Clinic

[iparkedmycar]

Three days later, his head's still hurting. He keeps trying to read but his vision swims a little bit. He's had a concussion once before, falling out of a tree as a kid, catching his temple against a knot of root. This si a similar sort of pain. There's an impressive bruise on the side of his face where he must have caught the tree trunk. The

Comments

[wildlyconflictd]

In retrospect, it's much easier for Pepper to acknowledge exactly how lucky they all were. Cooper got the worst of it and he's still very much alive, if temporarily slowed down. The fact that she herself had come out of the experiences with only cuts and bruises is a constant source of amazement.

There aren't any proper vases to be had, so she's stolen a glass and filled it with flowers instead, the least she could do for Cooper under the circumstances. "I hope you're not allergic," she says by way of greeting as she carries them into the clinic and sets them at Cooper's bedside.

[iparkedmycar]

"Nobody's ever bought me flowers," says Cooper, blinking a little and, reflexively, covering the bruising on the side of his face with one hand as he straightens up, pushing up against the pillow. He breaks into a reflexive smile, though.

"How're you doing?"

[wildlyconflictd]

"I'm going to wager that you've also never done battle with a dinosaur before, either," Pepper points out with an arch look over her shoulder as she arranges the flowers to her liking.

"Thank you for that, by the way," she adds when she's finished and settling into the chair next to his bed. "And I'm fine, Cooper, thank you for asking. How's the leg?"

[iparkedmycar]

"I had to do something," says Cooper, looking momentarily self conscious, letting his hair slip forward before he pushes it back.

"The scar's going to be pretty awesome," he says, brightening. "You want to see?"

[wildlyconflictd]

"No, thank you," Pepper is quick to reply with a shake of her head and slight wrinkle of her nose. "I'll just take your word for it, if it's all the same. I'm glad you've found a silver lining to all of this, though. Apparently some girls really like scars."

[iparkedmycar]

"People keep telling me that!" says Cooper, brightening considerably as he shifts in the bed, resisting the urge to scratch his stitches.

"Rachel said that there was, like, a robot or something? And I missed it?"

[wildlyconflictd]

"Do you read comic books, Cooper?" Pepper asks, eyebrows arching. Surely it's more simple to say it was Iron Man who rescued them than to try and explain who Tony is and why he's got a robotic suit.

[iparkedmycar]

"Yeah, I read comic books. Scotty's, mostly," says Cooper, giving in to the urge and pushing one hand under the sheet, easing his fingers under the edge of his bandage.

"Why?"

[wildlyconflictd]

"It was Iron Man," clarifies Pepper, hoping that particular title existed in whatever alternate universe Cooper happened to be from. She leans down, blasé, and scratches at a healing mark on her ankle. "Tony Stark is- well. I used to work for him."