Not An Avenger

Poisoned

"Do you have an appointment, madam?" I heard someone say as I entered the Stark Tower.

Did I have an appointment? No, I most certainly did not. The only reason I was here was because apparently the director of SHIELD thought that Mr. Stark wouldn't mind if I randomly showed up at his house for his medical follow-up, even though there was nothing wrong with him last month, when he was my patient. (Except of course the metallic shards close to his heart, which his palladium arc reactor kept at bay. It didn't count, because medically or surgically we couldn't do anything about it without killing him.)

I searched around for the source of the voice that addressed me, internally cursing Agent Coulson. He was the reason I was in this situation. If he hadn't told Director Fury about the party invitation Stark had extended to me, I wouldn't be here.

"Ma'am do you have an appointment?" the voice repeated. It was then I realized that I was an artificial intelligence.

"No, I'm here for a follow-up. Mr. Stark was my patient last month. I'm Dr Ray." I told the AI, waiting to be asked to leave. God, I hated such situations.

Just then the elevator door opened and guess who came out? Tony Stark!

"Dr Amrita! What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He shook my hand. I wasn't kicked out yet. It was a good start.

"Mr. Stark, I'm here for a follow-up physical exam." I got straight to the point.

"Mr. Stark was my father. My name is Tony. And since when do SHIELD doctors go on personal follow-up visits?"

Since neve, I wanted to say. "It seems Director Fury is very much concerned about your health."

"He is, isn't he? Just yesterday, he rallied a proposition according to which my iron man suits would be handed over to SHIELD, in case I'm not fit enough to wield them."

So, that's what it was all about. Fury wanted the Iron am suits. But was he really sick? There was nothing on the investigations last time.

"So, you'll not let me do the exam?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm actually heading out, right now. There's some party I'm hosting and my secretary thinks that I should show up. Why don't you come along too?"

This was the second party invitation he had extended to me this month. But unlike last time, I wasn't clueless. Tony Stark was a well-known playboy, who frequently invited girls he was interested in, to his parties. I didn't know when his type changed from hot supermodels to nerdy doctors, but he was definitely not my type. I didn't care if it helped Nick Fury in his agenda to acquire the Iron man suits, I wasn't having any more of it.

"Mr. Stark...." I began.

"Tony." He cut me off.

"Mr. Stark." I didn't budge. "Given the interest Director Fury has in you, I have a feeling that we will have to meet professionally many times. I just want to make it clear that I won't be tolerating any kind of.... Non-professional things. I'm not the kind of girl who, .... well I'm not that kind of girl." My voice sounded really confident when I began, but towards the end, ... not the kind of effect I had wanted.

He looked at me with a smirk on his face. It didn't help that I was barely 5' 3".

"I know you're not that kind of girl, trust me. I can spot those girls from miles away. You are the kind of girl, who needs to loosen up. You're kind of stuck-up." He said, as he walked away.

"Jerk." I muttered under my breath before walking out of the building.

...

"I gave you one job. One job and you couldn't even do that." I was in Director Fury's cabin, giving him the 'mission report'.

"It wasn't my job to acquire the Iron man suits for you." I countered. "You didn't even tell me why...."

"I never tell my agents 'why', I only tell them 'what'."

"I'm not an agent."

"No, you're a doctor. You met him right? Gathered anything a doctor might have?"

I hadn't expected that question. I racked my brain for the image of Tony Stark. "He was paler than the last time. Respiratory rate was faster. I think he had thrombophlebitis in his right jugular." How had I not noticed it before?

"Uh uh? And what does that tell you?"

"Heavy metal poisoning." How dumb could I have been? He had an entire piece of palladium inside his chest.

"First time you thought of that?" He was mocking me now. I deserved it, I guess. He was my patient and I discharged him without even thinking about the consequences of a block of palladium in his chest.

Fury's tone changed on seeing the expression on my face. "Look we all make mistakes. But the best of us learn from them and correct them. Now, I don't want you moping over this. I want you to go to that arrogant man and make him see the reality of the situation. And do everything you have to keep him alive. He is too valuable to die like that."

I nodded and walked out of his office.

Nicholas J. Fury had known my patient was dying before I did. What a great doctor I'm becoming!

I was even wrong about the reason he was so interested in Stark. He was not after the Iron man. He genuinely cared for him. His stint to get his hands on the suit might have been to prevent Tony from using his suit too much, as it was definitely deteriorating his health.

I searched through all medical journals to find the cure for palladium poisoning. There was none. The exposure had to be stopped which was not possible in this case. Dialysis could be a temporary cure.

I knew I had to get back to the Stark tower. God know what kind of humiliation I'll have to endure after what I said last time.