Chapter Thirteen:
Blue was the luckiest boy on earth, according to Bruce.
After being under close examination and treated for severe burns on his arms and legs for over three hours, Bruce announced that the boy would be okay.
"If it was anyone else, and I mean anyone," The doctor explained, rubbing his forehead in exhaustion and stress. "They would've died." Bruce sat down in the sitting private sitting room in the intensive care unit of the hospital. The room was empty but for the other Avengers.
"How is he alive, then?" Natasha asked.
"The cancer," Bruce said, and gave a small smile. "Remember when I told you he was practically a walking, talking tumor? Well, the skin cells that were burned shed off after a few hours. He's regrowing the new skin as we speak." The others stared at Bruce, but he didn't seem to be done yet. "And, that vest he had on, it protected his chest and his vital organs, if he didn't have that, he probably would have died, despite the cancer. They set his shoulder back in place, and took the bullet out of his calf. He'll need a few days to heal, but he'll be fine, aside from the bullet wound. That'll need a little more time."
The room let out an exhale and Steve draped a hand over his forehead, closing his eyes. Boy Wonder, that was what he was going to start calling him. "What about McAllister?" Clint asked, and Bruce grimace.
"Nowhere near as good. He has several third-degree burns. He's being kept in a medical coma while he's being treated. He'll live, but it'll be hard."
"Good," Steve muttered, and everyone else voiced their agreements.
"When can we see the kid?" Tony asked, just as the door opened and the actual doctor treating him ― Dr. Sierra Amari, and a close friend of Bruce's ― stepped in.
"Tomorrow," She answered. "He's asleep now, and we'll keep him under for the night, just so no complications arise. Dr. Banner told me that he's had. . . episodes in the past."
Steve nodded and stood, "We'll be here as soon as visiting hours starts."
Dr. Amari chuckled, "I wouldn't put it past you. You all should go home ― have you been checked?"
"Yes ma'am," Steve smiled, and the doctor nodded.
"Then, I'll see you tomorrow," She gave a smirk and turned, walking out of the room.
t·u·r·c·h·i·n·u
Steve arrived back at the hospital at nine o'clock on the dot. With him, was Natasha and Clint. Tony had to hang back because Pepper insisted he'd go to a meeting involving new real estate first.
Blue was still asleep when they came in. He was in a far better condition than when Steve last saw him. The ash covering face had been cleaned and his shoulder was wrapped in tight bandages. His leg was propped up under a few pillows, and bandage securely. Aside from an IV and a few taped down patches that connected him to the heart rate monitor, he looked fine.
Natasha touched his pants leg, seeing the newly-grown skin for herself. "Miracle boy," She muttered and Steve chuckled, moving to sit.
"After this is over, I'm buying a lotto ticket and having him scratch it," Clint said, and Steve laughed, shaking his head.
He sat down in one of the chairs beside the bed, setting the bag of goodies for him at his feet. As soon as they left the hospital the day before, they had all unanimous agreed to go shopping. Now, Blue had a new collection of blue stuffed animals, sweets, clothes, books, and a flowers. Clint insisted on getting the flowers so he could make him a crown out of them while they waited for him to wake up.
However, that didn't seem to be the case. Blue moaned, inhaling sharply. His eyes peeled open and he looked at Steve, blinking blearly.
Steve smiled, "Morning," He greeted. Blue squinted and yawned, his fangs falling out as he did. He moved, looking around.
Blue jumped to attention, sitting up quickly. Steve reached over, setting a hand on his chest. "No, lay back down. You need to rest." Blue looked at him, and then at Natasha and Clint, who smiled.
"Where―?" He croaked, then coughed badly, his shoulders tensing. Clint stood, going to the table with the water pitcher and pouring him a cup of water.
"You're in the hospital," Steve explained as Clint handed him the cup. Blue downed it immediately, and Clint poured him more. "You're going to be fine. You just need to rest for a few days."
Blue was quiet. "Hey, dude," Clint said gently, and Blue looked at him. "How you feeling?"
"Where ― Master?" Blue asked, and Clint's smile faltered a bit.
"He's. . . getting help," Clint answered, "Don't worry about him. How do you feel?"
Blue frowned, "Master ― alive?"
"Blue―"
"Protect ― Master," Blue said, almost robotically. "Me ― save."
"You did," Natasha said, "You saved his life. You did good, B." Blue visibly relaxed, and laid back down.
The room went quiet, but Clint began to talk again, "Hey, wanna learn some new words?" Blue gave a small smile and nodded. "Great!" He walked back to his chair and pulled out a book he bought for him, "This is a ASL book, we can go through it together." Blue's eyes lit up in excitement, and Clint handed him the book. He flipped through the pages, eyes wide and smiling.
"Books ― like," He said, grinning. Steve couldn't help the smile on his own face.
"Here, let's start out with a few," Clint said, and Blue looked at him. He made a fist and shook it up and down while shaking his head, "That's 'yes'." Blue raised a hand and mimicked the motion.
"Yes," He said.
"You got it," Clint praised. "And, this," He held out two fingers and shook them side to side, with his head mimicking the action. "That's 'no'." Blue repeated it, shaking his fingers slowly.
"Good job, dude," Clint smiled.
Blue looked so happy. He turned to Steve and signed, [Blue ― yes ― B ― no].
Steve chuckled, "Good job, B."
