Untangling a Memory

Good drugs

Natasha had her achilles repair surgery the following morning. While a normal achilles repair would take less than an hour, the surgery that weaved the vibranium into the new tendon added time onto the procedure. Additionally, Natasha required anesthetic monitoring she might not have otherwise given the complicating injuries, specifically the broken ribs. 

Bucky had woken up early to see Natasha prior to the surgery, though she had requested that he wait outside. She didn't want to talk to anyone that morning. Not about how she was feeling, her anxiety, or receive reassurance anymore than was required. Shuri was the perfect amount of exposure and Natasha had made sure to tell Shuri to pass along to the doctors that she wanted none of the mushy stuff, only the facts.

Having only gotten to see Natasha for a few hours the previous day after nearly a week of worrying about her, Bucky was not thrilled with the idea of having to endure the additional anxiety. But if Natasha wanted him to sit out the morning, he respected and understood her decision. So, he continued what he had been doing- just sitting and waiting without complaint. No matter what she wanted from him, he just wanted her to know he was there.

Around noon, Shuri came over to where Bucky had been sitting reading at the side of her lab.

"Can't keep you away, can we?"

Bucky placed his bookmark to hold his page, closed the book, and gently placed it on his lap. He looked up to Shuri with a smile. "You made sure you were there when I came out of cryo. I can't not be there for her."

Shuri smiled and nodded her head. She had already known the answer, but chose to tease him anyway. "So, the repair went well. They are finishing wrapping her up now and then they will send her back down to her room."

"That's great. Will she stay here tonight?"

"That's up to her. Normally it's an outpatient procedure, but she just happens to have a place downstairs from her to recover, be monitored, and receive additional pain meds. And honestly, I'd recommend it considering her other injuries."

Bucky nodded. "How were her ribs, her lungs? Everything ok there?"

Bucky sounded like a concerned family member. Shuri couldn't help, but think that it was sweet how protective and loyal he was to her. "Everything is good so far, no complications. She's Natasha- too stubborn to let anything happen even when she's under anesthesia."

Bucky smiled and shook his head. It was true. Natasha was tougher than maybe anyone he knew.

"Speaking of anesthesia, when she starts coming out of it, it'll be much like yesterday."

Bucky looked at Shuri quizzically, "like yesterday?"

"Yea, I mean she might not totally know or remember what she's talking about. She'll be out of it. After you left yesterday, I had to go over everything you had talked about, all her injuries, at least twice more with her." Shuri's tone was very casual as she walked back towards her work.

Disappointment set in for Bucky. If he had planned to talk to Natasha about her using his full name, that had just gone out the window. Clearly, whatever the reason she had said it was simply due to the medication alone. He didn't feel it was appropriate to ask her about things she wouldn't even remember or know why she had said in the first place. So, he took a deep breath and let it go.

A while later, he saw Natasha get rolled on her hospital bed through the lab and into her makeshift room. She was surrounded by even more monitoring machines than she had previously. Bucky's skin crawled at the sight of this. Having been the subject of too many human experiments over the years, such views gave him incredible anxiety. So, he stepped into the hallway to catch his breath before returning. But he knew it was necessary for Natasha, so he sucked it up and stepped back in.