Breathe In, Breathe Out.

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/26985754.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Relationship: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Character: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel)
Additional Tags: Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Hurt Peter Parker,
Comatose Peter, Worried Tony Stark, Nurse Natasha, Tony Stark Has
A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Tony
Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Peter Parker
Whump, Sad with a Happy Ending, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Series: Part 13 of Whumptober 2020
Collections: Whumptober 2020
Stats: Published: 2020-10-13 Words: 1,062 Chapters: 1/1

Breathe In, Breathe Out.

by Summerwolf

Summary

Whumptober day 13 - Oxygen Mask.

---

Tony felt a sob catch in his throat as he stared down at his son. He looked frighteningly
pale in the big white hospital bed, his skin almost the same shade as the covers as he
drowned under more wires than Tony had ever seen outside of his physics classroom. He
had an oxygen mask covering most of his face, the steady whoosh of his ventilator only
slightly comforting. He looked small, fragile, like if Tony even brushed his hand he would
be swallowed up and Tony would never see him again. Like one wrong move and Peter
would be gone. Like any moment now, Tony could lose his son.

Notes

See the end of the work for notes

Tony felt a sob catch in his throat as he stared down at his son. He looked frighteningly pale in the
big white hospital bed, his skin almost the same shade as the covers as he drowned under more
wires than Tony had ever seen outside of his physics classroom. He had an oxygen mask covering
most of his face, the steady whoosh of his ventilator only slightly comforting. He looked small,
fragile, like if Tony even brushed his hand he would be swallowed up and Tony would never see
him again. Like one wrong move and Peter would be gone. Like any moment now, Tony could
lose his son.

“Ahh, hey Mr Stark,” one of the nurses - Natasha she was called - said as she walked in, clearly
only a tiny bit surprised to see him back already, he’d had to go into work earlier that day, but he’d
been able to escape early and come back, hoping today would be the day Peter started to wake up.
Nat knew all that, she was the one who normally came in to check Peter over, and seeing as they
both spent so much time in the same room, they had formed some kind of friendship. They were
both desperately hoping Peter would get better, and even though Nat had only met Peter a couple of
times outside of this event, she still cared about him. “How are things today?”

“Same old,” Tony sighed, sending a tired smile towards Nat before his eyes found themselves
glued back onto Peter. “How are you?” If Nat thought it was rude that Tony wasn’t even looking at
her, then she didn’t say anything, just sighed a bit as she started taking Peter’s vitals.

“Chaotic,” she brushed a piece of hair out of her face before he continued. “One of our busiest
surgeons - Dr Banner - is off sick with stress, Dr Strange is barely managing to cover everything,
and we have been unable to find a short term replacement yet, so everyone is run off their feet.”

“Well I appreciate the care you still put into all your patient’s care,” Tony smiled, knowing that
keeping a friendly bedside manner while tired and busy must have been difficult.

“It’s not their fault,” Nat shrugs like it makes complete sense for her to stay polite, “You’ll be glad
to hear Peter is doing better, he’s not out of any woods yet, but he’s fighting hard.”

Tony found himself nodding, his words lost somewhere in his throat as tears pricked at his eyes.
Peter was a fighter, that was for sure, Tony just hoped this wasn’t his last fight ever. He never
thought he would think this, but he wished he could get into a stupid fight with Peter over some
friend’s party. Maybe Peter would be angry and would scream at him, telling Tony that he was the
worst dad and he wished he was dead, but Peter would be alive and well and not stuck in a hospital
bed, a ventilator breathing for him because he couldn’t do it for himself.

Nat left the room then, sending a wave behind her back as she moved onto the next patient, leaving
Tony alone with his thoughts and the quiet whirring of the ventilator.

“Come back to me, please kid,” Tony whispered, even the nearly inaudible words echoing around
the nearly empty room, “I need you back.”
---

“How are you doing today Tony?” Nat asked as she walked into Peter’s room, just as she had every
other time Tony had been here for the last month. He was now back at work full time, unable to
work half days any longer, but he would be at Peter’s bedside as soon as he was off, and Nat knew
that. She would say hello when she nipped in for Peter’s evening vitals, tell him how Peter was
doing.

“Been better,” Tony grunted, rubbing his tired eyes as he tried to remind himself not to give up. He
couldn’t give up, but he wasn’t sure he could go on much longer either.

“Well I have some good news for you,” Nat said, an uncharacteristically bright smile on her face,
“Peter’s vitals are looking up, I think he’s going to wake up soon!”

Tony froze, unable to believe that this could be real, not after so many months of waiting and
hoping that this day would come, hoping that Peter would win the fight and start to get better,
hoping that they had passed rock bottom and the light at the end of the tunnel would be on its way.

"Really?" His voice was broken, little more than a whisper. Was this real? Or was it just another
dream, a promise of times that were not and may never be.

"Seriously, he's still not quite there yet, but he's a tonne better than yesterday. He's on his way up."

Tears gathered in Tony's eyes as he reached out and pulled May into a hug, sobbing into her
shoulder. He would see his little bit again, and honestly that was all he cared about in that moment.

---

"Tony?" A quiet whisper pulled Tony out of the fitful sleep he had managed to fall into. His brain
knew that this was important, that he needed to wake up, even if it took his conscious mind a
minute to catch up and agree.

He groaned quietly, peeling his eyes open slowly as he tried to figure out who had called his name.
Nat wasn't in the doorway like he had suggested, and in the quiet of the room he couldn't see
anyone else.
 That's when his eyes caught on Peter, his light brown eyes shining in the low light.

He'd started waking about a day ago, short bursts when Tony had thought he would break through,
which trailed off into nothing. His ventilator was gone, at least half the wires absent too, and his
skin was starting to darken to a more natural shade, but this, right now, Peter's bright eyes as they
gazed around the room in slight confusion.

That was what really convinced Tony that this was over, that Peter was back.

He pulled his son into a loose hug, not wanting to hurt him anymore as a loud sob crawled out of
his throat.

Peter was back.

Peter was alive.

Tony hadn't lost his son.

End Notes

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