It'd been a long stressing day for all of them, which was ironic since today was initially meant to be a day of relaxation, giving them a chance to unwind a little. Everything was normal without any worries, everyone was just starting to get to know one another and yet someone had to go and crash the party.
They were furious over what happened but who wouldn't be? Their friend was in critical condition and they had no idea what was going to happen next to make it worse they still hadn't found the culprit. Whatever was to happen from here on out would be imprinted on their memories for a long time. Whether it be a huge relief or an even big tragedy, they could only pray and wait. But hopefully the one lying in the hospital bed wouldn't remember much of the incident. That would be considered one of the uplifting aspects about being intoxicated at the time.
That and the fact that Tony's body was processing slower than usual helped to dull the feeling of pain, along with the adrenaline flowing through him. He suffered much less at the time, which was a good thing. Now all that was left was the tedious recovery process. Once they'd removed the fragment he was rushed to the hospital for immediate surgery. It could best be described as sewing up a ripped open teddy bear, except with not much stuffing to work with. With the continuous blood flowing out of an almost lifeless body, they had to work fast and extremely critically.
Tony had access to the best doctors in Manhattan. Some of which were the most qualified in the US. Ever since his incident in Afghanistan he didn't like to take any chances, even if he hated going to the doctor it was just one of those things. He couldn't just ignore the shrapnel in his chest forever, one day maybe soon he'd have to get it removed, as much as he didn't want to. The arc reactor after all was just a temporary solution and he knew one time or another something would have to be done about it.
The medics rushed Tony in as soon as possible, his two friends went to wait and the rest of the hospital crew was on standby for this very moment. He was in really bad shape at this point, still unconscious but barely breathing even with oxygen support. The pair of medics busted threw the doors with the gurney and never stopped; some nurses who had been patiently waiting rushed over and helped redirect them toward the Emergency Room. Steve and Bruce were hardly able to get into the building with all of the commotion going on between the staff. Most of them were shouting commands that they only half understood. A lady took them a side and brought them to the waiting room, they just watched as their friend was being wheeled away from them.
...
Steve couldn't help but pace back and forth in the lobby. His mind was going a mile a minute with no hope of slowing until he knew the situation. He'd never been much of a patent man, even bake in the old days before he joined the army or became a super solder he had always been antsy. Everyone thought he had ADD, even his mother before she passed away. She'd never been able to keep a leash on him. Not like it was a bad thing, Steve had always been a good boy. He would help out and clean; make dinner if his mother had been working all day and was tired. He was a kind boy but he hardly got tired and when he did he still kept on going.
He loved to help out it was how he was; he was born with a weak body but a kind heart. It was unfortunate but that never stopped him. He loved his family and stood up for who ever needed it, although there wasn't much he could do that didn't stop him from trying. Bucky was always there too, just as kind hearted. The two of them were like brother even if they were completely different yet they loved each other. When his mother died he was all he had, they looked out for each other. Well more like Bucky watched out for him, no matter how kind Steve was he would still be the one getting into fights.
He missed Bucky so much, almost like it left a void in his heart. He would give his left arm to see him again but he knew there was no way. He'd been lost before it was even his time. A lot of young men lost did as well and for awhile so was he. Steve got lucky, he was found. They never told him how but the next thing he knew he woke up in a make believe hospital room. It was shocking to say the least having the last thing you remember being that you were freezing to death. Then to wake up in the future surrounded by all sorts of things you couldn't even begin to understand. Everything was new but he loved to learn.
He didn't miss his time line too much; there was way more poverty and diseases with no way of treatment. He didn't miss the war; after all he half expected to die in it. Along with everyone else he fought alongside with, even with the serum he figured it was inevitable. All he could do was except that fact, but after all the hell he'd managed to come out of it. The only thing he missed was his friends, Bucky and Howard, and Peggy. He wished he could have had their dance just before his mission. He really liked Peggy and his entire life he could never even talk to a girl, she was different; it's like she could see him for who he was and not judge him by his appearance. She was a caring woman just like his mother. He wished he had longer but his timing was off, it was always off.
He met new people, two special agents, a scientist with an special ability who was in fact a really nice guy, and some guy that fell out of the sky that actually turned out to be a pretty cool guy also. There was also the son of his old friend who happened to be the same age as his father back when he knew him. There was also entire organization that he knew back in the day as merely a starter project, climb its way to the top. They'd just barely got to know each other, post introductions were only an understatement, but none the less they learned how to work together and it paid off. They'd won, it was near impossible but they had done it, together.
He was beginning to coupe; after all it'd been such a long time since he'd worked with others. Especially one's as extraordinary as these ones. In his mind it hadn't been long at all, almost like waking up the next day, when in reality it had been several decades. It was an experience to say the least; he'd never been in a situation like that ever before. But he was glad he was able to work with people with hearts as big as his, even if some of them had their faults but they all meant well. He thought of Bucky a lot, it was understandable to miss your best friend. To watch your friend fall from your reach in unforgiving tundra was one of the hardest things he's experienced.
