FanFic.nl

Being a Stark [Superfamily]

Chapter 33

Tony wakes up confused and groggy, and aching all over his body. There’s noise coming from outside of his room, and other little sounds that aren’t supposed to be there at the tower. When he pulls up his hand to rub his eyes, he feels some sort of resistance.

A quick feel with his other hand, he realizes it’s an IV-line.

Oh, crap, not again?

Tony opens up his eyes, seeing in front of him a dark, unfamiliar room that doesn’t even resemble anything that he owns in the tower or the compound. This is a completely strange environment, and everything inside of him tells him he shouldn’t be here.

“Whazz-“ he starts, but the words slur out. It feels like he’s not in control of his mouth. His throat is dry, and he could really use some water. He looks around a bit, reaching for his face to scratch an itch at his nose. Then he realizes he’s got another tube shoved through it.

Well, this feels familiar, Tony thinks to himself. Only, last time, there had been somebody sitting next to him. Right now, he’s all alone in the room. Tony blinks a few times, trying to get used to the darkness and see if there isn’t anybody inside.

“’llo?” he asks, sounding hoarse. There’s no answer. He groans, checks out the nightstand, but finds a surprising lack of water there. Finding a red light hanging above him, he reaches up to press it. He figures it might be a way to call the nurses or something like that.

It seems like somebody has been waiting for him, because only three seconds after he’s pressed the button somebody walks inside. Tony recognizes him as Happy.

“Tony, you’re awake! Good!”

Tony just blinks. He knows he can’t speak, so he stays quiet. He just nods at Happy, hoping that he will offer him some sort of explanation.

“You tell me; The kid found you lying in your own puke in the bathroom and called for an ambulance. Nobody knows what happened, but you. And FRIDAY, but she’s being vague and unhelpful as ever,” Happy says, shrugging at that last fact. Tony clears his throat, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling of the tube.

“I-“ he starts, smacking his lips together. “I remember Steve calling.” But more than that? No, that’s mostly a blur. He thinks harder. Steve called, they had argued over the line, and after that Tony made a rampage at the workshop – though staying away from Peter’s project – and headed to the hidden stash of drinks that he promised himself to stay away from.

Oh, right… because Peter had left, Tony hadn’t expected him to return that evening. That’s what he told himself when he opened that first bottle. Peter won’t come back tonight, just one last fucking time.

Great father-figure he’s being again. Tony sighs loudly, realizing that, after all those months of trying to be a good father, he’s finally broken. Proven the fact that he’s everything but a good father-figure. What a surprise. It runs in the family, doesn’t it? Or maybe in the name, because Tony knows Peter wouldn’t ever be the same way. He’s too good a kid for that.

“Peter came by earlier, but his Aunt took him home about an hour ago,” Happy tells him. “He’s been here the entire time, didn’t want to leave.”

Happy takes a step aside when the nurse finally comes inside to check on his vitals. A quick control on the bag that collects his gastric fluids, she notes on a piece of paper how much has been taken in. Then she checks his temperature, heartrate and blood pressure. Satisfied with the results, she asks if he needs anything more (he shakes his head) and then wishes him good night.

“Did Peter say anything?” Tony asks. He’s trying his best not to cry. He really is. He just can’t help the stinging in his eyes and the slight crack in his voice as he speaks.

“Well, he seemed pretty annoyed at Rogers for some reason,” Happy says. “Kept telling how the guy didn’t care enough to come over, or something like that.”

Tony frowns. That doesn’t sound like Peter, to be angry at Steve about that. He’s usually so calm?

“He even left the phone here, said that he didn’t want to take it with him,” Happy says, nodding towards Tony’s nightstand where, indeed, a phone is resting along with a charger.

“Wow, he must really be angry, then,” Tony mutters. He reaches out his hand towards the phone and takes it in his hand. Checking the time, he sees that it’s only nine in the evening, but probably past visiting hours. There are another few missed calls on the screen, all of them of Steve – of course, since nobody else has this number. Tony sighs, closes his eyes and puts the phone against his chest.

