ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ɪʀᴏɴ ᴄʜɪʟᴅ

Poison

{Chapter Seventeen}

Abby sat in the hospital room staring at the wall. The doctors had been coming in and leaving the room for the last hour. They had examined Abby for injuries only to find none. Three paramedics had told them that the girl had a deep cut on her arm that needed stitches and yet when it had come to the time the doctor was ready to stitch her up the cut was gone healed. Nobody understood it, least of all Abby. They had started testing her blood to see if everything was normal but Abby just wanted to go home to bed.

The girl looked up when she heard the door opening to see Pepper entering with a small smile on her face.

"You ready to go?" Pepper asked softly earning a nod from the eleven-year-old as she stood from the hospital bed and pulled her jacket on.

"Where's my dad?" Abby asked looking up at Pepper.

"He went to the prison. Wanted some answers. Don't worry though, he'll meet us on the plane." Pepper smiled leading Abby out of the Hospital.

Pepper didn't ask Abby about the cut on her arm. If the woman was being completely honest she was scared to question it. Both Pepper and Tony had been worried about Abby, for the last couple of months, her abilities were beginning to show. Things would fly across the room when she was upset or angry, she would speak of being able to feel people's worry or sadness and now she was healing at an inexplicable rate.

"It's just unbelievable. It proves that the genie is out of the bottle and this man has no idea what he is doing. He thinks of the Iron Man weapon as a toy," Tony stood on the jet looking into the room where Pepper was watching Stern on the television with a plate of food in his hand.

"Mute," The man spoke from where he stood as Stern continued to ridicule him, "He should be giving me a medal. That's the truth."

"What is that?" Pepper asked as he placed the plate down in front of her.

"This is your in-flight meal," Tony said lifting the lid.

"Did you just make that?"

"Yeah. Where do you think I've been for three hours?" Tony shrugged.

"Tony, what are you not telling me?" Pepper questioned him softly.

"I don't want to go home, at all," Tony said ignoring her question. "Let's cancel my birthday party and... We're in Europe. Let's go to Venice, Caprini. Remember? It's a great place to... Be healthy."

"I don't think this is the right time. We need to take Abby home so that she can rest, she's pretty shaken up. And she has school. And we're kind of in a mess." Pepper told him.

"Yeah, but maybe that's why it is the best time," Tony argued.

"Well, I think as CEO, I need to show up."

"As CEO, you are entitled to a leave."

"A leave?"

"A company retreat." Tony corrected himself.

"A retreat? During a time like this?" Pepper asked him incredulously.

"Well, I'm just saying, to recharge our batteries and figure it all out." Tony shrugged.

"Not everybody runs on batteries, Tony," The man glanced up at the woman as she spoke with a small smile before standing and making his way out of the room.

Once he reached a door he slowly pushed it open to reveal Abby laid sleeping on a small bed. With a small smile, he entered the room and sat down beside her sleeping form. He looked down at the girl as she rolled over to cuddle into his side. Tony's heart broke slightly as he stroked his daughter's hair comfortingly. He knew the palladium was poisoning him and if he didn't find a solution it would kill him.

"I'm so sorry, baby," Tony whispered softly as tears filled his eyes.

He wasn't ready to die. He had missed so much of Abby's life he didn't want to miss anymore. He glanced down at Abby who was smiling peacefully in her sleep and a tear escaped his eye. Taking a shaky breath Tony slowly moved the girl so that she was under the covers and stood up.

After wiping away his tears he pressed a kiss to the top of the girl's head before whispering softly so that she didn't wake up.

"I love you, munchkin."