Ophelia

Alive

Bucky's head was down, his hand touching something, something warm. Whiteness surrounded him. Where was he?

Hospital.

Wakanda.

Bucky snapped his head up and looked at the hospital bed before him, and the woman lying on it, her head cocked to the side. Bandaged up and battered, bruised and broken but alive.

Alive.

"O?" his voice shook like the memories of his violent past.

She groaned as she tired to sit up, and Bucky shot to his feet, pressing the button that would raise the top half of the bed. Tears slid down his face silently, dropping to the pristine floor below him. His hand shot up to her cheek the moment the bed was in a seated position, and he touched her just to feel if she was real. Her skin was warm, a bit clammy, but solid; she was really there, this was no dream, this was no false reality. She was there, she was alive, everything else had just been some nightmare in his head.

"Hey, Bucky," Ophelia spoke quietly. "W-where are we?"

Bucky placed his hand over his eyes to wipe away the tears that were invading his vision, blurring her. A sob raked through him.

"Bucky, what's w-wrong?" Ophelia asked, a cooing tone to her voice. "Hey, hey relax."

"You're alive," he said through tears. Joyous and terrified all at once. How could he have lived so long without her, and yet here he was again back when he swore she had died. But he was at her bedside, she was breathing, she was speaking. He was broken, but in a different way. Glancing at his arm, he saw it was still torn off, and that's when he knew it was truly real, no mind games.

"Of c-course I'm alive." She winced as she spoke. "I couldn't leave you."

The door opened, and Bucky snapped his head to the side, seeing Steve walk in. A bright smile overtook his bruised face, Steve relieved to see Ophelia made it. "Ophelia, I knew you'd make it."

She smiled that brilliant, room-brightening smile. "Steve!"

Suddenly Shuri bustled in. "Ah good, you're awake. Boys, out!"

"I'm not leaving her side," Bucky argued.

Shuri raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to break her or anything, looks like she has done a good enough job of that on her own. You," she pointed at Bucky, "infirmary, now. You are getting that arm fixed."

"Come on Buck," Steve said. "She'll be there when we come back."

"It's alright Bucky," Ophelia said to him. "I love you."

Bucky leaned over the hospital bed and pressed his lips to Ophelia's forehead. Half of his lips kissed the bandages, the other her warm skin. Stumbling along through the halls with Steve at his side, he looked up at his best friend, "Steve, what is happening?"

"What are you talking about, Buck?" Steve asked.

"She... She died."

"Well she was close to it," Steve said, unsure of his words and unsure of what his friend was going on about. Something was amiss. "But she pulled through, okay?"

"Yeah... Okay."