Saved

39

Abi's P.O.V.

'Beep... beep... beep' was what I heard when I woke up. My head hurt, my chest and stomach ached, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around, realising I was in the lab.

"You're awake." Someone said from beside me.

I turned to see a stressed looking Bruce sat on a chair beside my bed.

"Did it work?" I asked quickly.

He nodded but he didn't look happy about the news he had just given me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You both flatlined during the surgery, you could have died." He said, as if he was mad at himself.

I quickly glanced over at Clint and saw his heart rate was back to normal thankfully.

"But we didn't, we are both fine." I said.

"Clint still hasn't woken up. He hit his head pretty hard when he fell and I'm almost entirely sure he's in a coma, I'm just waiting for a few test results to confirm it." He said.

"Where's that doctor friend of yours, can't she confirm it?" I asked.

"She left after the surgery was complete, she pissed Tony off so decided it was probably best not to stay." He said with a sigh.

"What did she do to piss off Tony?" I asked.

"She made a comment about you and Clint." He said, looking away from me.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter." Bruce said quickly.

"It does Bruce, it matters to me. If you won't tell me then I'll ask Tony." I said as I tried to get out of bed.

"No, you need to stay in bed and rest. If you move, your stitches could break." He said.

"Well tell me what she said, or I will get out of this bed and you won't be able to stop me." I said.

He let out a defeated sigh and rubbed his face with his hands before looking up at me.

"She made a comment about the age gap between you and Clint, but Tony put her in her place." Bruce said.

"It's none of her business." I said angrily.

Who the hell did that woman think she was, waltzing in here and throwing her opinions around as if she owned the place, it made my blood boil.

"That's exactly what Tony said." Bruce told me.

A small smile tugged at the edge of my lips, despite all the jokes he made and everything he did, at least I knew I could always count on him. I heard movement outside and turned to see all the others stood outside, well all but Tony anyway. I beckoned them in and they all crowded round my bed, a relieved look on their faces.

"Thank god you're alright." Pepper said quickly.

"Where is Tony?" I asked.

"Right here." He said.

The group parted and we all looked over at Tony, he looked a mess and his hand was wrapped up in a, now dark red, tea towel. His eyes had big bags beneath them and I could smell the alcohol radiating off of him from here.

"What the hell happened to you?" Bruce demanded.

"I smashed a bottle of whiskey by accident, the glass cut my hand and I couldn't find a bandage." Tony said.

"Jesus Tony." Bruce said with a sigh.

He dragged Tony across the lab and made him sit down whilst he cleaned and dressed the wound. My eyes fell back onto Clint and my heart ached, I hoped he would wake up soon, I need him more than ever at the moment.

*Time skip 6 weeks*

I had almost finished my final cycle of chemotherapy which was great, but Clint still hadn't woken up and with every day that passed I lost a little more hope. He had been out for almost 9 weeks, being without him for that long hurt and I didn't know what to do anymore, I was hurting beyond repair. I had been working around the tower to try and keep my mind off of it all, and I had been doing my best to avoid everyone else too. They all acted as if I was a china doll, asking me every ten seconds if I was okay, it was driving me crazy. I was pulled from my thoughts when someone knocked on my bedroom door.

"Abi! It's time for you to go to the hospital." Bruce called through the door.

I frowned, it was usually Pepper who took me, but the treatment was over now, I didn't think I had to go back for more.

"Why?" I asked.

"Can you just come to the door?" Bruce asked.

I groaned as I got up and walked over to the door, pulling it open to see Bruce and Steve stood there.

"I finished the treatment two weeks ago, the cycle finishes in a few days. Why do I have to go back?" I demanded.

"You have to go back so they can tell you if the chemotherapy has worked, they need to decide whether or not you need an operation. So hurry up and get dressed, we need to leave." Bruce said.

"You aren't coming with me, you need to be here to look after Clint. And where is Pepper?" I asked with a frown.

"I'll drive you, Pepper is at a meeting." Steve quickly intervened.

Bruce sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with me, he and the others had tried to a little while ago but they lost. They had tried to get me to leave my room to come and eat with them but I refused. I couldn't be sat around the table with everyone else whilst Clint was down in the lab, it wasn't fair. I'd tried to once but I couldn't stay, all I could think about was the fact that Clint wasn't there and my thoughts overwhelmed me so I had to remove myself from the situation.

"I'll wait here." Steve said as he pulled my door shut.

I quickly got dressed into a pair of jeans and one of Clint's t-shirts I'd stolen, I also put on his hoodie and my trainers before walking out.

"Ready?" Steve asked.

I nodded and followed him to the elevator, the others all called out 'good luck' to me, I just plastered on a fake smile because I didn't want to speak. The drive to the hospital was an awkward silence, we had taken one of the cars because Steve was worried about me being on the back of the bike when I was pregnant. When we parked in the parking lot, I pulled on my beanie to cover up all the patches of hair that were missing, Steve followed me through the hospital; I'd been here so many times I knew the layout like the back of my hand.

"Miss Gilbert!" The guy said from behind the desk.

"Hey Acer." I said with a small smile.

"Dr Wheelan is expecting you, make your way down to her room." He said, giving me a small nod.

I made my way down the hall, Steve walking silently beside me but he stopped outside Dr Wheelan's room.

"Do you want me to wait out here?" He asked.

"Of course not, I want you to come in with me if that's alright?" I said.

He nodded and followed me in, we took a seat opposite the doctor and she gave me a small smile.

"Miss Gilbert." She said.

"Hello Dr Wheelan." I said with a small nod.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Better than I did a few weeks ago, most of the chemo side effects have worn off and my hair is slowly starting to grow back." I said, pulling off my hat.

The patches that had previously been almost totally bald now had little tufts of hair growing there, about a centimetre long. It wasn't much, but it was something and that's what I was happy about.