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"Sit still," Steve chastised gently, unable to hold back his smile.
Tony kept squirming on the exam table. "Your watch is cold."
Steve stilled his hands to shoot Tony an incredulous look. "I'm literally sewing your knee back together and the thing that's bugging you is my watch?"
Tony pouted. "Well, considering all the anesthetic you shot into my knee, it's no wonder I'm not bothered by the sewing. But I can still feel my calf and your watch is really cold!"
Steve snorted out a laugh. He held the needle in his right hand and lifted the other up towards Tony. Tony deftly unclipped his watch and cradled it between his hands, looking at the face. Steve went back to stitching.
"It's a nice watch."
"It was a present from an old friend of mine. She was one of my professors in med school."
"She must be really proud of you." Tony set the watch in his lap.
"She was. She passed away. But she got to see me graduate first."
Tony fell silent as Steve tied off another stitch.
"So is this one your robot's fault as well?"
Tony hummed out a soft laugh. "No, this one was my fault. I was working on that project I told you about last time. The arc reactor power generator? And I got my foot caught on the dolly and tripped knee first into the casing I'd just made."
"Ouch." Steve tied off the last stitch. He tossed the needle set back on the tray and picked up a tube of ointment. He spread it lightly over the stitches.
"Yeah I'm just lucky it had fully cooled."
Steve raised an eyebrow at him as he unfolded a piece of gauze. "I think, considering how often I see you in here, 'lucky' is not a word I'd use to describe you."
Tony laughed at that, and Steve couldn't stop his breath from stuttering at the crinkles it formed in the corners of Tony's eyes. Normally, having a stunningly beautiful patient wasn't really a problem for Steve - working in the ER meant few repeat customers, and he rarely had to fend off his feelings for long - but Tony Stark was admitted often enough that he should have been collecting frequent flyer miles and it probably wouldn't be long before they named the ambulance lane after him.
It was somehow even harder to resist the man's charms when Steve knew half the scars on his body intimately, had sewn most of them back together himself.
"I know there's not much point in telling you to be more careful," Steve said, adding a purple unicorn sticker on top of Tony's bandage. He peeled his gloves off.
"What can I say? I live life on the edge."
Steve lay his hand on Tony's good knee. "Maybe take just one step back."
Tony smiled, soft and sweet and genuine, then lifted Steve's hand in his. Steve's heart skipped a beat at the touch, bizarrely imagining Tony bringing his hand to his lips and kissing it, but of course instead Tony wrapped Steve's watch back around his wrist and recoupled it. "Thanks again, doc."
"I hope I don't see you soon, Tony." He said it every time but it was becoming less and less true.
Tony didn't reply. He stood, shaking his sweatpants back down to his ankles, then winked and walked out of the exam room, leaving Steve with a tray full of dirty first aid equipment and a heart full of longing.
**
"So, just to make sure I've got this right…" Steve said, three weeks later, trying to keep the sigh out of his voice. "She shoved a pencil up her nose, the eraser broke off, and now you can't get it out?"
The man nodded morosely, one hand on his seven-year-old daughter's shoulder.
"And your wife comes home tomorrow morning and you don't want her to come home to her child in the hospital."
He nodded again.
"Well, okay then, let's see if we can find it."
After a solid hour of forceps, x-rays, and crying child, Steve finally got the last of the eraser free without needing to put the poor girl through surgery. He sent the dad home with his kid, a prescription for anti-inflammatories, and a promise that Steve wouldn't call the house to check up on her in case mom was home.
Steve leaned back in his chair and let out a silent groan. At least his shift was over. He peeled off his gloves and cleaned up his exam area. He finished his charts, left a few notes for the shift manager, then logged out. He pulled a sweater on over his scrubs and, yawning, made his way to the front lobby.
A yell and the rattle of a speeding gurney in the distance caught Steve's attention, but they were heading away instead of towards him so he didn't seem to be at risk of being in the way. He peeked around the corner before stepping into the lobby to make sure there weren't more coming in, but the lobby was clear and an empty ambulance was sitting out front, lights flashing. Finished his shift just in time it seemed.
He leaned over the counter to double check no one had left any messages for him.
"Steve."
Steve looked up to see Bucky, hair falling out of its bun, blood staining the front of his scrubs. His eyes were wild and sad, his jaw tight.
"What?"
"It's Stark."
Steve dropped the message pad and tore after Bucky, down the hall to the OR.
**
Four hours later, Tony was stable, but he still hadn't regained consciousness. The witness who had called 911 told them Tony had been riding his motorcycle in front of their car and a truck coming towards them had crossed the lane divider and spun Tony out. Thankfully he'd been in leathers and a helmet but he was still torn up pretty roughly and there would be no way to tell how bad things were until he woke up.
Wake up.
Steve had installed himself in the chair by Tony's bed as soon as he'd come out of surgery and hadn't moved. The ER staff must have known more than Steve had let on about his feelings for his favourite repeat client, because coffee and snacks appeared regularly at his elbow but no one asked him to move or wondered why he cared so much about a guy he barely knew.
"Tony?" asked a rough voice from the doorway.
Steve spun around. He immediately recognized Tony's best friends, Rhodes and Pepper, from the pictures Tony had shown him one day. Steve had thought to check Tony's phone for emergency contacts and they were both listed. "Hi. You must be James Rhodes and Pepper Potts." Steve stood to shake their hands.
Rhodes looked his scrubs - changed for clean ones now - up and down and nodded. "You must be Dr. Steve."
Steve opened his mouth then closed it again, startled. "Tony mentioned me?"
