It was dark when she opened her eyes and Tony was sleeping in a chair next to her bed, his torso draped over the edge of the bed, his head lying on her stomach. She couldn't help but started crying and it woke him up, he sat up immediatly pulling her in his arms, tried to soothe her.
"It's alright, Honey... I'm here, i'm right here..."
He shifted her so he could sit down in bed proper and pulled her in his lap, holding her for several minutes. Nurses came, to check on her and when they were gone Tony whispered: "I'm so glad you're back..."
"I'm... i'm so sorry, Tony... I... I just didn't know... what to do... I... felt so alone... and..."
"Shh... Peps, we'll make this okay... everything will be fine...They shouldn't have let you go.. I'm so sorry, Pep..."
Tony had a long and intense chat with her doctor about what he could do. And they found a solution that hopefully would work.
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"Peps?... I... We'll go... I pack your bag and the jet will take us in 2 hours..."
She only nodded and stared at him with sad blue eyes.
They sat in the jet, Pepper was cuddled up in Tony's lap, her head on his shoulder. She was shivering and Tony pulled a blanket from the couch. He couldn't deny that he was helpless, he didn't have an idea what to do else if this wasn't working.
"Where... where are we going, Tony?", Pepper asked him softly.
"We're flying to my private Island, there's nobody besides us and a psychologist i ordered... she's the best. I was with her after afghanistan... Believe me, Pep, we're going to make this okay..."
Pepper was sleeping while Tony spoke with Dr. Maria Smith. "Please Maria, I know you are the best... She has nightmares and she's very weak... She tried to kill herself and I don't know what else to do..."
Maria nodded smiling at him.
"Don't worry... I'll try my best to help her."
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-1 Month later-
Pepper wasn't as good as new, but she get better, the nightmares had stopped and she wasn't crying all the time. One morning, Maria came to Tony and whispered:
"Go on... do something fun with her, i think it would be good."
Tony smiled, mumbled a "thanks..." and went to Pepper in their room. "Honey...What do you think about swimming?"
"What?"
"Swimming, you and me... Come on Peps, its so wonderful outside at the beach..."
"okay..."
He waited for her in his swim-shorts and gasped when she came out of the bathroom in her bikini. He hadn't see her like this for weeks and her face already looked stronger. He waited until she reached his side and kissed her cheek softly, whispered: "You are so beautiful, you know that?"
She sighed and wrapped her Arms around his neck. He lifted her on his arms and carried her to the beach. When they reached the water he just jumped in with her and held her close, so she couldn't get free from his emrace. When they broke through the surface he smiled at her and nearly drowned when he saw what she did. Pepper smiled back. He hadn't seen her smiling since she was back from that cave and it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. He swam to her and dragged her on his back to bring them both back to the beach. As soon as they could reach the ground with their feet he put her down and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I love you, Pep... so much" Then he leaned in to kiss her and relief flooded him when she kissed back. The fact that he could do this again made im melt to his very core.
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Tony was already lying in the bed and waited for Pepper. He smiled at her when she came back from the bathroom and pulled her in his arms as she laid down next to him.
"Tony... Could we talk?"
"Of course, Honey..."
"I'm sorry, Tony... I'm sorry that you have to put up with all of this. I just felt like I wouldn't be strong enough for all this, all the images and the nighmares... I... I'm sorry that I tried to kill me... but i just didn't know what to do... You werent there and I had a very bad nightmare... You... thank you that you stayed by my side... And that you called Maria... she... she was, she is a very big help. I love you, Tony... and I'm sorry that this is such a hard time..." He cupped her cheek and leaned down to kiss her softly.
"It's okay, Honey... Of course I'm worrying about you, but we'll handle this, because I love you... And I promise that I'll make you feel better again..."