“You should get some sleep. There’ll be some people who are going to talk with you tomorrow. Of course, Dr. Wynedell has been notified. She’ll be here tomorrow as well.”

“Oh no,” Tony mutters. He doesn’t feel ready to face her. She must have been thinking that he was doing good at last. But she couldn’t know. Nobody could have; Tony’s just too good at keeping it to himself. Nobody knows he’s been falling apart on the inside, because he figured he would snap out of it eventually. Clearly, that’s not the case.

“Yeah, and Pepper’s also pretty upset. She would have been here, but she’s dealing with some reporters outside. A few people saw you when they were transporting you out, I’m afraid.”

Bad press. Great, this couldn’t be worse. He wonders what excuse they’ll bring up this time. A sudden sickness befell him? Or are they going to tell them the truth? Tony can just see his company’s failure at that thought. No, thanks.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you tonight. You just go to sleep, alright?”

Tony nods, but doesn’t answer.

“Good night, boss.”

“Night, Hap,” he returns lowly. After the door closes, Tony turns to his side, the phone still pressed tightly against his chest. In a way, it feels like a small part of Steve is with him now.

Tony wakes up again the next morning when a nurse comes to attach what seems like a new IV bag. Still groggy, his question as to what it is isn’t understood, and all the woman does is put her hand on his forehead and fish out another thermometer to check his temperature.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark. I’m Lisa and I’ll be your nurse today. Did you sleep well?” the woman asks. Tony looks up at her, feeling extremely awful, to be honest. Then he nods, because he can’t complain at all about his night.

“What’s, uh… what…” he can’t get his words out, mouth too dry. The nurse hands him a cup of water and slowly lets him drink from it.

“You were brought here by ambulance after your son found you. You have a tube to your stomach to clean it out. Are you feeling any discomfort?”

Tony shifts a bit in his bed.

“I, uh… I’ve been having these aches in my stomach lately. And, uh… I’ve been throwing up a lot more recently. Maybe…?”

The nurse gives him a sympathetic look and then reaches out for his shoulder. “The doctors will be here shortly. You can tell them what you just told me, alright?”

Tony nods, sighing. The nurse helps him to sit up, and then gives him the chance to get himself cleaned up. After he’s dressed, Happy enters the room again, along with Pepper and three other people Tony suspects are doctors.

“Hello, Mr. Stark,” one of the women says. She’s wearing a white coat over her dark blue scrubs. Her auburn hair is put up in a messy bun, and she looks somewhere in the thirty years old, though Tony can’t really tell right now so it could be forty as well. The look she’s giving makes it clear that she’s not here to mess around. Tony smiles at Pepper when she comes to sit next to him and allows her to grab his hand. It doesn’t hurt him anymore, being near her. It’s good, to be able to feel like they’re friends again. “I’m Dr. Palmer and I’m your physician today. How are you feeling at the moment?”

Tony gives Pepper a short look. She nods at him.

“I, uh, right now I’m kind of alright,” he says. The man nods, and the other two doctors start writing things down. When the nurse, Lisa, enters the room as well, she throws him a big smile and a thumb’s up. Dr. Palmer, meanwhile, walks up to him and pulls out a stethoscope, pressing it against Tony’s chest and asking him to take a few deep breaths.

After that, she pulls back, taking a little pen out of her pocket and holding it up.

“Is it alright by you if I check your eyes for a moment?” she asks. Tony nods, letting the woman point up the pen – which is a light, he’s already figured. But the doctor doesn’t shine at all, just taking one quick look at Tony’s eyes before lowering the light again. “The white of your eyes appear yellow, Mr. Stark.”

Liver failure, is what his brain is telling him. “What does that mean?” he asks.

“It could mean multiple things. The most important part now is that we do some tests, see what exactly is going on in there,” with that, Dr. Palmer points towards Tony’s belly. “The nurse mentioned you’ve been feeling sick lately?”

Tony nods. Pepper looks up, confused. Happy, too, doesn’t seem like he’s heard that news before.

“Feeling tired, as well?”

Tony nods again. “Yeah, uh, I just figured it was because of all that’s been happening lately, you know?”

