They were discussing birthday ideas (not too stringently, since Tony did want some element of surprise to be involved) when there was a polite knock on the door and Strange and Doctor Thompson both walked in. A nurse was following, carrying a covered that that turned out to be filled with instruments for removing bandages. Pepper and Tony moved from the bed, freeing space for the newcomers. Natasha had made an appearance, as well, walking in with Strange, but she was silent as she moved to stand on the other side of the bed, out of the way, but in a position where she could see everything that was happening. Peter looked over at her, but she gave him a reassuring smile and turned her attention to the doctors, and so did he.
"Peter," Doctor Thompson said, giving the boy a smile. "How do you feel?"
"Stupid."
Both doctors smiled at that, and Thompson sat on a rolling stool, and maneuvered to the side of the bed.
"Wrecked your car, from what I understand?"
"Yeah. I hit a deer."
"And a tree," Tony added. "Thank you for coming out."
"You're welcome, of course." The doctor reached for the scissors off the tray that was being held close at hand by the patient nurse, and all of them watched as the bandages were carefully cut away from the hand and the arm. Then the sling was removed, and the nano soaked bandages were cut, as well. "The x-rays were coming back with no breaks from the impact, so let's take a look, shall we?"
They all craned to look as the hand and arm were revealed inch by inch until the bandages were placed to the side of the bed.
"It looks better…" Tony said, never afraid to speak up.
A habit from his earlier days that he hadn't lost.
"It looks very good, indeed," the heart doctor agreed. He was carefully turning it palm up and examining it. "Still a little red, but the wounds are all closed, and the skin is intact." He ran his hand along Peter's palm. "Do you feel that?"
"Yeah. Tickles a little."
"Good. Move the fingers…"
Thompson ran Peter through several different mobility tests and made pleased noises after each try – and success. Then he ran his hand along the arm, palpating it and watching Peter's reactions as he did. He looked at Tony and Pepper, not missing the concern in their expressions and smiled with a slight shrug.
"It's incredible. Really. He's going to need some physical therapy for the hand – which is not one of my areas of expertise – but it really looks good. He shouldn't have any problems with the hand – or the arm."
"Do we need to rebandage it?" Pepper asked, smiling her relief.
"A brace will protect it well enough, I think." He examined the hand, again. "I don't see any bruising, or any signs of trauma from the accident, either." He looked up at Peter. "Be careful, though. Better doesn't mean healed."
"Yeah. No, I'll be careful."
"We'll brace it for a week or so," Stephen said, turning to the nurse, who nodded, set the tray down and left the room. "You have physical therapists here, Tony?"
"Plenty of them." It was military, after all. There was always someone tweaking a muscle or breaking something in a training accident. "We can set it up locally."
"Not too much to start," Thompson cautioned. "I don't want him overdoing it."
"We'll be careful," Tony said.
Obviously.
The nurse returned with a brace, which she handed to Strange. Having a bit more experience with injured hands, it was Stephen who applied the brace to Peter's right hand, strapping it on. He looked at Peter.
"If you're careful, we can forgo the sling, as well. Keep bumping it on things and we immobilize it. Understand?"
"Yeah. Thanks." He looked at Flash's father. "Thanks, Doctor Thompson."
"You're welcome." The doctor looked at Tony and Pepper – and Natasha. "Any questions?"
Tony looked at Pepper, who shook her head, at Natasha who smirked, and then back at the doctor.
"None. Thanks, again."
"My pleasure."
"Can we offer you dinner?" Pepper asked. "We probably pulled you away from something to come out."
"I appreciate the offer, but no."
The doctor made his exit, the nurse cleaned up the used bandages and carried them out, and Tony took Peter's now braced hand in his, examining the contraption with interest.
"How does it feel?"
"Aches a bit."
"And your head?"
"Hurts."
"Feed him dinner and let him get some sleep, Tony," Stephen told him. "We'll check on him in the morning and decide what we want to do."
"Yeah." He let Peter's hand go, and the boy tucked it against his side, still protective of it. "Hungry?"
"Sure."
Which meant that he wasn't, really, but that he'd eat to keep them from worrying. And that was fine with all of them.
"I'm going to take my cloak and go home," Strange said, looking at the relic, which had been limply playing dumb blanket while the doctor had been checking Peter's hand, but was now cuddled against the boy, once more. "I'll be back in the morning."
"Thank you, Stephen," Pepper told him, sincerely.
The cloak grumbled in Peter's mind, but it didn't rebel. With a final caress, it left Peter's bed and floated to its normal position on Stephen's collar.
"I'm going to go walk him out," Natasha said to Peter, also looking relieved. "I'll be back to check on you before bed."
The boy nodded, and Tony breathed an exaggerated sigh of relief when they were gone.
"No new damage from the steering wheel. That's good."
"So, I'm not grounded?" Peter asked, hopefully.
"Oh, you're still grounded. It's just now I don't have to feel guilty about doing it."
Pepper smiled at the way Peter rolled his eyes at that.
"Should I stay home, tomorrow?"
"You can't," Peter told her. "Shuri is supposed to be going to the tower with you. If she's going home, soon, it might be her only chance to go and I don't want my stupidity to be the reason she doesn't get to."
Pepper didn't look convinced, but Tony put his hand on her shoulder.
"We'll wait and see, Pep. If he's good in the morning, then we should be alright for you to go."
She might have argued, but she didn't want to upset Peter now that they had such a good prognosis and he was looking relieved, too.
"We'll see."
That was a mom response, and even though she didn't see it that way, Peter definitely did. He didn't argue, though; instead he settled back into the pillows, wincing at the aching in his head, but feeling so relieved that he couldn't help but smile. The hand was out of the bandages, now, and he could see all his fingers – and wiggle them, too, if he wanted to. Which he did.
"What do you want for dinner?" Tony asked, as Pepper settled herself on the edge of his bed.
"Anything."
"Burger?"
"Yes." He reached for Tony. Though, before he could leave to go get it. "I'm sorry. Really."
The billionaire smiled, and leaned over, pressing his cheek against Peter's in a move that was solely designed to comfort.
"I know you are, son. It's alright." He backed off, brushing Peter's hair out of his eyes, avoiding the stitches. "It's almost a relief, really, that you finally did something so dumb."
"What do you mean?"
"Your mom and I were beginning to think that you were some kind of an alien, and not a teenaged boy who was supposed to be making dumb decisions all the time. This way we don't need to dissect you to make sure."