A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! :^) More please! (hint: they make me write faster) ;^) Also, this chapter is a little longer than my previous ones.
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Tony woke with a start, heart pounding. He was plagued by an overwhelming sense of dread that had followed him into consciousness. In his dream, he was back at the Expo. Vanko's drones had self-destructed, and Pepper was missing.
The air was thick with acrid smoke, and the filtration system in his suit was unable to keep up-- it made his nostrils burn and his eyes water, breathing was difficult. Turning a corner, he saw a body lying prone on the ground. Through the haze, he was able to discern that it was a woman with a slight build. As he drew closer, he could see that she had long hair. Light colored... red. Panic welled in his chest, it could only be... "Pepper!" he cried. No response. He ran to her side, reaching out a gloved hand to touch her. Cradling her head in his arms, he found that her hair was matted with blood. Frantic, he searched for a pulse, but found none, "No!"-- then he woke up.
He drew a shaky breath and ran a hand through his tousled hair. It was just a dream, that's all. Just a dream... he though to himself, over and over, holding his head in his hands. The early light of dawn was just beginning to spill into his bedroom around the edges of drawn, heavy curtains.
Turning his head, he could see Pepper sleeping soundly, reclined in a nearby chair. The steady rise and fall of her chest brought him much-needed comfort. But he wished desperately for her to share his bed. He was a little hurt that she had not seen fit to... after last night-- well, he'd thought-- Don't think. She's not like the others, Tony, he admonished himself.
As the adrenaline from his dream subsided, he became acutely aware of how much pain he was in. He shuddered, swallowing the bile that rose in his throat. With a grimace, he carefully turned onto his side so that he could reach his bedside table. Picking up the toxicity meter, he pressed it to his index finger and waited. The readout flashed: 90% Sighing, he felt as though a weight had been lifted off of his chest.
Tony knew that the reduction in blood toxicity was only due to his inactivity during sleep. He was merely relieved that toxicity had not risen overnight. Heavy metals don't leave the human body easily-- a period of detox is required to purge the metal from the body.
His head reeling, he glanced at his watch: 7:40AM. Pepper stirred, stretching. Eyes still closed, she sighed contentedly. Tony's gaze lingered on her, my god, she's beautiful, he thought to himself. "Morning..." he said quietly, with a half-smile.
She started, her face immediately full of concern, "Tony-- how're you feeling? Did you sleep?" she was already out of the chair and half way to his side. Tony noted, with some disappointment, that she was still fully clothed in the same outfit she'd worn the previous day.
"Like crap. Not really." he quipped, not much in the mood to be fussed over.
She frowned, kneeling on the floor beside the bed, she placed a hand on his forehead, "Tony, you're burning up."
"Yeah..." he managed, swallowing hard.
"Let me get you some--" she began.
"Stay, Pep," he clutched at her hand, eyes pleading.
She pursed her lips, "Tony, you need--"
"The doctor will be here soon, right?" he pointed out, "I need you. Please."
Against her better judgment she crawled into bed beside a very sick-- and possibly delirious-- Tony Stark. Pulling the covers up around both of them, she wrapped her arms around him gently, so as not to disturb his injured ribs.
She felt him trembling under her hands, fever chills, she thought, spooning him more closely.
"Mmm... Pepper..." he slurred, relaxing a little in her arms. This was the closest the two of them had ever been.
They fell silent, though neither slept: Tony was in too much pain, and Pepper was too worried about him.
Not thirty minutes later, the phone rang. It was Happy, letting them know that the doctor was downstairs.
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Doctor Nguyen was amazed that Tony Stark was alive, and bewildered not only by the technological marvel that was buried in his chest, but also by its purpose.
Pepper had taken the doctor aside when he arrived, and asked him to sign a non-disclosure agreement-- as though Tony and his condition were a top secret project. She'd proceeded to explain, at a high level, how the arc reactor worked and what purpose it served.
"The palladium that powered the arc reactor was leaching into his body," she explained.
Doctor Nguyen nodded, not surprised in the least that this had happened. Stark may be a genius, but he was no doctor. Any physician worth his salt would have warned Tony away from embedding palladium in his chest. He'd used an engineering approach to solve a biological problem, and it had backfired.
The situation was serious, while the doctor had treated a handful of patients with metal toxicity levels as critical as Tony's, those patients remained in the hospital and under close observation during the treatment and recovery process.