Dr. Palmer nods and then stands up.

“Yes, well, the nurse will come and take some blood samples, and after that we’ll plan a few more diagnostic tests if that’s alright?” he asks. One quick look at the nurse, and the woman nods and hurries out of the room to fetch her materials. Then, to the other doctors, she starts naming up a few medications that she’s prescribing Tony, but he isn’t listening. The only thing he’s thinking about is the possibility of what could be wrong with him.

Already? He thinks. He’d thought he hadn’t completely fucked his liver up yet, but as it seems his couldn’t handle it anymore, right? He closes his eyes, and just wishes for it all to be over soon. With Pepper and Happy next to him, for a moment, he decides to just forget the world.

Except for Peter. Tony could never forget about Peter. And in his head, he starts preparing multiple ways to apologize to him. If he could ever do that, of course.

Peter is having a bad day. Or, no, that’s just putting it lightly.

He’s having a horrible day.

It’s not that things are going crappy at school. The classes aren’t too hard, Ned is by his side, and even Michelle isn’t as annoying as always. But no matter how nice everybody is being today, he’s still having a horrible time.

Ned tries to be kind, not asking questions about what happened and respecting their privacy. Michelle doesn’t even seem to care about it. It’s mostly the others that are being annoying as ever. The people that have never talked to him before suddenly come up to him, holding up a newspaper or their cellphone and asking for clarification.

Because if you run one internship at Stark Industries, you know everything about the man. Peter just shakes his head all the time, claiming that he isn’t working there anymore and that he doesn’t know. Some people seem to accept it, others… aren’t.

He knows that the others are talking about it as well. He can hear them whispering in class, talking during lunch. On his way to his locker, they’re on about it; could it be drugs? Could it be cancer? Was he drunk? It’s news about an Avenger, and nobody is going to let it go, he knows.

Around three, when the decathlon team is meeting up, Peter is leaning backwards in his seat, toying around with his pen instead of really paying attention. Michelle is asking them questions, punching him the arm once or twice until he forces out an answer. The coach is even about to call him out when his phone rescues him from this useless charade.

“I need to take this,” he almost yells, jumping out of his seat to get into the hallway. Not bothering to look who’s calling, he puts the device against his ear and clears his throat.

“Hello?” he asks.

“Peter, hi, it’s Pepper, do you have a moment?”

Peter nods, not really thinking about how she can’t see him at all. Then he clears his throat. “Uh, yeah, uh, talk to me.”

“Tony’s been under some tests, and it doesn’t look too good at the moment. I’m about to give a statement, but I wanted to let you know first.”

“Is he dying?” he asks, not knowing what he’s going to do if that’s true. He’ll probably just abandon ‘family’ once and for all and just go and live as a nomad through multiple countries. Tony can’t die, that wouldn’t be fair. Not when Peter only just got him in his life.

“Not at the moment, though it’s a possibility if it gets worse. He has jaundice since this morning, though it wasn’t too progressed when I last saw him. Apparently he caught up Hepatitis A somewhere. Because he’s Tony, he never goes to the doctor’s when he’s sick. Normally it passes on its own, but with his stunt from last night in combination with the pills and his past with alcohol, his liver couldn’t really catch up.”

“So, what’s the verdict?” Peter asks nervously.

“Right now, it’s progressed to an acute liver failure. He’s been taken over to ICU where they’re monitoring him the entire time.”

“How could he catch it? Could it be in Wakanda?”

“Probably not, since the disease takes at least a few weeks to manifest. It could be something he caught in India, but we don’t know for sure.”

“But wait, shouldn’t he have been vaccinated for it? Before he left?”

Pepper then laughs on the other side of the line.

“You know you’re talking about Tony Stark, right? The man who thinks he’s invincible? Besides, the vaccine was only created after Tony was already around twenty, and they used to vaccinate children mostly by that time. Seeing that he never really left the country to go to high-risk places, he just… never got around to do it.”

Peter stays quiet. He knows that he got the vaccine when he was a kid, but that’s about it. Nobody really talks about these kinds of diseases, so he knows close to nothing about it.

