Project 43: Healing

Wait

After the first four hours of surgery, King T'Challa came back once again offering a proper room for everyone to wait in, but they refused, wanting to be as close as possible so they would know as soon as something happened. As a compromise, T'Challa had some servants bring food out to the people waiting in the hallway. They thanked the king profusely even tho none of them could stomach anything at the moment.

After eight hours, Wanda and Sam took T'Challa's offer and decided to wait a bit further back in a waiting room and Wanda soon fell asleep on the small couch, having exhausted herself with all the crying.

Steve sat staring ahead at the blank wall. The quiet ticking of a clock somewhere down the hall echoed through the space, piercing his mind and driving him insane. He wanted nothing more than to tear the clock in two and throw it through a window out onto the streets. His leg was bouncing rapidly, tapping the floor irregularly in an attempt to break the silence.

Neither of the two men left in the hallway had said anything in the past hour. Bucky was starting to question wether or not he should try to comfort his friend, but what could he do when he was breaking down as well?

It was weird how attached Bucky had gotten to Elias in just a couple of days. Maybe it was because he was Steve's brother, or maybe because he was the only person in the world who could really understand what he had gone through. Maybe it was because even if it had been hell, the two had known each other for almost a decade. Still, Bucky found himself trying to keep calm, knowing that there was nothing he could do.

After eleven hours of surgery, one of the double doors finally opened and someone stepped out. Immediately, everyone jumped to their feet, praying for good news.

"Your friend is still experiencing strong spasms which could stop their heart or breathing again, but we have been able to stabilize the situation and get air into their lungs again," Princess Shuri explained.

Steve felt a rock rolling off his heart as a single happy tear left his eye. Bucky threw his remaining arm around his friend's shoulder and the two looked at each other smiling. Even if it wasn't good news, it was a lot better than what they had feared.

"We are moving your friend to his room to be monitored. We can not tell when he will wake up since his body heals at a very weird pace," Shuri continued clearly fascinated by the way Elias' body worked.

"When he wakes up, we can expect the spasms to continue for some time, but they should eventually die down. For any normal human being dead for as long as your friend was, would leave them paralyzed or braindead, but according to the data I was able to gather from him, he should make a relatively full recovery," Shuri explained smiling slightly as she spoke.

Steve turned to face his friend and brought the one-armed man in for a tight hug. He let his tears roll as relief flooded over him. He wouldn't have to figure out what to do without his brother.

As soon as Shuri cleared Elias for visitors, Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Wanda ran to the door. Nothing could have prepared them for what was inside.

Elias was lying in the bed, as white as the sheets he was wrapped in, and a tube hooked to a respirator, going down his windpipe. He was connected to a machine, beeping in a steady rhythm which slightly calmed the people down even if they were concerned about how slow the heartbeat was. An infusion pump was stuck into Elias' cold hand and a weird support was keeping his head in the right position.

Steve was the first to step forward. Slowly, he walked over to his brother's bedside the only comfort in his heart being the monitor on his right, continuously telling him that Elias was still alive.