The process of science had evolved immensely since Steve Rogers' lifetime. Sometimes it really shocked him. He shouldn't have been surprised when a mad scientist figured out how to mess up his health to what it once was. Honestly, it shouldn't have surprised him- but it did. The serum injected into him only changed his insides- not the outsides. On the outside he appeared normal, and he seemed to be just that.
Inside, however, he was a wreck.
His breathing was constricted by the asthma, and he felt tired all the time. Bruce had told him the effects would wear off after about a week, so until then he'd have to suffer. It really hadn't been as bad as he thought it would be at first- Other than the restrictions on physical activity, of course. It wasn't as awful as it could have been- that he knew.
As a child, his health problems had been extreme and incredibly severe. Besides asthma, fatigue, irregular heartbeat and sinusitis (Just to name a few) He also suffered from Epilepsy. It had stopped when he'd gotten older because he'd had his wisdom teeth removed. Now, however, he didn't know if it would resurface or not.
His day had begun normally enough- he'd eaten breakfast, did a light workout in the gym, and had gotten to eat lunch with his friends. Now they were all in the living room that Tony had furnished for them and were all relaxing. Natasha had her nose in a book with Clint beside her, watching the football game on the TV. Bruce and Tony were discussing a new scientific study that he couldn't even begin to understand. Thor was attempting to understand how a cell phone worked, and Steve was simply watching it all. He got up to get a drink of water when he saw her- his Mother.
Oh no.
The Seizures always started with either hallucinations or voices- but it had never been both.
Not until today.
"Steve," She whispered, "Sweetheart, you're alright. You're just going to have a seizure."
As soon as she said it, he jerked upward and fell to the floor, landing face up on the ground.
They all rushed to his side immediately, and after no more than two seconds of stillness, the convulsions began. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he let out a scream just before he began to jerk.
He knew they were all talking to him, but he couldn't hear them. It was like hearing things under water- muffled and distant. His vision was shaking and black in some parts, and tunneled in others. The only one he constantly saw was his Momma. Maybe she wasn't a hallucination- maybe she was an angel sent to watch over him. The points of the thought were scattered in his mind as he tried to piece them together, but failed. His language had left him, and when he tried to speak all that came out was a grunt. He was jerking violently. Somehow, that was clear. The faces of people he should have been able to recognize swam in front of his vision. He saw their mouths moving, talking to him, but he couldn't make anything out. Momma was the only one he could hear. She told him she was timing his seizure and that he was alright, he would be okay. He saw her ghostly touch come and smooth his hair soothingly. He focused on that- or at least he tried to. There was only so much he could do. Consciousness was not constant and he weaved in and out of it.
The others had seen him fall, and immediately reacted. Bruce immediately went and got a pillow to put under his head, suspecting that a seizure was about to happen. His guess was proven correct when Steve screamed. The had all converged on his left side, Trying to talk to him as foamy spittle leaked from his mouth. His eyes were rolled in the back of his head, and he looked like he'd been possessed by a demon. His arms were up in the air, clawing at something that wasn't there. His torso constantly arched and relaxed, and his legs were flaying as if he'd made contact with a taser.
Bruce had sat by his head, timing the seizure. Natasha was next to him, whispering words of comfort that were unusual for her. Tony sat stoically next to her, phone in hand and 911 dialed in case an ambulance. Clint was next, moving the nearby furniture away along with Thor, who looked at his friend with pity and sadness.
When the seizure hit five minutes, Bruce gave Tony the order to call the ambulance.
"Steve? Steve? Can you look at me?" Asked Bruce. The seizure went on, but Steve's eyes had opened a little. He was conscious at the moment, but his eyes were focused on something on his right side, away from Bruce. None of them knew what it was, but Steve never took his eyes off of it.
Blood was coming out of the side of his mouth from biting his tongue so viciously. All of them worked to hide their distaste at the sight of it. Steve was later grateful that he couldn't feel anything, because he didn't want to think of how much that would have hurt.
