𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘥

𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯

☆゜·。。·゜゜·。。·゜★

"Abrasions, lacerations, a mild concussion, severely dehydrated, teetering on the edge of starvation, burns on her forearms, and severe exhaustion is our conclusion from this first round of tests."

Bucky sat in the bed, Addison curled up in his lap sound asleep. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist, the other around her head to keep her shielded from wandering eyes and the chill of the emergency room. He could see out the sliding doors that the sun had sunken under the horizon, the sky onyx with few stars flickering, the moon barely visible behind the clouds that had rolled in. Seven hours, they had been sat in the ER for seven hours while they ran tests, and Addison had suffered three panic attacks in that time before she succumbed to sleep in Bucky's lap, erratic breathing stabilizing at his scent. "What do you think we should do?"

The nurse looked up from her charts, soft hazel eyes landing on where Bucky held Addison against his chest, "I would suggest she stay overnight in the hospital, but I can tell it's not her favorite place from the panic attacks she had," setting the chart on the counter, she walked towards where Bucky was sitting, "I would suggest taking her to a hotel, and we'll have a nurse come by every few hours to check on her, she'll be more comfortable and you'll be able to lay beside her."

Bucky looked down to where his wife was letting small breaths out of her mouth, sleeping for probably the first time in days, in the security of his arms, "Can a nurse come now? I want to run out and get some clean clothes for her so she's not sitting in blood-soaked ones, after I'll give her a bath and you guys can come and go as you please."

The nurse smiled softly, showing a small nod, "Let me go get things prepared, there's a blanket in the cabinet if you want to wrap it around her, I'll be back momentarily."

As soon as they were left alone in their little triage room, Bucky stood up slowly, laying Addison down on the bed, her breath catching even in her sleep at the loss of his warmth, "I have you sweet girl," his fingers trailed down the side of her face, his thumb tracing her lips gently, "you're safe, you're loved, I'm not leaving you."

Bucky watched as her body relaxed into the mattress another soft breath leaving her lips as she settled into the haze of sleep once more. Walking over to the cabinet, Bucky pulled down the blanket, the scratchy fabric nearly offensive to his fingertips, but Addison was shivering, the chill of the room or from the nightmares that were invading her mind, Bucky was unsure, but it wouldn't hurt to have the extra fabric. He crossed the room once more, laying the blanket over her before sitting down on the thin mattress beside her.

The hatred of hospitals Bucky had was on the back burner as he watched his wife in the bed. His warrior, Bucky had never met someone who would risk their life to get back to him, as he held her on the floor of the police station Bucky felt the fear bleed out of her system, her safety once again becoming Bucky once more. He wasn't going to let that slip away either, he felt the pain and fear that came with losing his wife, over a week of not having her near him made him realize how badly he needed her in his world to breathe. Bucky couldn't handle her being taken from him again. He thought Tony taking her for hours was agony, nothing compared to the fear of thinking he would never see her again.

Addison was still covered in blood and everyone concluded it was a mixture of hers and whoever she had to attack to get free. Bucky knew that as soon as she woke up again, the realization of what he did she would lose herself, Addison hated watching the life bleed out of someone's eyes, even if it came to her life or theirs, and while Bucky was thankful she chose her own life over those who took her, he understood the memories those smells brought up. Adrenaline and being around strangers on her voyage back from Russia may have made her ignore the feelings, but as soon as she realized that she was safe her walls would fall and she would be breaking down again.