Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 71 - Live To Tell The Tale

Keira floated in and out of consciousness as she valiantly fought to bring herself back to the world of the living.

Every time she came around, there was different sounds around her. Sometimes, she caught snippets of incomprehensible words of conversations. Other times, it was the steady whirring of an engine or machine.

No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, the fuzzy cloud that seemed to have attached itself to her brain refused to leave.

The next time she came around, she did manage to peel her eyes open. But she quickly shut them again as the harsh lighting from the fluorescent tubes above her nearly blinded her. Judging from the white ceiling and sterile smell, however, she guessed she was in a hospital room.

A steady beeping sound was all she could hear, something that was starting to get on her nerves. She moved her head to the side, hoping she could get a better look at the room if she wasn't staring directly up at the light.

But she immediately stopped as a sharp pain shot up from her shoulder blade, causing a gasp to escape her lips. Judging from the increased beeping sound, her heart rate was spiking because of the pain as well.

Carefully, she tested if she could move her fingers and toes. To her great relief, she could. But the sharp pain in her back was insane.

Didn't they have any painkillers around here? Ignoring her screaming body, she swiftly turned her head to the side. The hexagonal shapes that decorated the wall immediately calmed her down.

Okay, so she was in the Avengers compound.

She had been down in the med bays so much that she practically knew them like the back of her hand by now. At least she hadn't been kidnapped again. Her head was throbbing like mad, in sync with the pain in her back, making it impossible to think straight.

But she had no memory of how she had gotten here.

The last thing she remembered was... Wanda.

"Oh, god. Wan." Keira muttered under her breath. She needed to find Wanda, to tell her she was okay, that she was alive. But as her senses caught up with her sight, a horrible realization threatened to hit her.

Why wasn't Wanda here?

The bed sheets rustled softly when she pushed herself into a sitting position, not bothering to try and smother the painful groans that left her lips. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, another spike of pain searing through her system at the rough movement.

There was no way she would just wait around, like a naïve little puppy, for someone to come and help her. She needed to find Wanda now, to quiet down the voice that told her it was pointless. Because why wouldn't Wanda be by her bedside if everything had gone according to plan?

She blindly stretched out her hand and grabbed the IV pole, dragging it in front of her. Hopefully, it would suffice as a crutch if her legs proved inefficient enough to carry her.

"Okay, you got this, Key." She breathed out with a groan when she finally pushed herself off the bed. Just like an old lady, she was leaning on the IV pole for support, her back hunched over in pain. The thin metal creaked uncomfortably, bending slightly under her grip.

The cold tile floor underneath her feet was spinning, and she swallowed hard to not throw up. Swaying slightly where she stood, she could feel how every single muscle in her body, especially those in her upper body, protested against being forced to stand. "Come on, you wuss puss." She muttered to herself, narrowing her eyes at the door before taking a shaking step towards it.

The door in question swung open at that very moment and revealed nobody other than Natasha. Her eyes widened for just a second as she took in the sight of the weak mutant, but she quickly collected herself. "Oh, no. You shouldn't be up and walking already, Key." She said softly, grabbing the blonde by the shoulders and gently guiding her back into a sitting position.