"This is going to be very," he paused, looking for the right word, "... difficult... to do at home, Mr. Stark. I strongly advise that you go in for--"
"Not happening." said Tony, "I hate hospitals. I have everything I need here. How much would it cost to keep you on staff?"
Pepper rolled her eyes, she was embarrassed by how difficult he was being, "Tony, don't--"
The doctor interrupted, "I can be on call, but I cannot remain at this location for the duration of your treatment. I have many other patients to tend to. And they're in hospitals," Doctor Nguyen said curtly. He was accustomed to patients being difficult and refusing to follow his advice. Given Iron Man's reputation, he was not surprised to find Tony one of the most difficult patients he'd dealt with in a long time. "I can administer the first injection, and leave instructions with Miss Potts for the rest of the week. And we'll go from there."
"Doctor, how dangerous is it for Tony to go through this treatment at home?" Pepper inquired, distressed that she was being designated responsible for carrying out the treatment, and angry that Tony was insistent on putting them both through this.
"The treatment is substantially risky simply because of how saturated his body is with palladium ions." said the doctor, "The techniques we use to treat this condition are quite pedestrian, however, I must reiterate that Tony is a special case. If something were to go wrong, we may not get to him in time."
Tony wasn't budging, and Pepper planned on giving him a piece of her mind after the doctor left. He was being childish and irrational-- again. Not to mention selfish.
"Essentially the treatment involves giving regular injections of a substance that will bind to the metal ions in Tony's body, creating a compound that can be excreted through normal biological processes. It's called chelation." the doctor explained, "It gets tricky because this purge can cause severe and unexpected symptoms in the patient-- which is why I must recommend--"
"Duly noted, Doctor Nguyen." Tony interjected.
The doctor pursed his lips, "Very well," he reached into his bag and pulled out several vials and syringes, placing them on the bedside table. "He can't have any pain medications that might interfere with the detox process, stick to over the counter drugs-- like tylenol or ibuprofen," taking out his prescription pad, he jotted down some notes and tore off the top sheet, handing it to Pepper, "This is for the lesions on his chest and neck."
Pepper took the prescription, and squinted at the illegible writing, "Lesions? Oh those-- well they're not... lesions."
"Yet." said the doctor, "they may become lesions, depending on how is body reacts to the treatment. If it gets bad, take him to the hospital and call me on the way."
Pepper could swear that Tony had paled several shades, "Define 'bad'," she said.
The doctor sighed, furrowing his brow, "If his blood pressure drops dangerously low, or he loses consciousness. I can't say what you should expect, because I honestly do not know." the doctor regarded her seriously, "Keep him hydrated, he's going to lose a lot of fluids."
He got up to leave, "Oh and, keep him immobilized as much as possible, the ribs will heal nicely." the doctor finished, looking at both of them, he asked, "Do you have any questions for me?"
Pepper shook her head, looking a bit shell-shocked. Tony looked positively queasy, "No." they said, almost at the same time.
"Alright then," said Doctor Nguyen, drawing the contents of one of the vials into a syringe, "this is the first dose. I've left instructions for how and when to administer the remaining treatments," he plunged the needle into Tony's bicep, "His body should start responding within 30 minutes."
Tony winced as the chelating agent flowed into his body, "Is it supposed to burn like this?" he asked the doctor, trying to mask his concern with annoyance.
"Yes," he said, withdrawing the needle and discarding the syringe. He packed up his bag. Pepper thanked him for coming and walked him out of the room.
Once they were out of earshot, she apologized for Tony's behavior, surprised to find that the doctor wasn't actually offended by it and had indeed dealt with more unruly patients. Then she handed him off to Happy, who thanked him again and saw him off.
Pepper returned to Tony's room, and they were alone again. She crossed her arms and said sternly, "Tony... what have you done to us?" she didn't wait for his response, "Why couldn't you just do this like-- like a normal person?" she threw up her hands, now thoroughly annoyed.
Tony looked down, "Sorry. I just... I really hate hospitals." he said, sheepishly.
"You know you could die, right?" she said.
He nodded slowly.
"That doesn't bother you?" she raised her voice, continuing, "Well it bothers me, Tony Stark! So help me, if you die--"
Suddenly Tony groaned, clutching his arm at the injection site. In a matter of minutes, it had become red and inflamed.
