Chapter Text
Aneurysm. Specifically, cerebal aneurysm.
Honestly Tony should have known that the universe won’t even let him live in peace.
He knew that he had high blood pressure, and had chalked up the cause of severe headaches to his repeated use of BARF. The pain in his chest, caused by the aneurysm, should have been an indicator, but with the disaster his teammates left and helping Rhodey, he as usual ignored his own pains.
If he was being painfully honest, Tony wouldn’t have let anyone know about this. If it weren’t for the fact that he fainted when Rhodey was with him, he would have kept the aneurysm topic to himself.
When he woke up in the hospital (he knew it by the smell) with Rhodey and Pepper beside him, Tony had expected them to yell at him for not taking care of himself. Instead, he saw the paleness Rhodey had and the red eyes from Pepper, he knew that it was something bad.
“Boy these drugs are good,” Tony muttered as he tried to get up. Pepper gently but firmly pushed him down, forcing him to lay on the bed. Rhodey blankly told him that he had cerebal aneurysm, as if he didn’t believe it.
“Huh” was all Tony could say before he fell back to his darkness.
….
When Tony wakes up again, he sees that Rhodey is still beside him. Now there is a doctor talking to him, and both turn to Tony when they realize that he was awake.
“Mr. Stark,” the doctor gently talks as he walks over to him. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired.”
“Yes. Mr. Stark-“
“I have aneurysm.” Tony hated it when people sugar-coated things to him. The doctor hid his surprise and Rhodey flinched. The doctor went to explain how the aneurysm was too big, too dangerous that it was inoperable, meaning that there was no cure. The doctors could not fix it, and Tony wasn’t sure if he wanted to fix this.
The doctor suggested that Tony live in a stress-free environment, and Tony had to laugh at the irony that stress could actually kill him. “When can I go home?” Tony asks in the middle of nonsense that the doctor was speaking, actually thinking that Tony would follow that advice.
“After I prescribe your medication, you are good to go. I could recommend a therapist to help,” the doctor replied. Yeah right, as if Tony would willingly go and talk about his feelings.
“Thank you doctor,” Rhodey speaks for the first time. He stands up, a little shaky because of the prosthetic legs that Tony has to make it perfect.
“This does not go public,” Tony demands because he can’t take the pity from everyone.
The doctor nods at the Colonel and the genius, and turns to get out of the room. He stops and turns back to Tony, and Tony could see the pity in the doctor’s eyes. “I am sorry Mr. Stark,” he simply said and left, as if it was his fault that Tony got a fucking aneurysm.
Tony is worried because of how Rhodey looks. He could see how the shock is still in his mind, could see the fear because of his shaky hands. He started to pace around, the prosthetics clicking as he took deep breaths.
“Rhodey calm down,” Tony tried to reassure. “You are going through denial right now-“
“How the fuck are you so calm?” Rhodey nearly shouted. “You just found out that you are going to die Tones!”
“Because I have gone through this before!"
Rhodey stopped and looked at Tony, with eyes full of something that the younger man didn’t see before: fear.
“Five stages of grief. I am going through denial right now. It helps, you know, to understand what I am going through scientifically.”
Rhodey walks to him and takes his hand, squeezing it for reassurance. He does not need to say that he was going to stick with Tony through everything.
He really doesn’t deserve this, Tony believes.
….
It was after four days when Tony was fixing the exoskeleton that needs to be perfect for Rhodey because he is dying.
It hits him and he has to slide to the floor because oh god he is dying.
…
Rhodey had met Tony at MIT, when Tony was just fifteen. Brilliant but too young, Tony Stark stood triumphant in front of the arrogant professors and selfish classmates, never letting the words or actions to bring him down. Because he never cared about them.
Rhodey had assumed that having to dorm with the youngest Stark would be living hell because he had thought Tony Stark would be obnoxious little bastard. But instead all he saw was a boy pushed into the adult's world, too young to not be playing and enjoying his life. He saw a boy who worked hard to have his father's recognition, only to be rewarded with cold words and disdain stare. He saw a boy who would nostalgically remember how his mother would sing to him when he was too young, and now didn't have enough time to even see her son. He saw a boy who never had friends who he would keep in contact too, a lonely boy who wished to belong somewhere.
All Rhodey saw was a boy too young to deal with the adult world, and the broken brown eyes whenever his parents didn't come to his science fairs.
They didn't realize how much their friendship meant to them until they had a huge argument. Rhodey didn't realize how much Tony meant to him until he was the reason of the broken brown eyes, and it hit him like a bulldozer.
Rhodey had decided that he would always be there for Tony, just like how the younger man has always been there for him.
But now as the doctor tells him that his best friend has aneurysm and there was no way of curing it, all Rhodey could think was that Tony wouldn't be with him forever.