Ruining a teenagers day
Tony wasn't in the business of ruining a teenagers day, but he had to do what he had to do. Early in the morning Tony went over to Ned's house and sat down with Ned and his parents. It was a Saturday for crying out loud. Who wants to ruin a Saturday? Not Tony. He didn't want to be there, he didn't want to say the diagnosis again, but he had to because he promised a brown curly headed boy that he would.
Ned was confused, as he should've been. There should be no reason that Tony Stark was at his home at 8 AM on a Saturday, not without Peter.
Tony had called ahead a couple nights before and told Ned's parents, he informed them not to tell Ned because it would be better coming from Tony himself. Just so he could reassure the kid that everything was going to be okay.
"I'm gonna give it to you straight kid," Tony watched as Ned's mom rubbed Ned's shoulder, "Peter has leukemia."
He watched as Ned switched through emotions on his face, from sad to confused to hurt and back to confused.
"Peter can't get sick mister Stark," Ned had stated it so matter of factly, that it ripped apart Tony.
"I know it's hard to hear that your friend is ill, but it's going to be fine. I've got the best doctors in the city helping him."
Ned bobbed his mouth up and down for a second before he cleared his throat to speak, "Can I see him?"
Tony look at the kids parents for help, he didn't want to make the weekend worse.
"Ned, Peter's body can't handle any visitors at the moment," Ned's father had stepped in for the save.
What he said was true, Peter's immune system had plummeted and it had only been a week. He was getting several blood tests everyday to check his white blood cells and the tests weren't good. Peter had been throwing up and refusing to eat, and when he wasn't doing that he was asleep scrunching his face in pain. The induction phase was rough, it was round after round of intense chemo and Peter's small body was taking it hard.
Ned was looking at his parents inspectingly, like they were hiding something from him and then he slowly turned his head back towards Tony.
"Is that why he hasn't answered my texts or phone calls," Ned sniffed like he was crying, but no tears had come out. "You said he was going to be fine, this doesn't sound like fine."
Tony nodded because what Ned had said was true, "right now it's rough, but he's going to be fine eventually. You have my word."
"Mister Stark-" Ned had stopped and then abruptly stood up and ran upstairs.
"I'm really sorry Mr. Stark."
"No, I'm sorry. I had to ruin his weekend."
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"Tony, if Peter doesn't start eating something soon we're going to have to place a feeding tube. His metabolism is still too fast and he's burning through his nutrients that we are giving him through the IV at a quicker rate than I expected. I think that his Spider DNA is getting confused because he's sick and it can't kill it off without help, so its overdriving in the things that it still can do."
Helen had pulled Tony aside when she saw him walk through the Med-bay doors. Her face was stoic and laced with professionalism.
"Helen, he won't eat I've tried. Pepper and I've tried. I've even sent Morgan in to try, nothings working." Tony slouched his shoulders in defeat.
"His body is deteriorating fast, if he gets even the smallest cold I'm afraid he won't be able to fight it off." Tony hung his head low at this.
"I'll figure it out."
Tony continued his walk to his son's room and even before entering he heard Morgan's laugh. God how he loved her laugh. He selfishly loved Peters more, it's what happens when you lose your kid for 5 years and then he returns and gets sick and stops laughing. He didn't hear him laugh today.
He walked in with a grin on his face, all for show intended for Morgan. She was so young and couldn't understand what was going on.
"Hey guys." Pepper looked up when she heard Tony's voice pierce through her thoughts.
"Hey honey." She smiled at him.
Peter was asleep on the bed curled up on his side, while another dose of chemotherapy was running through him. A basin was on the table beside the bed, ready for use. Tony thought chemotherapy was the ugliest name in the entire world, it shouldn't be allowed to be called therapy. Therapy makes you better, and his kid was far from it at the moment.
Morgan giggled again, Tony looked down to see her on the floor watching a movie on a stark pad with headphones in. How Tony wished for only a pinch of her innocence. He crouched down to her level.
