Eleven hours.
Eleven hours later, Stephen was in recovery after surgery.
Tony since then had learned his injuries. He had a broken arm, multiple torn ligaments, and worst of all, severe nerve damage in both of his hands. They had put eleven stainless steel pins in his hands, and even when Tony sat by his bed and watched him sleep, Stephen's hands still shook a little bit.
It was heart breaking. Every last bit of it. From the butterfly stitches on his face, to the pins holding his hands down. Tony knew once Stephen woke up, all he'd see was a world of pain.
He had been asleep since the operation, but Tony of course sat by his bed for the hours he slept. Despite the injuries littered across his face, he seemed so peaceful while he was sleeping. It was the most Tony could look at. Between the large cuts on his forehead, black eye, or the insane amounts of pins sticking out of his hands, watching Stephen's chest rise and fall as he slept was the best thing to focus on at the moment.
It was about six hours later Stephen's eyes began to flutter open, the shock immediately settling in as he woke up. "Shh, shh." Tony greeted him softly. "It's okay. You're safe."
"What happened." Was all Stephen could muster out, his eyes peering around at his surroundings, his breath hitching at the sight of his hands.
"You were in a bad car accident." Tony gulped. "Off the side of the cliff. Rescue was alerted immediately, but it took a bit of time to find you." He explained.
"What did they do."
"You were on the table for eleven hours, had multiple torn ligaments, severe nerve damage in both hands," Tony's face grew solemn "and there are stainless steel pins in your hands."
Tony examined Stephen's face thuroughly, he usually had a good read on him but all he could detect was utter shock.
"My hands, they're-." Stephen began to say before being cut off.
"No one could've done better." Tony said sadly, trying to calm Stephen down.
"I," Stephen took a deep breath, starring back at his hands. "I could've done better."
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