“Alright, uh, thanks for notifying me Pepper. I’ll come by after school.”

“That’s good, Peter. Be careful with the press, though. I can handle one scandal, but the secret child of Tony Stark is something I want to avoid until later on.”

“Will do,” Peter assures her. After that, they hang up. Now it’s a matter of trying to stay calm when he returns to the others. If he looks to shaken, they’ll ask him questions. Ned will look at him with those worried eyes, Michelle will press on, Flash will be a dick as always (at least he hasn’t been seen beating other kids around lately, so that counts for something, right?).

Peter takes a breath, and then takes another one. One part of him wants to call Steve, bring him up to date about what is happening at the moment. But the other part of him thinks that he doesn’t deserve to know if he’s not going to make an effort and try to be here. He knows it’s dangerous, but he would have thought that Tony would be reason enough to ignore all that.

Another sigh, and then Peter walks back into the room, where he’s greeted with a few worried glances, but no more than that. He stays there for the remaining thirty minutes. The moment it’s over, he hurries out without giving as much as a warning. He knows it’s rude, but he doesn’t care.

He takes a cab to the hospital, and probably pays the driver too much. He doesn’t care, he just wants to get inside as quickly as he can. He hurries into the building, taking a turn to where he knows ICU is – he’s been there a few times when he came to see May at work – and then hopping into the elevator. There’s another doctor in there he only vaguely recognizes. It takes a short look at her badge to place her name.

Dr. Palmer. Peter recognizes her from the pictures May showed him. She and Dr. Strange used to be together. It was the story of the century when the two had broken up, according to her. Peter nods at her, and she gives him a small smile back.

They both walk out of the elevator on the same floor. It could be coincidence, but when it looks like she’s going the exact same way Peter is going, he figures he might see more of her in the future. Just as Peter walks up to one of the nurses to ask for Tony, he sees the Doctor walk into a room.

“Can I help you?” one of May’s colleagues asks. Peter takes a quick look around to see if his Aunt is here. When he spots her walking out of a patient’s room, he points towards her.

“I, uh, I need to speak to my Aunt for a moment,” he says, uncertainly. The nurse looks back at May, and then nods.

“You must be Peter then,” she states. “Go on.”

Peter nods at her thankfully before moving towards May. When she spots him at last, her eyes go wide and she runs up to him until she’s hugging him. Peter lets out a chuckle as his face is pressed against her shoulder, but at the same time he can’t find much more reason for laughing.

“I’m sorry, Peter,” she says sadly. Then she pulls back, putting her hands on Peter’s cheeks to take a good look at him. “He’s heavily under watch, but the encephalopathy is already starting.”

Peter frowns. He doesn’t know what that means. Or maybe he does, but he doesn’t want to understand it. That would mean it’s reality.

“Dr. Palmer just went inside; she’s the one who took care of him in the ER. You can go inside if you want to,” May continues, walking up to the room she just left and opening the door. It’s not like it’s impossible to look inside, since there are no walls but only windows. It’s the best way for the nurses to see what’s happening to their patients after all. The closer Peter gets, the better he can see his father lying in his bed, with Happy standing by his side. And…

Is that Rhodey? Peter thought he wasn’t in New York? That he went back home for revalidation…?

Dr. Palmer falls quiet when Peter walks inside. Happy notices him immediately and takes a step to the side, giving Peter room to get closer. Tony is just blinking, but the moment Peter is standing next to him, he smiles at last. A cold chill passes through Peter when he sees the yellow color of Tony’s skin. That’s not how he left him last night.

“Peter, I’m so glad you’re here,” Tony says with a hoarse voice. Peter just sits down on the chair and takes Tony’s hand into his own.

“Of course I’m here, Dad. Where-else would I go?” he asks. Then he turns back at Dr. Palmer, who is looking at him with wide eyes. “I’m sorry for interrupting you.”

“Uh, it’s alright. As, uh, I was saying, uh…” After that, she continues with her facts. Peter only half-listens. He’s too busy staring at Tony’s hand, skin yellow in comparison to his own. He doesn’t like it, it shouldn’t be like this. Especially because Tony’s hand is shaking if Peter doesn’t hold it still.

