Tony and Bruce followed Pepper, though after a few paces she paused. When Tony looked at her questioningly, she shook her head, "I can't look at it again..."
"It?" Tony inquired, walking past her to find Nicole on the floor. Chills rose over Tony's body rapidly; Nicole wasn't just unconsious, she was bleeding. Badly. From her wrists. Not two seconds later, Bruce voiced Tony's thoughts.
"Ho-ly Shit!" Bruce exclaimed. "Nikki!"
"Someone called 911," Pepper said.
"Cancel it," Tony said. "I can get her to the hospital a hell of a lot quicker in my Audi."
Pepper nodded and scurried off. Both men lifted up the unconsious Nicole and brought her down to Tony's Audi.
"I'll follow you down there," Bruce said as they set Nicole in Tony's gleaming Audi R8.
Tony nodded and sped off. A glance in his rearview mirror a few moments later showed him Bruce following him in his Lamborghini Mercielago.
'So, they didn't fly down here,' Tony thought. 'They drove!'
"Hang on, Nikki..."
Nicole was admitted immediately into UCLA Medical Center. There was nothing for Tony and Bruce to do but wait. Both of them were on edge however...
"She did it to herself," Tony voiced at last. Neither one wanted to admit it, but it was the terrible truth. About two hours had passed and no one had told them anything. The waiting room was buzzing, but his mind seemed immune to all of that.
"I can't believe I didn't see this coming," Bruce said quietly. "She's been living with me for seven months, and all that time..."
Tony shook his head, "You should know better than me even that Nicole is a secretive person; if she doesn't want you to know something, she'll make sure that you don't know it."
"Mr. Stark?"
A kind looking female doctor appeared and both Bruce and Tony got to their feet, but Tony stepped forward.
"Hi," The doctor held out her hand. "I'm Lizzie, better known around here as Dr. Klein. I've been heading the doctors who have been taking care of Nicole."
"Hi, call me Tony," Tony responded, shaking her hand. "How is she?"
"I have good news, great news, and not so good news," Lizzie said honestly. "The great news, is that you're a father, your daughter was delivered a few moments ago via C-Section. The good news is is that Nicole was stablized. And the not so good news is that Nicole has to be moved to a different ward."
Emotions hit Tony like a train, he was a father, Nicole was alright... but wait...
"What do you mean a different ward?"
"She needs to be watched carefully, Tony," Lizzie said carefully. "She is on temporary suicide watch."
"Meaning what?" Tony inquired.
"You can see her and everything else, but she cannot see her newborn until she is cleared as not being a danger to herself within the next 24 hours," Lizzie explained. "Tony, has she ever been like this before?"
"She honestly hasn't lived with me for seven months," Tony responded. "But you should know, we've been having suspicions of her having PTSD."
"Why?"
"She was raped about eight months ago," Tony explained, his throat tightening slightly. "She's not even sure if the child is mine."
"Ah," Lizzie said. "Well, you can both go see her now, though I'm not sure if she is awake..."
Lizzie gave them Nicole's room number and both men walked off.
"Congrats, Stark," Bruce said once they were walking along an empty hallway.
"Thanks," Tony smiled grimly. "If only this happened in a better situation..."
"It'll all be worth it once the baby and Nicole are out of here," Bruce assured him.
Tony exhaled deeply as they reached the door to the ward Lizzie had directed them to, "I think I'm going to go down to the nursery first. I need to think for a few minutes before I face Nicole."
Bruce nodded, "Go ahead, I'll keep Nikki occupied."
Bruce and Tony walked off in different directions. To Bruce's surprise, not only was Nicole up, she was sitting in front of a window, overlooking LA. Her arms were heavily bandaged and something in the way she was standing gave off the expression of pain.
"Hey, bonehead," Bruce smiled warmly.
"Oh, it's you," Nicole sighed, turning to him.
"Sorry to disappoint," Bruce's charm shone through his smile. "How are you feeling?"
Nicole shrugged, "What difference does it make?"
"It makes the difference of you being able to see your new daughter or not," Bruce said. He exhaled deeply as he sat on her bed, "You really scared us, Nikki."
"Sorry," Nicole said emotionlessly. She was looking out the window, but Bruce could tell her mind was not anywhere within Los Angeles, it was probably millions of miles away at that point.
"Nikki, what's going on in your head?" Bruce inquired.
"What difference does it make?"
Bruce blinked, "Is that your answer for everything now?"
Bruce was certain he saw the faintest hint of a smile flash rapidly across Nicole's mouth as she opened it to answer and then shut it tightly.
"Was that a smile I saw, Ms. Lion?" Bruce inquired, moving from the bed to stand behind her.
Nicole looked at Bruce long and hard and after inhaling deeply, she said only three words as her hands grasped his upper arm, "Please help me..."
Tony walked along another deserted hallway to the nursery. He halted and the kind nurse at the door smiled when she saw him.
"You're Tony Stark," She said matter-of-factly.
"I know I am," Tony nodded.
"Your daughter just came down here," The nurse informed her. "Tiny little thing, with no first or middle name; only a surname."
"Nicole called her a Stark?" Tony inquired.
The nurse nodded, "Would you like to see your new baby girl?"
"Please," Tony inclined his head slightly.
The nurse walked into the Nursery, and after debating for a second, beckoned for Tony to follow her. Tony did so asfter first washing his hands thouroughly at the nurse's request. The tiny baby girl laid quietly in a cradle in the corner. She was wide awake, but she made no sound; she looked around curiously.
"She's a sweetheart," The nurse smiled warmly.
As if the baby recognized Tony, she immediately began cooing when she laid eyes on him.
"Can I hold her?" Tony inquired.
"Go ahead," The nurse responded. "Just don't leave the nursery."
Tony nodded and took the warm baby in his strong arms. After a few moments of rocking her, the baby fell asleep in his arms.
"You're so sweet," Tony said quietly. "I don't give a damn if I'm your father or not; I'm going to take care of your mother, and I'm going to take care of you.
