The Perfect Illusion

The Doctor

Hi. Hello, Gooze here.

I'm just gonna say something before we get started. This is an AU where "Peachy" still happened, BUT Tony and Stephen haven't met in twenty one years at all and took two different paths. So, pretend "Something Stupid", "My Parents Are Gay" and "The Dadsandwich" never happened.
Also, Stephen doesn't perform surgery because of his hands, but helps a lot in the surgery room and directs some surgeons.

Anyway, carry on.

———————————————

Narrator's POV

"Looks like our friend Mark is going to be alright." Said the surgeon operating on the patient.

Stephen stood next to him as his assistant.

Despite our wizard's hands' injuries, he never lost his passion for helping people.

Stephen knew in order to become a surgeon, your hands head to be steady, but a surgical technician wasn't a bad position.

Sure you missed out on handling the patients, but it's was every bit as exciting.

From the corner of his eyes, the surgeon saw a body standing at the door of the surgical room.

"Uh, Stephen could you get that? I'm a little busy here."

Stephen looked away from the surgery, only to see Christine standing at the door. "Of course." Stephen said. "Excuse me." He said, leaving the surgeon's side and going over to the doors.

///0///0

"What's is it?" Stephen asked as he came to Christine.

"GSW." Christine answered, handing him a tablet.

Stephen looked at the images of X-rays in the tablet. "Amazing you kept him alive." He said, flipping through them. He mumbled words under his breath as he looked closely at one image. "I think I found the problem, Dr. Palmer." Stephen turned the tablet to her. "You left a bullet in his head."

"Thanks." Christine snapped back. "It's been pinching on the medulla. I needed a specialist. Nick diagnosed brain death. Something about that doesn't feel right to me."

Stephen looked up from the tablet to her. "We have to run." He said.

The two took off running toward their dying patient.

"Dr. West." Christine called. "Hey." She said, once she saw Nic carrying the patient away. "What are you doing?"

"Organ harvest." Nic said. "He's a donor."

"Slow down." Christine said going over to one side of the hospital bed the patient was on.

Stephen stood by her side.

"I did not agree to that." She said.

"I don't need you to. We've already called brain death." Nic said.

"Prematurely." Stephen said. "We need to prepare him for a sub-occipital craniotomy."

"Not gonna let you operate on a dead man". Nic said.

"What do you see?" Stephen showed him the image on the tablet.

"A bullet?" Nic responded

"A perfect bullet." Stephen said. "It's been hardened. You harden a bullet by allowing lead with anatomy. A toxic metal." Stephen explained. "And that's leeched correctly into the cerebral spinal fluid."

"Rapid onset's. The central nervous system shuts down."

"We gotta go." Christine said as she shone a light in the patient's eyes.