Always Been You | Tony Stark

Captiolo (31) Trentauno ~ Hospital Frustrations

I woke up to a rather annoying beeping to both my left and my right. I tried to block it out, tried to go back to sleep, but the searing pain in my back made me let out a loud and pained groan.

"Avery? Honey, you awake?"

"It hurts," I mumbled, my eyes refusing to properly open and my vocal cords refusing to work fully.

"Okay, just give me a sec, hon." I heard some shuffling as I tried to open my eyes. Once I was successful, I was met with a piercing bright light, making me groan again in discomfort. I forced my eyes open, seeing the mass of bland color around me. Machines were all over the room, some of which I hadn't seen since my last hospital visit.

I wasn't alone in the room, either. Happy was laying on the bed next to me, a tube going down his throat to help him breathe properly. He looked awful.

"Shit." I groaned. I went to rub my head, as it was currently pounding, but something was keeping my arm hostage. I looked to my left to see Morgan's sleeping figure, curled into my side and holding my arm tightly. I softly smiled, using my free arm to move some hair that got into her face.

"She hasn't left your side since she woke up." My eyes shot up upon hearing the voice, seeing Tony in the doorway. "Pepper came to take her to her place. Said she could stay with her this week while you recover and we take her next week, but Morgan refused to leave. Said she wanted to make sure you were okay."

"How long have I been out this time?" I asked. The last time I was knocked unconscious, I didn't wake up for about a week.

"A few hours. It's almost 8 in the morning." Tony moved from the door, coming over to sit on the chair beside my bed.

"How's he doing?" I nodded toward the unconscious man beside me.

"He's in a coma. Doc says he'll hopefully be okay. He was closer than you were when everything happened, which is why he's attached to more gadgets than you, but he'll turn out okay."

"And what did happen?"

"Explosion. That Mandarin guy is claiming responsibility for it." I watched as Tony's leg bounced up and down, seeming to get faster as our silence grew.

"How's Morgan? I couldn't see any visible injuries on her." I looked back down at the girl beside me.

"She's fine, I think. Shaken up, but fine. You're the one that took the brunt of everything."

"It's not the worst thing that's happened to me." I shrugged.

"Yeah..." The room stretched into silence once more, making me slowly shift in my spot.

"I was so scared." I looked back to Tony, whose eyes were glued to the wall beside him.

"Morgan was the one that called me. She told me about the explosion. How you jumped in front of her just in time. She told me about the two paramedics that helped both of you and how one of them let her use his phone so she could call me. My blood went cold the second she mentioned you being hurt and she couldn't see Happy. When I got here, Morgan was sitting in the room alone. I asked a nurse where you and Happy were, and she just made my nerves worse by telling me you were both in the ICU."

"Why was I in the ICU?"

"You got some bad burns on your back, and a bad gash on your head. As long as we take care of it properly, your back should be fine with minimal scaring." He said as if he was taking the words straight from a nurse's mouth.

"They wouldn't let me see you for a while, since we're not married or anything so we're not technically considered family. Same happened with Happy when he got out of surgery. I had to threaten to sue or just buy the hospital to get them to let me see you two so soon. It helped that Morgan had some tears left in her. I also got it so you got into the same room. Didn't want everyone to be split up, and I wanted to be there when you both woke up. Though that might be a while longer for Hogan over there."