Chapter Ten
"Dad drive faster!"
"Toni, we're almost there and us getting in a wreck would help no one. Just take a breath okay?"
But I couldn't. Not until I saw mom, sitting down waiting to be released... We turned a corner and the hospital came into view. She had to be okay. She just had to. But her car... No. She's fine.
Dad parked the car in a no parking zone and we both ran inside, and to the desk. "Penelope Miller?" I said. "Where is she?"
"Are you family?"
"Yes! I'm her daughter and that's her hus--?" I looked at dad.
"Her husband's friend. He's not here and wants me to see her."
"I'm sorry only family is allowed at this time. Room 19H. You'll be able to visit in..."
Her voice faded to the background as I tore through the hallway. I should have waited for him, I wasn't prepared for what was in room 19H.
I reached for the door nob with a shaking hand, and with one last silent prayer I opened the door.
"Mom?" I froze, my hand still on the door. "Oh, Mom..."
Her eyes were closed but not in a peacefully sleeping way, she had a tube in her mouth, an IV drip, and gauze basically anywhere visible. "Mommy..." I ran over and knelt beside her. "Oh my god, Mom..."
The door opened behind me, "Oh, I didn't realize she had a visitor."
I turned"What's wrong with her? She isn't waking up."
"She was in a car accident. Several broken bones--including two in her spine--and swelling of the brain. The doctors put her into a medically induced coma to try to reduce the possibility of permanent brain damage."
"What?! Well when can they wake her up?"
"Not until the swelling goes down."
"How long does that take?"
"It could take days it could take weeks. We can't know."
"But she will wake up,right?"
She sighed. " She'll likely wake up."
I looked back at my mom. "She's Pepper. She's beaten worse things," I whispered.
She raised an eyebrow. "Her name is Penelope Miller, are you looking for someone else?"
I slumped to the floor by the bed, "No... No, this is my Mom."
She checked all of the monitors and was about to leave but said, "Come over here and sit."
"Why?"
"Your feet are bleeding."
"What...?" I looked down and saw they were indeed bleeding through the white socks. "The crash site. I must've stepped in glass..." I stood and walked over to a chair, only then realising how tender my feet were. The nurse took out a pair of tweezers and a few sanitizing wipes.
"I'm going to take the socks off, if there's any glass still in your feet it might sting."
I shrugged, but still winced as she slid the socks off.
"My name's Carla, you?"
"Toni."
"Cool."
I didn't say anything.
"Well, Toni, what school do you go to."
I rolled my eyes, but Carla didn't see. I always thought that question was dumb. Why ask where i go when you obviously don't go to my school at 25 years old. And if you do you definitely should not be a nurse! "West High. I'm a sophomore because she won't let me skip." A small smile spread across my lips.
"What grade would you be in?"
I winced again as she pulled out a shard of glass as big as my thumb nail. "I'd be in college. Probably close to graduating by now, if not done...just like my dad. But, she wants me to have a normal teen life... Yeah right..."
"I know that feeling. I was usually ahead of everyone. But not in enough classes to just skip, they pulled me out for AP math. That didn't go over well with kids. High School sucks."
"Ha! You don't know the half of it!"
"I'm going to get some gauze pads and medical tape for you. And do you have any shoes?"
"No I left the house too quickly. Hence the Elmo pajamas."
She smirked. "Okay." Once she finished with my feet she said. "I know who she really is... I recognized her right away... You're really her daughter? Tony Stark's?"
I stared at her. "You think she's Pepper Stark? I mean she gets that a lot, but you've seen her ID."
Carla laughed, "Okay, miss miller, if you say so."
"You better keep your wild ass thoughts to yourself."
"The secret's safe with me," she said closing the door.
I walked back to mom and sat beside her again. "You'll be okay... You'll wake up... Everything will go back to normal. We can pay for anything you need, so this won't be long... Please say something..." I took her hand. I already missed her voice... "You'll be okay..." My phone beeped but I left it in my pocket, that is until it started ringing.
YOUSTUPID FUCKING WHOOOORRE--
I answered it quickly, "Abi...hey."
"What's up? You never got back to me. It's been three hours, you usually don't do that."
"My mom got in a car accident. Dad and I got here but they only let Penelope Miller's family back so dad couldn't come back with me... It's really bad, Abs...really bad... She's in a coma, and broke bones in her spine and other places, there's a tube coming out of her mouth and her face is covered in bruises, I can't even see the rest of her skin because it's covered in casts and gauze."
There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. "Toni, you shouldn't be there alone... Pepper will be okay if she's alone until you can figure out how to get your dad back there--"
"No! I'm not leaving her! ...she wouldn't leave me."
"Toni, she wouldn't want you there alone. Now have your dad drop you off at my place or I could come to your house, but you aren't staying there right now."
"I have to Abs..." I said on the verge of tears again. "I can't leave her here alone."
"The doctors will take care of her, babe, I promise. You need to step away for a minute."
"B--"
"No. Get up. Get up right now and walk down the hall to your dad, I'm on my way to your house."
"B--okay..." I hung up.. "I love you, mom, I'll be back tomorrow, and I'll figure out how to get dad back here. I promise." I stood up and walked out of the room, down the hall and to dad who was still arguing to be let back. I took his hand and pulled him outside before I said anything, "She isn't good. Abi wants me to go home."
"Toni, stop walking for a second." I did and he put his hands on my shoulders. "Are you okay?"
"No. Now can we go home?"
"Toni, I'm not good with knowing what you need, you know that. So would you please tell me how to help you?"
