went to the Elders Council Hospital. Uncle Ben even had a shadow found in his chest, but fortunately, it was a false alarm, just a regular inflammation."
"That was almost... nearly two years ago?" Stark pushed his sunglasses up a bit, saying, "You should have regular health check-ups every year to ensure your wellbeing. I figure, I probably shouldn't even need to tell you this."
"Er, actually..." Peter gave an awkward expression and said, "I talked about this with my classmates a few days ago, their families all get health check-ups yearly, but ours doesn't have this tradition."
Peter shrugged, giving a wry smile and said, "Uncle Ben's company doesn't offer regular health check-ups, and the fees for health check-ups at the major hospitals in New York are quite high. Our insurance doesn't cover these fees and besides, some hospitals are hard to get appointments at..."
"That's okay, now you're part of the Avengers, a subsidiary of S.H.I.E.L.D., they'll provide you with a comprehensive health check-up. Besides, you can also apply for medical insurance for your family. I'm sure Nick will approve."
"Really?" Peter widened his eyes and said, "But I heard from Natasha that their insurance standards have already been lowered twice."
"That's still much better than the insurance you currently have." Stark spoke while driving. Peter nodded in agreement and didn't object, then he asked, "So where are we going now?"
"To get your health check-up." Stark parked the car in the underground garage of the Stark Building, opening the car door as he said, "You absorbed that faith power and went into a state of excitation. Since then, you haven't properly checked your health. We have to make sure that energy didn't have any adverse effects on you."
Peter nodded in a semi-understanding way. He had always been perplexed about the usefulness of faith power, he wasn't too interested in the mystical aspects of things, nowhere near as interested as he was in researching the solar system.
After they entered the Stark Building, Jarvis arranged a health check-up for Peter. Once all the regular data readings were displayed, Stark shook his head, took out his phone and called Schiller. He said:
"Peter's physical condition is fine. However, his brain readings are a little off. I'm guessing it's another mental or psychological issue. I'm leaving this to you."
After a while, Stark walked out and said, "Peter, I excused you from afternoon classes, you'll have to pay a visit to Doctor Schiller."
"I called your house a bit late yesterday and your aunt told me that you haven't been feeling too well lately. You've been going to bed very early, and indeed your brain readings are somewhat unusual. It's not a big deal, but you'd better go see a doctor."
Peter looked at his own body data, furrowed his brows. Connors and Ethan, who used to conduct experiments in the lab with him, both held Ph.D.s in medical studies, so he had essentially picked up on some medical knowledge as well. In the health check-up arranged by Jarvis, his brainwave data was tested, which showed that his brainwaves were somewhat irregular during sleep.
Peter thought that it was the effect of the faith power. Since he himself didn't exactly know what that power was, he decided to take Stark's advice and went to the Arkham Sanatorium.
There, Schiller, Strange, and Charles were already waiting for him. It could be said that with this medical team, there ought to be no psychological issue in the world that couldn't be resolved.