Come Back With Me

The Biggest Scare of His Life

Bucky walked all the way back to the school. He looked in every restaurant, bookstore, and grocery mart along the was. He looked down allies and walked through the nearby park. He couldn't find her anywhere.

There was only one more route she could have taken to the school. He doesn't know why she would take that route. It takes an extra thirty minutes to go that way but he was getting desperate.

The route led through an industrial area. There was a bunch of warehouses and factories. A lot of the factories in the area had closed due to the depression though. The only factory still running in the area just had its roof collapse in several months ago. Most of the workers that weren't injured ended up working at the factory over in Queens.

Bucky didn't see a single soul out and about. It was eerie how quiet it was. Bucky felt uncomfortable with Elizabeth being alone here. He had been walking for thirty minutes when he noticed something red leaking out from the side of a warehouse.

He turned the corner and had the biggest scare of his life so far.

Elizabeth was lying on the ground unconscious and there was a scary pool of blood surrounding her head like a halo.

He ran and kneeled down next to her. God, she looked so pale.

He was terrified to reach for her neck; he didn't want to check for her pulse. He didn't want to face Steve knowing that he couldn't save her. This would kill him. The twins were two halves of a whole and if one of them was gone, the other would never be okay again.

He told himself he would give himself ten seconds. Ten seconds to be scared. Ten seconds to panic. After those Ten seconds were up, he would focus only on her. He would do what needs to be done to either help keep her alive or...

No, he couldn't think about that. She would survive. She would never leave Steve alone in the world without a hell of a fight.

He knew his ten seconds were up so he reached his hand and touched the side of her neck.

For a split second, he thought she was dead. Her skin was ice cold, there was no warmth to be found.

But then he felt the most amazing feeling in the whole world. He felt her pulse underneath his fingers.

She was alive.

He quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. It was nearing winter so it was getting cold out. He honestly didn't know how she hasn't got hypothermia yet. Or maybe she had, Bucky never really listened in health class. He checked the back of her head and luckily it was no longer bleeding.

His first priority had to be getting her warm. He pulled her onto his lap and tucked her face into his neck.

God, she was cold.

He sat there holding her and tried to debate what to do. She desperately needed medical attention but he didn't know if she'd survive if he left her. He didn't know how long it would take for him to get to a phone even if he sprinted the whole way.

Bucky never believed in miracles but something miraculous happened that day. A car drove past the building.

He hesitated only for a split second before he laid Elizabeth gently on the ground and ran after the car. The driver luckily heard him yelling and stopped the car.

When he reaches them, he was incredibly winded.

"What's wrong son?" The man driving the car asked.

"My friend... she's hurt... needs help," he rasped out.

"What's wrong with her?" The driver asked with concern.

"I don't know, I just found her. She hit her head pretty bad," Bucky explains.

The man took a good look at Bucky. He was in only a t-shirt so the boy must be freezing. He also had blood covering his neck and shirt. If the boy was in this condition, he could only imagine how bad his girl was.

"What do you need me to do?" The man asked.

Bucky fished the money Steve gave him out of his pocket.

"Can you call the hospital?" Bucky asks.

The man takes the money from Bucky.

"Of course, I'll go right now," the man reassured him.

The man drove off and Bucky could only pray that the man kept his word. He didn't know how much longer she would last.

He returned to her and picked her up again to share his body heat.

"Bucky?"

He looked over to see Elizabeth's blue eyes staring up at him.

"Hey, Ellie" he whispered.

"My head hurts," she moaned.

"I know, sweetie. Please just relax, someone will be here to help soon," he soothes.

"I didn't get Stevie's homework," she admits.

"It's okay, I'll pick it up for both of you tomorrow," he reassures.

"Okay, Bucky... I'm really tired," she says.

She begins closing her eyes again. He starts to panic because he isn't sure if sleeping on a head injury is good. He worries that if she goes to sleep, she won't wake up again.

"No, no. Ellie, I need you to stay awake. Stay with me El," he begs.

"I thought you called me Elizabeth?" She asks.

Bucky realizes that keeping her talking will help her stay up.

"You asked me to call you Lizzie because you're friends call you Lizzie. But then you said they would if you actually had any friends. Your family calls you Lizzie so I wanted to come up with a special name your friends could call you. I decided on Ellie and I'm your friend so that's what I'm going to call you," he explains.

"Ohhh, I like Ellie," she says.

"I like Ellie too," he admits.

"Hey, Bucky?"

"Yeah, Ellie?"

"Thanks for being my friend," Ellie says.

"No problem El," he says.

"And thanks for finding me," she says softly.

"Of course, friends look out for each other. I'll always make sure to look after you," he says.

She's silent for awhile and he worries she fell asleep. He tilts her head back to see if she's awake and her head falls back limp.

She's not breathing.

He hears a siren in the distance and prays that they come in time to save her.

The ambulance pulls up next to him and a medic immediately grabs her and brings her onto a gurney.

"She's not breathing," Bucky tells them in a panic.

One of the medics starts CPR on her as they push her into the back of the ambulance.

"Please let me come with you," Bucky begs.

The medic looks at him quickly.

"Are you family?" He asks.

"Yes," Bucky responds without hesitation.

The medic urges him to get into the ambulance with Ellie.

He holds her hand and prays that she makes it out of this alive.

He realizes in that moment that he doesn't just want her to survive for Steve sake. Bucky wants her to survive for his sake because he doesn't know if he'll ever be the same if she doesn't survive.