"Watcha watching Morguna?" He forced his voice to sound interested.
"Hi daddy! It's just Moana!"
"Oh, again? What's this- the 4th time today?"
Morgan crossed her arms with a sass she inherited from Pepper, "No! It's only the sec-in time."
"Second," Tony corrected while messing up her hair.
She ignored him and got hypnotized by her movie once more.
Tony glanced back at his sleeping kid noticing that Morgan brought two more new stuffed animals for him. Peter couldn't say no to her and now he had at least ten stuffed animals at the foot of his bed and the two new ones were in his arms.
Tony sighed as he sat down next to Pepper, he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Helen says he's gotta eat something soon or they're going to place a feeding tube."
Pepper rubbed Tony's arm, "I think we should let them place the tube." Tony looked angrily at her, he had negative connotations with feeding tubes. He had one while he was in Afghanistan and he'd rather not see one, not in his son.
"Honey, it's going to help him. I tried while you were gone to get him to eat some broth, but he started crying," Pepper sniffed and unlike Ned she had tears fall, "he needs to get food in his body."
"Today's the last chemo day and then he's off of it for a week, who knows Pep, he might start eating then. Please can we just wait." His eyes were begging, pleading even.
"I just- Tony I know he's getting more chemo than normal kids would because of his enhancements, but getting it for a week straight is killing him." She took a second to breathe, "I don't think a weeks rest is going to be enough for him to eat."
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting annoyed, he wasn't going to allow them to shove a tube down his kids throat. No way. He stood up and started towards the door.
"Tony, you don't get to walk away from this."
"I just- I need- I can't, please." Tony was clutching his chest and continued out the door. Then he ran. He ran to the elevator and he took it down to the gym. It was open enough that he could breathe without leaving the building, without leaving his family. God he missed the cabin.
He ran through the gym doors and then collapsed. He couldn't breathe, nothing was coming in or going out. He's dying. He's dying.
Tony felt hands on him and people speaking, but he was too preoccupied dying to hear anything. He felt his hand on someone's chest and finally words broke through.
"Copy my breathing Tony."
He breathed in deeply and exhaled when the other person did. He did this for 10 minutes straight and finally he could feel everything coming back. When he looked up he saw Sam. Not the person he'd want to see after a panic attack, but he did allow the avengers access to the gym, since the compound was distroyed. Didn't mean he wanted to see them though.
"Hey, you back with us," A voice to his left said.
Tony turned and saw Pepper kneeling down beside him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He shook off the feeling, "Why aren't you with Peter- someone needs to be with Peter." Tony started to stand up, but the hands stopped him.
"Hey, slow down. Helen's with them and they got the other nurses as well, the kids are fine. Peter is fine." She rubbed his back. "Thank you Sam."
"Yeah," Sam gave a glance to Tony and then landed his eyes on Pepper, "What's wrong with Pe-"
Sam stopped talking when Pepper gave him a glare, letting him know that right now wasn't the place or time to ask. He slowly backed away and headed towards the locker room to take a shower.
"Honey I think you need some rest. Okay," her tone added no room for argument, but Tony didn't care.
"No. Not gonna happen. Peter needs me."
"Of course he needs you, but you need to rest first. You haven't slept in days." Pepper racked her fingers through Tony's hair and helped him stand up and go into the elevator.
"Friday, take us to the penthouse."
Tony was shaking his head no at this, but didn't say a word. Pepper led him to their bedroom and laid him in the bed that he hasn't touched since Peter was admitted.
"You sleep, I'm not letting you back into his room until you've had at least 6 hours."
"6 hours!?" Tony was crossed between a scream and a wail.
"Yes, 6 hours. Friday don't let him up to med-bay unless he gets the full 6 hours."
"Of course Mrs. Stark."
"Wow, my own A.I. that I created has gone against me."
"Happy wife means a happy life, that includes the A.I." Pepper kissed him before she was gone.
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After sleeping for 6 hours, which took 9 hours to complete, Tony begrudgingly slid out of bed. He made his way to the elevator and commanded Friday to take him to the med-bay.
