May sighed and crouched before the young girl. She hated situations like this one.
'' Look, help is not coming any time soon, so I need to stitch you up myself, alright?'' She said, her voice shaking a little. ''You're losing too much blood, Skye.''
The girl didn't react. She was struggling to keep breathing through the crippling pain. The knife had almost sliced her femoral artery. If that Hydra agent had been a little more precise, she would have already bled out by now. But, thankfully, he hadn't.
''Skye, I need to you to keep still.'' May said without looking at the young agent. She took out a med kit and started making preparations for the procedure.
''May, I'm...I'm sorry.'' She whispered weakly. ''It's my fault.''
'' Stay still.'' The older agent repeated. She removed the piece of clothing that covered the wound and poured water on it. ''This is going to hurt.'' She said and then soaked the wound in alcohol to disinfect the area.
The girl tried her best not to scream. She looked at May, her eyes pleading.
'' It's okay.'' Melinda reassured her, a sense of urgency in her voice. ''Stay calm, love.''
Love. May never called her love. May never called anyone love. So, in Daisy's mind, that could only mean one thing. ''I'm dying, right?'' She asked.
''Shut up.'' May started stitching the wound, her eyes fixed on the girl's skin. '' You'll be fine.''
'' I think I'm going to faint.''
'' No, Skye-''
'' You know it's Daisy, right?'' She said weakly and then slipped into unconsciousness.
She woke up to find herself in her own comfy bed, which was weird, given the dirty warehouse she remembered herself bleeding out. Well, almost bleeding out.
She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain coming from her right leg didn't let her. Right. The leg. She dared a look at it. It was all wrapped up neatly, clean bandages instead of dirty cloth. It was probably Simmons' delicate work. There was a knock on her door, a very gentle one, as if the person knocking didn't really want to be heard. Daisy managed to sit up before saying a weak ''come in''.
She hoped it was May. It wasn't.
''I brought you antibiotics.'' Simmons said with a big smile on her face. '' How are you feeling?''
Daisy shrugged. '' Hungry.''
'' That is a very good sign.'' Jemma replied. She checked the girl's temperature. '' No fever, increased apetite, your recovery looks pretty promising.''
'' Can I go outside?'' Daisy asked, only to earn a very stern look from Simmons. '' What, I'm bored here.''
'' I had forgotten just how grumpy you get when you're sick.''
'' Can I at least have my computer back? ''
'' Maybe a bit later.'' Jemma smiled but Daisy knew that she only said that because she didn't want t tell her no right away.
'' Is...is May okay?'' She finally found the courage to ask the only question that really mattered to her.
'' May is fine. You're the one who got stabbed, remember?'' Simmons was trying to look cheerful, maybe a bit too much.
'' I want to...thank her for saving my life.'' Daisy nodded at her leg. '' She found me bleeding out in that warehouse. She stitched me up.''
'' She is...she is preoccupied with another mission.'' Simmons answered a bit too quickly. God, she was a terrible liar.
'' You know you're horrible at lying, right? Come on, just tell me the truth.''
Simmons sighed. She pulled up a chair and sat close to Daisy's bed.
'' I promise you, May is alright. They simply wanted to ask her a few questions about the mission.''
Daisy frowned. '' So...she is in trouble?''
''I don't know, Daisy.'' Jemma admitted. '' But there is nothing you can do about it right now. Get some rest and I promise I'll get back to you as soon as I know something.''
May knew the procedure, of course she did. She had failed a mission before. Still, she wanted this to be over so that she could finally go see how Skye was doing.
'' Agent May,'' the man said, his voice cold, ''the objective of your mission was to retrieve the stolen hard drive, correct?''
'' Correct.''
'' And did you manage to get that said hard drive back?''
'' No.'' May replied dryly.
'' And, may I ask why, agent?''
'' Because a fellow agent was injured. I had to save her life.''
'' So, you decided to ignore the protocol?''
Melinda shifted in her seat. '' I didn't ignore it.'' She retorted. '' I tried to accomplish the mission, but Sk...Agent Johnson was heavily injured.''
'' Agent May, you do know that agents sacrifice their lives every day during SHIELD's missions?'' The man insisted. '' What is so special about this one that made you disobey your orders?''
May was starting to get uncomfortable, but it didn't show. '' The agent was bleeding out, and it took the back up team forever to arrive. I did what I would do for any other agent.''
'' Funny you should say that, because on numerous occasions in the past, you chose to leave fellow agents behind in order to complete your assignments.'' The man took an envelope out of a briefcase and started spreading photographs of injured or deceased agents in front of May's eyes.
'' I do not need reminders.'' May said, her teeth clenched.
'' It seems to me, Agent May, that you have a particularly soft spot for agent Johnson. And it's time for this softness to come to an end. Don't you think?''
