Heart Defect Pt2
Tony’s heart stopped twice more before they were able to stabilize him in the ICU. And it was another four hours before anyone was allowed into his room.
Steve almost collapsed on the spot when he walked into Tony’s hospital room to see his husband pale and limp on the bed, tubes and wires criss-crossing all over his body. He didn’t realize he had been staring in shock for several minutes until a hand touched his shoulder.
Steve jumped and turned to see Fury standing next to him, staring at Tony with sad eyes. “He’s a fighter,” the man said determinedly.
Steve nodded and wiped the tears he felt dampening his cheeks. His face turned a bit red in embarrassment but Fury just sighed and gestured him to the chair beside Tony’s bed. As soon as Steve sat, he reached for Tony’s IV covered hand and shoved his face into the sheets by Tony’s hip. He heard the scrape of the chair as Fury sat on the other side of Tony, but he focused all his attention on not bursting into sobs in front of his boss.
“He’ll pull through,” Fury said, after several agonizing minutes of silence.
Steve pulled his head up and listened to the slow beats of the heart monitor and the whirring of the ventilator. All the tubes stuffed Tony’s body like a turkey and Steve had to wonder how there was any room left for Tony inside. “He can’t- he can’t even breathe on his own,” Steve whimpered.
Nick didn’t answer for several minutes, his gaze locked on his honorary nephew. “Just have faith in him, Steve. He’s stronger than you think.”
Despite Fury’s words, Tony did not improve that day. Or the next. Or the next.
And just when Steve was prepared to scream at Nick for all the false hope he had given him, one day, Tony’s fingers twitched. And then his toes. And then his eyes opened. And Steve cried.
It was about two weeks before they were able to take Tony home. While this episode had taken a toll on Tony’s heart, it had illuminated the degressen of Tony’s heart function that had been happening for some time now.
They gave him more medicines and prescriptions, but Nick and Tony knew that his luck was running out. When they told him he was born with a congenital heart defect, they also told him how low the survival rate was and how unlikely it would be for him to make it into adulthood.
But he did.
He made it. He lived his life. And he is proud of everything he accomplished. And he is proud of all the experiences he’s had and people he’s met.
If he left Earth today, he would be not only satisfied, but okay. And he knew his last challenge would be getting Steve to the point that he was okay with it too. Okay with letting him go.
Getting home from the hospital, the whole team had immediately noticed the difference in Tony. He was slower. Not mentally, but physically he seemed to move in slow motion- probably in time with his heart’s slower beats.
Also somehow, he was happier. He spent less time in the lab and more time with the team. They had team movie nights, team breakfasts, and they actually took the time to get to know each other as people and not as superheroes.
Steve, on the other hand, was a mess. He tried not to show it in front of Tony, but he was depressed. He hadn’t had time to come to terms with Tony’s fate like the genius had. He was upset with Tony for not telling him, angry even, because there were so many moments he wishes he could take back. Every argument they had, every time they spent apart, he wishes he could go back and tell himself to not let that time go to waste, because in the end, in this moment now, he wishes he could savor those extra minutes he could have had with Tony in his arms.
And he was also angry. Angry that there was nothing he could do but hold his phone in his hand, hoping, praying that someone from the hospital would call to tell him they had a solution, a treatment, a heart. But he knew how unlikely that was, and he was angry.
Another two weeks after coming home, Tony was obviously in a bad way. Besides being thin as a stick, he couldn’t move very well anymore. His laborious heart was low on energy and just the act of walking across the room was equivalent to running a 5k. He moved from a walker, to a wheelchair, to a permanent spot on the couch.
His teammates would take turns sitting with him, letting them use him as a pillow when he could no longer hold himself up. They all eventually learned how to set up his nebulizer and check his heart rate every hour. Bruce tried to feed Tony soup, but the genius quickly lost his appetite and it became a daily struggle to get him to consume anything more than two bites of toast.
Steve walked into the living room and stood in the doorway. He watched his husband type on the StarkPad in his lap with agonizingly slow, shaking fingers, and he just let the tears fall from his eyes. Hearing Steve’s sobs, Tony looked up slightly, his head too heavy to raise completely, and frowned. “Stevie?” His voice was raspy and painful, and it made Steve cry harder.
Steve approached his husband and in one motion, pulled him into his arms. He carried him bridal style to their bedroom and placed him gently on the bed. The pair were silent and Tony watched through sad eyes as Steve climbed into bed next to him, running fingers through his hair and staring deep into his eyes. “I don’t want to lose you,” Steve finally whispered, his voice clogged by tears.
“You won’t.” Tony gave him a watery smile. It wasn’t long before his eyes were begging to be closed. “I love you, Stevie.”
“I love you Tony,” Stvee whispered back.
Tony smiled and let out a long sigh. He let his eyes close and his breath even out, cuddling up to his husband.
Just as Steve was about to close his own eyes, he felt something vibrating in his pocket. Steve frowned, pulling it out and reading the unknown number. He answered.
“Hello Mr. Rogers-Stark, I’m calling to request you bring Tony to the hospital as soon as possible. We have found a heart for your husband.”