Day 66
"Kid, you really need to go see one of the medics," Steve put a hand on Peter's shoulder; he promptly shoved the super soldier's arm away, and shifted his feet nervously on the rubble. He wasn't going anywhere until his father was free from the rubble.
They had pulled him out first, but getting Tony out was much harder because of the rebars that had impaled him multiple places. Pulling him off of them while he had the suit still on wasn't an option. He could very easily bleed to death before they could get his suit off. To make matters worse his dad had passed out, so having him take off the suit wasn't going to work either.
"Peter please!" Steve pleaded.
"No," Peter insisted, "Not until they have Mr. Stark out."
"Kid it could be a long time, and you need to get checked out and rest."
"No. I am fine. I need to make sure they get Mr. Stark out."
"They will kid. Natasha just called in over the comms to say that they are cutting the rebars. Tony will be fine."
Peter shifted his weight, and every muscle in his body protested. He did want to rest, but not yet. Not until his dad was safe.
"Kid you were holding up a 6 ton slab of concrete for three hours, you NEED to come get checked out," Steve wasn't asking now, but Peter wasn't budging.
"No. I don't know how many times I can say it!" Peter almost shouted as he faced Captain America, "I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere. Without. My. Dad."
"Peter I am not asking anymore. Even with your super strength that concrete could have done a lot damage to your bones-"
"And what about my dad?!" Peter demanded; tears began to well in his eyes, "What about Mr. Stark! He held that thing up way longer than I did, and it actually hit him at full force!"
"Peter-"
"NO!" Peter screamed, "I am not going anywhere!"
Steve's concentration went else where, as he put a a hand up and the other went to his ear. The captain visibly slumped. He didn't look Peter in the eyes as he took his hand away from his ear. His slow suddenly tired movement made Peter's hair stand on end. Something had happened.
"What happened?!" Peter demanded.
Steve shook his head.
"Don't shake your head at me!" Peter shouted, "What happened!"
Steve took a deep breath and slowly looked up at Peter, "It's worse than they thought-"
Peter could practically hear the next words before they were spoken.
He's dead... he's not going to make it...
You failed.
Your dad is dead, and it's your fault.
You should have done something sooner.
You killed him.
Peter didn't actually hear the rest of what Steve said, because his body gave up.
Peter was unconscious before he hit the ground.
Pepper climbed into the helicopter right behind her husband. She took a seat near his head and pulled his still armored hands into hers; she ran her other hand through his bloody matted hair.
"You're going to be okay baby. You'll be okay," Pepper kept her eyes trained on Tony's blood caked face. She couldn't make herself look at the rest of his very broken body. She could see the medics working just out of the corner of her eye, but she knew very well that she wouldn't be able to stomach seeing exactly what they were doing.
Tony let out a small choked gasp and his whole body seemed to convulse; blood dibbled out of his mouth as he coughed again. One of the various machines began beeping faster.
"He's crashing!" One of the medics called.
"We got him out of the suit!"
Pepper squeezed her husband's hand tighter, "Stay with me Tony. Stay with me."
Pepper lost track of everything as she sat there holding her husband's hand. The whole world seemed to simply fade out, leaving her alone with him. She payed no heed to the people moving around them. For all she cared or knew they weren't there at all.
"MIss, miss! You can't go into surgery with him," The voice snapped Pepper out of what ever haze she had been in, and she was aware of her surroundings again. She was some how in a hospital now.
How had she gotten here? Didn't matter. She needed to be with Tony.
"Miss! You can not go back there!" The nurse pushed against her, "You have to go wait in the waiting room."
"But I need to-"
"You need to go into the waiting room," The nurse spoke gently this time, "Come on I'll take you there."
He guided her into a cozy room lined with chairs.
"Is he going to be okay?" Pepper asked as the nurse sat her down in one of the chairs.
"One of our best surgeons is on stand by for him. He is in good hands," The nurse rubbed her arm as he spoke, "Is there someone you can call?"
"They are on the way," Pepper nodded.
"Good, good, Do you want something to drink?"
Pepper shook her head. She could not even begin to fathom consuming something right now. News could come through at any second and inform her that she would never hear her husbands laugh again, feel his warms around her, or see his smile again. The thought made her to sick to even think about food or drink.
"It would help your nerves," The nurse looked her in the eyes.
"No, I'm fine."
The nurse cracked a weak smile, "We both know that isn't true, but I get what you mean. I-"
The doors to the ER opening made them both look up. A stretcher was wheeled in with an all to familiar teen laying unconscious on it. Steve Rogers followed close behind it.
"Peter!" Pepper cried and sprang from her chair, "Steve what happened to him?!"
"He passed out," Steve explained as Pepper rushed up to him, "They are saying he'll be fine, and that he was just exhausted and over whelmed."
"They are sure that is all it is?"
"That's what the medics said on the ride over here."
The nurse that Pepper had just been talking to trotted up to her and Steve, "That kid a friend of yours?" He directed the question to Pepper.
"Yes..."
"Alright, I'll run and see what I can get from the doctors on him," The nurse said helpfully and set off at a jog through the doors that Peter had just disappeared through.
"How's Tony?" Steve asked guiding Pepper back to a chair.
"Don't know," Pepper mumbled.
On the verge of death.
"He's crashing!"
Dying.
Not going to make it.
Pepper looked up into Steve's blue eyes, "I don't know. I really don't know..."
Then the dams broke, and the tears were unleashed.
