"Tianna…" he whispered softly.
The fire trucks had parked against the sidewalk and in the driveway. The firefighters began to extinguish the flames while the police had put the "Do Not Cross" tape around the area. "Go Iron Man!" someone said and everyone else cheered. The officers tried to quiet the crowd down as it got bigger and full of news people.
Tony looked up as an officer walked over to him and examined what was going on. "There's no one else in the house." He said before the officer asked the question.
"Good. An ambulance should be arriving any minute. You're free to go. But, as a fellow woman, I know I'd want my rescuer to stay around." She said and smiled. "Does she have a name?"
"Yes, it's Tianna Bellfaire." Tony said and looked at the limp body while the officer wrote down the name and walked away.
"Sir, I've finished the diagnostics." Jarvis said.
"Thanks Jarvis, we'll see if the doctors get the same results." Tony knelt down and began to panic when he realized there wasn't any breathing. "Tianna! She's not breathing anymore!" Everyone turned to Tony and the police officer rushed back over.
Just in time, the ambulance arrived and the paramedics ran over with a stretcher. Tony watched as the body went from on the ground, to the stretcher and walked with the paramedics. They loaded the stretcher into the ambulance and placed an oxygen mask over the face.
"Surely it'd be faster if I took her to the hospital myself." Tony said.
"You've done enough. We can do much more for her right now. We will take her to the hospital and you can visit her there." The paramedic said and closed the back doors. Tony watched as the ambulance drove off down the hill, and then turned to the house that was still blazing.
"Iron Man!" a lady yelled and ran over to Tony, pushing a microphone in his face. A camera man stood behind her and the camera was pointed at Tony. "Can you explain to us what happened here?"
"No." he said simply. The woman had a confused look on her face.
"Okay… Then, can you explain why this woman was so important to save and why you saved her again?"
"If you want to know what happened, I suggest you wait for the police report." Tony took the microphone out of the woman's hand and placed it in the shirt pocket of the camera man. He nodded in approval before levitating off the ground and flew off.
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Tony arrived at his house and quickly had the suit taken off. He changed his clothes, and then called Pepper. He waited for her to answer and sighed in relief when she did. "Hello…?" Pepper said with a groggy voice.
"Pepper, there's an emergency. Tianna's in the hospital. I'm about to be on my way there. I need you to get ready to meet me there. Please make sure there will be no press at her room." He said quickly. Pepper didn't answer right away; she was so tired she barely understood anything he said.
"Tony, it's 12:30 AM… Wait, did you say Tianna's in the hospital?" Pepper said, sitting up straight in her bed.
"Yes, and I have no idea if she's going to make it or not. She wasn't breathing when I last saw her."
"What do you mean when you last saw her? Why wasn't she breathing? What is going on!"
"Pepper, I'll explain everything once you get to the hospital. I'm in a rush! Just hurry up and get some security with you, then head to the hospital. I will call you once I'm there." Tony said while grabbing his car keys and hung up. He got in his car and drove off as fast as he could to the hospital.
Once there, he went up to the reception desk and asked where Tianna Bellfaire was. Everyone in the waiting room stared, even the nurse at reception just stared at him. Tony gave her a "What the hell are you staring at?" look, and then turned to see everyone else staring. He sighed.
"Can't a guy come to the hospital in search of the woman he thinks he might have feelings for to see if she's alright even if he is a celebrity?" Everyone smiled and stopped staring. He turned back to the nurse.
"Tianna Bellfaire is the emergency room right now. But she will be in room 345 once done. You can wait here for the doctor." The nurse said and pointed to an empty seat.
"Can't I just wait in the room she's going to be in?" He asked.
"I'm sorry Mr. Stark. That's against regulations." She pointed to the seat again.
Everyone glared at her. They began to yell things like "He's here to see the woman he might be in love with!" and "Let him wait in the room!" He gave her one of his famous smiles. The nurse sighed and pointed to the hallway.
