Asylum

Soon you'll get better

Steve didn't know who to turn to. Clearly Rumlow wasn't an option, as he didn't seem the least bit concerned about Barnes. Valentina would not do anything either, because she disliked the omega and, surely, she had authorized whatever horrible treatment they had submmited him to.

The best thing he could think of was to sneak one floor up, looking for another nurse who would hopefully be a better person than Rumlow.

On the fifth floor of the building the corridors were also empty, while the patients had gone to dinner. Steve went through a few rooms until he met a nurse.

She was an omega. She was short, with a kind expression and big brown eyes. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun.

"Excuse me, I need your help. Are you a nurse?"

"Yes, I'm Nurse Foster," the girl smiled, then her expression changed to one of concern when she saw Steve's face. "You don't sleep on this floor, what happened to you? Are you a patient?"

Steve tried to calm down to explain the situation, but formulating coherent sentences seemed like a job out of his grasp at the moment. "I, yes... I mean... I am a patient, but the help is not for me. There's an omega, he has a fever and he is injured, he needs help. Can you come with me?"

"What floor are you on? The patient had an accident or what happened to him?"

"I'm on the fourth floor. He didn't have an accident, I think he underwent treatment and..."

The girl looked anguished. "Sorry, I can't go there. If Brock Rumlow sees me, I could lose my job or worse. Does Rumlow know about the situation?"

"Yeah, he was the one..." Steve was beginning to despair. "Listen, I really need help. I mean, he needs help. We can't let him suffer all night, and he's very weak. Please."

Nurse Foster sighed. "Look, I can give you some things to help him and heal his wounds, can you do that?"

Steve nodded decisively. "Yes, I think I can help."

*****
*****

With every minute that passed, Bucky felt weaker. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake. His entire body seemed asleep, as if the icy water had robbed him of his ability to move or feel. All he felt was the stabbing pain in his wrists, which were still bleeding. He knew he had a fever, so the cold was unbearable.

The other omega told him that her name was Darcy and that everything would be fine. She stroked his hair for several minutes and her scent was soft, calm, although with a touch of spicy. Bucky didn't want her to leave. He had never spoken to her, but right now he didn't want to be alone. He felt exhausted, weak and vulnerable.

The alpha took a while to come back, to the point where Bucky thought he just wouldn't come back. Maybe he was stupid to think about it, but he wanted him to come back. His fresh scent, coconut and vanilla, reminded Bucky of a day at the beach.

He had never met an alpha who smelled this good. And, since he was locked in this place, the only alpha nearby was Rumlow, with his strange scent of fuel.

Eventually, the coconut and vanilla scent returned. It was the alpha, who brought a plastic bag with various objects inside, as well as several blankets. He quickly pulled up a chair and placed it next to Bucky's bed.

Meeting his gaze, the alpha smiled sweetly at Bucky. "You will be okay."

Then he began to remove the objects from the bag. First it was a wet towel. "I'm going to put this towel on your forehead, to help you with the fever."

The next thing was a bag full of cotton pads and a bottle of alcohol. "Your wounds are still open, I'm going to clean them," he said as he showed him the cotton and looked at Bucky's wrists. "This is gonna burn, but we have to disinfect."

The alpha took one of Bucky's hands, wiped away the blood and slipped alcohol-dipped cotton pads to disinfect the wounds Bucky had made himself while trying to escape the restraints. The alpha's movements were very smooth, patient, as if he were actually measuring his strength.

Then he followed with the other hand. While the alpha worked, Bucky watched him almost hypnotized.

When he finished disinfecting, the alpha took a vial of ointment out of the bag. "This will ease the pain in your wrists."

Finally, the alpha used bandages to cover the wounds. He made sure not to tighten them too much so they wouldn't cause pain.

When the alpha finished his task, almost an hour had passed. Bucky's temperature had surely dropped, because he was feeling a little better, more aware of his surroundings.

The alpha approached Bucky to lift his head and part of his torso with ease. "Darce, can you put the other pillow?"

Quickly, Darcy did what the alpha indicated: she adjusted the other pillow on the bed so that Bucky could rest better. Then the alpha tucked him in with the extra blankets

It was strange, but in that moment Bucky felt safe with these two people whom he barely knew. He knew he couldn't make them stay, but they had already done enough for him.

"Thanks," Bucky said in a husky voice, tired of yelling.

"You have nothing to be thankful for," the alpha replied calmly.

Again, sleep tried to take over the brunette. But Bucky couldn't afford to sleep; at some point these people would leave and he would have to take care of himself. He had to be prepared for anything that might happen: Rumlow, Valentina, or any other threat.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, but he fought with all his might.

At some point the alpha became aware of his efforts, because he frowned realizing what was happening. "It's okay, you can sleep," he finally smiled. "Darcy and I will stay here with you."

Was he serious? Bucky really wanted to believe him. He turned to see Darcy, who took his hand. "Sleep hun, we will take care of you."

There was no reason not to trust them. They didn't know him and yet they had decided to come and help him. So Bucky stopped struggling with his eyelids and gave in to the sweet oblivion of sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day.