Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Aftermath

Steve's POV

I sat by Sarah's side for a long time, just holding her small hand and waiting for her to wake up. I thanked God she was still alive because I didn't know what I would do without her. Finally her eyes fluttered open and she tried to sit up. I held her down by her shoulders until she focused on me, eyes wide with befuddlement.

"Steve? What...happened?"

She reached for me and I let go of her shoulders to take her hand. She realized she was still wearing the oxygen mask and went to pull it off, but I wasn't going to let her do that. I took her other hand in mine and smiled slightly.

"Leave it on, Sarah. You need it right now. The placenta detached wrong and you started hemorrhaging." I kissed her hands and held them between both of mine. They were still cooler than I liked. "I never knew something like that could happen as fast as it did. One moment you were sitting up and smiling. The next - you weren't breathing as your blood puddled on the floor by the bed."

I held her golden brown eyes with mine and let her see the fear in them. Since the first time she'd joined the team on missions, I'd feared something would happen to her, but I'd never thought I'd almost lose her in the middle of a hospital. I took a shaky breath before continuing.

"Good thing the doctor was already on her way to your room with Dr Blake – a couple of minutes longer and you wouldn't be here."

"Sorry for scaring you. It seems to be my day to do that." She rubbed her thumbs over my knuckles and I squeezed her fingers lightly.

"I'm just so glad you're okay and we had you here. Dr Casey said that a lot of women who miscarry just stay home until it's over with."

She smiled at me knowingly. "You wouldn't have let me even if I'd wanted to."

"Damn straight." I wasn't ever going to take any chances with her health or life. She gave me a look and I shrugged. "I think I'm entitled to cuss today." I grinned when she rolled her eyes at me. "I'm going to go get the doctors; they wanted to know when you woke up."

"Okay." She closed her eyes again, still exhausted from earlier, as I left the room.

*                *              *

Sarah's POV

I wanted that yucky, coppery taste out of my mouth, I determined as I started taking stock of my body. I hurt all over, but that was from the contractions. I must have delivered because I felt relaxed again, more like myself. Steve and the doctor came in right then and I looked up at them.

"How are you feeling, Sarah?" Dr Casey asked, looking at my screens.

"Tired, really sore – like I lost a boxing match with Iron Man."

"Perfectly normal under the circumstances. You gave us a bit of a scare there. I've never seen anyone hemorrhage so badly during a miscarriage before in all my years of practice."

"Wasn't my plan. Did the bleeding stop?"

"Yes, finally. You need to stay laying down for the next couple hours. No unnecessary movements."

"Can I ... Can I see the baby?"

"Yes. I know you need to have your closure; I'll have him brought in to you. You had a little boy, by the way."

"Thank you, Dr Casey. For everything."

"You're welcome, Captain, Agent. I'm sorry for your loss, but I wish you luck next time."

Steve squeezed my hand as the doctor left. "There won't be a next time, Sarah. I won't risk losing you again." He kissed my forehead.

"I have no plans to try again in the near future, Steve. I think I need to forget about how much fun this was first and that'll be a long time from now." I pulled off the oxygen mask so it would be easier to talk to him and he allowed it this time.