On The Run) Romanogers

Part 7

Steve P.O.V.

We'd been here for eight hours, no fucking word. Surgeons and nurses would come in and out, every time my heart would skip a beat. They hadn't called us yet, not a single update. My mind was racing through the worst possibilities, but Bucky kept repeating the same thing, "no news is good news." My leg started to bounce as I kept biting at my nails, it would start subconsciously and Bucky would remind me to stop with a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Steve, that's us," Sam and Bucky stood up. The nurses had called a name that I hadn't recognized, I probably should have realized that they were using a fake name for her. The moment I realized that they were talking about her, my head snapped to attention and my brain fog cleared.

"Is she okay? Where is she?" I rapidly questioned. I knew one of the biggest questions I should be asking was if she was still alive, but I was terrified of the answer.

"We'd like to apologize for the wait, we understand that it can be very stressful," she started, it was clearly a script that she had used over and over again. Rather than snapping at her, I held my tongue knowing that she was being polite and that she was the only one who would update me on Natasha. "Your friend has been in surgery for the last few hours, it was touch and go. We didn't want to update you all prematurely, and to be honest we didn't have the staff to spare with updates. Again, our deepest apologies a-"

"Is she alive?" Sam budded in, asking the question we were all waiting for.

"Yes, she is stable currently, but she isn't out of the woods yet. She sustained a lot of blood loss, so we're going to keep her for several days to monitor her," she continued on. She kept talking and it seemed like the other two were paying attention, but I stopped following the conversation. She was alive, she had made it through this by some miracle... but now we had to get her out of here.

The nurse showed the three of us to the room. Natasha was laying so peacefully on the bed she almost looked normal, but the sight that killed me was all the tubing and wires. It always got to me, maybe I was a bit old fashioned and all the tech scared me, but the idea that some machine had to help her breathe was upsetting to me.

I quickly crossed the room and grabbed her hand in my own. Somehow it was warm and cold all at once, a lot warmer than it had been on the plane, but not as warm as she should be.

"Hey," I leaned down and whispered, placing my forehead against Nat's, "thank you for staying," was all I could manage to say. There was so much I wanted to say and do, but I could only get those few words out, "just keep fighting for me." I kept my head there, a few of my tears slid down onto her face and I dried them up. I finally had the nerve to look her over, her leg was elevated and in a cast and she had a few small cuts and bruises, but that was all I could see without uncovering her shoulder, which was in a sling, and other leg. I turned to find Sam carefully holding her other hand.

"The second we can, we need to get out of here," he was already getting down to business, "we're not that far from where we got made, and I'm sure they put out some type of BOLO on us and her injuries."

He was right, but I didn't like talking about moving her this fast, "Sam, she can't even breathe on her own right now."

"I know, I know," he nodded, "once she is awake and breathing, we're out. Bucky is getting us some scrubs so we can start collecting supplies for when we go," that was genius. She would need a lot, and people wouldn't question us going into med cabinets and supply rooms if we were wearing scrubs. I looked back at Nat, despite all the injuries, she looked peaceful, more at peace than she had been since we had gone on the run. I felt a pang of guilt for getting her all wrapped up in this mess.