Chapter 1
8 hours. 42 minutes.
Pepper felt numb.
It had been 8 hours and 42 minutes since she had been called during a meeting with Si's stockholders and rushed to the hospital. She was forced to watch on the sidelines as the best doctors money could buy in New York had been called in.
An influx of voices, of beeping noises, of people rushing to save Tony's life for 8 hours, bordering on 9... All for nothing.
Now, Tony's bloody and beaten body was lying on the table and the doctors were scattered around him, defeated, as they declared his time of death.
She approached the table silently, Vision hovering uncertainly a few steps behind her. She caressed his face, not caring if his blood stained her hands.
"Tony..." She breathed out, her eyes filling with tears. "Tony, wake up!"
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It had been less than a day since Rhodey had woken up in the hospital and he had barely had any time to breathe, with doctors and nurses monitoring him constantly and running all kinds of tests on him. He had no contact with the outside world and hadn't been allowed to have visitors.
Still, he wasn't surprised when Pepper was allowed to see him - that woman was scary and powerful, not even the hospital staff would want to cross her unless it was absolutely necessary. Which, in his opinion, it wasn't.
"Hey, Pep. What's up?" He asked, somewhat cheerfully. Sure, he was paralyzed, most likely permanently, but that didn't mean he wasn't glad to see her.
She finally stepped close enough so he could see her and his smile disappeared. Her eyes were red and sad, her make-up smudged and her hands, stained with blood, trembled.
"What's wrong?" He asked, afraid of the answer.
"Tony..." She choked out. His breath caught.
"What happened to him?" He demanded.
"He - he's dead."
At those words, Rhodey was sure his heart stopped beating for a second. He exhaled, but it quickly turned into a sob.
"No... not Tony..."