Saving Bucky (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

*Chapter 93 - Bloody Wings*

You roll the syringe around in your palm. Narrow, with a pink cap and a needle head no rounder than a bee's barb. It could almost look friendly. 

If not for the cold. 

Chilled from the refrigerator, sweat from the plastic tube leaves melted ice crystals on your fingertips. And you remember that in your hand you hold a very cold, very unfriendly alternative.

"Y/n?" Your head jerks up as Steve calls for you from the bedroom door. "He's waking up."

"I'm fine, Steve," you grumble as he steps behind your chair, taking the handles. "I don't need you to wheel me in there."

"I know," Steve chirps, giving your chair a push.

With a stubborn frown, you hide the syringe deep in your sweater pocket. "How long until he's actually up?" you ask as Steve pushes open the bedroom door.

"Any minute," Steve answers, wheeling you through.

"But will he be awake?" you ask. "I mean, awake awake? He wasn't very lucid when he woke up the other day. He was pretty groggy."

"Should be," Steve grins. "Cebisa is finishing up a drip to clear his system."

"How will that leave him feeling?" you ask, spotting Shuri and Cebisa across the room.

"Like he has smoked an entire field of Wakanda's finest phupha'ukhula," Shuri smirks from James' bedside. "I anticipate dry mouth, a headache, and...irritation."

"Irritation?" you ask as Steve wheels you to James' side. "I thought the primary healing phase has passed?"

"It has," Shuri nods. "But he will be disoriented, and therefore confused."

"And James doesn't like to be confused," you grumble.  

"Exactly," Shuri nods. "And waking with all of us here could be even more overwhelming," Shuri says. "It may even trigger a fight response. Cebisa, quickly, remove the IV. I want to avoid him coming to consciousness with a needle in his arm. And we should leave before-,"

No sooner do the words leave Shuri's mouth than James twitches, and his eyes flutter open. 

"Too late," Shuri grumbles beneath her breath.

"Uh oh," Cebisa whispers.

"It'll be fine. Everyone just stay calm," you say, wheeling yourself directly to the side of the bed as Steve takes a step back to make room. "James?" you whisper, reaching for the single hand that lays limp on his chest. 

His eyes flutter open and closed for a few moments as he breathes heavily - big sighs around moving lips. 

"Shh," you hush as Cebisa subtly begins to remove the tape around his IV port. "Just give yourself a minute."

But when Cebisa slides the needle from his arm, James' eyes go wild and his body spasms. He twists away and scrambles across the bed, falling to the floor in an uncoordinated pile of limbs before gaining his balance unnaturally quickly and leaping back.

"Buck, hey!" Steve says, holding up his hands and taking a step toward the wild-eyed man. "Hey pal, it's just us."

James' eyes dart wildly between Cebisa and Shuri. 

"Look at me, Buck," Steve says, stepping into his line of sight and blocking Shuri and Cebisa. "Look at me. Right here. You're safe."

Recognition sparks in James' eyes when he sees Steve, but he remains alert and poised to attack as his brain catches up to what he's seeing. Thin strands of dark brown hair fall in his eyes as they dart rapidly between the others in the room. But when they land on you, the air in his lungs rushes out as he sways on his feet. Steve dashes forth to catch him and guides him back to bed. But James keeps his gaze locked on yours and crawls across the mattress, falling as he tries to use the arm he no longer has. He lands flat on his chest, confused. He glances to the space where his left arm used to be, and he freezes. His eyes flare wide in fear. Everyone goes still as James' face contorts further into one of confusion.