He’s aware that Dr. Palmer has to get Tony’s attention back a few times. She doesn’t seem surprised, instead more relieved about it. Peter wonders if there’s a specific reason for that, but at the same time he doesn’t care. Right now, all he wants is for them to be back home, for Tony to be better.

The thing he can make from Dr. Palmer’s explanation is this; Tony caught the Hepatitis Virus somewhere in the past few weeks. It took until a few days ago to really show symptoms of it but normally it would have gotten better on its own. With the fact that Tony’s liver was already weakened due to the excessive alcohol-drinking in his past, along with the sudden intake of alcohol two days ago, his liver just couldn’t hold up anymore and decided to shut down. Which is why he’s jaundice now. Dr. Palmer even explains that it’s a good thing the encephalopathy starts up so soon after the jaundice, since that means there’s a better survival rate.

Peter asks how much the survival rate is. He doesn’t like the answer.

“Uh, young Mr. Stark, do you mind, uh… can I talk to you outside for a moment?”

Peter nods, ignoring the fact that she called him ‘Stark’ instead of Parker. Once they’re outside, he sees May noticing him. He doesn’t stop her when she hurries towards him to listen in as well.

“In some cases, acute liver failure is treated without the need for transplant. In most cases, though, transplant is necessary. Because of that I feel like I need to bring up the subject of potentially being a donor to your father.”

Peter’s mouth falls open.

“Of course, the decision rests entirely on you. If you two are a match, we can’t force you to do this. Surgery can be scary, and it’s not to be taken lightly.”

Peter nods, swallowing a hard lump through his throat and taking a deep breath. He knows he would say yes in a heartbeat if he was normal. But he isn’t. He doesn’t know what effect it could have on Tony if he would give up a part of his liver to save him. The same thing could happen to him like it did with Harry.

But he would live, a part of his brain says.

But it wouldn’t be Dad, another part says.

But he’ll LIVE.

“Peter’s not a match,” May suddenly says from behind him. Immediately, he’s thankful that May has been standing behind him during the explanation. “Peter’s AB. Tony is A. He can’t receive from Peter.”

Dr. Palmer looks up at May, an understanding look coming up her face. Then she sighs.

“We’ll have to put him on the transplant list then as soon as it’s clear he’ll need one,” she says sadly. “I’ll come back later.”

Peter and May nod, and then Dr. Palmer walks away. May squeezes Peter’s shoulder and kisses him on the forehead before walking back to her work. Peter balls his hands into fists before walking back into the room.







Peter’s here. Happy’s here. Rhodey’s here. Pepper’s here.

Tony’s never really had everybody there for him at the same time. Or maybe he did? There used to be more people for a while, didn’t there? Where are they, now?

Oh, right. They’re in Wakanda. Tony keeps on forgetting. His one hand, the one that’s not clutched tight by Peter, is holding on to the flip phone. It’s been ringing for a few times already, but by the time Tony has really noticed, it stopped and Tony doesn’t want to call back.

Or maybe he does, but looking at the screen hurts his eyes for a bit.

“So, I can go home tonight?” he asks. Did he ask it before? The way everybody seems to groan and roll their eyes indicates that maybe that’s not the case.

“No, Tony, you have to stay here,” Rhodey says, squeezing his shoulder once. Tony blinks a few times, but then frowns.

“No way, I’m feeling alright, okay? I can walk around no problem!”

“Even so, you can’t leave,” Rhodey clarifies. Tony just snorts and angrily leans back on the bed. He doesn’t like being bedridden. He would rather just sweat it out in the workshop, maybe spend a few nights working there and exhausting himself to sleep. He can’t sleep, not without Steve next to him. It’s too cold, to lonely.

God, he wants Steve here.

Wait, why is he here again?

“Give me one good reason why I can’t go home?” Tony asks, feeling like his brain has been scrambled around. It’s probably because of all the meds. They’re screwing him up, he needs to go home.

