Thor and Steve exchanged looks after he was gone. "I think we should keep these guys away from Tony for the foreseeable future," said Steve wisely, having heard the tone in the other man's voice.
"Agreed," said Thor solemnly.
Tony stood in one spot outside the medical unit, eyes boring unblinkingly into the titanium doors which hid Pepper from his sight. He unconsciously rocked back and forward, all of his energy on the door, as though he could mentally reach through the barrier between them and bring Pepper out of this. Thor, Bruce and Steve kept vigil with him. Tony managed to tear his eyes from the door for the briefest of looks at his watch. It had now been twenty-one minutes since the doctor had ejected the protesting Tony from the room. What the hell was taking so long? The violence of his rocking increased.
Bruce looked up at him from where he'd chosen to take a seat on one of the benches which lined the mostly white room. "Take a seat, Tony, you're making me sea sick."
Not taking his eyes off the door, Tony sat down beside the other man. His right leg began to jiggle furiously, causing the whole bench to vibrate.
Bruce pulled a face as his whole body jiggled along with Tony's antsy leg. "Okay, I was wrong, that's even more annoying. Stand up again."
Tony launched himself out of his seat and started pacing, anxiety written deeply into his face. "Why is this taking so long? It shouldn't be taking this long. Something is wrong."
Steve was standing at the other end of the room, his hands in his pockets. "I'm sure the doc is just being thorough, Tony. You want that, don't you?"
"Of course I do," he bit out. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"I do not believe the Captain meant to imply otherwise," said Thor evenly. "I know you are anxious-"
"You don't know anything," Tony snapped. "So why don't you just shut the hell up?" He gritted his teeth, knowing he was being unfair, but it simply wasn't in Tony right now to observe social niceties which were never his foray at the best of times. Pepper was always the one who smoothed over his rough edges, only she wasn't there right now. Tony's jaw ached from how hard he was clenching his jaw. "Jarvis," he barked out, "is the analysis of the drug in Pepper's system complete yet?"
"No, sir," came the calm reply. "I would have informed you if it had."
"What's taking so long?" asked Tony in agitation. That seemed to be the only question he could ask all of a sudden. "I said I wanted it done immediately."
"And it was, sir, but analysis is not yet complete."
"Do something to make it go faster," Tony ordered him.
"Like what, sir? I have no control over the laws of chemistry."
"I don't know, push more buttons or something," said Tony in frustration. "Just humour me, okay?"
"Very well, sir. You choice of footwear in no way makes you look like an aging Lothario trying to recapture his long lost youth."
Steve's lips quirked at the slight, despite the seriousness of the situation.
Tony blinked and looked down at his trendy sneaks and then back up at where Jarvis' voice was coming from. "What, the hell, was that?"
"Me humouring you, sir," was the stoic reply.
Tony jabbed a finger in the air at the nebulous Jarvis. "When we're through this crisis I'm going to do an overhaul of your persona circuitry," he threatened his own creation. "You're getting a little too mouthy for my liking."
"Very good, sir," was Jarvis' differential reply.
"And the shoes are hip," said Tony defensively.
"Of course they are, sir."
Any further discussion on the subject was ended when the doctor walked out of the treatment room. Tony practically leapt on him. "How is she? Is Pepper alright?"
The grey haired doctor pushed his glasses up his nose and fixed his attention on Tony. "Miss Potts is resting. She's sustained a broken rib and some bruising in the incident."
"But she's going to be alright?" Tony pushed for a definitive answer.
"I believe so, yes. I'm a little concerned about her cardiac function-"
"What?" Tony interrupted. "Why? Pepper's heart is perfect."
The doctor grimaced. "That may be, but whatever that drug was, it's interfered with her heart muscles. She's having bouts of arrhythmias that I'm a little concerned about."
Steve came to stand beside Tony, brows furrowed in concern. "Are you saying Pepper could have a heart attack?"
"I'm saying I'd like to keep an eye on her for the next twelve hours," said the doctor. "At least until we know for sure that drug is out of her system." He looked at Tony hopefully. "I don't suppose we know what it was yet?"
"Still working on it," said Tony grimly. "Can I see her?"
The doctor hesitated and looked back over his shoulder.
"Please." The word was an unfamiliar one on Tony's lips and his voice cracked a little as he said it.
The doctor reluctantly nodded. "Don't let her talk too much. She's not very coherent. The drug has had a hallucinatory effect on Miss Potts as well. Don't expect much sense from her."
"I just want to see her," said Tony unevenly. When he'd flown back to the Tower, she'd been a limp rag in his arms and it had frightened him badly to see the usually vibrant Pepper like that. In his head, Tony knew if he could just see her, touch her, then everything was going to be alright.
"Just for a minute, then you have to let her rest," the doctor instructed him.
.
.
‼️🎈hello everyone thank you so much for reading this chapter! 🙏 If you'd like to read the full novel "The Price of Legacy", you can find it on my Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com in the store section. This fanfic will consist of 30 chapters and will also have a sequel that I'll be publishing later on. 🎈‼️
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