Rhodey sent an update to Nat not long after the doctor left. She called him moments later. "Does Pepper know?"
He rubbed a hand over his face. "No."
"Should I call her, or will you?"
He considered that for a minute, then sighed deeply. "I should make the call."
"Do it soon. There will be things she'll need to be ready to do if he doesn't make it."
"Right."
Nat hung up without saying another word. Rhodey stared at his phone as if willpower alone could persuade Pepper to call him so he wouldn't have to call her. No such luck. God, how he hated these calls. Steve reached over and squeezed his shoulder encouragingly.
Pepper's phone rang repeatedly with no response, then switched over to voicemail. He said tersely, "Call me," and left it at that. She would have a good idea why he'd called before he actually had to talk to her.
It was a half hour before Rhodey's phone rang. Clint had left in the meantime to hunt up some coffee; he'd offered to take Rhodey along for the ride, but Rhodey declined and Steve stayed with Rhodey. He didn't want to leave Rhodey alone for the conversation he was about to have. It was the least he could do.
Rhodey slowly lifted the phone to his ear. "Pepper," he said heavily. "Where are you?"
Steve couldn't hear what Pepper said.
"Yes, this is about Tony . . . it's bad." Rhodey explained what happened, occasionally pausing as Pepper interjected with questions. Eventually, he fell silent for several long moments, shaking his head slowly.
"Look, you aren't listening to me. I don't know when they might release him. I'm saying he may not leave. This is a ten, Pepper, and you need to be ready to do what you have to do if the owner of the company . . ." His voice broke more with each syllable until he couldn't force another word out.
Rhodey covered his face with his hand. Steve moved to stand behind him and rested his hands on Rhodey's shaking shoulders.
By the time Clint returned, carefully carrying three steaming cups of cafeteria coffee, the phone call was over and Rhodey had composed himself.
Rhodey took a small sip from his cup and grimaced. "I think even Tony would have trouble drinking this, and he's downed a lot of crappy coffee."
Clint raised his cup toward the bed. "I look forward to having him try it."
.
Time in the ICU was marked by the regular rounds of the nurses and periodic visits from the phlebotomist to take another round of blood for tests. Other than that, there was nothing to do besides watching the machines and talking to those sharing the vigil. If Tony had been doing the waiting, he would've been on his phone or another device or even a holographic interface of some sort, but Steve, Clint, and Rhodey were too polite to outright ignore the others.
So they talked. Steve sometimes forgot that Rhodey and Clint weren't on the Avengers team at the same time and thus didn't know each other as well as he knew each of them. Even then, he couldn't claim to know either of them truly well, and Rhodey knew Tony better than anyone.
Stories were exchanged until nearly midnight, when Steve and Clint persuaded Rhodey to get some sleep. He conceded only on the condition that they continue taking photos of the readouts every half hour and that they wake him immediately should anything change for good or ill. They readily agreed, so Rhodey rolled himself into a corner, leaned his head back against the wall, and went to sleep.
The nurse-a new one by now, thanks to shift change-offered to bring a few blankets and dim the lights slightly so they could rest. Steve spread one of the blankets over Rhodey, but Clint just hugged his legs to his chest, rested his chin on his knees, and said he was fine.
Steve took the first watch, which ended up lasting until after five a.m. because he didn't want to wake anyone. It would have lasted longer, but Clint woke up and insisted he take his turn. Steve stretched out on the floor by their belongings, wrapped himself in a blanket, and used his bag for a pillow.
Then Clint was the lone guardian, left to contemplate in the company of the murmuring machines. Laura called once the kids were awake so they could say good morning to Daddy, then she sent the Cooper and Lila to get dressed while she talked to him a little longer.
"Are you sure you're okay with the kids? I can come back if you need me," he said.
She laughed at him. "Who has been running the farm all these years? We're fine. I've got the rest of the team here to babysit if I decide I want some time alone. Stay. They need you there."
"I'll call at bedtime," he promised, and hoped there would be better news to report by then.
.
The new day brought what seemed like a parade of medical personnel through Tony's room. There were the nurses, of course, checking the monitors, tending to his tubes, and once even loosening the straps holding the breathing tube to wipe down the skin underneath. The vampires (as Clint called the phlebotomists) also continued making periodic appearances.
The biggest addition was the doctors who would mostly hover in the doorway, murmuring to one another-they always came in clumps of at least two, more often three-before disappearing again. Their appearance was usually followed by another visit from the nurses to adjust medication or, in one case, a tech bringing a mobile x-ray machine to check on Tony's lungs. Or that was Rhodey's guess, anyway. The doctors never actually talked to them, and Clint tried to get Rhodey to bet with him on whether the reason was that they didn't have anything useful to say or that they were intimidated by Captain America lurking beside their patient.