The paramedics rushed in, and all the Avengers backed away hesitantly.
"What's his name?" Asked the man. He wore black sunglasses and muscles could be seen under the short sleeved paramedic shirt. His hands were gloved and ready for anything.
"Steve." Said Bruce.
"How long has this been going on?"
"About ten minutes."
The paramedic turned to Steve. "Hey, bud. We're gonna put an oxygen mask on you, alright?"
"15 milliliters?" Asked the female, getting the oxygen mask from her kit. The man nodded.
"You're doing great, Steve." Said the man. The oxygen mask was ready. "Alright, Steve, we're putting the mask on, okay?"
Steve's attention was focused elsewhere as he continued to jerk. It continued for another three minutes before the jerking became manageable enough that the paramedics could load him onto a stretcher.
Steve saw faces standing above him, and hazily understood that he was being moved. There was something foreign on his face but he didn't have the cognitive skills to articulate it. He was torturing his friends and he couldn't even stop it. He wanted so badly to stop it- to make it all stop and pretend like it was nothing. It was concupiscence at it's finest. He was vaguely aware of being lifted up as the stretcher was taken out of Stark Tower and loaded into an ambulance. He never took his eyes off of his Momma, who never stopped telling him that it was alright and how much she loved him.
"Mommy's here, sweetheart. You're okay. Everything is alright." She said. He clung to her words since she herself was intangible.
The paramedics were talking him and asking him to do things now that the convulsions had ceased completely, but he couldn't hear them. He couldn't hear any of them. He was slightly aware that someone familiar was riding in the ambulance with him, but he didn't look to see who it was. There was only Momma.
"Steve, sweetheart, can you look to the left for me?" She asked. He did.
"Good boy." She praised. He wanted to smile at her, but he couldn't feel his face yet.
The paramedics saw Steve continuing to stare at his right without hesitation, and they saw the man's mouth open. The man removed the oxygen mask and asked, "What was that, Steve?"
After a few seconds, he spoke. In a voice that was slurred, he simply said, "Momma."
Steve was unaware that his arm was reaching out toward her. It was stuck out and shaking as if he had a bad case of the shivers. It looked almost childish from Bruce's point of view. He had been the one chosen to go with Steve because of his medical background, while the others were meeting them at the hospital.
Steve wavered in and out again as he was being unloaded from the ambulance. He kept his eyes focused on Momma, who kept telling him that he was doing such a good job. While they were on the way to the hospital room, Momma gave him more instructions.
"Okay, sweetheart. Can you breathe for me? On the count of three. Ready? One, two, three!"
Steve took a breath.
"Good! Try again. One, two, three."
He did.
"Again."
The pattern repeated itself until he lost consciousness for the last time.
The vision of his Momma never left his sight, and he kept his focus on that. She smiled and sang to him and told him it was almost over just like she used to when he had seizures as a child. He listened to her voice, just loving the sound that he hadn't heard in over eighty years.
After an hour, Steve's vitals had stabilized and were getting closer to normal. Bruce sat on the chair and watched the line of the heart monitor rise, fall, lay flat, and repeat. The beeping should have annoyed him, but instead he found it comforting. It was reassurance that his friend was alive.
After a while, Momma told Steve it was time for her to go. He wanted to tell her not to leave, but she spoke to him before he could protest.
"I love you very much, darling, and I'm very proud of you." She faded into the blackness.
Instantly, Steve was awake and flaying violently. The alarm sounded and the IV was torn from his arm. The doctors, including Bruce, tried to calm him. When they removed the oxygen mask, the only sound that came out was a panicked "nnnn!" After two minutes of this, he was sedated and slept one more time.
When he woke up, all of the Avengers were in hospital chairs around him, sleeping. He looked around, not remembering why he was there, but understanding that it must have had something to do with the serum. The only thought he could manage was:
It's only a week...
He fell into an exhausted sleep, subliminally smiling at the thought that his Momma was proud of him.