Project 43: Healing

Don't give up

After San Fransico, the jet took off towards Scotland. Somehow Wanda had been able to get in contact with Vision and the two had agreed to see her there. Elias didn't think it was a good idea, but his brother had approved it so he was simply going to shut up. Even if he did want to say anything, Elias was struggling to even open his mouth. He hadn't seated anything the whole day because it was almost impossible for him to move his jaw. He had only hummed in response to questions since talking would hurt even more.

As the jet flew over the Atlantic, Elias felt his breathing getting heavier and heavier until he suddenly didn't get any air into his lungs. Elias rested his head against the side of the jet, hoping that it would open his airways but it didn't help at all. He wasn't panicking, but his heart rate was picking up too fast. Everyone turned to look at the man, worried, but none of them did anything until Elias started coughing uncontrollably and gagging for air he wasn't going to get.

In a flash, everyone had shot up from their seats and rushed over to Elias, who was quickly losing his vision.

He wasn't scared like he had been all those years ago when he had died. He didn't panic even tho he knew he should. he just laid there, knowing that there was nothing he could have done differently. Yes, he had hoped it would go away, but what could he do against something like that? 

On the outside, Elias was twitching like crazy in his chair while people around him rushed, trying to get the man to breathe. On the inside, Elias was calmly thinking about his life. First, he saw his father and the bruises he had to cover on picture day. Then he saw the war, his friends' lifeless bodies lying everywhere as he was forced to dig their graves. He saw Hydra, the scientist who shaped him into the monster he was, the Winter Soldiers, who almost killed him, and every target he had ever had.

Then Elias remembered his friends. He remembered playing cards with Marcus and Mikey, drinking with Oscar, and joking around with Charlie. He remembered staying up late with Dimitri, completely ignoring their duties. He pictured the endless amounts of sunrises he had witnessed with Dominik and Victor and driving through Belize city in the dark. Elias remembered getting coffee with Sam and training with Natasha. He smiled as he remembered the small jokes he and Steve told each other while working and the times the two had gone to see a movie when Elias was just a little kid.

As the world blacked out in front of him, Elias was ready. He smiled up at the friendly faces around him, and silently said goodbye to all of them. The last thing he saw was his brother's face frozen in horror and he wished he could tell the man, it was going to be okay.

The second Bucky saw Elias start to gasp for air, he jumped up, alerting everyone else, and ran to the jet's controls. With just the push of a couple of buttons, the jet was flying toward Wakanda as fast as it possibly could.

"Elias!" Steve yelled when he realized what had caused Bucky to jump up. The blonde ran to his brother's side, his face frozen in fear.

Steve had feared something was up, but he had learned to wait for Elias to tell him whatever was wrong. The entire day, Steve had been on edge, fearing the worst, concerned that his brother hadn't said a single word since the previous evening. Still, Steve could have never seen it coming.

Everyone jumped up from their chairs and ran to the gasping soldier, still trying to leave enough space for Steve who was trying to figure out what was happening. He was trying to open up Elias's airways but was starting to get desperate when he couldn't find anything blocking it.

"It's tetanus," Bucky called and everyone decided to ask him how he knew later on. All Steve did was freeze on his feet, not knowing what to do.

Tears were threatening to spill from Steve's eyes as he frantically searched his mind for any instructions on what to do, but kept on coming up blank. He felt his throat burning as a grieving scream got lodged in his mouth, trying to escape.