Air I Breathe

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Thursday, January 16

"Do we really have to go?" Peter groans as Tony's car weaves through traffic on autopilot. He's picked Peter up two periods before dismissal for a follow-up appointment. "I'm doing better, Tony. I don't need Bruce and Dr. Cho to tell me that."

Tony pulls out a small notebook and a pen from the driver's side door.

"What's this for?" Peter asks, taking it.

"You, my friend, are going to write down everything you want to discuss. Symptoms, questions, fears, etc."

"I don't have anything to write down?" Peter tries.

"That's a lie and we both know it. May's on board with this, too. Get writing, kiddo. You're in charge this time. Bruce and Dr. Cho are going to talk to you, not me. I'm just there for support. Oh, and one last rule: No apologizing," Tony says.

"What?!"

"You are not allowed to apologize to Bruce or Dr. Cho for what happened last time or whatever happens today."

"Tony."

"Whatever happens today is okay. You know that, right?"

Peter sighs. "Yes."

"Are you just saying that to make me happy?"

"Yes."

"Thought so."

"Can't you just bring me back to school and we can just reschedule?"

"Not happening, kiddo."

Peter groans and leans his head against the window, watching the cityscape to try and quell his brewing anxiety. He grips the notebook and pen in his hands, thinks of what he could possibly write down.

At first, there's nothing.

And suddenly, there's everything.

x

"Sorry that Dr. Cho couldn't be here," Bruce says as he puts the buds of his stethoscope in his ears. "She has the flu and wanted to avoid getting you sick."

Peter doesn't want to say it out loud from his place on the hospital bed, but he's happy that Dr. Cho isn't here; she makes him nervous, talks circles around him and makes him feel dumb. Bruce, though, is comforting. Gentle. He's got a good bedside manner, makes Peter feel a little bit better about being in MedBay. He listens to Peter's lungs, has him breathe normally and deeply. Then there's the usual temperature taking, blood pressure cuff, and clip on his finger to read his oxygen levels. "97. Not bad, considering. How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Peter says, and Tony gives the subtlest nod from his chair in the corner as a means of prodding him to continue. "Except I get really out of breath when I climb stairs? And when I'm out in the cold for too long? O-or when I go from cold to warm, or warm to cold?"

Bruce is sitting at the computer station, typing things into Peter's chart. "Are you taking your Ventolin when that happens?"

"Um," he starts, not wanting to continue, but Tony nods again, and so he takes a breath before answering to calm his nerves. "Y-yeah, but, the Ventolin makes me feel kind of weird after? It always has but now I'm taking it more often and it's frustrating. Trying to take a test or do homework while you're shaky and your heart is racing is really hard."

"There's an alternative that doesn't have the rapid heartbeat and shaking as a side effect," Bruce says. "We can have you take something called Xopenex instead. I'll have to order the inhalers and nebules, but I can have them in by tomorrow morning. I'll get you a new spacer, too. I'll also write you an elevator pass for when you need it. Not a problem."