She expected the lights on in her apartment since she had forgotten to turn them off in the morning rush, she expected her white cat to greet her at the door purring loudly, and she had expected to see her dishes still on the table, the basket filled with laundry in her bedroom, and the stack of books on her coffee table. What she did not expect to see however, was the man lying on her couch covered in blood.
"What the hell!" the door shut behind her, her keys and bag dropped to the floor with a clatter and she stood frozen in the doorway.
She could see the man stiffen and his eyes opened slowly almost as if dreading to see who it was.
"Who are you?" she asked, her heart was beating fast and her hands shook slightly, "Why are you here? How did you get in here?" her voice was beginning to rise with her panic.
The man struggled to sit up and managed to prop himself up on a pillow, his blood seeping out between his fingers with every movement.
"I'm calling 911." she bent over to the floor and fumbled around with the contents until she found her phone.
"Please." the man called out weakly, "Don't call 911." his voice came out breathy.
She froze and stood up, her phone in hand, "Who are you?" she asked once again. Her brown eyes locked with the man's blue ones.
There was a moment of hesitation before the man swallowed and licked his lips, "Bucky." he replied hoarsely, "My name is Bucky."
"Okay, Bucky." she tested out the name hesitantly, "Why shouldn't I call 911 right now?" maybe this man wasn't just crazy. He was obviously hurt and needed a place to rest but who was after him? Would they come after her too? Wouldn't it be better for him to go to a hospital to get treated too?
Bucky just shook his head panting, he winced at the pain, "Please just don't." he said weakly, he gasped lightly and then pressed down on his wound harder. Blood still seeped from between his fingers but he didn't let up the pressure he exerted.
She sighed heavily and then set her cell phone down on the table, "I won't ask anymore right now." she bit the inside of her cheek and then turned her full attention to the wound he was guarding.
Bucky seemed to relax into the sofa but his breathing got heavier and his eyes closed, "Thank you." he whispered.
"Let me see your wound." she immediately made her way towards him but he stiffened up, his eyes snapped open and he looked at her warily. His free hand went to the daggers strapped to his thigh that she belatedly noticed.
She stopped in her steps at the sudden reaction, her heart in her throat, "It's okay." she held up both her hands, "I'm just trying to help." she swallowed hoping that she wouldn't get speared by his daggers. By the looks of it there was a long row of them.
They looked at each other for a few moments before Bucky finally relaxed a little and then nodded.
She paused for a few seconds looking him over. Now that she was getting over her initial shock at having a stranger in her apartment, she was beginning to notice details about him that she had failed to see before. The black backpack on the floor, his dark red shirt was dirty and ripped, his left arm was entirely made of some kind of shiny silvery metal, and his black pants with its many pockets seemed to hold dangerous weapons.
She took a breath pushing any other thoughts away and carefully made her way towards him. He still watched her a little apprehensively as if anticipating her to do something.
But she slowly knelt down beside him and after a brief exchange of glances, Bucky slowly lifted his bloody hand from his abdomen. She carefully lifted up the soaked bloody shirt, her eyes narrowed and her jaws clenched at what she saw. Whoever it was that injured him had done a good job of it. There was a ragged hole in his upper right abdomen and it was apparently deep enough that she could see some spots of yellow-white through the blood that continuously seeped out of the wound.
"When did this happen?" she asked as she stood up and walked to her bathroom a few feet away. She grabbed a stack of small towels and filled a basin with warm water before returning.
"A couple of hours ago." came the reply.
She knelt down beside him again and dipped a towel in the water and wrung the water out before gently mopping the blood around the wound. She needed a better look at it before deciding what to do. She already knew that some of his internal organs had been damaged, but thankfully it wasn't too bad.
"Can I ask what caused this?" she dropped the used towel into the basin and grabbed a fresh towel to dry the area. The bleeding was beginning to slow but only gradually. He was still losing a fair amount of blood and she had to act quickly before he went into shock. She glanced at him, and she guessed that he was getting close.
Yeah, the man might be dangerous but he obviously needed help and this was a terrible weakness she had. She just had to help no matter who it was.
She glanced at Bucky when there was no response fearing that he had lost consciousness but when she looked he just shook his head.
"Fair enough I guess." she sighed and dropped the towel in the basin. The area was cleaner and now that the blood was mostly gone she could see that the wound was the size of a fist. It was as if someone had tried to punch a hole through him but failed horribly.
She deliberated for a moment, wondering what to do. She didn't like to use her gift if possible but looking at her options right now there wasn't much choice. The man didn't want to go to a hospital and she was just a nurse. There was nothing in her apartment to treat this man except for a bottle of extra strength Tylenol and rubbing alcohol. She didn't even have a sewing kit to close up the hole in his stomach.
She bit the inside of her cheek trying to think of something else. She did have a friend who worked as a surgeon at the same hospital as her.
"Bucky I have a friend who works as a surgeon in the same hospital as me." she spoke clearly but softly and looked at him, "Would it be okay for me to call him over to have him look at your wound?"
