Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Heart to hearts

Sarah's POV

Bruce was the last one to come in. He frowned at me and put my mask back on. "Keep that on for now. Your sat numbers are still pretty low."

"I hate this thing." I whined, making the corners of his mouth turn up slightly.

"Too bad, you still need it. Natasha cracked a few of your ribs when she restarted your heart today. Makes breathing a little harder, I hear."

"Yeah, it does," I agreed.  "How long do I have to stay here?"

"Til tomorrow. Dr Blake and I will be in tomorrow morning to check you over. We gave you four pints of blood; don't count on healing as fast as normal because you definitely lost too much of your own blood this time around."

"I'm such a problem patient, Bruce. Thanks for being here for me." I took his hand in mine and squeezed it. "If you hadn't told me to come in I probably would've just stayed home, maybe got a checkup later."

"I'm glad you came in because otherwise you wouldn't be here. I wasn't sure what to expect, frankly; the Genesis research wasn't promising. I'm still sorry you lost the baby; even if you didn't know about it until today, it's not a loss to be taken lightly."

"I know." Tears rolled down my face again.

Bruce brushed my hair back from my face. "It's okay to cry, Sarah. You need time to grieve – more than you probably realize."

"But I can't breathe if I cry, Bruce." I wiped the tears away, blinking rapidly. "When can I get up?"

"You can sit up in a couple hours, if Dr Blake says it's okay. He'll be in shortly to see you."

"All right. I'll be a good kid."

"Excellent. Because if you were planning on being difficult I have a waiting room full of people that would come yell at you."

"Ooooh, you play dirty, Bruce! Didn't expect that from you – and I noticed, believe it or not. I spent a lot of time today apologizing for something entirely out of my control."

"I'm sure you did. You know, I never thought I'd enjoy being a part of this team until I met you, Sarah. You've changed things for the better, whether you know it or not."

"I think I'm starting to see that; I don't know why, though. I'm just a relatively normal enhanced person."

"Because you are a beautiful person inside and out and you genuinely care for others. You are one of the few people I am completely comfortable around. You've met the Hulk and he doesn't scare you."

"He's just another side of you, you know. If people wouldn't attack him, he wouldn't attack them. He never starts the fights."

"I know. That doesn't mean I have to like it."

I smiled gently and patted his hand. "Never said you had to. Thanks Bruce. Love you." He leaned over and kissed my forehead.

"Love you, too, Sarah. See you later."   

He walked out and I closed my eyes, tired after all the emotional conversations I'd had today. I must have drifted off, because Steve was talking quietly to Dr Blake when I woke up. I was still wearing the oxygen mask, so I pulled it off. The motion brought both of them over to me.

"Hey. You were already asleep when I came back in." Steve took my hand in his.

"Sorry," I smiled at him. "I didn't know I was having so many heart to hearts today. Kinda wore myself out." I looked over at Dr Blake, who had finished assessing my screens. "Hey Doc. I guess it was my turn to cause problems today."