Chapter 5

Over the next two days, Tony was in and out of consciousness, which worried Pepper, but the doctors told her that it was completely normal after such a severe amputation as Tony had undergone and being on as much morphine as Tony was. Finally, at the end of the second day, Tony finally woke up properly. Pepper took his left hand, and Tony turned his head to look at her. "Hi Pep," Tony said quietly. "Hey, Tony," she said with a small smile. Tony started to look around at his surroundings. "How long have I been out?" Tony asked, looking back at Pepper. "Coming up 2 days," Pepper told him. "How's Morgan?" Tony asked. "She's fine Rhodeys doing a good job babysitting," Pepper joked. "Good, and when we get home and she's eaten all the sweets, we'll know who to blame," Tony joked. Pepper laughed and said, "Yeah, we will." "I'm OK," Tony said, squeezing Pepper's hand. "Of course you are," Pepper said. A few minutes later, a doctor arrived. "I see you are awake, Mr. Stark. That's very good. My name is Dr. Reynolds. I've come to check on your healing and make sure everything is going well," Dr Reynolds told Tony. The doctor then checked Tony's paperwork and healing. "Your healing is very good, and based on that, you should be able to be released at some point tomorrow, but we will do a check on your healing before you are released just to make sure," Dr. Reynolds told Tony. "That's good news, no offense, but I don't like hospitals," Tony told the doctor. "No offense taken; a lot of people don't. I will have to teach you how to do your dressings and teach you how to avoid any infections, as for the next 6–8 weeks you will be more likely to get infections than normal," Dr Reynolds told Tony. "Ok, thank you," Tony said. "I've also got to get another doctor to come in and check it one more time, and then they can make the final decision on whether you can be released or not, but it's looking good," Dr Reynolds told Tony. "OK, thank you," Tony said. "We will also teach you how to monitor your wound healing and check for any infections that might interfere with healing. We will also prescribe medications to ease pain and help prevent infection. You may also suffer from phantom pain—a sense of pain in the amputated limb. Emotional support, including counseling, can also be offered if needed to help with grief over the loss of the limb and adjustment to the new body image," Dr Reynolds told Tony. "I think I'll be ok, but thank you," Tony told the doctor. "I'll be there for him and help him if needed," Pepper told the doctor. "That's ok, but if it's needed, then just let us know and we will sort it out for you," Dr. Reynolds told tony. Dr Reynolds then left. "I guess you want to know what happened, don't you?" Tony said to Pepper. "If you want to tell me, you don't have to tell me right now if you're not ready," Pepper told Tony. "I'm ready now; it's OK; you might find it hard to understand, though it doesn't sound believable," Tony told her. "Try me," Pepper said with a smile.

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