Pepper felt Steve wrap his arms around her.
"It's okay Pepper."
It was not okay. Nothing about this was okay. Nothing about any of this would ever be okay.
"Excuse me."
Pepper looked up through her tears to see the nurse returning with a doctor.
"Are you the kid's legal guardian?" The doctor asked stopping in front of Steve and Pepper.
"No, we are just friends of the family... his- his aunt should be on the way," Pepper stammered, "Please, is he going to be okay?"
"He looks mostly fine, but we want to do some x-rays and other scans to make sure. We need a legal guardian to sign for the test before we can do anything though."
"I can sign for her-"
"Legally I can't let you do that. I'm sorry. Do you know how much longer she will be-"
Almost as if on cue May Parker burst into the hospital waiting room, "Where the hell is my nephew!"
"That's her," Steve nodded toward the angry brunet.
"Thank you," The doctor nodded and departed. The nurse on the other hand stuck around.
"I managed to talk one of the nurses in the OR, and she said that your husband is stabilized and going into surgery as we speak," The nurse informed Pepper with a pat on the shoulder.
"He's going to be okay?" Pepper perked up.
The nurse seemed to weigh this in his head for a minute.
"If there are no complications during surgery," He sounded hesitant, as though he was keeping something back.
Pepper pinned him with a stern look, "What?"
He shook his head a little, "You should talk to one of the doctors... I- I don't have all the details."
With that the nurse tossed her an apologetic look and made a hasty escape back through the double doors of the hospital.
Pepper sat back in frustration, running her fingers through her hair.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Steve said running a hand down Pepper's back.
"I wish I shared your enthusiasm."
She couldn't shake the dear in the headlights look the nurse had given her at her question.
Something was wrong.
Peter woke to a gentle hand stroking his hair; at first he thought it was his dad, because who else would it be?
"Mr. Stark-?"
"No Peter it's May," His aunt whispered.
That's right. Of course it wasn't his father. His father was dead and it was his fault. His fault because he hadn't helped him with the slab of concrete sooner.
Of course his father wasn't here. Peter had killed him.
"He's dead isn't he?" It took ever ounce of Peter's strength to force the question out. He didn't want the answer.
"No Peter. He is just in surgery."
All of Peter's guilt and pain left him in a split second and he suddenly felt like he had the energy to do any and every thing he wanted.
"I didn't kill him?!" Peter breathed.
It was to good to be true. There was no way what his aunt had said was true.
"No Peter! Why would even say something like that?!" Aunt May cried in dismay.
"Because it was my fault..."
"Nonsense," His aunt shushed him as she pulled him into a hug, "Mr. Stark is not going to die."
Peter leaned into his aunts hug.
Maybe everything would be okay.
He hoped his aunt was right.
Tony knew something wrong,something didn't feel right, and he knew it long before he opened his eyes and saw Pepper flipping through what looked like a medical file. She looked more upset than he had ever seen anyone look... ever. She had one hand cupped around her mouth and she looked as though she had been crying.
"You'd think I was dead from the look on your face," Tony joked pushing the off feeling out his mind. The raspyness of his voice startled him. Pepper looked up, a mix of relief and great sadness fighting her gaze. The relief won.
"Shut up you," She said lovingly, and rested one of her hands on his cheek.
"The kid okay?"
"Peter's fine. He is over in the other room itching to see you-"
"Well let him in!" Tony exclaimed. He could practically see the kid going nuts.
"We will but-"
"Oh great there is a but," Tony shifted his arms so he could sit up.
"Please don't try to sit up..." Pepper's request was so quiet and pained that almost thought he had imagined it.
"Why?"
He didn't wait for her to answer before he made his attempt.
He made it half way up and then pain exploded up his back, and nothing at all happened in the other half of his body.
Nothing.
No pain.
Nothing.
No movement.
Nothing at all happened.
He tried to make himself sit up farther than he was, but nothing happened.
He jerked his head around to face Pepper who had her face buried in her hands.
"Pepper!" He tried again to sit up, "What's wrong with me!"
She looked at him with a lost gaze.
"Why can't I move?!"
Terror and panic gripped him like cold claws.
"What did- I can't- Pepp... Please- I -" His words were dying in his throat and he tried to claw himself into a sitting position.
"Tony please-" He could barely hear his wife's soft plea over the sound of blood pounding past his ears.
"I can't-" He choked.
He was trapped. Stuck. Helpless.
"What did they do to me?!" He didn't mean to scream, but it happened anyway, "Help me!" He tried hard to pull himself all the way, "PLEASE!!! NO! FIX IT!" He didn't care that he was screaming anymore, "PLEASE HELP ME!!!"
He could feel the hot tears stinging his face. He didn't care.
He could still hear himself screaming; he wasn't sure what he was saying. He didn't care.
He couldn't feel his legs or lower back. He did care.
Warm arms cradled his head, and gentle hands ran through his hair.
"Shh Tony... please... please," His wife's gentle words drifted into his ears, and he his screams died away in his throat, and were replaced by long drawn out sobs, "I got you baby. I got you. I got you."
Tony cried into his wife's arms.
"We'll get through this. I promise. I promise."
Tony quieted with each soothing pass of Pepper hands through his hair.
"We'll figure this out."
Tony believed her. He had to believe her. His back was broken and he couldn't do anything. He was essentially helpless. He had to believe her that they would figure this out, because if he didn't he was pretty sure he would not make through this.