Chapter 3

<p>Tony was taken directly to the emergency room when he and Pepper arrived at the hospital.<br/> <br/>"52-year-old man with a severely scarred and damaged right arm With no known cause, he will likely require an emergency amputation. His wife said that he just showed up at home. She heard a bang, went downstairs to check it out, and found him lying on the sofa." One of the paramedics said as the nurses took hold of the stretcher that Tony was on and placed him onto a hospital bed with wheels and pushed him down the corridor. <br/> <br/>"That's Tony Stark; he's supposed to be dead." One of the junior nurses remarked.<br/> <br/>Another nurse commented, "I don't know how he's alive, but the most important thing is we need to get his arm dealt with and make sure there are no other injuries."<br/> <br/>Tony was then rushed into theater, and the ambulance staff departed to attend to other emergencies.<br/> <br/>Pepper was left to wait by herself in the hospital Corridor. Every second, she could hear the tick of the nearby clock. Finally, a doctor approached Pepper after four long hours of waiting. <br/> <br/>"Is he going to live?" "Is he OK?" Pepper asked anxiously. <br/> <br/>"Yes, he will survive, but we were unable to save his arm. We were forced to amputate it from below the shoulder since it was severely damaged. He'll have long-lasting scars on his right shoulder, and his right shoulder will probably always hurt," a doctor informed her. "Do you have any idea how he could possibly have these injuries?" The doctor asked. <br/> <br/>"No, as I told the paramedics, I heard a bang, I went to check on my daughter, fearing that she might've hurt herself but she was asleep and unharmed. I then assumed that someone had broken in and went downstairs to try to stop them from going upstairs to her, where I discovered him laying on the sofa. I have no idea how he is still alive or how he was injured." Pepper told the nurse. "We had a funeral and buried him yesterday." Pepper said. <br/> <br/>"When Mr. Stark wakes up, hopefully he can explain it to us. You can go see him now if you wish," the doctor told Pepper. <br/> <br/>Pepper followed the doctor to the room that Tony had been placed in and sat down in A chair next to Tony. <br/> <br/>Bandages covered his right shoulder. <br/> <br/>Pepper smiled sadly. In an effort to lighten the mood, Pepper added, "I hope you have a pretty good explanation for this when you wake up." She sat there, patiently waiting for Tony to wake up. The fact that he was alive, and that it was going to be OK, and that Morgan would be able to have her father back as well as Pepper having her husband back was all that mattered to her, even though she couldn't understand how he was still alive. <br/> <br/>"What have you done to yourself this time, Tony?" Pepper said sadly.<br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/></p>