warnings: cancer, needles, blood
word count: 1.5k
Y/N POV:
"I'm sorry Y/N, but there's nothing more we can do." I sat there completely numb. In the back of my mind, I knew this was coming, but now that it's finally been said into the universe, I'm not sure what to do.
"Ok thank you." I barely managed to whisper my response and the doctor just looked down. I pulled myself to my feet, feeling the dizziness take over. I clutched the arm of the chair I was previously sat on to steady myself before straightening up. The doctor handed me some papers and information booklets about the next steps I needed to take. But I didn't verbally reply. I just nodded and walked out of the hospital.
The car ride home was silent. I didn't turn the radio on or connect my phone to the aux. I just drove. I didn't tell anyone I was going to the appointment today because I didn't want to jinx it. What started out as a stupid headache is now going to be the very death of me.
I made it back to the compound where I parked my car and left to my room without a word. I walked past a couple of people but I didn't care enough to see who they were. What's the point in keeping friendships when I'm gonna die anyway.
Our room was spotless like always, thanks to Nat. I changed out of my jeans and pulled on Nat's comfy sweats and her favourite hoodie and curled up under the duvet. If the world can't see me then I cant see the world, and so my terminal diagnosis doesn't exist. Simple logic.
Although I felt exhausted, my mind wouldn't let me sleep. I just lay there, thoughts swirling around my mind. Only when my head started pounding did it all start to feel very real, and the tears started. I pulled the duvet over my head as I sobbed, afraid that the sound would carry through the walls.
NAT POV:
Y/N had disappeared somewhere today but she didn't seem to be in a talkative mood. I made it my mission to have a chat with her when she came back.
I had training in the morning and then paperwork to do all afternoon, so I was busy enough. But as I was on a call with Fury, I heard Y/N's Mclaren pull up outside so I made a mental note to wrap the conversation up quickly. But Fury ends the call when he wants to, so I had to stay there for another 30 minutes whilst he debriefed me about my next mission.
The minute he hung up I went to my room, where I guessed Y/N would be. The lights were dim, so I opened the door quietly incase she was sleeping. And she was. A tiny human surrounded by mountains of duvets. As I walked over to the bed, my foot stepped on her tote bag by accident and I felt papers rustle. I picked her bag up and moved it to her desk so we wouldn't stand on it again.
As I placed it down, a shiny booklet fell to the opening and I caught a glimpse of 2 words which made my heart sink to my stomach.
... terminal diagnosis...
I reached into her bag and pulled out the rest of the papers. There were several sheets talking about how to support people with cancer and also how to support family and friends. My hands started to tremble a bit as I flicked through as my brain instantly started thinking the worst.
I turned back to the bed where Y/N lay so peacefully. This wasn't about her, was it? No it can't be.
I gently sat down next to her and brushed her hair out of her face. I saw the faint tear tracks on her face and my worst nightmare felt like it was becoming a reality.
Y/N clearly hadn't been asleep very long as she stirred awake as I stroked her face. Her tired eyes blinked up at me and I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Hey baby" I said as she rolled over to face me. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment until she forced them open. She opened her mouth to reply before she froze. I followed her eyes to see her looking at the pile of booklets I had in my hand. She started tearing up and quickly shuffled around so she was facing away from me. "Y/N?"
"Go away" she mumbled, her voice muffled by the duvet.
"I just want to know what these are about, honey?" I went to stroke her back but she flinched so I kept my hands to myself.
"Um, they're for my mom."
I gave her a look. "Y/N... Please talk to me. Who is this for?"
Her back was still facing me and her voice sounded weak. "I told you, there for my mom."
I sighed. I knew they weren't for her mom. Y/N hadn't spoken to her mom since I met her.
"Honey look at me. I know they're not for your mom."
Y/N's shoulders started shaking and I ran around to the other side of the bed to pull her into my arms. "Shhhhh baby it's ok."
"I'm sorry Natty." She whimpered. That told me everything I needed to know.
"It's ok. You're gonna be ok coz I'm gonna help you. You're gonna be ok baby." I started crying too at the thought of loosing my love.
We talked a little bit more about her diagnosis and things we could do to help make her life a little bit easier. She showed me the meds that she took and I did extra research online to make sure I fully understood the complications of lung cancer.
We took each day as it came. I'd help her up in the morning, she'd take her meds and then we'd eat breakfast. Y/N had made a list of everything she wanted to do, and that's what we did.
We went sky diving, we swam with turtles, we flew in Tony's suits and got completely drunk on the roof of the compound. The last few months had been amazing, and it made the scary truth a little easier to deal with.
But Y/N had been getting progressively worse. She got out of breath just by doing the smallest tasks and she was coughing up blood almost everyday. Whenever we had a moment alone I held her just that little bit tighter to my body, not wanting to let her go. Her body was thin and weak and it was almost like I could feel the life leaving her. I cried myself to sleep most nights, holding on to her.
But last night was the worst. We had woken at 3 am as Y/N spiralled into the worst coughing fit I'd seen yet. She couldn't draw air into her lungs and even her oxygen cannula wasn't doing much. I scooped her up and rushed her into Bruce's lab, screaming out for anyone to help.
Tony and Bruce came sprinting in as Y/N's body felt limp in my arms. They hooked her up to various machines to try and help her. Her heart monitor beeped slowly, telling me she was alive, but barely. They pumped a variety of drugs into her body to try and keep her vitals stable. But then Tony pulled me off to the side.
"Bruce and I have been trying to develop something that will help cure Y/N's cancer, but we don't know if it will work. It's passed all lab tests but there's no way of knowing if her body will accept it. It coul-"
"Do it! Please Tony! God I am begging you to just give it to her. I cant lose her Stark, I can't."
He nodded and rushed back to Bruce, who looked at me with wide eyes before nodding. Stark turned to the back of the room and brought a vile from the air locked fridge, handing it to Bruce. Y/N was still unconscious, which I was kind of glad about because she was petrified of needles.
Bruce flicked the end of the needle and gently inserted it into Y/N's vein. I watched the liquid flow into her arm and prayed it would work. Tony hooked her up to another drip that would support what they had just given her, to try and give her body the best chance of survival. Checking that everything looked ok, the men left the room to give us some privacy.
I sank into the chair beside her bed and clutched her hand tight.
"You better stay alive Y/N, or I'm gonna kill you myself." I leant my head on her arm and stayed there, just hoping... praying...
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I changed the prompt a little bit, so I'm really sorry. Let me know if you have any other requests because I've got about 2 to do atm.