Nightingale (Sequel to Solider Boy)

Thirteen

Knowing Melody as well as he did, few things about her surprised Bucky. However, she still had her moments and as he watched her nearly inhale a plate of eggs and bacon she proved it.

"Sorry," she apologized after she was halfway through her meal. "I don't mean to be a pig."

"It's fine, I'm just glad you're eating real food."

"Coffee is real food."

"You cannot live off coffee."

"Tell that to my years in med school. That what I lived on."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "If that's true then you're a medical miracle."

Melody shoveled another forkful of eggs into her mouth. "Okay fine, I ate other things besides coffee but that was my staple just like every other med student." 

"Was it hard?" Bucky asked. "Being in college so young I mean. You started at what, fourteen?"

"I started undergrad at fourteen," she corrected. "I was eighteen by the time I was in med school."  She  bit into a piece of bacon before continuing. "No, not really. I didn't have time to think about how young I was. I had more important things to worry about." 

"I suppose med school keeps you busy."

"Internship and residency was worse." 

"How long did it take?" 

"Seven  years and the board exam and a fellowship."

"No," he corrected, "I mean with all of your schooling."

"Four years of undergrad and another four for medical school so," Melody paused a moment, "fifteen years." 

"That's a really long time." He remarked, "over a third of your life to date." 

"Yep. But not all medical degrees are like that, surgery requires longer residencies, but other branches only last three years."

"You had to take the hardest route," he teased and Melody smiled at him. "Couldn't have gone into something a  bit easier like clinic care."

"The proper term is primary care," she corrected. "And no, I couldn't have. Surgery is way too fun." She said those words with a smile, but Bucky knew her reasons for going into surgery weren't as simple as enjoyment. It might have been one factor, but another had been far more impacting on her choice of specialty. 

"Did it ever get tiring? Being a med student and then a numerical resident I mean. I know you're smart, but you were so young and that was a hell of a long road."

"It was," she agreed. "And I was actually the youngest person in every program I was part of. Undergrad, med school and residency. I caught a bit of a rough time for it with some other students, but it was expected. They didn't like being shown up by a kid who was ten years younger than they were."

She wore a bit of a smug smile as she said that, not that Bucky really blamed her for it. She'd earned the right. "How'd you stick with it? Didn't you ever want to just throw your hands up and quit?" Fifteen years was a long time to work towards only one goal and for all her smarts, for all Melody cared about preserving human life, it didn't mean that time hadn't come with moments of frustration and struggle. 

Melody took a bit of time before answering as she picked at the last of her food. Her rapid eating pace had slowed a great deal after he'd asked her that question. "No, not really. It's hard to let go of the only thing you had to live for. At least, that was how it was until I met Sharon. I wanted to be a doctor and that was always more important than how beat down and tired I was. Now," she looked at him, a business-like expression on her face. "It's my turn to play twenty questions-why were you looking for me earlier?"

"I was worried about you. "You normally show up for coffee at seven-thirty and you were late." 

"I'm late all the time."

"Because of work," Bucky said, getting up and grabbing her empty plate. "But you're not working while you're here."

"True," Melody yawned as Bucky set her plate in the dishwasher. As with everything else in the base, the apartments were fairly well updated as well. Bucky was glad for that, he wasn't all that crazy about trying to wash dishes with one hand. "Unless we count the stuff Shuri and I are doing."

He turned around, ready to say that it didn't technically count but as he did so, he realized she wouldn't hear him. Not for a while yet. Melody's head was resting on the table, her eyes drifting shut. "Tables are not places to sleep," Bucky informed her, smiling fondly at her. "Come on," he pulled her chair back away from the table and helped her onto her feet. As she wasn't completely knocked out yet, he was able to lead her over to his bed and helped her into it.  "Sleep well," he told her even as she muttered some unintelligible reply. "I love you."

She didn't give any indication that she heard him and Bucky rolled his eyes. Her ability to fall asleep as fast as she did should have counted as a superpower. Not wanting to leave his apartment, but not wanting to lay down and risk waking her up, Bucky meandered over to the couch and sat down, pondering what Melody had told him. She'd been able to stay her course for medical study because her goal mattered more than her exhaustion. He liked the principle, but he had no idea how to apply it to himself. He didn't really know what he wanted. Hydra had been such a part of him for so long, it was hard to imagine being free from it.

Melody made a small noise in her sleep and Bucky looked over at her, smiling to himself. He'd forgotten she did that. The thought was amusing at first, but it quickly turned cold and his smile fell from his face. He'd forgotten about the little noises she made when she dreamed. Two years apart had made him forget that detail. He looked away from Melody's sleeping form and stood up, the weight over him gone as he made his choice. Quickly and quietly, he made his way out the apartment. He needed to go and speak with Doctor Phan about the next attempt to remove Hydra from his brain. 

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