"Not again," Steve said silently to himself. "I can't lose anyone else." He continued to pace back and forth; the lobby couldn't have been anymore baron, just the two of them and the receptionist until they were moved to a more private waiting room that was meant for families. It was just him and Bruce waited for any word regarding Tony's condition other than the ones waiting at the tower, they were alone. Bruce remained quiet, only an occasional sigh escaped threw his fingers. He sat hunched over in his chair, his face nuzzled in his hands, deep in thought. He never really vented his feelings to anyone instead he'd rather contemplate quietly to himself.
After a while Steve figured it was time to clean himself off a little bit after all he was still covered in blood. He looked himself in the mirror; it'd been a long time since he'd seen himself look so unsure. He had looked lost, his eyes wondered from the broken expression on his face to his dark and bloodied buttoned up shirt as well as up his forearms. He turned the faucet on and pumped some soap into his hand and scrubbed them. The blood had plenty of time to dry making it harder to wash away. It was even up underneath his finger nails.
He wiped his hands with a couple paper towels and started undoing his shirt and took it off, figuring it would make him feel a little better not wearing his team mate. Lucky for him he had on an undershirt, that way he wouldn't be bare chested in a hospital. He balled up his once blue shirt and looked back at himself in the mirror and sighed. "Come on Stark.. Don't you die on us.."
...
The surgery would be time consuming to say the least. Since the shard hit him with such force, making it able to pierce his armor as well as bend it inward. It tore right threw his left side; it missed his stomach and angled its way up into his chest cavity. The area around the wound was slowly bruising and turning into a dark sickly purple. Sadly the aid of his arc reactor in his chest the magnetism assisted in drawing the metal fragment further and further into his lung and closer to his heart at the same time.
As well as make it harder to remove, it was a good thing that Steve used his better judgment and quickly thought to remove the shard rather than leaving it in. With his strength it wasn't much of a problem. If he hadn't Tony probably would have an entire lung full of blood to drown in. But he manages to just skate by with one massive hole rather than the shredded bottom half. They hooked him up to the heart monitor which gave out several quiet beeps as the staff hurriedly prepped for surgery.
"Anesthesia" The surgeon shouted over his team as he pulled a pair of latex gloves over his hands. Numerous people were zipping around the room, some of them were prepping Tony for the surgery itself and others were setting up their stations. One of the nurses hustled over with a breathing mask that would replace the little squeeze one they'd used when bringing him in. Another young nurse rushed over to cleaned his arm and set up an IV. A meticulous syringe held delicately between her lips as she finished placing the needle in his vain. She pulled out a piece of tape to hold it in place and removed the syringe from her mouth and injected it into the porous tubing.
They cut away the temporary bandage that had been completely soaked threw by now. Once it was removed little streams worked their way down his side, meeting the surface of the operating table. One of the nurses wipe the area around with a cloth dampened with disinfectant. his bleeding started to slow when they wheeled in a portable concentrated x-ray machine. After snapping a few pics the main surgeon came over to assess the damage so far.
His other colleagues swarming around behind him placing all sorts of instruments around his station. He picked out a blunt hook and stuck it in the gash to get a better look inside; he tenderly pulled some of the torn flesh to the side and used a little flash light to get a better idea of the condition of his internal organs that were damaged. The pictures came back from the x-ray revealing the severity of his collapsed lung and from the impact there would be massive trauma. He also had 5 broken ribs, the surgeon could feel the sense of urgency.
He picked up one of the special scalpels from the plastic plate to his side and sliced at the edges of the gash opening his body wider and set plastic retractors in place to hold the wound agape. His assistant held a little siphoning tube and used it to suck up the blood that was still gushing from his collapse lung.
All of a sudden the heart rate monitor began to wail with erratic beeps. This alerted the lot to no prevail. The more experienced ones sprung into action and quickly thought of the best course of action. "He's going into cardiac arrest!" Tony's labored breath became more and more sporadic, though he was still unconscious he was tossing under the stress. Two male nurses held him down at the shoulders preventing him from hurting himself.
The assistant sprinted back with another needle in hand and plunged it into his chest, slightly to the side of Tony's arc reactor. Within a couple second his breathing slowed once again bringing only minor relief for this would only cause another problem. Within that allowed time gap they were able to work a breathing tube from his nostril down to his functioning lung.
If his heart rate were to suddenly increase or slow at this point there wouldn't be much they could do for him. CPR seemed almost impossible in the rare case of his prosthetic. They needed a positive responds from Tony. To show them a sign that he his was willing to fight for his life.
"We're going to need a bag of A positive to replace what he has lost. Come on people hustle don't forget this man's the reason why we're all still here. We have to work our best to save this man. It's the least we can do after what he did for all of us." Some of the staff hung their heads a little lower feeling the burden weighing heavily over them. Still it was in their duty to try their best to save every life. They'd found a burst of inspiration and purpose. Each of them carrying out their tasks to the fullest of their capabilities.
