Till the End of the Line Vol. 6

Chapter 20 - Sofia's return

For days, Bucky would stay by Sofia's bed and wait patiently for her to wake up. He would also spend time with his son and the kids by having them in the room with him so that he could keep an eye on Sofia. Just in case she woke up. If he was hungry or thirsty, he had Steve or Natasha bring Bucky anything he needed. If he needed to go to the bathroom, he would quickly go and come back because he didn't want to miss if Sofia woke up.

When Bucky would watch her for hours when he wasn't with his children, praying that Sofia would wake up, Bucky would talk to her, read to her, and even sing to her—hoping and praying to God that he would bring Sofia back to him because life without her would destroy him.

A week later, Bucky is passed out and asleep in the chair next to her. Unaware and still asleep, Sofia twitches her upheld hand, then takes a deep breath. At that moment, Bucky wakes up and sees her moving. He quickly gets to her side, takes her hand, and says, "Sofia! SOFIA! Can you hear me? It's me, baby."

Sofia slowly opens her eyes as she turns her head and says, "Bu...Bucky."

"Oh, Doll!" He kisses her and has tears in his eyes. "I thought I'd lost you."

Sofia shuts her eyes briefly, then opens them back up to look at him. Confused by the surroundings around her. "Where am I?"

"We're at the compound." Bucky strokes her hair. "The team thought that to make it easier for us, to take us back, and they would help us out until you woke up and recovered."

Sofia swallows a lump in her throat while closing her eyes once more. "How...How long have I? What happened?"

Bucky pauses for a moment as he tries to tell her what happened calmly. Sofia looks at him and sees that it is hard for him to explain. "You lost a lot of blood. The doctors said it happened because of the stress and torture you endured....that's what made your heart stop beating." Sofia gasped, horrified that it had happened. "You died for a minute."

Sofia stutters, "I...I did." Bucky nods slowly. Sofia sheds a tear, heartbroken that it happened.

Bucky wipes the tears from her cheeks and says, "They were able to bring you back. But they were also uncertain how long it would take you to recover because of the torture Sharon had put you through."

Sofia glances down briefly as she takes a deep breath. She gasps as she remembers their children. "Our son. Steven where? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"Yes, he's fine. He comes in now and then to see you."

"And the babies? Are they okay?"

"The team is watching over them right now. Every once in a while, I check on them and our son and spend time with them. I even checked on my sister."

Relieved, Sofia lies back down and sighs. "Oh, thank God." Bucky smiles, pleased that Sofia is okay. He then takes out his phone to message Natasha. Sofia is slightly confused about what he is doing. "What are you doing?"

"Just texting Natasha that you're awake."

At that moment, Natasha hears a pinging sound from her phone. She looks at her phone and sees Bucky's message. She smiles, then looks at Dr. Strange and says, "Stephen." He looks at her. She tilts her head to the side, gesturing that Sofia is awake. He then heads to Sofia's room.

Sofia takes Bucky's hand and says, "I'm sorry. I never meant to scare you and everyone so much. I was just trying to -"

"It's okay," Bucky replied as he took her hands and held them. "I'm just glad that you're okay." They smile at each other.

As Dr. Strange opens the door, they turn their heads and look at the door. "Someone's awake," said Dr. Strange with a smile.

Sofia squints slightly, confused, and asks, "Dr. Strange?"