AN: Please note that this story has expanded into a three part.

I will explain the title in the notes of the epilogue.

They had arrived at the Akron hospital that Rhodey had been admitted to a little over two hours from when they received the phone call from his sister. Tanesha had told Pepper to come straight to the cardiology wing of the hospital once they arrived there, and not seeing any signs of her or her husband, Pepper called out to a passing nurse, "Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"We're looking for the family of James Rhodes."

The nurse looked down at her chart, "I don't have a Rhodes family listed here."

"It's probably under his sister's name then. Her name is Hobson," Tony said a little impatiently.

Fortunately the woman either didn't notice or chose to ignore his tone and looked at her notes again, "Here they are. The Hobsons are in Family Waiting Room Number Three." She pointed them in the direction.

"Thank you," Pepper said.

The woman nodded and continued on her way.

Once she was gone, Pepper elbowed him.

"Oww, what was that for?"

"You were a bit rude to her!"

He rubbed his side, nodding, "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I'm just worried about my best friend, you know?"

She sighed, "I know." Touching his face, "Come on, let's go let them know we're here and see if they know anything yet."

Together they entered the waiting room a moment later, and instantly they spotted Tanesha seated on the other side of the room leaning against her husband, and a toddler asleep on her lap. Tanesha's eyes had snapped to the door when she heard it open, and the disappointment on her face that they weren't a doctor was obvious. She carefully handed the baby over to a younger woman that Pepper guessed was probably her daughter, and she stood up to walk across the room to them.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting to see either of you here today," she said.

Other than give her a nod, Pepper didn't acknowledge her statement, instead asking, "Have you heard anything from the doctors yet?"

She sighed, "They're still running tests."

"Wow it's taking them a long time to do that," Tony stated, and immediately grunted when Pepper elbowed him again. "All I'm saying is that it's been hours, right?" A nod from Rhodey's sister confirmed that. "Shouldn't they know something by now?"

Tanesha shrugged, "Sometimes it takes awhile to get back test results."

"Yeah but it's taking them this long?"

"Medicine can't be rushed, Mr. Stark. As much as I wish it could be, there's just nothing for it sometimes but to wait," she replied, her years of experience as a nurse giving weight to her words.

Tony had opened his mouth to say something else but his wife's hand prevented him from saying whatever he was going to say. She smiled at Tanesha, and said, "Of course, we understand that. Right, honey?"

Tony mumbled something from underneath her hand, and then nodded.

"Would you like to sit down while we wait for the doctor?"

"Yes, please."

As Rhodey's sister returned to her seat, Pepper withdrew her hand and muttered, "Behave!"

"All I'm saying is-"

"I know what you're saying but can you try to find a way to express what you're thinking in a way that doesn't sound so rude or…"

"Childish?"

"Yes," Pepper said with a long sigh. "Sorry."

"No, I'm the one who should be saying that because I'm the one who is being an idiot, and I am sorry," Tony replied, scratching the back of his neck. "And it's not just because of the way I've been acting since we got the news about Rhodey. I mean I am sorry about earlier."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, "We can talk about that later but thank you for saying that." Sliding her hand into his, she added, "Why don't we go sit down now?"

"Okay."

They were crossing the room to sit down when the door to the opened to admit inside a woman dressed in a lab coat and scrubs. "Rhodes family? James Rhodes?"

Tanesha jumped up in a flash, and said, "That's us...uh me. James Rhodes is my brother."

"I'm Dr. Herbert, I'm the cardiologist who has been treating your brother since he was brought in for a suspected heart attack."

A voice spoke up from across the room. "And?"

The doctor looked away from Tanesha, and didn't ask who the owner of the voice was because she already knew the answer. Instead she responded with, "I'm sorry, sir, but this is a private discussion meant for the family of Mr. Rhodes."

Pepper and Tanesha's intervention is the only thing that kept Tony from retorting as the latter woman said, "It's okay, Dr. Herbert. Mr. and Mrs. Stark are here because my brother would want them here. It's okay you to say whatever it is you have to say in front of them. They're family."

The doctor looked uncertain, nodded, then began, "I'm sorry for the delay in updates on your brother's condition but I wanted to be certain that the results were right. We ran a test to look for the enzymes that are indicative of a heart attack as well as an EKG. Both tests came back negative."

Cautious relief crossed Tanesha's face, "So he's okay then? He didn't have a heart attack?"

"No, I don't believe that he did since both those test were negative."

"But?" Rhodey's sister prompted.

"But I'd like to Mr, Rhodes overnight for observation and schedule him for a stress test tomorrow morning just to be sure that we haven't missed anything and that the other two tests results were correct since your brother's primary symptom was chest pain."

"Alright if you think that's necessary."

"At this point I am ninety five percent confident that both will be a precaution and nothing more."

Tanesh nodded, "When we will be able to see James?"

"After we get him settled into a room I'll have a nurse come and get you."

"Thank you, Doctor."

As the doctor left the room, Tanesha's husband came over to hug her, and she leaned into his arms with relief. "He's going to be okay. Thank God!" They held each other for a few minutes until she looked back to see her brother's best friend and wife approaching them.

"We are so relieved to hear that he's okay," Pepper said. "But we're not going to intrude on your family time anymore."

"You're leaving?"

Tony nodded, while his wife said, "Yes, we are."

"But you're leaving before you've seen James, and I'm he'll want to see you both since you're here."

"I'm not so sure," Tony muttered.

"What?"

"Oh ignore him! If you're sure?"

"I am. I think my brother will be disappointed if you leave without seeing him first."

"Well…"

"Please… stay."

Pepper glanced at her husband, and she could see that he wanted to stay to see with his own eyes that his friend was alright. "Okay, we'll stay."