Re: Marvel hospital: Tony/Bruce/Steve/Selina
Tony tried to keep going. Tony was used to just... pressing through. He had done it a hundred, a thousand times. He'd take a drink or a pill or whatever it took and then he would just move forward. This situation with the shrapnel, it was the first that Tony had experienced his body simply refusing to comply. It wasn't a matter of will, it was simply impossible for his mind to force his body to comply. New pain interceded, and now his head was going light. The wires tying him to the bed were stretched to their maximum length and Tony was barely upright next to his bed. His eyes stayed focused on the door where Selina had disappeared, and he felt, rather than saw, both Bruce and Steve converge in his direction.
Tony didn't meet Steve's eyes until the man was completely blocking his view of the door, and then he almost immediately looked away, at Bruce. That tone of voice was not something Tony had heard before, but it didn't matter. He knew what it meant. Tony reached out and caught Steve's arm to hold himself upright, his arm crossing his chest to catch Steve's where it pressed into his shoulder. He was breathing like a fucking marathon runner and his face was a new color resembling mint cream. Tony resisted the push toward the bed, but he didn't have the strength to stay completely upright. He just hung on to Steve and turned his attention toward Bruce over the man's shoulder.
"I didn't. After! She started getting sad and I fucking knew only Selina Kyle would feel sad after... that. I knew it was her so I," he had to stop and this time he had to sit, gravity taking away the inevitable. He took in another ragged gasps in unmistakable defiance, and the room was peculiarly empty without the movement of the bots and the scolding tones of the invisible butler. "I didn't... think she would... be angry like that." Tony threw up an empty palm at the door, anxious and angry because he was anxious. "What is she hurt for!"
For some reason Tony looked at Bruce as if the doctor could explain it.