Grief Pt2
Rhodey was at the hospital cafeteria after sitting at Tony’s bedside for 36 hours straight. They had pumped his friend’s stomach but an hour later when they were debating intubating Tony because his O2 went down to dangerous levels, they found out that some of the contents of his stomach had gone into his lungs. They were swollen and Tony was on oxygen and antibiotics until they could get them to heal.
Rhodey had literally just sat down when he heard a code blue being called for Tony’s room number. He jumped from the table, knocking over his coffee, and dashed down the halls.
He found the Avengers standing at the foot of Tony’s bed while the genius himself was strangling himself with his IV tube. The doctors were trying to get near but Tony screamed and pulled the tube tighter the closer anyone got.
Rhodey ran to Tony’s bedside and tried to grab the genius’ hands from around his reddening neck. “Tony, stop, you need to let go,” Rhodey said firmly.
“No! No! I gotta go with them,” he choked out.
“What?”
“I can see them Rhodey, they want me to go with them,” Tony said, his voice growing more strained.
“I can see them too, dumbass, now let go!” Rhodey growled.
The shock of the statement caused Tony’s hands to go limp. “You can see them?” Tony said softly, his voice raspy.
“Yes!” Rhodey said, unwrapping the cord from Tony’s neck.
Tony was so shocked he didn’t even notice the doctor injecting him with a sedative. “They’re not dead?” He whispered.
“No Tones, they’re not. Rest now,” Rhodey said gently, helping Tony lay back.
Tony’s eyes fluttered as his body sunk into the sheets. “If they’re gone when I-I wake up, tell ‘em I missed them,” he slurred before being dragged under.
Rhodey used gentle fingers to smooth back Tony’s hair. “I will, I’ll tell them.” He pulled the sheets over the genius’ chest before walking towards the door, gesturing for the Avengers to follow.
When the door closed, Steve set his narrow, slightly teary eyes upon Rhodey. His hands were shaking and he seemed to be on the edges of shock from the ordeal. “What happened?”
Rhodey sighed, rubbing his eyes. “The mission you guys were on- the public was told you guys died.”
“Yeah, but Nick told Tony it was just a cover,” Steve said, eyes narrowing further. “Right?”
Steve grabbed Rhodey’s shoulder, angry, “Right?!”
Rhodey shook his head. “He thought you guys died. He thought he was alone. He tried to kill himself.”
Steve stumbled back with a gasp. The other Avengers stared at Rhodey in disbelief.
“He swallowed a bottle of pills, they had to pump his stomach,” Rhodey continued in a dead voice.
“No, no, no,” Steve muttered.
“We have to talk to him,” Natasha said.
“As soon as he wakes up you all could talk to him, he would really like that.”
The Avengers nodded solemnly, subtly wiping away tears.
Steve sniffed and hardened his face. “First we need to have a talk with Fury.”
Rhodey didn’t go with them, and when he saw the director a few days later with a black eye and bruises, he didn’t question it.
When Tony woke up to see the Avengers he immediately started sobbing. The group gathered him in a hug, apologizing over and over.
While a horrible situation, it strengthened their bond to see how affected their normally nonchalant friend would be in their deaths.