The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Sixty Two: And These Women

Bucky woke to Mara gently shaking him, her voice soft and soothing.

"Caro," she whispered in a sing-song tone. "Caro, it's time to wake up."

He groaned and opened his eyes to her smiling and clearly exhausted face.

"Hey," she said, leaning in to kiss his forehead. "We're back at the palace. And Shuri is looking for us."

Bucky nodded and stretched, using it as an excuse to wrap an arm around her shoulder and bring her in for a scratchy and sleepy kiss.

"We stay up all night," he murmured and she laughed.

"That's hardly impressive for us," she teased. "I'm a ER doctor and you are a sniper, so no whining," she reminded him, standing and nearly dragging him to his feet.

"How in the hell are you this energetic?" he demanded through another yawn. The lack of down time between his killing Movoniv and their trip to Wakanda was finally hitting. "You haven't had your coffee yet or anything."

"I want to see what Shuri has in store for us!" she explained, tugging on him a little more. Bucky groaned but let her drag him out of the carriage and into the palace.

Unsurprisingly, what Shuri had was a lot of questions.

"And how long were you in physical therapy?" she asked, staring at them through the holographic scan of Bucky's body. He glanced at Mara who was sitting beside him on the examination table, her head on his shoulder.

"About eight weeks," she answered. "We started work as soon as he was able to move without debilitating pain."

"And that took?"

"Two weeks."

Shuri sucked her teeth and pulled the projection in on Bucky's right arm. The healed fractures glowed a little brighter than the rest of the bones. He counted at least eight.

"I think some of those are old," he said, squinting at the numerous bright spots. "I only remember them breaking my arm three times."

Mara muttered something in Italian that Bucky could guess the meaning of.

"It feels fine," he tried to assure them, but neither woman was swayed.

"And your legs?" Shuri asked, swiping the hologram to move downwards.

"Oh, they were more worried about my muscles than my bones," he explained just as Shuri zeroed in on the healed fracture in his left fibula. The areas around where his calf muscles had been severed and healed were thicker than the rest and he involuntarily winced at the memory of whistling blades and limp limbs.

"Izilwanyana," Shuri hissed with a shake of her head. "The things people can do..." Her voice trailed off and she paused for a moment before waving away the projection and continuing, "it looks like you have healed well. As I'm sure Mara has already warned you, you may deal with some tightness or weakness in the areas that sustained the most trauma. But you are alright, thank the ancestors."

"And you thought I'd need a full body cast," Bucky teased, lightly rocking against Mara. She exhaled in relief and rubbed her face.

"You're sure the broken bones healed properly?" she asked Shuri anxiously. "I didn't have an X-Ray or anything other than bandages!"

"Thanks to the serum, Bucky's ability to heal is much better than the average person's," Shuri explained. "That combined with your expert care made it possible for him to recover despite the long odds."

"Thank God," Mara muttered, resting her head in her hands. Bucky rubbed her shoulder and waited for her to collect herself. "Your healing rate is not an excuse for you to do stupid stuff," she warned, looking over at him with a frown.