The other Barnes

heartbreak

Steve leaned against a wall in the waiting room. He couldn't look at anyone, his eyes were locked on the operating room door. If he'd have stayed with her. Or taken her with him.

"She crushed a house." Steve whispered

"Technically she just damaged its foundation and support beams and it crushed itself." Peter replied

The door swung open.

"Rogers?" The doctor asked

Steve stepped forward, barely holding himself up. Bucky tucked himself under Steve's arm to help support him.

  "Jesus. You really are a mess without her." He mumbled.

   "She'll be okay." The doctor assured them "Whoever did this managed to miss every major organ and artery. However she had significant blood loss. We've got her stable but she may need blood donated." 

  "I'm her brother." Bucky said "If she needs it, I'll donate."

   "I'm sure she'll be grateful to know that." The doctor said "She's in recovery, you can go see her if you like but as I said, don't be surprised if she doesn't wake up till the morning."

   Steve nodded. He turned around to face his friends.

"Go home. Get some sleep." He said "I'll call in the morning."

"What about you?" Peter asked

Steve smiled weakly.

"I'll be fine. There's a chair in her room, I'm sure."

Peter looked at him, concerned. Steve ruffled his hair like he was a small child.

"Go. All of you." He said before walking down the hall to the recovery room. 

--------------------------------

Steve sat beside Emily's bed, holding her hand. The steady beeping of the monitor reminding him she was alive, was the only thing keeping him from losing his mind.

She hasn't woken up all night. He was worried. There was a light knock on the door and his head snapped up.

  "Captain Rogers." The nurse said "I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about your wife?"

He managed a weak smile and nodded. The nurse ran through the usual questions before pausing.

"Um." She said

"What?"

"This is uh-this is difficult to ask but...we ran some tests to aid us in treating her and..."

She was hesitating.

"What is it?" Steve asked

"Were you aware your wife was pregnant?" The nurse asked "it's just you didn't mention it when she was brought in and-"

"Did you just say pregnant?" Steve asked

"Yes. She was pregnant."

He swallowed hard. Was. She said "was."

"Was pregnant." He repeated "not is?"

"Her levels indicate that she recently had a miscarriage. Very recently."

"No. I wasn't aware." He said "and I don't think she was either....she would've told me."

Steve felt like he'd been punched in the chest. He couldn't breathe and it felt like his whole world was slipping from his grasp. He was holding back tears.

  "Is that all?" He asked in a strained voice.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry for your loss." She said "please let me know if I can do anything for you or her."

He nodded.

"Thank you."  He managed.

She left. As soon as she was gone, Steve let himself slip into a fit of body wracking sobs. The one thing he and Emily both wanted more than anything had been taken from them...again. How was he supposed to tell her she'd lost another baby? How was he supposed to break her heart like that? 

  After a while, Steve stopped crying. He allowed himself to let go of her hand and walk towards the cafeteria.

He reached the waiting room and spotted a young man curled up in a waiting room chair.

  "Pete? Have you been there all night?" He asked

The young man stirred, wiping his eyes tiredly. Peter Parker looked up at Steve.

  "I couldn't leave you here alone." Peter said sleepily. "if something happened and no one was here..."

He trailed off. Steve smiled a genuine smile, however weak. Peter was a sweet kid.

  "Come get coffee with me." He said "She hasn't woken up yet."

  Peter nodded and got up. The two men made their way to the cafeteria. Steve spotted a little girl in a "big sister" t-shirt clinging to her father's leg and looked away. 

   "Daddy! Daddy! Look! It's Captain America!" The little girl screamed

She let go of her dad and ran towards Steve. His head shot towards her. He managed a bright smile and knelt down as the small girl ran towards him. She stopped short of running into him.

"Hey there!" He said "You know you really shouldn't run off from your dad. Especially in a crowded place."

The little girl put her head down.

"I know but you looked sad."

Steve cocked his head to the side.

"Is one of your friends sick?" She asked

He chuckled a little. Only a child could make him feel the smallest amount joy in this moment.

  "Yeah. My best friend in the entire world." He said

He blinked back tears. This child didn't need to see him cry.

The little girl threw her arms around him. He looked shocked.

"They'll get better." She told him. "sometimes I get sick. But then daddy makes me soup and tucks me in nice and warm and I get all better."

"That's good." He said, smiling at the kid "Maybe I'll try that."

"Sarah!" The dad called, running over.

The dad sighed.

"I'm sorry Captain Rogers, she just gets excited."

"No! It's fine!" Steve assured him "She actually made me feel a little better."

The dad smiled.

"Would you and your friend like to join us?" He asked "I brought outside food."

Steve waved him off.

"I'm actually just grabbing coffee and going back to my wife." He said "Thank you though."

He pulled his shield medal out of his pocket and handed it to the little girl.

"Honorary Shield agent." He said "Being kind is the best Super power."

He winked at her,  threw his arm around Peter and kept walking. 

"Did-did something else happen?" Peter asked "Your face is kind of red. Like you've been crying a lot."
 

Steve stared at him.

"I mean more than you already were. Like something was added on top of what already happened."

Steve pulled Peter to him for a second

  "Don't worry about it, kid." He said "Emily's gonna be fine. That's what matters."

They grabbed their coffee and Peter walked back to the room with Steve.

  "Hey." Said a weak voice when they entered the room.