"Okay, just this once. Down the hall, take a left, head to the elevators and go to the 3rd floor. There will be a list of rooms on the wall and it will guide you from there."
"Thanks darling." Tony leaned over the counter and kissed her on the cheek before going down the hall.
He took a left, and then went into the elevators. He got off at the 3rd floor and scanned over the list. He headed down the right hallway and entered the room 345. Tony sat in the chair and got comfortable before he took out his cell and called Pepper.
"Tony! Jesus, I'm on my way with security. What room is she in?" Pepper said.
"345. I'm so nervous. What if she doesn't make it? I could never live with myself…"
"The great Tony Stark is nervous? I've never heard such a thing."
"You sound just like Tianna." Tony chuckled.
"Hang in there Tony. She'll be fine. I should be there soon."
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There was a knock on the door and Tony turned to see who it was. He smiled when Pepper walked in with security behind her. "Took you long enough." He said.
"Well, this place is like a maze and there were tons of press at the front of the building, so we had to go through the back. I could only arrange for the hospital not to let any press on the 3rd floor. So there will be a security guard in every elevator and at the doors to the stairs at the end of the hallway." Pepper handed him a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, and good work."
"Stand guard at the door." She said to security. They nodded and stood outside the doorway. Pepper closed the door and sat in the other chair. "So, spill."
"Her house was on fire." Peppers eyes widened. "Tianna was in it. I brought her out and then the ambulance came and brought her here." Tony said and sighed, sipping his coffee.
"Oh my, I hope she's alright. Do you know when they'll bring her in?" As if psychic, a nurse walked in and smiled at the two of them.
"She's okay! The doctor will be bringing her in a couple of minutes." The nurse said and walked out. Pepper and Tony smiled at each other, and then waited patiently.
About 5 minutes later, the doctor pushed in a bed through the door. He placed it against the wall while the nurse handled the machinery. She attached everything as the doctor wrote down the information from the machines. "Ms. Canaveral, I'll finish up here. You're free to go." The doctor said. The nurse nodded and left.
Pepper got up and hovered over the bed, looking at all the equipment. The doctor turned to Tony and smiled. "I'm Dr. Margrave."
"Tony Stark and this is Pepper Potts."
"Ms. Bellfaire is a lucky one. We almost lost her. She will be fine, though I'd like to keep her for a day or two, just to keep an eye on her. The smoke ruptured her lungs a bit, but that mask will get whatever smoke is left, while giving her fresh oxygen as well. Hmm, what else… Oh yes, she won't wake up for a while, we have her sedated. It is 3:00 now, but if she does wake up, be sure to let us know right away. I will have a nurse check in every hour. We are still doing some tests; blood tests and what not. We will let you know the results later on." Mr. Margrave said. Tony and Pepper sighed in relief and thanked the doctor before he left.
"I'm so glad she's okay." Pepper said while fixing the blanket on the bed, then sat down on the chair again.
The room was then quiet for a few hours; with just the sound of the heart monitor beeping, the I.V dripping and Pepper's occasional snoring since she fell asleep about an hour after the doctor had left. Ms. Canaveral walked in and Tony watched as she changed the I.V, checked for blood pressure, and wrote down the information. Once she closed the door and left, Tony got up and stood over the railing to the bed. He smiled in hopes the waking up would happen soon, but knew it wouldn't. It didn't stop him from smiling.
"I didn't know what it was like to realize I've fallen in love with someone and then suddenly come to the conclusion that I'm about to lose that person just as quickly, until I met you. You had me scared to death! But that's okay, the only things that matter right now is the fact that you're okay and the fact that I'm going to make you mine, no matter what it takes… I know you can't hear me or anything, but I just wanted you to know that." Tony said.
He walked around the bed and grabbed the extra blanket, then placed it over Pepper. He sat back down in his chair and yawned. He looked around the room, tons of thoughts going through his head, until he fell asleep.