Day 64
"How's Tones doing?" Rhodey asked as he found a seat on one of the stools by the kitchen island.
Pepper's sigh told him exactly what he needed to know.
"Still no change?"
Pepper only shook her head and continued washing dishes.
"At what point are you going to give one of your famous Potts talking tos?" Rhodey asked, "Those always knocked sense into his that thick skull of his."
"Yeah, they would always work because he cared about my opinion," Pepper spoke coldly. It was the most angry and bitter that she had sounded through out this whole ordeal, "So-"
"He doesn't care anymore so it won't work," Rhodey finished for here.
"Bingo!" Pepper snapped her fingers sarcastically.
"Other than not giving a rat's ass about anything how is he?"
"Well he is still eating, probably because he doesn't care enough to argue about it," Pepper hesitated for a minute and then sat down across from Rhodey, "You know honestly I feel like it would be easier to take care of him if he was cripplingly depressed."
Rhodey tilted his head in curiosity and confusion, "How do you figure."
"I mean like at least he would care about something that way..." Pepper trailed off and flopped her head down on the counter. Rhodey reached his hand across and stroked her hair.
"We both know that as horrible and hard to deal with this is, you don't rather he be manically depressed."
"No... I guess your right," Pepper thought for a brief moment, "Do you realize how long it has been since he said anything other than "yeah"?"
Rhodey sighed. He had been visiting for a long time, and he had yet to even get that much out of his friend.
"He seemed okay after we left the hospital you know? and then it sort of slowly just started happening. He would just space out and stay that for a bit, and then snap out of it. Then it got worse."
"I know Pepper."
"then he just stopped you know?! Just boop! Stopped!"
"I know Pepper," Rhodey repeated.
"You know the most emotion I get out of him is when he wakes up screaming at 2:00 A.M." Pepper rose to her feet and started pacing the kitchen, "And even then he will stop screaming and just stop and settle back in!"
"Pepper-"
"What am I supposed to James?!" Pepper almost shouted, "I don't know what the hell I am supposed to do! You know I actually don't blame Peter for giving up!"
Rhodey closed his eyes and put his face in his hands.
He didn't know what to do either.
Morgan snuck past her yelling mother, and snuck up the stairs to her parent's room. She glanced down at the copy of Frog and Toad are Friends, and pushed the door to her parent's room open.
Her dad was laying on his back staring blankly up at the ceiling. Morgan took a deep breath and approached the bed.
"Daddy?" Morgan whispered as she got closer.
He lifted his head to look at her. His hard gaze softened slightly as they made eye contact.
"Hey Moe," His voice was hoarse and weak, but all the same she was happy to hear it.
She ran around to the other side of the bed and climbed into the bed. She scooted next to her father.
"What are you doing?"
"I want you to read me a story," Morgan said and handed him the book. He shook his head. Morgan's spirits sank.
"Not today sweety, I really don't feel up for it."
Morgan drooped, and slid off the bed. He never felt like doing anything anymore. She headed toward the door. She didn't know what she had been expecting by coming in the room. He never wanted to do anything anymore. She opened the door and prepared to leave.
"Morgan?"
She stopped and turned around.
"Can you read to me?" His voice was so soft and hesitant that she almost thought she had imagined it.
Morgan couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face.
"Of course I will read to you!" She ran back to the bed and climbed in scooting close to her father who was slowly hauling himself with his arms. She could see him shaking. He gave her a weak smile as he worked himself up right.
"Give me a second," He dad grunted. He finally got himself situated, and nodded for her to start.
Morgan opened her book and flipped to the second chapter.
"Chapter 2: Story," she began to read the book, "One day in summer Frog was not feeling well-"
She was about half way through the story when her father carefully tucked his arm around her shoulders. He rubbed her arm with his thumb in a small circular motion. She stopped reading and looked up at him. He didn't seem to notice that she had stopped; he just sort of stared blankly at some indescribable object, and continued to rub her arm absent mindedly. Morgan leaned against his warm body, and tucked her small arm behind the lower part of his back.
He glanced down at her and smiled.
"Why'd you stop reading?"
He had noticed.
Morgan just shrugged, nestled closer to her father, and continued reading.
She relished every second with her father's strong arm wrapped around her. He hadn't held her in a very long time.
She finished the story and closed the book. She was getting ready to leave when her father spoke again.
"Can you read me another one?"
"Of course!"
Morgan settled back down into the protective crook of her father's arm and opened the book.