𝗕𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗬 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗧𝗦

At The Brink Of Death

SONG REQUEST FOR THIS CHAPTER: BLOODSTREAM by ED SHEERAN

1,226 Words

My head was foggy and I felt myself coming back to it. First, I can feel my fingers twitch, the numb feeling slowly slipping from my hands and both arms. Then, my torso becomes lighter but breathing is hard and ridged. Finally, my eyes flitter open, my lashes stuck together and making it difficult to see. But, when I can, a bright white light blinds me. Then, when my eyes adjust to the light, white-washed walls surround me, making me feel trapped and stuck in whatever uncomfortable bed I'm lying in.

I have no idea where I am.

I start to panic, trying to pull the blanket off my legs and sit up in the bed. A tube is attached to my arm, tight and stinging in my skin and I grab the end, trying to rip it out. But a hand on my shoulder stops me, making me whip my head in the opposite direction, eyes wide.

"Hey, hey, hey," Bucky shakes his head. "Calm down, you're okay."

"What-where am I? What's going on?"

"We're in the hospital." He sighs, probably knowing that's going to make me panic even more. "You're fine now, there's no need to panic but you need to let go of the tube." He strokes my hair.

I drop the tube, letting the flow of liquid continue pumping into my body. Bucky sighs, his body dropping slightly in the chair he is sitting in beside my bed. I try to calm my breathing knowing I'm safely in the hospital with Bucky by my side, but it hurts my lower half every time my chest rises and falls. Bucky strokes his stubble, which has grown since the last time I saw him. Or at least the last time I remember.

"I can't remember anything." Bucky grabs my hand as I shake. "Why can't I remember anything?"

"You hit your head pretty hard when you fell." He squeezes our conjoined hand. "What do you remember?"

"Uh," I try to search my foggy brain. "The mission. I remember we got sent off on a mission."

"We did," He smiles slightly, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "What else?"

"We were fighting together," I bite my bottom lip as it becomes harder to remember. "That guy. He had a gun. And it was aimed at you."

"He did." He frowns. "Do you remember what you did?"

"No, everything after that went black. I can't remember."

"You pushed me to the ground." He drops his head. "You jumped in front of the bullet, Y/N. You got shot."

Before he can finish speaking, I pull the blanket off my legs and practically strip out of the hospital gown I'm wearing, trying to find the bullet hole in my body. Bucky tries to keep me sitting in the bed, but I don't stop moving until my fingers graze over a stitched hole on my upper stomach, close to my heart. Tears start to slip as my mind becomes more clear and the horrid memories begin to hit me like a freight train.

"You fell on top of me and wouldn't wake up." Bucky continues to explain. "It was just us so I had to pull you behind a tree and keep fighting until they were all dead." He sniffles. "But you just wouldn't wake up. I carried you back to the jet and brought you to the closest hospital. The compound was too far away." I look up to see tears falling down his cheeks. "That was a week ago." He looks over at me with bloodshot eyes. "I thought I lost you."

With immense struggle, I reach my hand over to his face, wiping away his tears. He leans into my hand, closing his eyes. "But you didn't. I'm here and I've woken up now." Despite not speaking for a week and my throat burning from the sudden words spilling out of my lips, I hate seeing him in pain. "You will never lose me, I promise. I'll always fight to come back to you the same way you will."

His hand strokes down my arm that is lifted to his face, travelling to my cheek where he pulls my face towards his, gently attaching our lips. I sink into the kiss, feeling the first burst of peace since I've woken up. He also seems to calm down, finally seeing that I'm here and he's not imagining it.

The door to the private hospital room bursts open, a body of people sweeping into the room with booming voices. But they all halt when they look over at my bed, seeing Bucky and I's hands on each other and my eyes wide open. They seem hesitant to approach me, but when I smile up at them, they all start screaming about how happy they are to see me awake and swarm over to every corner of my bed.

"Guys," Bucky stops them. "She's just woken up, let her breathe."

"Okay muchalin man," Tony rolls his eyes. "We were just excited to see little Miss Mission out of her week-long coma." He sits at the bottom of my bed. "How you feeling little flower?"

"I'm okay." I smile. "It's a little painful, but I'm okay."

"Of course, you're in pain, tiny." Sam stands by my head. "You dove in front of a bullet like a badass."

"Sam," Steve groans. "Stop with the foul language. She doesn't want to hear that."

"You mean you don't want to hear it, Grandpa." Sam chuckles. "She's been asleep for a week. I'm sure sleeping beauty has missed my voice and foul language."

"Yes, yes I did." I nod my head with a lined smile on my face. "I'm so glad you guys are here."

"We weren't not going to visit you." Nat strokes my hair, Wanda standing beside her. "But we would have visited more if James didn't practically shove us out the room every day." She glares at him.

"There were too many people in the room." Bucky shrugs. "I was just thinking of the doctors."

"But, we're glad you're awake. We have so much to tell you." Wanda smiles.

"Ohh, girl's night?" Sam claps his hands in excitement. "I can't wait."

We all turn to look over at the door as it swings open, hitting the wall beside it. Morgan struts into the room, a wide smile on her face, oblivious to everything around her. She walks up to Tony, squeezing his side as she thrusts a stuffed animal into his face.

"Look what Happy got me!"

"It's beautiful, darling." Tony picks her up, placing her on the bed. "What are you gonna name it?"

Morgan opens her mouth to respond to him, but when she looks over in my direction, she gasps and crawls over to me. Her body slams into mine, squeezing me tightly as her arms wrap around my shoulders in a hug. When she lets go of me, she looks down at her new stuffed animal before placing it in my lap and watching my face.

"For me?" I ask.

"Yeah!" She beams. "We can name it together and play with him when we get back home. You're coming back home, right?"

"Of course I am." I pick it up, holding it in my hands. "Thank you, Morgan." I kiss her temple. "I'm all better now."