Remember Me

Chapter 14

Bucky has been sitting next to Natasha's bed for hours, being extremely worried and guarding over her. They brought her back to Wakanda as fast as they could and now she's been cared for in an infirmary. She lies in a coma. Bucky sits on the chair next to the bed with his head resting on the covers of the bed. He's asleep.

"Bucky?"

Steve peeks around the corner of the door and finds him asleep.

Apparently not that deep because Bucky wakes up from his nap. "Steve?" he replies tiredly as he yawns. His face is still covered with dirt and blood.

"Hey buddy, do you want to go freshen up? I'll stay with Natasha."

He looks around the room, his face clouds when he sees her. They put a small breathing tube in her nose and they stitched up some scars on her face and neck. Her face is clean, he can't remember they washed her face.

He nods at Steve and gives Natasha a kiss on her forehead. "I'll be right back, beautiful." He whispers and gets up to leave the room.

Steve pats his shoulder as Bucky exits the room and walks down the hall to his room. In the bathroom he throws his clothes on the floor. Looking in the mirror he sees that his face is full of cuts, blood and dirt. His metal arm is scratched and even has a dent on his biceps. He ignores it and turns on the tap and steps into a cold shower.

Images go through his head of the building that collapsed. How Natasha was knocked unconscious by debris. How he protected her by holding her tight. How they got trapped and he made his way out through the rubble. How he didn't leave her side on the flight back to Wakanda. How scared he was not knowing is she'd be okay. How angry he was leaving her alone and wasn't there to protect her.

He doesn't even know what happened to Dreykov. He doesn't care. The only thing he cares about is if Natasha will be okay and when she wakes up.

He puts on clean clothes after showering. He meets Steve in the hallway. "Nakia is with Natasha. Let's get something to eat." he takes Bucky into the kitchen.

Bucky feels numb. The only thing he can think about is Natasha and the images flashing through his mind aren't helping at all.

They sit down at one of the tables. Steve takes 2 beers and puts one in front of Bucky. Bucky caps the bottle with his metal thumb and takes a sip. He leans back.

"Has anything else changed?" asks Bucky.

"No.." Steve replies. "We'll hear if anything changes."

"It's not your fault." He continues. "Dreykov set us up."

"If only I had been faster..." Bucky runs his hand through his hair and grabs it. "I shouldn't have left her alone."

Steve shakes his head. "You couldn't have prevented this. It's not your fault... it's Dreykov's..."

Steve looks at Bucky. He sees a lot of anger in his eyes.

"Did they find a body?"

Steve shakes his head. "But if he shows up again, we'll catch him."

"Damn it!" Bucky bangs his fist on the table, almost cracking it in half, and stands up. He walks back to Natasha's room. He sits down in the chair next to her again and takes her hand and strokes it.

-

Days pass and Natasha has not yet awakened from her coma. They already removed the breathing tube and het scars are healing up nice. Bucky doesn't leave her side except to eat and sleep. Sometimes he even sleeps in the chair next to the bed if he is not sent away by either Steve of Nakia.