Never | Steve Rogers x OC

Chapter Fifteen

When Brianna awoke it felt as if her body had been hit by a truck. Only something was there, in her body, trying to take the edge off. Her nose was stinging from the smell of rubbing alcohol and she knew she was in a hospital, safe. Her eyes fluttered open slowly and she tried her best to take in her surroundings. The lights had been dimmed thankfully making it easier to see.

She was lying in a hospital bed covered up by a thin, blue blanket. An IV was into her right hand dripping fluid, she assumed morphine, into her hand. Her throat felt raw. Her lips were dry and cracked. She attempted to lick them, but it didn't help. There was a faint beeping reading her heart rate and oxygen. Something or rather someone had their hand in her left hand.

Dad. She felt tears forming in her eyes when she saw her dad sitting in a chair with his head resting against her hospital bed. He was snoring softly indicating he was asleep. She took a deep breath in and felt her side screaming in pain. She winced slightly and her dad sat up.

"Brianna?" He asked half asleep. He rubbed his eyes sheepishly and finally looked awake. "You're awake! Thank God."

"Can I have some water?" Her voice sound croaky.

He turned slightly and grabbed a cup of water with a straw in it. He brought it up to her mouth and she took small sips. Relief washed over body at just the smallest hint of water. "I feel like I'm dead."

"Well, you've got a bad concussion, fractured ribs. You came in very dehydrated. Several bruises and cuts. That would explain the death feeling." Her dad said. He reached up and gently brushed her unruly hair out of her face. She had never seen her dad cry before, but it looked as if he could breakdown any minute.

"I have questions." She said.

"I know. You were gone for six days. Steve and Sam got your SOS and tried to get there as fast as they could, but were too late. We tried our best to track your movements. We didn't succeed until Rumlow plastered your face all over the news. It didn't take long to find you after that. You were kept on a ship headed to Africa. By the time we got there, Rumlow and his main men had fled. We transported you to New York and you've been out cold for another day."
He explained. "You scared us, Bri. Your mom, Laura, me. Everyone."

She felt a tear trail down her cheek. "I-I'm sorry, dad. I don't know how they caught onto me."

"I'm not blaming you. Not one bit. This was one of my fears, that something would happen to you."

"Is Steve okay?" She asked.

Clint chuckled. "After your mom finishes ripping into him, I don't know."

"It isn't Steve's fault." She could feel her eyes starting to grow heavy from the morphine kicking in. "I think I'm going to get some more sleep."

"Okay. I'll be here." He said before gently kissing her forehead.

Steve hadn't slept in days. He had barely even eaten. Sam had to literally force him too. The guilt he felt was immense. Similar to how he felt when he discovered Bucky was still alive. Like he could have prevented Brianna from being taken. It killed him that Rumlow had targeted her of all people. He didn't even know how she was even found. He would get his revenge, just not that day.

Clint had been the first one to find her unconscious body. Steve followed shortly after that. He tried his best to remain composed when he saw her body covered in blood and bruises. He carried up four flights of stairs and into the quinjet. Not once did she wake up.

He hadn't left the hospital since they brought her in. He felt as if he owed her that much. He had been yelled at for ten minutes by Brianna's mother and still he remained in the hospital. He waited hours for everyone to leave so he could see her. He needed to see her alone. He needed to lay eyes on her and know she was okay and apologize to her over and over again.

He walked slowly up to her hospital door, snacks in hand. Clint was still there watching over her. Natasha had come out and said she had been awake for a few minutes hours ago, but had gone back to sleep. It seemed she was awake now. He opened the door and stepped inside. Seeing her awake was different than seeing her knocked out a day ago. She looked worse to him.

There was a butterfly bandage on her forehead with a yellow bruising surround it. Her bottom lip was swollen, split in one spot with more bruising. Her eyes had purple bags under them. She looked weak and exhausted. The conversation Clint and Brianna had been having ceased. Both of them looked over at Steve who was standing frozen.

"Steve." Her voice was soft.

"I was, uh, hoping to sit with Brianna for a little while. You look like you could use a break, Clint." Steve said.

Clint looked at his daughter. Something was going on. He wasn't an idiot, but he decided not to address it at the current moment. "You okay if I go home for a few hours?"

"Yes, dad. I'm an adult. I can watch over myself." She said with a smile.

He stood up and kissed her head before walking over to Steve. He kept his voice low so Brianna wouldn't hear him, "If anything happens to her, I'll kill you."

Steve swallowed dryly. He waited until Clint was gone to walk over to Brianna's bed. In his hands he held two containers of jello; one blue and one red. He sat them in front of Brianna and she looked at them slightly perplexed.

"The hospital cafe is closed. This is all they had. I thought you might want to choose which one you wanted." He said as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

She reached forward and took the blue one. "Thank you."

"It's the least I could do." He told her. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore. Tired. I'll be okay though. I have to stay another night in the hospital and then I can go home. My mom wants me to stay with her for a while, but I'm respectfully declining that offer." She answered.

For a moment, Steve just looked at her. More like watched her. There were so many things he wanted to say, but couldn't. He felt too guilty. The least he could do was start with an apology. "I'm sorry, Bri."

She set her jello cup down on the table. "Don't be. It wasn't your fault. It just happened. If anything I should be blaming myself. I should have been paying better attention to my surroundings. Do you know how they figured out who I was yet?"

"Not yet. Someone tipped them off clearly. We'll find out who it was though."

"I can help. Maybe."

He shook his head. "No. You need to rest and recover. You're going to be out for a few weeks."

"Steve, I'm okay. I don't understand why everything thinks I'm not. Sure I'm a little banged up but-"

"Because we almost lost you!" Steve cut her off without meaning too. "Your dad, your mom, me. I can't...I can't lose you."

Brianna was quiet. She clearly had not understood the gravity of the situation she had been. She had slipped in and out of consciousness for almost a week with no real concept of what was happening. Her main goal was to just stay alive. Everyone else had to deal with finding her and not knowing if she was alive or not.

"I'm sorry." Brianna whispered.

Steve closed his eyes for a second taking a minute to compose himself. "It's okay. I just haven't slept well."

"You were worried about me?" She asked with a small smile.

"Yeah. Yeah, I was." He said meeting her eyes.

She pulled the blanket up to her chest. "I'm touched. Really. Oh, I heard you met my mom."

"I did. She's, uh, something else. She threaten to hurt me many times in our conversation."

Brianna giggled. "Don't worry. She won't hurt you. Why don't you lay back and sleep, Steve? I'll be okay. I promise."

He thought about protesting, but he knew he needed sleep so he obliged.

A/N: sorry for the short chapter!