“Because, Dad, you’re in the ICU. They’re monitoring you.”

“Goddamnit, it’s my liver, right?” he groans. “I remember the doctor coming by earlier, crap… why is my brain all over the place?”

“Just… try to sleep for a moment, okay?”

He doesn’t know who said it. They’re probably right

“Okay, but can somebody tell Steve not to linger too much in the training room? The bed’s too cold without him,” Tony mutters, closing his eyes as he moves himself into a comfortable position. Then, suddenly feeling the phone in his hand again, his eyes open once more. “Oh, wait… Steve isn’t here.”

“No he isn’t, I’m sorry,” Pepper says. Tony squeezes his eyes shut to hold back a few tears. He keeps on forgetting that Steve isn’t in New York. Why can’t he just remember?

The phone vibrates in his hand. He doesn’t pick up.

After a while, May comes by. She’s picking up Peter again, taking him home. Good, Tony wouldn’t want him to waste his time here. He says goodbye, squeezes Peter’s hand. After that, Pepper, too, leaves. She takes Rhodey with her. Happy stays for a little bit longer, but eventually the nurses urge him out, too. They have it under control, the floor is secured and whatever else. Tony doesn’t want him to leave, but he doesn’t speak up.

He closes his eyes, tries to sleep. It doesn’t come. He hears the machinery from all the rooms around him. The nurse of the night walks around, controlling all of her patients. She comes into his room once in a while to check his parameters, or change his IV bag. Tony can count it up to three times until he figures that it’s morning again. Feeling exhausted, he wonders why he couldn’t sleep. It’s not like he hasn’t been trying, but his mind is just too full.

The first light of dawn starts seeping in through the blinds. Tony blinks at it, then turns around to get back to the dark. He closes his eyes again. The nurse comes in once more, greets him, gives him his food. He startles when the phone vibrates again at nine.

With shaky hands he picks it up without thinking too much about it. He rubs his eyes as he slurs out a greeting.

“’llo?” he asks.

“Tony?! Thank God, I’ve been trying to reach somebody for days!”

“What for?” he asks in confusion. Then realization hits him as he takes another look at the hospital room around him. “Oh, right…”

“Are you okay? Peter said he would keep me up to date, but I haven’t heard from him…”

“I’m, uh,” Tony starts, looking down at himself. All he sees is the cable of the IV lying over the sheets he’s pulled over himself. “I’m alright. Peter didn’t have the phone, it was with me.”

“You have no idea how worried I was! What happened, Tones?”

Tony clears his throat. He tries to shift in the bed, but accidentally bumps his arm against the nightstand. He lets out a curse.

“Tony?”

“It’s nothing, but… clumsy,” Tony assures him.

“Pepper didn’t give too much information through the press. She said something about you catching something abroad? Was is Wakanda? Was it me?”

“No, no, no, no, it’s was much earlier than that,” Tony mutters out. He’s still rubbing his eyes, isn’t he? He should stop that. “Listen, honey, don’t worry. I’m fine, alright? I’ll be back home in no time.”

He yawns, he’s just so tired.

“Tony… why did you call me ‘honey’?” Steve then asks. Tony stops mid-yawn, realizing his mistake there. Right, they’re no longer together. Tony broke it off a few days ago. Officially, that is.

“Uh, old habits die hard. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Listen, I need to go, the doctor is here.”

Tony doesn’t wait for an answer. He closes the phone shut, and puts it on the nightstand. Then he tries to go over that in his head; He keeps on forgetting everything. He hates feeling like this, it’s infuriating. He keeps on doing things wrong!

The doctor’s not really here, Tony just made it up. He sighs, stretches his arms a bit and decides to just head for the toilet for a moment. But before he sits up, his eyes drop on the massive bruise that is now on his arm, where he just bumped it against the nightstand.

He sighs, forgetting about going to the toilet after that. He looks at the bruise; it’s enormous. He rubs the spot for a moment, leaning back against the pillow and closing his eyes again.

He’s asleep by the time his first visitor arrives.

Reacties:

Er zijn nog geen reacties op dit verhaal.