1
Tony stepped out of the shower, enveloped with the scented tingling of warmth. As he turned toward the mirror, he felt the hazy cloud of fatigue roll over his mind as he began to dry his head. Sleep hasn't come easy to him lately, everything has been piling up one after the other. The shop being his only comfort since Pep left. Not to mention The Civil War. He knew remaining in the kingdom would only make things worse. Guilt weighed heavy on him, the countless nights of nothing but screaming awake, not coming to bed until sun up. It's no wonder she left. She deserved better anyway. Not wanting to spiral deeper, Tony turned from the mirror, got dressed, and fled the bathroom.
The kitchen warmed by the iron oven ablaze, Tony calls, "Pete! Soups on!" "Pete?" Tony shouted in confusion. Concerned, Tony stills the soup pot on top of the oven and makes his way upstairs. He lifts his hand to the rich tobacco-stained door and knocks. A cough breaks the silence from the other side of the door. "Dad?" Peter says weakly as he turns to face the door. "I'm coming in, Kiddo."
Tony opens the door to find a very flushed-out Peter awaiting him in his bed. In a hurry, Tony dashes to Peter's side and quickly begins to look him over, he lifted his shirt. Shit. Red speckles bloomed all over Peter's chest and were making their way towards his neck. They felt like the sandpaper Tony kept tucked away in his shop. His poor hand was swollen red and two puncture wounds were found near the flesh between his thumb and index finger.
"P-Pete? I need you to do something for me, okay?" "Okay."
"Can you open your mouth for your old man? I just need to check something. "Say 'ah.'" Tony said, trying to keep his casual demeanour up so as to not frighten the kid. Okay, Dad...Ahh." Peter opened his mouth wide for Tony to peek. No. Oh, God no. "You can close your mouth now, Peter." Tony said, trying to control his breathing. "Am I gonna be okay, Dad?" "Yeah, Pete. You'll be just fine. We just need to find you a good doctor, okay?" "Okay.." Peter didn't like the doctors much. Especially when they had their big, long masks on. They looked like big scary birds looking for a snack.
"Just let me go see what I can find, okay Pete? For now, there's soup downstairs waiting for you. If you feel up to it. It'll be there when you want it. I love you." "Love you, too, Daddy."
Tony left the room and when he reached his room, his weight gave in and he sank to the floor. This can't be happening to me, to my boy. What kind of fucking sick joke is this? Haven't they been through enough? Tony knew the minute he saw Peter's mouth that he knew it had to be Scarlet Fever. Not to flaunt his genius or anything but Tony knew that only 150/100,000 people died from it. That's a shit ton for this time. He won't let Peter become part of that ratio. He has to do something. He needs to find a doctor.