As the hours dragged on, Clint and Steve took turns going out into the hallways to walk around for a while. Rhodey steadfastly refused to leave Tony's side. Clint hoped that a doctor or two would wander in so he could interrogate them without Steve's awe-inspiring presence, but the doctors predictably never showed up while Steve was roaming the halls. His attempts to elicit information from the nurses always failed miserably.
Rhodey dozed off at one point so Clint took the next scheduled photograph, then took a few silly selfies just because he could. He hoped to make Rhodey laugh; the man increasingly looked like his frown creases were etched in stone.
Clint almost thought he'd have to take the next picture too, but Rhodey abruptly awoke five minutes before the half hour had passed. "Coffee?" Clint asked while Rhodey rubbed his face and yawned.
"Sure. Thanks."
It was getting near early bird dinner time, so it took longer to retrieve the coffee than Clint originally intended. At least it was fresh, for whatever good that did.
Rhodey was studying his phone when Clint returned. He waited until Clint had set down Steve's cup before holding the phone out to him. "Take a look at the photos in sequence. Do you see what I see?"
He'd brought up an earlier photo and Clint swiped through the images once, then went back and looked at them again. "A couple of the numbers have increased a bit. What is that, the blood pressure?"
"Yeah, that's the blood pressure. The oxygen level is up a point, too. That has to be a good thing, right?"
"You're the one that's done this before, not me. But yeah, I would think so."
"It probably doesn't mean much," Rhodey concluded, sounding melancholy.
"It has to be better than staying the same like he's been doing," Clint said pragmatically. "We can hope."
They needed all the hope they could get.
.
The doctor that finally stayed in the room long enough to tell them what was going on was the same disheveled doctor as the night before. This time he didn't have an armful of papers to drop, just a tablet computer that he seemed uncomfortable with even touching. He tucked it awkwardly into a large pocket on his white coat, then seemed a little frustrated that he couldn't shove his hands into his pockets.
He cleared his throat, then took off his glasses and fiddled with them. Clint was reminded of Bruce and wished he was there. He may not be that kind of doctor, but he was good at getting people to talk. "We've noticed some of the numbers going up. Is that good?" Clint asked pointedly, hoping to needle the doctor into responding.
Finally, the doctor spoke, glancing up at them before returning his gaze to the square of tile immediately in front of his toes. "You're watching more closely than most. Your friend's blood pressure has recovered somewhat and we believe we may have finally found a medication cocktail that he will respond to effectively."
He ummed and ahhed for a moment, as if searching for the right words. "His condition remains quite serious, but his chances are marginally better than yesterday."
"So he could still die," Rhodey said bleakly.
"Yes," the doctor replied a nod.
"When will we know if he's going to recover?" Steve asked, trying to take the conversation in a more positive direction.
The doctor shrugged. "The longer he holds on, the better the odds are, but we won't know for sure until he recovers."
.
The second night went much like the first. Before he went to sleep, Rhodey tried to convince Clint and Steve to wake him for his turn overnight. They verbally agreed, but Steve woke Clint around three and neither of them even considered disturbing Rhodey.
Steve had spent most of his watch pacing the room, but even so he felt restless and unable to sleep. Eventually, and without even looking back at him, Clint said blandly, "Why don't you go back to the compound and punch something for a while? Or go for a run or whatever. You're driving me crazy."
"It would be good to check in with the team in person," Steve agreed hesitantly, sitting up and rubbing his face. "Are you sure you'll be all right here alone?"
"Tony and Rhodey are here, and the nurse is in here every ten minutes on the dot. I don't think that counts as being alone."
Steve didn't dignify that with a response. "Anything I should bring back with me?"
"Instant coffee," Clint replied immediately. "And if Wanda has the urge to bake something, I'd never say no. Bring a separate plate for you and Rhodey, if you want."
"How generous," Steve said dryly. "I'll be back in a few hours."
"If I see you before lunch, I'm banning you from the room."
"Good luck with that."
"The colonel will back me up."
"You'll need a little more than that."
"The whole team is a text away. Now get out of here."
Steve raised a hand in farewell as he left the room. Clint glanced over at Rhodey, who slept on, undisturbed. He heaved a sigh and checked the time; he had a few minutes yet until the next photo. Tony's blood pressure had crept up another couple of points and was getting within striking distance of the normal range according to the information he could find online. What that meant and how they'd keep track of how he was doing once he hit normal, Clint wasn't sure, but that would be a good problem to have.