(Creator's Choice) - Just Get Him Better
Peter remembered pain. A cool rush of medication. Heat coursing through his veins - attacking his body as he shivered. He remembered voices. Screaming. Holding him down. He just wanted Hammer to kill him. He was resigned to dying in this Hell hole. Someone said something about medication - about Peter needing more of something.
He felt a rush in his arm, and the haze of medication took him back to the welcomed darkness.
-
He was cold. Every inch of his body shivered like he had been stuck in a freezer. Peter tried to reach for a blanket, and he wanted to yell at May to turn the heating up, but his throat felt like it had something lodged in it.
Peter writhed, he needed to turn the thermostat up-
“God, Pete please be still.” He knew that voice. “You’re burning up.” Peter wanted to be near whoever that was. That voice -it reminded him of dark eyes, and a kind smile. Facial hair, and long nights with moving pieces. Thinking and safety. He liked that voice.
Peter didn’t realize his eyes were open until he saw the eyes that he had been thinking about. A hand wrapped around his own.
“Hey - hey buddy. I need you to be still.” Tony said. Peter tried to ask him why, but he began to gag. A hand began to run over his forehead and Peter heard a low beep. He continued to gag.
Something was being forced into his chest and it - hurt. Peter gagged harder, his whole chest moving off of the bed, a hand pressed forcefully against his chest.
“Come on, Peter. It’s okay - it’s okay - Bruce - no he woke up. He’s burning up - is there anything you can give him?” There were loud voices and a light flicked on, so Peter winced and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Hey, Peter. I’m going to give you more medication, you’ll go back to sleep, and we will be right here when you wake up.” A hand squeezed his own as Peter felt the ever noticeable rush of medication.
-
“A coma!” Tony exclaimed, before Pepper shushed him. Morgan was curled up in his lap on the couch in Peter’s room where Bruce was explaining that he had put Peter into a coma.
“Tony, his body needs to heal without the possible strain of him waking up, and I couldn’t keep him asleep on his pain medication. My guess, is that with the proper hydration and nutrition that he’s receiving, I’ll be able to pull him off the ventilator and out of the coma in a week. Rest, Tony. He’s finally coming out of the fever, and the infection is going away rapidly. We have to get him through the pneumonia, but his immune system is already getting itself kicked back up so I’m not overly concerned about it. Once he’s back on his feet, we just have to get his arms and that right knee working properly again, with some physical therapy matched with his healing he should be back to web-slinging in no time. His biggest problem - well - with what you’ve described to me - I asked Sam if he would take over Peter’s mental health. It’s going to be hard. He will be needing every single one of us to back him up. So use this as a break. Rest, eat, sleep. Work on your own health, then be here for him when he wakes up.” Bruce gave Tony a soft smile before he walked out of the room. Pepper smiled gently at Tony, before tucking herself against his side and wrapping a loose arm around Morgan.
“Just breathe, honey. Take a break. He’ll be here for you when he’s ready.” Tony looked, from his sleeping daughter who had been ecstatic for the return of her Petey, to his wife who was the warmest person he had ever met, to Peter the kid who had been put through hell that would rise stronger than he was before. With a final sigh of peace, Tony fell asleep.
-
It had been a week, when Bruce called Tony and May into the room. Peter was looking so much better than he had when they had all gotten home. The kid was still skinny, looking too much like a skeleton for anyone’s liking, but he looked less like he was about to die during every second of the day.
What truly amazed Tony was how clean he was. Someone had cleaned the kid, and it was incredible to see him without the bloody grim that Tony had become so accustomed to. Someone had cut the the kid’s hair back to its normal length, and had washed the curls - getting them back to their normal fullness. The bruising on his body was almost gone, his shoulders and knee were still healing up, but the hand prints and facial bruising were gone. The kid was still too pale, and his eyes still had highly impressive bags under them, but he looked like a new person.
“Well, it’s all pretty much good news. We are going to proceed with taking out the tube today, get him off the ventilator, and go ahead and pull him out of the coma. It will be a watching game of seeing how his lungs handle taking control, the pnumonia was a hard hit to his immune system, but I think he’s bouncing back solidly. His shoulders and knee are what I am most concerned about, the rates of healing won’t be what he’s used to. He will heal, but he needs people to rally behind him and encourage him. Sam will do a great job preparing you all but - hearing what Tony had to say about what Peter went through - and looking at the tapes - its not going to be easy. Be ready for it. Cho and I are going to go take care of everything with Peter, give us about an hour and you can all come in and wait on him to wake up.” Bruce headed into the room where Cho was already with Peter.
May, to Tony’s surprise, wrapped her arms tightly around his middle.
“Thank you, Tony.” She whispered into his neck.
“May - it’s my fault that he -” A hand on his chest stopped him. May pushed back, holding his arms tightly and squeezing to get his attention.
“It is in no way your responsibility. The responsibility is all on Hammer. Don’t do that to yourself, Tony. He needs you - he needs you to be there for him. Don’t let your guilt get in the way of that.” Tony nodded slightly, both of them ignoring the shine in his eyes.
-
Bruce and Cho exited the room with ease.
“Extubation was a success. I would guess he will be waking up within the next couple of hours. He still has medication in his system, so he will be confused and most likely on edge when he wakes up. Press the emergency call button if you need us, and Friday will immediatly send us in an alert.” Cho said. Tony and May had no desire to stay in the hallway.
When Tony saw Peter on the bed breathing with only a cannula, he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. To see Peter, breahting on his own, laying on the bed with mininum medical equipment attached to him had Tony weak at the knees.
He and May both found their seats beside Peter. May shot a quick text to Happy, as Tony leaned back, closing his eyes as he sighed. Morgan and Pepper would be arriving soon, but for now he just needed to take a breath, and wait for his kid to wake up.