The surgeon used dissoluble stitches and with careful precision started threading them threw the ripped sides of his lung, pulling them back together best he could. This would be the longest part but once all the necessary structures were reconnected they could finally close him up. Once the inner parts of his lung were reattached the blood flow slowed down considerably. He then enclosed some of the loose muscle tissue back together and with much thicker stitches he sewed his skin back best he could. It looked fairly good considering they didn't have much to work with. It was a cross stitched line on his abdomen was straight and bound tight. The bruising around had gotten extremely worst once the procedure was near finished. Dark purple was all that was there, it surrounded the fresh scar.
They finished with seconds to spare any longer and who know what would have happened. They were extremely lucky in getting there when they did. With this kind of injury would have had a normal person dead within 10 minutes without medical attention. They'd downed in their own blood before anyone could reach them, but something was keeping Tony alive. His lung was fixed for the time being but unfortunately some of his ribs had broken because of the impact and others were at least cracked. There was also a minor fracture in his spine that itself would take quite a while to heal. Overall the operation took a few good hours to complete, all while his friends waited patiently for any word about his condition. Not really talking much either.
Tony was in and out of surgery quite fast even though it was a 5 and a half hour operation. For the people working on him it seemed as those they didn't have enough time. But for the two waiting outside as well as the one waiting at the tower, time moved even slower than it should have. They were just glad that they'd gotten him help in time. He could have bled out all over his comrades and the floor of his facility or drowned in a lung full of blood in the arms of his friend while the others watched. Nothing they could possibly do about it. It'd be best to forget all of that happening and look toward the future.
"We're done here for now, can you guy's clean up while I got inform his friends of the situation. We need to run some tests real quick before we transport him to a room." The doctor said removing his blue latex gloves that were covered entirely in blood. Some of the nurses check his blood pressure real quick and cleaned him up. They bandaged him thickly in gaze to prevent the stitches from being loosened if he rustled around or was being transported. Once they finished lifted him up carefully and placed him on a gurney to be moved.
They wheeled him out and down another hallway. The main surgeon cleaned himself up and removed his soiled scrubs. He didn't want to alert them by his appearance, like buttered him or something. He washed his hands and left down another hallway that would lead to area where the waiting room was. He knocked on the door and was immediately greeted with the worried Captain. "Hello sir my name is Dr. Shelton, may I come in."
Steve looked near shattered they'd waited so long that they didn't what had happened. He let out a timid "yes" and moved to the side allowing the man to walk in. He was nervous and in between whether or not he wanted to know what happened or not, but he had to know the suspense was killing him. "What's the news doctor?" Bruce said from behind Steve, the time was beginning to take a toll on him but he was very much aware. Especially since Steve had paced back and forth for a whole 5 hours.
"Everything went alright, we were able to patch him up and keep his vitals stable. Right now some of my colleagues are running a few tests but I assure you he's in good hands. You should be able to see him shortly but it will only be for a few moments. He desperately needs rest and he probably won't be awake by then." A huge weight was lifted from their shoulders. Steve could felt he could finally relax; his knees hit the ground after being on his feet for hours. It wasn't like he was tired or anything like that, it's just he want to let relief fully wash over him. "Thank you." He said finally as he looked the man in the eye and smiled.
"It's the least I can do for guys, I don't know what happened but I'm glad I could do everything in my power to save Mr. Stark. You boys are Heroes." Shelton said as he crammed his hands in his pockets. Bruce stood from his seat and silently thanked the man as well.
...
They moved Tony to a private room after they ran whatever tests they wanted. They deducted that in addition to the lung he had 5 broken ribs, another 4 cracked on both sides and a few cracked vertebra. It was like he got punched by the Hulk himself and hit the wall behind him. He laid in what seemed to be a very comfortable bed with the covers pulled up to his chest his arms on the outside of it. The room was fairly decent sized and recently refurbished, the décor was nice and he had a window a big one. It was 10:16 and the sun had long gone down leaving the moon at its highest.
Tony's arc reactor shone brightly against the ceiling of dimly lit room. Proof that Tony Stark still had a heart; even after his ordeal it still wasn't done ticking. The machines to his side beeped lightly. He had been out of surgery for an hour or so and the doctors finally decided it would be Ok to let his friends in to see him. They'd been waiting for so long to see how he was holding up.
Steve and Bruce entered the dark room. After being in such a horrible state he finally looked peaceful even if he still wasn't flushed with his usual tan color. From his stomach to his chest was bound in thick bandages tinged slightly since first being set. His left arm attached to a blood bag as well as an IV. He was unconscious and hooked up to all sorts of different machines, the duo hated to see him this way. It was pitiful and weak, the complete opposite of what Tony stood for.
They found two seats in the room and pulled them up next to the bed and watched him slowly breathe in and out with the oxygen mask on his face. Steve reached over and felt his forehead and frowned once he noticed how cold it still was. As far as they knew he was holding on. He had endured everything all the way up to the end of his procedure. One thing was true in the long run; he hadn't given up and was determined to continue the fight. Even if it wasn't a physical battle, his body might prove to be his strongest feat yet. The only thing they could do now was be patient and let him get some rest.