Blue turned to Clint, "More?"
"Of course," He pressed his fingers together and tapped the tips. "That's the sign for 'more'. And," he touched his forehead, waving it, "That's hello." Blue repeated it over and over again.
Clint taught Blue a few more signs, including stop, goodbye, hot, cold, and help. Blue repeated the signs to himself slowly, memorizing them. Steve presented his gifts to the boy, which had been a blue bear holding chocolates. He didn't quite know what the boy would like, but as soon as he gave it to him, he looked giddy with happiness. Steve showed him the chocolate kisses and Blue experimentally ate one, then another one, then another. Steve had to stop him before they had a repeat of breakfast the other morning.
About an hour after Blue woke up, Tony and Bruce arrived. Blue was excited, and signed, [Hello!] about ten times.
Doctor Amari came in a few times, and introduced herself to him. Blue was a bit wary around her, but easily eased up to her comfortable smiles and warm words. He let himself get his blood drawn ― even though he nearly broke the hospital bed from gripping it so hard in the process ― and his breathing checked.
They spent the morning and most of the afternoon together, before Blue finally was exhausted from so much interaction and fell asleep in the mound of stuffed animals and candy wrappers.
While he was sleeping, Doctor Amari pulled them aside to talk. "There's signs of swelling from the smoke inhalation, so I'll keep him here another night so he can sleep with an oxygen mask. Otherwise, he can go home tomorrow. I'll write a note for him to get an inhaler and standard painkillers for his leg, in case it starts to hurt. If you notice any kind of swelling or irritation, come to me ― not Bruce, he can only go so far."
"I might go back to med-school just to get my Ph. D in that too," Bruce teased and Dr. Amari clutched her chest and rolled her eyes.
"Anything but that ― I might go into cardiac arrest," Bruce chuckled, shaking his head. "Getting back on topic, Blue will be fine. He'll be back on his feet in days, if that. Mr. McAllister will need more time to get sturdy, but he's stable now. I can take him off of meds for questioning. It'll have to be supervised by a nurse or doctor."
"That'll be good," Steve said.
Tony's phone rang. He turned away and touched his ear, answering it with a, "Tony Stark speaking." He stepped down the hall to continue speaking privately.
"Blue needs his rest, but you can check him out tomorrow morning, as long as there is no complications."
"Thanks Amari," Bruce said gratefully, and the woman smiled.
"He's a nice kid," She said, then shrugged. "And, it's kind of my job." She nodded to the others, about to walk off, but Steve stopped her.
"Wait," he said. "Can one of us stay here for the night? Just to make sure there aren't any complications?"
Doctor Amari frowned, considering this carefully, "Don't keep him up all night," she warned, and Steve smiled gratefully, thanking the woman.
Steve agreed to stay behind while Natasha and Clint went to go talk to McAllister when he woke up.
Blue was still in the bed, his mouth open and drooling and looking absolutely exhausted. Steve smiled, and moved to sit in the chair. He leaned back, comfortably watching the boy.
About five minutes later, Tony came in the room, "Yes, ma'am, he's right here," Tony said, and handed the phone to Steve. He mouthed, 'Blue's Mom', before taking a step back.
Steve awkwardly put the phone to his ear. "Hello, ma'am, Steven Rogers speak―"
"I don't care who is speaking!" She snapped, "I want to speak with my son!" Her voice cracked. She sounded like she had been crying.
"Your son was in an accident, ma'am," Steve said calmly. "He is currently resting at the moment, but I can get him to―"
"I want him here," she snapped. "That is my son, he's still in my custody. I want him here as soon as he is able to walk."
Steve frowned, "Yes ma'am. Would you like me to call you when he wakes up?"
The woman was quiet for a moment, "Yes," she said. "Please."
"Alright then," Steve said, keeping his voice even. "We'll bring him over as soon as he is released."
The woman was silent, and then he hard a quiet sob. "Thank you," she said, and Steve felt a sharp pang of pity. "Thank you so much, Mr. Rogers."
"My pleasure, ma'am," Steve replied. "We'll keep you updated."
"Alright then," she sniffed, then there was a click, and the line went dead.
Steve pulled the phone away from his ear and looked over at Tony who looked absolutely shocked. "What the hell, Steve!?"
"What do you mean?" Steve asked, confused.
"We agreed to screen her first, not drag him over there as soon as he could walk!"
"Tony, did you even hear that woman speaking?" Steve asked, slightly shocked. "She needs Blue back."
"Blue isn't in the right place to be with his mother right now," Tony frowned. "What if he tried to kill her? And, she doesn't know what he is now ― what he's become."
Steve sighed, he knew that Tony was right. He looked down at Blue, who was still sound asleep. "We'll go with the plan. Supervised visits until we are sure they can be together."
"And, if they can't?"
"We explain it to her. Explain what his mental state is like. We get them both the help they need."
Tony sighed, looking away. "We won't know how he reacts until their together."
"I know," Tony huffed, "I have to head out ― meetings to finalize the company transfer. You staying here?"
"Just to make sure no complications arise," He replied. "Nightmares, panic attacks, you know."
Tony nodded, "As long as you don't end up on the opposite side of those teeth, I'm game."
Steve chuckled and shook his head, "See you, Stark." Tony gave a nod and a gentle pat on Blue's uninjured leg before leaving the room.