When Tony exited the elevator he was surprised to see Pepper sitting in the waiting room with Morgan beside her in another chair. Morgan was watching, you guessed it, Moana.
"Pep? Why aren't you with Peter?" His voice was cracked with panic.
Pepper snapped her head up at him, "they tried to get him to eat, but he just kept refusing. Helen asked me if I wanted them to put the NG tube in and I said yes."
"What?" Tony felt betrayed.
"He was freaking out when they were trying to put it in, so they asked me to step out with Morgan."
"Step out? No way." Tony practically stomped all the way to Peter's room, ignoring Pepper calling him. He opened Peter's door and what he saw broke his heart.
Peter was trying to use his strength to push away the nurses that were surrounding him, but he had no fight in him. He was screaming and crying, Tony had never seen him so distraught in his entirety of knowing him. Tony raced over to Peter and sat down on the bed beside him, ignoring more shouts at him. He slipped behind Peter, being mindful of wires and the IV feeding him nutrients in his arm, and held Peter.
"Hey, hey, you're okay. You're okay."
Tony rocked Peter back and forth. If Peter wasn't as upset as he was, he would've pushed Tony away and told him that he wasn't a baby. He hasn't been held like this since the last time May and Ben had witnessed him crying over his parents.
"Pete, let them do what they gotta do okay," Tony was whispering in Peter's ear so only he could hear. "You're doing good."
Peter choked down a sob and nodded.
The nurses resumed what they were doing before. One nurse held a tube close to Peter's nose. While another handed Peter a glass of water.
"You're going to take same sips in order for the tube to go down, okay?"
Peter shook his head at that.
"Underoos, you can do it."
"Okay," came Peter's whispered reply.
"Okay Peter can you tilt your head back for this first part, that's good," the nurse with the scary tube pushed the tube into his nose, "Good, now can you tilt your head forward now, good. You can begin taking sips of the water."
He took the glass shakily from the nurse and started taking small sips of the water through the provided straw, while the nurse with the tube pushed it down with his sipping.
"Okay, you're all done Peter."
Peter threw himself back onto Tony with all his weight, "That hurt. That hurts really bad."
"I know buddy, I know." Tony ran his fingers through Peter's curls to help him calm down.
Most of the nurses left, but two, one stayed to tape the tube to the side of Peter's face. The other stayed to get more blood from peter through the catheter that was sticking out of his arm. What was new at this point.
Pepper finally walked in with Morgan, she set Morgan down, who jumped up onto Peter's bed once the final nurses left.
"Petey!! What's that?" She pointed to Peter's face.
Peter turned his face into Tony's chest, hiding the tubing. He didn't want to explain, he was tired of everything that was happening outside of his control. How embarrassing is it that he couldn't even feed himself properly and now anyone that looks at him can easily see that.
"Hey Morgan, why don't you find a movie that you and Peter can both enjoy?" Pepper, what a saint she was.
Peter almost called Pepper mom the other day, he's done it almost a few times since the adoption. He thinks it would be even weirder than when he accidentally calls Tony dad though, so he's glad he hasn't. But sometimes he wishes that he just did it anyways. Because she was like a mom in everyway but blood. She was his mom, just like how Tony is his dad. He has this feeling that his real psrents would hate him if he did that though, so he buried those thoughts everytime he had them. Maybe one day he would, but not today.
Later that evening Peter got his first feed through the NG tube, he begged them to do it while he was sleeping so he wouldn't have to think about it. Finally they obeyed one of his wishes, he asked if they could do that with the chemotherapy before, but they said he had to be awake when they administered it. How rude is that? He falls asleep from it anyways, so what's the big deal? He wasn't really sure about anything that had been going on lately. All he knew was that he felt like shit, he missed May still, he missed his friends at school and he missed Spider-man above all.
But as he dreamed that night, flying through the city of New York he heard a little chant. "You're going to be okay, you're going to be okay." He just kept on swinging from web to web.