Winter is for Lovers (Bucky Barnes X OC) [Book 1]

1. I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire

I want to clarify something:

Being a surgeon is hard.

Being a young surgeon and a woman is exhausting.

It was like any other day. Well, add in an apartment fire and a bus crash, and you'll have my current Wednesday afternoon.

The minutes ticking by were feeling more like hours, and the hours were days once the burn victims and injured tenants had begun to pile in. The smell of burnt flesh and smoke had consumed the Emergency Room I was in charge of for the day, being the only Critical Care Surgeon on call. Organizing the mess was the easiest part; identifying and notifying family members was always the most challenging part. However, any surgery I could get my needy hands-on was always a plus. Surgery meant I didn't have to deal with the chaos of dealing with the friends and family of the victims, and I could focus on just fixing the injured.

I practically ran outside for some much-needed fresh air, away from the smoke and ashy smell stinking up inside. I took a long, deep breath as I let my back hit the cool brick wall of the building, sliding down it and plopping down onto the cement sidewalk, hugging my knees tightly to my chest. The air was brisk, and I could already feel my fingers starting to freeze from the crisp February breeze, the last of New York's winter season beginning to thaw.

"Honey, where's your coat?" A sweet, subtle southern accent pulled me out of my thoughts of not freezing to death.

I lifted my head to see a lovely pair of icy blue eyes gazing at me in shock, with a pretty pink mouth in the shape of an "o" just staring down at me. She had dark chocolate brown hair tied in a low ponytail that stopped at her shoulders. She stood just below five and a half feet tall and had curves that you could only imagine underneath her.

"I left it inside," I said casually, giving her my best attempt at a smile. "I wasn't planning on being out here for too long; I just needed a minute to breathe."

"Well, if you stay out here any longer, you'll catch sick," she said to me, offering me a hand to help me off the ground. "And I mean sick. It's colder than a well digger's behind out here. I don't know how you can stand it!"

"A... what?" I couldn't help but laugh at the phrase, and she, in turn, laughed along with me.

"It's something my momma used to say when it was cold out," she said to me, taking a sip of her coffee. "I don't know what it means either, but it did put a smile on that face of yours. I thought it was going to be stuck in that frown. Your momma never says anything like that when it gets cold?"

"No. No, she didn't, not that I can remember, anyway. She died when I was a child." I said, instantly killing the bright mood between us. I watched as this poor girl's expression went from warm and welcoming to sad and sympathetic.

"I'm sorry, honey," she apologized. "I didn't know."

"How could you? You don't even know me," I said as the two of us walked back inside the hospital. I smoothed down my surgical smock and stretched out my back as both adjusted to the warmth from inside. "Do you have family inside?"

"Oh no!" She said, her bubbly smile coming back. "I work here; I'm a nurse. I just started a couple of weeks ago." Then, her eyes went down to my outfit, "are you one of the Surgical Assistants?"

"No," I said, my cheeks turning a deep red. "I'm the surgeon on duty today."

"Wait," she stopped in front of the door leading back into the Emergency Room, "you're Doctor Hazel Grace? The Doctor Hazel Grace?"

"I assume my reputation precedes me?" I asked jokingly.

"You're quite literally the only female surgeon on this side of the Mississippi," she said, her southern accent drawling out of her. "You're an icon and possibly my hero. Your research on stem cells and their indefinite potential for cell division and how they can transdifferentiate into other types of cells, using them as regenerative agents, was genius!"