Battlefield ｡ Tony Stark

52 - PART-TIME BABYSITTER

Hospitals were one of those places in the world where time was warped, kind of like airports. It could be four o'clock in the morning and the rest of the world could be waking slowly to a brand new day, but for a few handful of people, they had been awake all night, hoping and praying for a miracle. Time was not a real thing in hospitals; only a ticking bomb waiting to explode. The waiting game was the worst nightmare. Waiting to see how surgery went for a loved one, waiting to see if a baby would breathe on their own without cords and machines powering their little lungs, waiting for the bed news and the good news. Waiting for a son to finally wake from his slumber. 

Crumbled concrete and ash was the only thing that waited back in Malibu for me. Everything had fallen down; the mansion, Tony Stark, the last sherds of my hope. Now, the only thing to do was wait for Samuel to wake and for me to tell him that his father was gone. Presumed dead. 

Lucy Hammer had waited around hours and hours at the hospital, hovering like a worried mother. She had heard the news and seen the destruction broadcasted on live news. She had seen it all unfold from the comfort of a chair, holding my son's hand. It had been me, who was left in the dust screaming for Tony Stark and feeling blood dry against my temple. Once the police had arrived, once the heavy realisation had hit home, I had been the person to run away from the messy aftermath that was the very definition of my life. 

"If you're about to tell me to get some sleep, or take a shower, don't even bother." My voice was rough, my throat feeling a little raw from all the screaming hours ago. 

Lucy waited in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. My gaze was solely upon Samuel, who looked so peaceful lying there, not knowing how his entire world had blown up. He looked so much like Tony. "Your mother called me. You've been ignoring her calls."

I didn't have the strength to even answer a call right now. I didn't want to speak with anyone who wanted to ask one question; how was I? I had missed four calls from my mother. A call from Natasha Romanoff and six calls from Pepper. "I don't want to talk to anybody." I mumbled. 

"I know," Lucy replied. "I'm actually going to head to your mum's place, if that's okay? She offered me a warm bath and a million cups of tea. She knows that you don't really have anywhere to go right now, so she told me to tell you, to come home."

I chewed on my bottom lip. I didn't tell her that my mother's home was not mine, and hadn't been for a very long time. "I'm not leaving Sam. Not when I'm the only person he has left." 

A heavy silence filled the room. 

Lucy readjusted her position in the doorway, her heels clicking on the flooring. "You're a lot like Tony, you know that? You're incredibly stubborn." Lucy said, something changing in her voice. "When are you going to realise you're not alone? You have never been alone. Not even all those years ago. You don't have to do everything by yourself."

Her words should have cut deeper in my heart, because she was right. But tonight nothing clicked within my head or heart. "Don't talk about him. Don't even say his name."

"Tony?" Lucy questioned. "He's gone."

I blinked away tears. "We don't know that."

"Come on," Lucy insisted. "If he was alive, wouldn't he have called?"

A tear dribbled down my chin and I wiped it away hastily. "Please leave."

Lucy sighed loudly. "Tilda."

"God, Lucy. Just. Leave." I hissed through clenched teeth, trying my best to keep myself together. 

My best friend waited for a second longer, debating her next move. "Okay. I'll be at your mother's house. Just know you're not alone in all this, okay? Call me when Samuel wakes up."