Air I Breathe

Chapter 16

Friday, January 10-Saturday, January 11

"You got everything?" Tony asks on speakerphone, Peter sliding The Fault in Our Stars into his backpack. He's spending the weekend at May's, just the two of them, was supposed to be on the subway an hour ago, but decathlon ran late after school again.

"I think so?"

"You think so isn't going to cut it when you're in Queens and I have to drive over a box of nebules, kiddo. Do you have the list I sent you?"

Peter glances over to his printer, sees that Tony's wirelessly printing a list of his meds and a schedule.

"Yeah," he replies, grabbing the paper from the printer tray and studying it. Daily, steroid, and rescue inhalers and spacers, check. Both types of nebules, check. Extra neb cups and tubing, check. Singulair and steroid pills, check. Nebulizer? Peter grabs the machine from his desk and tucks it away in his duffel bag. Oxygen? He glares at the tank from across the room and groans; he really doesn't want to have to drag it on the train, not when he'll probably have to take the stairs because the elevator is always out of order.

"I already sent oxygen and a cannula over to May's, since it's so clunky. It's just in case, so don't get cranky on me. And May has a copy of the list, too. Call me if you need anything," Tony insists, adding, "And I mean anything."

"I'm not gonna need anything," he wines.

"Kid."

"May's a nurse. She's good at this stuff. And before I lived here, she and I were handling all of this just fine. Relax. It's two nights."

Tony holds his tongue, don't want to bring up the time he had to break the door to their apartment down to get to Peter while May was away, doesn't want to argue that this is completely different from what May was handling months ago. He doesn't want to admit that this is hard for him, that even though he trusts May fully and completely, more so than Pepper, even, knowing he'll be spending the weekend away from the Tower isn't helping Tony's anxiety.

"You packed enough socks? A sweatshirt?"

Tony knows that May keeps the heat low to save on the electric bill, that Peter's room can feel like the Arctic when the temperature dips.

"Yes, Dad," Peter jokes, rolling his eyes. He doesn't correct himself, digs through his shirt drawer and grabs three clean t-shirts.

Tony's grinning like an idiot at Peter calling him dad, has Happy glaring at him like he's crazy. He throws a hand up as if to say what?

"It's gonna be fine, Tony. You and Pepper should have a date night or something."

"Are you telling me what to do with my free time?" Tony laughs.

"Yeah, well, now that you don't have to worry about me all weekend, you should do something fun."

"Still gonna worry like crazy, Underoos."

"I know. Felt nice saying it, though."

"Wear your watch, take your meds, and slow down if you need to, okay?"

"We're not running a marathon," Peter quips.

"You know what I mean."

"Since when do I not slow down?"

"You want examples?"

"I'll be fine, Tony. See you Sunday night. Love you."

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