I won't find it fantastic or think it absurd, when the gun in the first act goes off in the third...

[performedperfectly]

Maya groans, tries to roll to her side, get her hands under her. She needs to get to her computer, she needs to- to-

She can't remember what she's trying to do, but there's a bullet in her gut and her blood's all over the floor and Tony needs to know, he...

Something tugs at her arm, and she blinks in confusion at it for a second until her eyes focus on the IV in her forearm, the medical gown and white sheets and the handcuff on her other wrist and...

Handcuff aside, she barks out a laugh, too harsh in her dry throat, and drops her head back against the thin pillow. Her stomach aches and burns, but it's somewhat dull, numbed by painkillers, not immediate and burning and like something's scooped out her insides and replaced it with molten metal, and the pain doesn't even matter. She's not dead. Whatever else she has to face now - Killian or Tony or the authorities or who the hell cares - that feels like a victory.

Comments

[performedperfectly]

"Uhhh... morphine can be nice, if you can talk someone into it." It's said with half a laugh, but really. Morphine would be nice.

[willthatbeall]

"I will do everything in my power," Pepper declares. Maybe a little tiny bit dramatically. She's been spending too much time around Tony. "I don't think it should interfere with anything, so I can't see why they wouldn't - as long as there's no medical reason to withhold it, you'll get some."

She stands and opens the door, so she can get out into the hallway and flag a nurse down. She has a brief, hushed conversation with him where she is clearly informing him that Maya is getting a morphine drip unless it is medically impossible for some reason, and taking no arguments from him.

She returns with a faintly smug smile. "A doctor should be here soon to verify you're not on anything that could interact with morphine and then set up a drip."

Pepper Potts gets shit done.

[performedperfectly]

"You," Maya says, letting her head fall back against the pillow again, "are my hero."

She pauses, swallows, and then adds, "Okay, two more questions - well, maybe three - and then I'll stop. Can I get a glass of water, and do I still have an apartment? I mean, I've apparently been out for a while, so..."