Winter (A Bucky Barnes recovery story)

23. Apologies

Bucky looked around slowly his body was stiff and he was wrapped in a large amount of blankets. "Whe... wherem...I?" He mumbles, the nurse turns to him and smiles.

"You're awake. How do you feel?" She asks.

"Whermi?" he moans, his head hurt and she wasn't helping.

"You're in the hospital." She replies.

Bucky freezes, how did I get here, I was... at... where was I? I was at... I... He begins to panic not sure how he got he and unable to remember the last day. No wait, Pierce. Pierce was alive. But no. No, Nic-Nick shot him. He... he died.

The nurse watches him and continues to smile.

"Wher... Steve? Nat? Wherthey?" He whimpers.

"I can check around." She replies smiling still.

Her smile makes him uneasy and he tries to disappear under the blankets. The nurse leaves and Bucky looks around, he was planning an escape. He mumbles a curse as he realizes the only exit is the door and that he doesn't know the rest of the lay out. The door opens and Bucky jumps.

"He's in here." The nurse says and two people step in. Bucky remains tense until he realizes that it's Steve and Natasha.

"James!" Nat exclaims, coming up next to him. She wraps her good arm around him.

Bucky moans as her arm bumps his chest, the large black bruises extremely sore.

"Oh. Sorry." She pulls away then sits in a chair next to his bed.

"It's fine." He replies, he was now entirely alert and sleep was no longer messing with his speech.

"How are you feeling Buck?" Steve asks pulling up a chair and sitting down heavily.

"What's wrong with your leg?" He asks,

"Bullet." Steve replies.

Bucky swallows, "I... I didn't do that, did I?"

"Oh no Bucky. Don't you remember?" Steve asks worriedly.

"Somewhat, I think I was only partially conscious." Bucky replies shrugging with his right arm. He looks down and sees his left arm is dripping water.

"No it wasn't you. Hydra was shooting at us and I got shot in the leg, Nat got it shot in the arm and Sam's leg was grazed." Steve lists.

Bucky suddenly stares at him in shock.

"What?" Nat asks, leaning forward and laying her hand on his.

"Pierce..." He whimpers and begins to panic.

"Hey ssh he's dead it's okay." Nat tells him, squeezing his hand.

"He's not. He's not dead. He was there. He... Hehehehe." Bucky begins to hyperventilate, his heart racing.

"Hey calm down Bucky. Calm down." Steve says, moving forward.

"He..." Bucky wheezes, his eyes wide with fear, the realization sinking in.

"James! Breathe!" Natasha shouts at him.

Bucky nods and slowly relaxes but tears glisten in his eyes.

"It's okay Bucky." Steve says, resting his hand on Bucky's leg.

"No it's not. He's still alive." Bucky rolls onto his side and buries his face as the tears fall.

"It's okay. You'll be okay." Nat whispers gently rubbing his back and sharing a concerned look with Steve. The nurse comes back in.

"You two have to leave. Doctors orders." She looks at them, then to Bucky, and then back to them.

"Please let us stay." Nat pleas, she can feel Bucky shaking under her hand.

"I'm sorry. You have to leave." The nurse replies.

Steve sighs but pushes himself out of the chair with a small groan, "Bye Bucky." He says before leaving.

Nat puts her hand on Bucky's shoulder. "We won't let them hurt you." She whispers, before walking away.

The nurse shuts the door, and walks over to Bucky. "Can you please lay on your back." she says politely.

Bucky ignores her burying his face in the pillow.

"I need you to lay on your back." She repeats, but sternly this time. When Bucky doesn't respond she puts a hand on his shoulder.

In a flash Bucky sits up and grabs her wrist with his left arm.

"Let go." She says, trying to remain calm. She presses a button that was hooked onto her belt. "Let go." She repeats.

Security comes in and pulls Bucky's hand off of her wrist. Bucky screams and shouts as they force him back onto the bed, three men struggling to keep his left arm down. Several more security and then a few doctors are now in the room and one of the doctors sedates Bucky.

Bucky slumps against the bed, his scream dies in his throat as he's pulled under by the sedative.

A/N: Wow. Just wow. This book has over three hundred reads! I'm like dying of happiness, thank you all so sooooo much. It makes me so happy to see that people are reading this. Thank you all sooo much. I love writing this because it's so fun and to think people are reading it is really awesome. Thank you so much. :)

Love spideymanandloki.