Inescapable

Ch. 6

It started off slow; your return to consciousness. Your hearing was the first thing that came back to you, you could hear distant talking. It came in and out; for how long you couldn't know. Then your sense of smell. You could smell coffee, and it smelled like the best thing on earth right now. You tried to open your eyes to find the source of the wonderful coffee, but your eyelids felt like lead weights. Then you tired to feel the rest of your body, and found that you had this pressure in your chest. As if something heavy was laid over you, almost making it hard to take a full breath. You spent an unknown amount of time willing yourself to at least open your eyes.

Eventually you succeeded. Blinking slowly and groggily, your eyes fluttered open and tried to adjust to the light. Once your vision cleared you were finally able to take in your surroundings. You were in a hospital bed, that was for sure, and it was desolate apart from a lone man draped over a chair asleep at your side. Tony. You let a small wave of happiness flow through you, seeing him there. You make an effort to try and sit up, and the ache and pain is considerable. The weight on your chest still present, even though you can't see anything impairing you.

Your efforts must have been louder than you thought because it caused Tony to rouse from his sleep. He practically launched himself from the chair to stop your efforts and with a hand on your shoulder, gently push you back into the bed. "Hey there tiger, slow down. Take it easy. You need to recover." His eyes look red, dark circles rimmed them. Looking at him further you noticed how disheveled he looks. His hair, usually coifed perfectly, it all askew in every direction. Looking further down you notice, to your shock, that he's wearing blood stained clothes. Quickly you shoot your eyes back up to his. "What happened? Are you okay?" You're surprised at how hoarse your voice sounds.

His soft smile reaches his eyes and warms your heart. "Always worrying about me..." His voice trailed off as his soft smile faded and a look of sadness and guilt raked over his features. "I'm so sorry Y/N. This is all my fault. Everything." You immediately found his hand which was on the bed near yours and grasped it. "Hey. Nothing is your fault. Why would you say that?" His eyes slowly traced down your face down to your chest, which you follow. You can't see anything but your hospital gown, but you still feel the intense weight on your chest. You watch as he tentatively raises a hand and softly lays it on your chest. You can't help but feel your heart skip a beat at the action; butterflies in your stomach at the gentle and personal gesture. "It was my fault you got hurt. My fault you almost..." He lifts his hand off you, hovering just slightly above your chest in a fist. Eyes closed as you could tell he was battling some internal demon. You took your other hand and softly grabbed his fist. You gently placed it back down on your chest and watched him let out a shaky breath, as if trying to hold himself back from crying. "I'm okay Tony. See? I'm right here."

He opens his eyes and you can see them glisten a bit. You're both staring at each other and it feels as though time is suspended. But it is broken just as swiftly when a nurse walks in and gasps. "Oh my! You're awake! I'll go fetch the doctor!" Just as quickly as she entered, she left, but the moment had already been broken and Tony cleared his throat to clear the emotion behind his eyes, his hand still remained in yours though right on your chest. He spoke more dryly now, but you could feel the emotion just under the surface. "There was extensive damage to your heart... and – well – the Extremis wasn't fixing it." He looked at you and you nodded for him to keep going. "It was just barely keeping you alive, so at least in that sense I'm grateful to it." You gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, but his eyes looked downward for the remainder of the time. "I - I had something I was working on... well SI was working on. In our medical technology department. I immediately tinkered with it, made some personal adjustments and helped the surgeons here..." He paused now looking up at you in the eyes. "It was the only way Y/N..."