Iron man 3 [MCU x OC] [Book 3 of the Stephanie Stark Series]

Chapter 11

Pepper was all fixed up thanks to Tony and his meticulous hours in the lab, but now he was the one getting fixed. He was about to get open heart surgery, to remove the arc reactor. And thanks to the internet, Stephanie was properly freaked out.

Uncle Rhodey stayed with Stephanie at the hospital while Pepper spoke with some doctors. She tried not to show how worried she was, but Uncle Rhodey must have noticed because he kept trying to distract her with stories about Tony from his "party" days. Usually, those stories would make her laugh, but right now all she could think about was him going into surgery.

When they let us see him before the procedure, Tony was already in one of those awful hospital gowns. "Hey kid," he grinned at her, though Stephanie could tell he was nervous. Tony could tell the same about her. "Don't worry, this is going to be a piece of cake. They're just going to take out the arc reactor and some shrapnel. No biggie. And I've got the best doctors in the world." He winked at her. "And the best cheerleading squad. So nothing can go wrong." 

Stephanie hugged him tight, careful of all the monitors they had already attached. "Promise you'll be okay?"

"Promise." He kissed the top of her head.

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The surgery took forever. Pepper and Stephanie waited together. The latter curled up in one of the uncomfortable chairs, using her mother's jacket as a blanket, and tried to remember all the equations Tony had been teaching her last week – anything to keep her mind busy.

Finally, the doctor – who Stephanie now knows as Dr. Wu – working on Tony came out to tell them that everything went perfectly. They'd removed the arc reactor and all the shrapnel, and Dad was already making jokes about redecorating his hospital room. Pepper started crying – happy tears this time – and thanked the doctor until he walked away.

When Stephanie got to see Tony, he was groggy from the medication.

"Is it gone?" She pointed to his chest where the arc reactor used to be. He nodded, rubbing her back. He mentioned how the doctors had created an experimental chest piece to replace the missing bone and tissue. Stephanie pretended to understand all the medical terms he was using, just happy to hear his voice.

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A few days later, the family got word that Uncle Happy was finally waking up. Tony was still recovering, but he insisted on coming with his girls to see his friend. They found Happy in his hospital room, looking grumpy about the nurses trying to help him sit up.

"About time you woke up," Tony said as they walked in. "You've been slacking on the job, Hogan."

Happy's face lit up when he saw everyone, especially when he spotted Stephanie, his favorite stark. "Hey, kid. Sorry, I missed all the excitement."

She ran over to hug him, careful of his injuries. "It's okay. There will probably be more"

They spent the afternoon catching Happy up on everything that had happened. Tony told most of the story, with Pepper occasionally correcting his more exaggerated versions of events. Stephanie curled up in the chair next to Happy's bed, adding her own commentary whenever her dad tried to make himself sound too heroic.

The day ended on a happy note. Stephanie felt this weight lift off her chest now that the enemy was truly defeated.

The worst was behind them.

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Stephanie couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Killian's burning hands reaching for her and felt the heat against her skin. The clock on her nightstand read 2:47 AM, its blue numbers casting a soft glow across her room. At least the burn on her arm had mostly healed, quicker than the doctors expected but at least it didn't hurt.