Unsteady

Broken

"Hold, hold on, hold onto me, 'cause I'm a little unsteady, a little unsteady"

I tried to close my eyes. To try and convince myself none of this was real, but it didn't work, and I was left crying and trembling in the corner of my cell. With no way to touch my baby. I sat there for what felt like hours, when really it had only been minutes.

I dazed off into the distance as I tried to calm myself down. And during that time, I didn't hear the explosions and bullets being fired in the distance. I didn't break out of my daze until I heard the door to my cell open. I snapped out of it, backing my way up against the wall and curling up into a ball to make myself appear smaller.

Maybe I could make Noah think I wasn't here. My body was trembling as the man walked through the door, and I squeezed my eyes shut in fear until I heard his voice.

"Tess?" Bucky asked, his eyes scanning the opposite side of the room before landing on me, immediately running towards me and unlocking my hands as I burst into tears. "Hey, hey baby it's okay," he whispered, pulling me into his arms as he picked me up, "I've got you. You're safe now."

I clung onto his body with one hand while the other held my belly.

"I know sweetheart. I know," he said softly, "I'm taking you to the doctors, you're gonna be okay."

"Is he d-dead?" I cried, and Bucky went silent for a few moments.

"No doll," he whispered, "he got away."

My heart dropped, a choked sob escaping my mouth as he carried me to the car, placing me in the backseat and laying my head on his lap as he ordered Sam to drive us to the hospital. Bucky tried to calm me down, running his fingers through my hair as he told me stories. He tried to keep my mind off of Noah escaping, and although it was tricky, he was able to do it.

Sam quickly got us to the hospital, where Bucky carried me out of the car and into the ER where a nurse was already waiting. She led us through the halls and helped Bucky place me on the bed, quickly grabbing the gel to give me an ultrasound.

The cool gel was placed on my belly as I forced my eyes to stay open, to which Bucky noticed immediately. He placed his hand on mine, interlocking his fingers with mine as he squeezed it a few times.

"You can go to sleep sweetheart," he whispered, "nothings going to happen to you."

"I need to know if she's okay," I said as my voice cracked, "I can't wait until I wake up."

And that's when I heard the rapid beating of my daughters heart coming from the ultrasound machine.

"There's her heartbeat," the nurse smiled, checking up on a few things as a relieved sigh escaped both Bucky and I's mouths. What I didn't notice as while I was focused on our baby, he was focused on me. I didn't notice his hand checking the open cut on my cheek, or the bruises on my face. His eyes switched from our baby to me every few seconds, trying to make sure both of his girls were okay.

And that's when he noticed the dried blood in my matted hair on the side of my head.

"Doll, did you hit your head?" He asked, inspecting it even further as I sucked in a sharp breath when he lifted my hair.

"He slammed my head against the concrete," I admitted, and the nurse looked at me concerned.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Bucky asked.

"Cause I didn't think it was that bad," I whispered, "it doesn't hurt..."

"Here let me look," she said softly, turning around the chair to check out my head. After a few moments, she nodded her head with a smile, "she's okay. As is your daughter."