Still Breathing

Chapter 33: Rolling in the deep

Bucky Pov

The wedding day.

"What were you thinking?! how could you do this?" Steve yells as he looks at me with so much disappointment in his eyes.

"I did what you said. I've finally let her go. I gave her my blessing." I rest my head on the back of the couch.

Steve phone rings again for the 5th time, "That's not what I meant. How could you sleep with her?"

Steve ignores the ringing, which has been driving me crazy and I groan, "I don't need this right now."

"I can't stand by and watch you spiral all over again." Steve says but I can hear the warning behind his words. he won't continue to pull me out of my BS. Apart of me understands. He has a family. He can't keep rescuing me.

I sit up and run my fingers through my hair. "I know man. it's not like that. it truly is goodbye this time." his phone rings again and I say, "Just answer the damn phone!"

Steve answers the call reluctantly as I closed my eyes and relish in the scent Marley left behind and the night we spent together. I don't know what her reasoning is for going through with this wedding, but she seems adamant, and I know once she has made up her mind, there is no going back.

"Buck?" Steve voice is soft. Unusually calm and gentle for someone that just spent the last 10 minutes yelling at me.

I look up and he says, "It's your mom. She says she has been trying to get in contact with you all morning. Your father is in the hospital."

I rush over to Steve and take the phone, she is hysterical and crying, I can barely hear a word she's saying. I tell her to calm down and I will be at there as soon as I can.

I hand Steve back his phone and I run upstairs and throw on a shirt, socks, and shoes. I grab my wallet and we leave. Steve does 90 all the way there.

When we get off the elevator in the ICU, my mother runs over to me sobbing. I've never seen her so disheveled. Hair down and over her shoulders and she's still in her nightgown. She has a coat on over it, but it's weird to see.

I walk over to the nurse station, and I ask for information on my father and they tell me the doctor will be out to talk shortly.

I sit my mother down while Steve go get us some coffee. I ask her what happened. she takes a few deep breaths before saying, "I don't know. you know he hasn't been feeling well. his health has been on the decline the last few months and it seems all he does is want to sleep. he barely eats or golfs or even goes into the office anymore."

"What did the doctors say?"

"Dr. Strange told him he couldn't find anything. when he went to get a second opinion, from Dr. Cho, she said the same."

Steve comes back and hands us our coffee and ask, "Has the doctor said anything yet?"

"No not yet." I turn to my mother, "Dr. strange? Why was he seeing Dr. Strange."

My mother waves it off and says, "Who knows. You father is an enigma. You know he always hated hospitals. I guess he wanted to go to someone he could trust."

I find this weird and hard to believe that he trusted Strange. But all I say is, "Maybe."

We sit in silence as we wait for the doctor. For over an hour we sat and watched Docters and nurses walk past us like we weren't there. Steve eventually had to call Sharon to let her know he won't be attending the wedding with her.

Finally, 3 cups of coffee later, the doctor comes out and tells us he's in a coma and on life support. She says if he were brought in sooner, they probably would be able to do more. My mother says He collapsed in the middle of the night, but she didn't find him until early this morning.