"You can't... Just take me home...please."
He nodded, and we started walking towards the car.
The drive home was silent until we sat outside of our house. "She'll be okay, Toni."
I couldn't say anything...he hadn't seen her yet... But I nodded, stepped out of the car and walked to Abbi who was waiting on the front porch. She met me half way and hugged me tight. "Are you okay?" she whispered.
I just shook my head.
She pulled me towards the house and opened the door then walked to my room. We sat down on my bed before she said anything more... "You know she'll be okay."
"No I don't... The nurse basically said even medically induced comas can cause death. And if you'd seen her, she just...she looked dead, Abi... The only thing that told me otherwise was the heart monitor."
"Toni, she'll be okay. She's your mom. She's had to deal with a lot. This is just another bump in the road."
The jab didn't make me smile. I didn't even move... "What do I do, Abi? I can't do anything to help her."
"I don't know, Toni. I really think she'll come out of this okay, though."
I nodded, "I think I need sleep..."
"Okay... text me when you wake up. I'll come here if you need me."
I nodded. "Could you tell my dad I'm taking a nap and to stay out?"
She nodded, hugged me and left. I turned on music, leaving the volume low, but just loud enough to drown out any sounds... then laid down in my bed and cried myself to sleep.
°÷•÷°÷•÷°
The next morning I texted Abi that I was going to the hospital, getting my dad back there and that I'd be home later and text her then if she wasn't busy. Plus she had school-- No I wasn't going. Sue me.
"Dad, let's go!"
"I've just been waiting for you, kid."
That may have been the second time in my life he was up before me... "Did you sleep at all last night?" I asked looking at his eyes, they seemed to be darker than usual.
"Yes--a little...no. Lets go see your mom."
I sighed and we walked out to his car. "They'll let you back today, right?"
"I'll get back there, kiddo."
I looked out the window. It was a short drive, only fifteen minutes, but in silence minutes can stretch into an eternity...
When we got there we didn't even walk by the desk, act like you're allowed to be there and you'll get treated like you are. I had to walk a few steps ahead of dad because I wasn't supposed to be seen with Tony Stark, and with that nurse carla around it would be extra dangerous.
Before he came in I pulled two chairs over to mom...She hadn't changed at all. I sat just as the door opened, revealing Dad.
"Oh, god, Pep..." He came and sat beside me. "I didn't think it'd be this bad."
"Neither did I..." I whispered.
He hugged me tight, "I'm sorry you were alone back here, Toni. I'm so sorry."
I shrugged.
"Hey, don't worry. She's going to be fine. This just means she's not gonna nag us for a bit."
I sighed, "Don't... It's okay to be scared... I'm terrified."
He shrugged, "No need to be scared. She'll be fine, you'll see."
I nodded and dropped it, looking back to mom's closed eyes... Well? Prove him right. It's just a little brain swelling. Nip it in the bud, wake up and ask about your missed meeting.
Dad pulled me into another hug and I realized I was crying... "She needs to get better, Dad," I whispered into his shoulder.
"I know. And she will. Just give her a little time."
I nodded silently. A knock at the door made us pull away, it was Carla. "Hi Toni, Mr. Stark."
"Hey..." I said wiping my eyes.
Dad glanced at her warily, "Are there any updates on Penelope's condition?"
She shook her head, "No changes in the last twenty four hours."
Dad and I both gave a short nod in unison, then looked at mom.. You gonna say how alike we are, mom...?
Nothing ... We also signed in unison.
"Wow, like father like daughter."Clara came over and checked all the monitors.
Dad gaped at her. "Excuse me?"
Carla giggled before she asked, "Is there anything I can do for you guys?"
We shook our heads and she left...I looked at dad. I knew he wanted a second alone with her so I stood. "I'm...I'm gonna call Abi, tell her you were able to get back here."
"Huh--Okay. Sure.."
Whoa... I left, and took out my phone.
Abi answered after a few rings. "Hey, everything okay?"
"Uh--same, but my Dad's back here. I wanted to give him time alone... How's your mom's job hunting?"
"Stark Industries rescheduled her appointment. They want her to manage a store down the street."
Oh...! That was her plan. "That's good... That's really good, Abs. Base pay with Stark industry is decent and I'm sure they'll offer more with her previous manager experience--"
"How are you holding up?"
"I'm...I'm okay. I'm just hoping this doesn't last much longer."
"Yeah.... I'm so sorry this happened..."
"Nothing you did..."
"Lunch is almost over, girly...I'm gonna have to go soon."
"Okay. See you after school?"
"Definitely."
"Okay. Bye."
"I don't have to go yet!"
"Okay...How are the kiddos?"
"They're good. Although they keep asking for a special kind of candy that they say you bring over.... Know anything about that?"
"Ummmm... Nah, they're just kids! What do they know?!"
"Ethan said that they shared it with him."
"Damn it!"
She laughed.. "Bell just rang, gotta go babe."
"Kay." I hung up then was about to go back in but stopped myself, I should give dad a few minutes alone with her.
**Tony'sPOV***
I just stared at her motionless body for a few minutes, not knowing what to even think... "How did I let this happen to you? I should have stalled you longer... Or not at all, Tony. This is my fault. My God, I'm sorry, Pep... I need you. I need you to come back to me. To us! Toni and I. We need you. How am I supposed to take care of her alone? I'm not cut out for teenagers! Hell I basically--I just--" I sighed, then took her hand and laid my head on the bed right beside it. "I love you, Pepper... I just want you to know that... Please come back..."