Just a Little Time

Convalescence

Steve and Bruce entered the lounge. The rest of the Avengers were watching a playback of the wakeup. Tony whistled appreciatively at the kid's smarts. "He's going to keep you on your toes Capsicle."

"I suppose any kind of privacy is too much to ask for?" commented Steve.

"Pretty much," agreed Natasha unashamed.

Clint and Tony just grinned at Steve.

Thor had the decency to at least pretend he hadn't been watching the drama. Apparently he'd really felt like drinking water, from the lounge, while in the vicinity of the larger than life, full audio video playback, Jarvis had displayed on the entire back wall. Would you look at that. He'd finished his water and off he went to do Thor type things.

"Poor little guy," commented Natasha watching Richard sleep. "It's a strange new world for him."

When Richard next woke he was alone. The file from Mr. McGinnis was still beside his bed. He could hear music playing faintly in the next room and he suspected if he called out there was someone near who'd answer. He took the quiet to slowly read the file more carefully; thankful that Mr. McGinnis had used a large font.  His vision was cloudy.  The real Bruce who Terry resembled  would have deduced probable compromise of his vision and provided enlarged font too.  Richard grimaced.  Everything hurt except for parts of him that were frighteningly numb.

He was left to his own devices for a little while. He noticed Mr. Rogers looking in on him from time to time but he appreciated the time to himself to process things. Eventually the doctor came back.

"Good morning Richard. Today we're going to take you off the IV and remove the catheter. This nose clip giving you oxygen should stay. The cold did a lot of damage and the extra oxygen will let you heal without putting so much stress on your system. I want to start you on real food but the bacteria in your stomach was destroyed by the prolonged cold. The special food will be a little like milkshakes. What flavor of milkshake would you like today? Vanilla or Chocolate."

"Chocolate please."

The doctor let him change into proper pajamas instead of a paper gown once most of the medical devices were removed but Dick needed help to get dressed. Mr. Rogers helped. It was a little humiliating needing help to get your own pants on. His fingers wouldn't cooperate. "Thank you Mr. Rogers," spoke Dick polite but embarrassed.

As his immune and repair systems kicked in Dick looked progressively more gruesome. Most of his skin was swollen and red. Special bandages with who knows what on them were applied and changed regularly. He looked like something out of a horror show. Dick avoided reflective surfaces and kept himself hidden under the covers.

The next little while went slowly. Steve gave Richard time to himself and quiet activities to keep him occupied. He slowly reached out to Dick by encouraging him to go through the old photo albums and talk about things. They played cards and quiet games. Dick didn't want to let his guard down enough to break down in front of Steve like he had before but he was on strong painkillers and couldn't help but be emotional.

There was a never ending parade of doctors. Dick saw three different nurses, Dr. Banner, a physiotherapist, a cardiologist, the ultrasound technician, the MRI technician, the neurologist, the hematologist, the rheumatologist, the gastroenterologist... a lot of doctors and Steve.

Dr. Banner seemed to be the doctor boss.

"Steve do you even have a job? You are just always here," commented Dick curious as his wheelchair was pushed where he needed to go for the next round of procedures.