Pepper snorted with amusement. "He more than mentioned you. Is he going to be okay?"
"Still no change. I'm afraid it's a waiting game at this point."
Rhodes shook Steve's hand. "Thanks, man. Thanks for looking out for him. A bunch of times, I guess."
"I -" Steve caught on the words he wanted to say, on the explanation he could feel inside him but couldn't quite release into the world yet. He hadn't been able to say it to Tony, even though he'd known him for almost a year now, and now he might never get his chance. "Yeah," he said, instead, with a sigh.
Pepper took Tony's hand gingerly and sat besides him. Steve started gathering up his things, his wrappers and coffee cups and his phone. Pepper and Rhodes shared a look. "You can stay," she said softly. "I'm sure you want to go home, but if you -"
Steve stilled. "I'd like to stay. If that's okay."
She nodded. "I'm sure he'd be happy to have you here when he wakes up. It'll make him feel safe."
"Thank you." Steve pulled a chair from the hall for Rhodes, then settled back in his own. They sat in silence for a while, then Rhodes started telling stories about what Tony was like in MIT, then Pepper told them about Tony's first few years at SI, and Steve found he had stories of his own to tell.
By two in the morning, Pepper had fallen asleep curled up in her chair, and Steve had to leave if he was going to be able to change, shower, eat, and nap before his next shift. Rhodes followed him out into the hall. "Give me your number and I'll text you as soon as he wakes up."
"Thank you," Steve said gratefully. He typed his number into Rhodes' phone.
"He's going to be so jealous that I got your number first."
Steve looked up sharply. "What?"
Rhodes smiled knowingly. "Come on, man. He's been trying to work up the nerve to ask you out for like four months. I kind of got the impression you'd say yes to that, what with the bedside vigil, but if I'm wrong then -"
"No. No, not wrong. I've been trying to work up the nerve too," Steve admitted. "For… an embarrassingly long time."
"Good." Rhodes nodded. "You seem like a great guy. I think you two'd be good together."
Steve held out a hand to shake. "That means a lot to me. Thanks."
"I'll text you."
Steve nodded. He didn't want to say he'd come after his shift, because he wanted to believe it wouldn't take that long, but by the time he'd clocked out, his phone still hadn't buzzed. He checked in on Tony and found Pepper there alone, Rhodes having gone to their hotel to sleep for a while. Steve opted to do the same. He had two days off and he was wobbling when he stood still too long. If he went home and slept for a few hours, he could be back and stay for as long as he needed to.
He was rubbing conditioner in his hair when his phone chimed and he stuck his head around the curtain to see Rhodes' name on the ID. "Shit." He rinsed his hair and hands then stepped out and read the message while rubbing himself down with a towel.
He's awake and talking. He asked if you were the one who stitched the giant hole in his abdomen. I told him I didn't know but I'd ask.
He actually won't stop talking.
If you want him, he's all yours. Sick of him already.
Think he's got a bit of a stitches kink actually, and that's something I don't want to think about too much. I blame you.
Get your ass back here Dr. Steve, he's insisting he's well enough to eat doughnuts.
Steve laughed with relief so potent it almost came out as a sob. He threw on clothes and called a cab while he was shoving his feet in his shoes. He waved at reception as he trotted by, up the stairs and into Stark's room. His bed had been raised a bit and he was pale, but looking good, otherwise. Steve waited in the doorway until Tony's eyes cut to him and lit up. Steve couldn't help but smile back.
He walked up to Tony's monitor and checked his vitals. "Your excuses for coming to see me are starting to get a little convoluted," he said, and Tony laughed then groaned.
"Okay, laughing hurts." Tony looked up at him. "Your hair is wet."
"I was in the shower." Steve lifted the covers to check Tony's bandages. "Does anything else hurt? Any sharp pains?"
Tony's hand wrapped gently around Steve's wrist. "Bucky was just in here checking on me. You can check my chart if you don't believe me." He cleared his throat. "I was under the impression you were here as a visitor, not a professional."
Steve's cheeks heated of their own accord and he looked over at Rhodes and Pepper who had both suddenly found they had something on their phones that was absolutely absorbing.
Steve lowered the covers and sat down on a chair he pulled up close. "I am." He rested his hand on Tony's bed, and Tony's fingers didn't leave his wrist. "I was really worried about you."
"Apparently, I'm going to be alright, but I won't miraculously be able to play the violin."
Steve snorted. "Bucky has loved that joke every one of the four hundred times he's gotten it."
"That's what he said to me."
Steve leaned in closer, heart clenching as it really sunk in that he'd almost missed his chance. "I was really worried about you."
Tony smiled, eyes crinkling. "I know. Rhodey said you stayed up all night to sit with me."
"Tony…"
"Bowling."
Steve blinked. "What?"
"I want to go bowling. For our first date. Then coffee. You can pick the second one, but I strongly believe that a third date should always be mini golf and ice cream, regardless of how cold it is."
Steve laughed. "Third date, huh?"
"At least." Tony sounded confident, but Steve could hear the slight waver in his voice.
He wound their fingers together, mindful of Tony's monitor and IV. "Sounds good to me. I'm terrible at mini golf, though."
"Even better. I'm terrible at losing."
"You're going to be trouble, aren't you?"
Tony grinned. "Considering the number of times you've patched me back up, I would have thought you were expecting that, Dr. Rogers."
"Maybe I'm looking for a little trouble." Steve beamed at him.
Tony squeezed his hand. "How long can you stay?"
"For you? Forever," Steve whispered, and if he noticed a little blip from Tony's heart monitor at that, he kept it to himself.