Together || 𝙼𝙲𝚄 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑-𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝙰𝚄 ~ 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝟏

TWENTY-THREE: Part Of The Journey Is The End

" since when did you enjoy my presence? "

part of the journey is the end

desire and conflict

It had been a few days that Tony had been unconscious and he had woken up the previous day. Bruce was waiting outside of the hospital room, waiting for Happy to deal with the pickup arrangements with the nurses.

Even though Tony had just woken up, he requested to leave as soon as possible. Howard was conveniently at a conference so he arranged Happy to pick him up, and Bruce decided to tag along.

"Alright, you can go in now," The nurse told Bruce. 

"Tell him to take his time, he still needs time to heal," Happy also told Bruce. "I'll be waiting in the car,"

            Bruce nodded and entered the hospital room. "Hey, Tony," 

Tony was standing on the side of the bed. "Bruce, hi," He was slightly tangled in his breathing tubes. "Um, can you help?"

"Sure," Bruce hurried over, helping him get his arms through the breathing tubes. "What happened?"

"Getting a jacket on with this thing is impossible," Tony sighed. "Anyway, you tell me what happened, the nurse only would tell me I got shot four times. And all I remember is getting shot, and like, flashed of Stephen,"

            Bruce grinned. "Well, apparently you guys didn't see a group of shooters enter a corridor and Stephen was about to get shot. Just as the elevator you guys were in was about to close, you jumped through, taking the bullets for Stephen. Do you at least remember that?"

"Yeah, it's a bit blurry," Tony muttered.

Bruce shrugged. "Yeah, well, then apparently Stephen took out the shooters and took you to the History room to help you stay alive until the ambulance arrived,"

"Don't tell me someone kissed me," Tony groaned.

"He did CPR. He saved your life, Tony. He did it for a whole half an hour, he was so worried you'd get brain damage," Bruce said.

            "Yeah," Tony ran his fingers through his hair. "The nurses said I had minor brain damage, but not permanent, so,"

Bruce walked closer to Tony. "He passed out after the ambulance came, he'll be relieved to hear you'll be okay,"

Tony let out a sigh. "And what, miss a chance to be smarter than me?" he had an internal smile.

            Bruce looked around the room. "All packed? Happy's waiting outside," 

"There's nothing to pack. I'm ready though," Tony picked up the handle of the oxygen tank he had to carry around for the next few days.

"You still need that?" 

"Yeah. One of the bullets grazed the bottom of my lung, so it still hurts a bit to breathe. This makes it easier," Tony explained. He opened the door. "Let's go,"

~

Bruce and Tony sat down in the car as it began to make the journey back home. 

"Are you sure you don't want to talk to him?" Bruce asked.

Tony glared at the non-sound proof glass between them and the front seats. He pressed a button, making them sound-proof. "Yes,"

"You can't avoid him all holidays," Bruce reminded him.