Car Crash Pt3
Previously:
They both went inside and sat on opposite sides of Tony’s bed. It was obvious he felt slightly better with both of his boys’ presence. “Seevie,” Tony smiled, though lopsided.
“I’m here, Tones,” Steve smiled back, placing a hand on Tony’s arm.
“We both are, doll,” Bucky added.
Tony let his eyes closed in an effort to sleep off the pain. It would all be better in the morning with his boys by his side.
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It wasn’t better in the morning. Tony spent the whole morning clinging to Bucky’s hand as the pain shot up and down his back and his head throbbed horribly.
“I’m so sorry baby, I’m so sorry,” Bucky said softly, running a soft finger along Tony’s forehead.
Tony’s eyes squeezed tighter, and his weak grip grew stronger. Outside, Bucky could hear Steve arguing with the nursing staff. “Why can’t you give him more painkillers! He’s in pain, give him something!” The man shouted hysterically. Bucky wanted to go retrieve him but he didn’t want to leave Tony’s side.
“Steve!” He shouted. He sighed when Tony flinched at the loud noise. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“W-w-wa’er?” Tony slurred. His speech got worse when he was in pain.
Bucky jumped up to grab a cup of water, luckily it wasn’t far because he didn’t think Tony would be able to release his grip on Bucky’s hand.
Bucky held the cup to Tony’s shaking lips but pulled it back when Tony started to choke. The genius sputtered and coughed as his throat muscles spasmed. “Relax, baby, relax,” Bucky encouraged, running his fingers along Tony’s neck. Gradually, Tony’s coughing calmed down as he tried to calm down.
“You want to try to take a nap, baby?” Bucky asked, worry evident in his voice.
“C-c-can’t, it hur’s,” Tony stuttered, tears dripping down his face.
Bucky sighed, closing his eyes. Luckily, Steve and the doctor walked in before he could say anything else.
Steve’s face was slightly red but he melted, seeing Tony crying in pain. He ran to Tony’s side, kissing him on the cheek and wiping away his tears that would not stop falling.
Bucky focused on the doctor. “He’s in pain, why can’t you guys do anything?” He asked sternly.
The doctor looked slightly nervous at the supersoldiers. “We have given him pain medicine. You have to understand the extent of damage Mr. Stark’s spine had sustained. He still has three more reconstructive surgeries but we have to give his spine time to heal in between them. We are also keeping an eye on his brain damage. And on top of all of this he has heart issues. This means we have to be very specific to the amount of opioids we administer,” the doctor explained.
Bucky huffed, closing his eyes. “Can we at least sit him up?”
The doctor looked conflicted, but finally gave in. “Yes, let me call some nurses to assist.”
A few seconds later, four nurses filled the room, surrounding Tony on the bed. The doctor held the remote to move the bed, three nurses stood at the head of the bed, and one stood to watch the monitoring machines. At the doctor's signal, the head of the bed rose. Tony screamed in pain as two of the nurses pulled him up by his armpits and the other held his neck steady. The movement seemed tortuous as they all moved Tony’s body, but gradually Tony’s cries of pain seemed to lessen as the pressure was lessened on his back.
When he was semi-sitting up, they stopped the bed and placed a bunch of pillows behind him as support. Tony’s breaths were labored but the tears stopped flowing and his shaking lessened slightly.
“He can stay like this only for a few hours, we’ll be back to readjust him later,” the doctor said. While he spoke, the nurses strapped a sleeve to Tony’s uncasted leg to help with the blood flow in his new position.
“Thank you, doctor,” Bucky said as they left the room.
Bucky and Steve immediately went to Tony’s side. “Hey, baby,” Bucky smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Be’er,” Tony hummed. “Dizzy.” Tony blindly reached out for Steve’s arm to ground himself.
“Wanna try some ice chips?” Bucky suggested. At Tony’s hum, he spooned a chip into Tony’s mouth and waited for it to melt. “Want more?” Tony hummed and Bucky spooned a few more chips into his mouth.
“Hey Tones, do you think you might want to see the team? They’ve been asking to visit,” Bucky asked wearily. Tony had been firm about not allowing any of his teammates to see him in such a pitiful state. He was embarrassed and even Rhodey hadn’t been allowed to see the man since he had come out of his coma. They had been receiving updates, and sneaky pictures Bucky sent, but that had been all.
“No, no, no, no,” Tony whined.
“Okay, okay, calm down, Tones,” Steve soothed, rubbing Tony’s arm.
“I think you should think about it baby, they miss you very much,” Bucky said.
Tony whined again and Steve glared at Bucky. “He said no, leave it.”
Bucky huffed but didn’t push further.
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“You’re doing so good, baby, I'm so proud of you,” Bucky smiled.
Tony was doing physical therapy and Bucky was helping him grip a ball. Tony was having a hard time coordinating his fingers but today he was able to hold onto the soft stress ball for several seconds. “Can you squeeze it?” Tony’s brows creased in concentration and his fingers twitched. He tried to squeeze but the ball ended up falling back onto the bed. “That’s okay, you’re doing a great job, Tones. I think that’s enough for today.”
Steve rubbed a gentle thumb on Tony’s cheek. “We have a surprise for you, baby.” Tony turned his neck as far as he could towards Steve and scrunched up his brow.
Steve smiled and went outside the room, bringing in a large wheelchair. “Want to go outside?” Bucky and Steve’s eyes brightened at Tony’s lopsided smile and nod.
They had coordinated with the doctor several days ago their plan to get Tony outside as he hadn’t left the hospital room since he’d arrived several months ago. After much insistence, the doctor had finally agreed.
It took Steve and Bucky over 30 minutes to get Tony dressed. The nurses had to assist them in sliding sweatpants over Tony’s cast and a jacket over his hospital gown. Steve had also chosen a warm hat for Tony to wear over his shaved head. Bucky placed thick warm socks over Tony’s foot and the toes peeking out of his cast.
A huge machine was brought in to lift Tony from the bed and lower him into the chair. Bucky arranged his limp legs more comfortably and Steve lowered the headrest to support Tony’s short stature. It took nearly two hours but Tony was finally into the chair.
The chair was large with a full back since Tony was nowhere near supporting himself. An oxygen tank was on the back of the chair, attached to Tony’s nasal cannula, and Tony wore a face mask since a cold could essentially kill him with his bad immune system. Steve also tucked a blanket over Tony’s legs and put mittens on his hands so he wouldn’t get cold.
“Ready to go, baby?” Bucky smiled, kneeling in front of Tony.
The billionaire was extremely pale and shaking from the whole ordeal but nodded. Bucky pressed a kiss to his cheek, thanked the staff, and led them to the small garden the hospital had. Steve walked next to them, holding Tony’s weak hand.
Upon entering the outdoor space, they heard Tony take a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. A few tears came to Tony’s eyes as he blinked at the sun and blue sky in joy. Bucky found a bench for them, so he pulled Tony’s chair next to it and sat down. Steve sat on the ground at Tony’s feet making Bucky roll his eyes. Steve was like a golden retriever sometimes.
They were silent as they experienced the soft breeze and fresh air. Steve leaned his head gently on Tony’s legs and smiled when the man moved a weak hand onto his head and dug softly into his hair. Bucky took Tony’s other hand and pressed a kiss onto his bony wrist. It was the first time in the past few months things felt calm.