The look on Bucky's face darkened and he shook his head, "No." he didn't even take a moment to think about it.
"But-" she tried to continue but Bucky shook his head stubbornly.
She sighed, "You're not exactly in a position to refuse any help." she frowned, "If I don't get you the help you need you're gonna go into shock and that's not a stage you want to go to."
But Bucky still shook his head, "No one else." his voice was weakening and his breathing was starting to become rapid.
She sighed in exasperation and stood up to grab the bottle of rubbing alcohol in her bathroom and a roll of bandages she hoped wouldn't cause an infection.
"This is gonna hurt like a bitch." she unscrewed the cap of the alcohol, got the towels and bandages ready before locking eyes with Bucky. He was starting to snowball into shock and she didn't have much time to think of any more options.
Just this one time she would have to use her powers and hope that it wouldn't kill her too.
Bucky nodded when she grabbed the bottle of rubbing alcohol and a towel, he braced himself before she splashed a good measure of it into and around his wound. He let out a small strained cry but immediately clamped his mouth shut as he tried to wait out the worst of the pain. Fresh sweat beaded his forehead and his dark hair stuck to the sides of his face.
She sympathized with the pain he was feeling and desperately wished that she had a bottle of sterile water with her instead. But she had to work with what she already had, besides the rubbing alcohol would actually kill any bacteria that had been introduced into his wound.
Immediately bright red blood slowly began to pool in the wound and she wadded up the bandages and pressed it into the wound despite Bucky's grunts of pain.
"Okay Bucky I know you're in pain right now but I need you to look into my eyes." she maintained the pressure on the wound despite Bucky's resistance.
The man stopped resisting and he opened his glazed eyes breathing hard.
"You're not going to like what you're going to feel next." she told him as she sat cross legged on the floor, "Hold pressure on this." she instructed.
His rough shaky hands took over and held pressure while she concentrated on breathing evenly and deeply.
"Don't close your eyes Bucky." her voice was sharp and she placed her bloody hands on either side of the wound. She closed her eyes and let herself feel. She could feel the temperature of his body, the tempo of his pulse, the strain of his muscles trying to reject pain. She breathed in evenly, concentrating on the beat of his heart, the effort his heart was putting into pumping his blood.
Seconds passed and she could feel the rate of their breathing begin to match each other, minutes passed and she could feel her heart begin to beat to the same rhythm as Bucky's. She could feel his pulse quicken and hers quickened at the same time, she could feel his breaths come out short and hers did as well. She sharpened her range of concentration and focused on traversing the open edges of his wound. Raw and torn. She could feel the nerves screaming for what wasn't there.
Her eyes opened and she looked at Bucky, "I need you to look at me now Bucky." she whispered trying to hide the pain she was feeling from her voice.
Bucky turned his head slightly and suddenly blue eyes met brown ones.
There was a sharp jolt between them and she braced herself for what was coming next. Her vision blurred nauseatingly and she had to suppress the urge to turn around and vomit. She always hated this part of the joining. Within a few seconds, her vision cleared and they both blinked at each other.
They were completely joined now. Physically at least. She could feel his heartbeat weaken as if it were her own, every breath he took was laborious, his chest was feeling heavy, his hands were growing cold, and the pain…
She almost fainted when the full impact of the pain finally hit her like an oncoming train. She felt Bucky tense and in response her own body tensed in apprehension. She could feel the fear response rise up within Bucky's chest...her chest.
"It's okay." she gasped and she heard his voice saying the same words back to her.
She grabbed one of the daggers strapped to Bucky's side before he could fully comprehend what she was doing. His fear automatically heightened in response but she worked quickly. He was beginning to try and resist her and so without wasting any time she made a careful cut on the palm of her hand.
She felt a jolt of surprise in Bucky's chest as he saw through her eyes what she had done. She quickly moved Bucky's hands and removed the wad of gauze from the wound and placed her bleeding over the wound.
She closed her eyes once again and pressed out her mind through the wound into Bucky's veins, through this capillaries, through his arteries until finally she reached his rapidly beating but weakening heart.
When she caught the flow of direction of Bucky's blood, she began to slowly channel her own blood into his wound in the hopes of replacing an adequate portion of the blood he had lost.
The pain of the wound they both felt did nothing to help her work faster and she didn't know how much of her own blood she gave him but when at last she could feel his heart beating evenly and steadily she cut the flow of blood from her own body.
She had one more thing to to do before cutting off the physical connection. The one thing she absolutely hated to do, but the situation right now didn't allow her any room to just leave everything as it was.
She took a deep breath and braced herself for the pain. There was a point of balance that she would have to find in the process or the consequences would be dangerous for her.
Bucky's wound was exactly 2 centimeters to the left of his 9th and 10th rib. Having found the exact location of his wound, she pinpointed the spot on her own body with her own consciousness. Next she focused on the depth of the wound, the size of the hole, the type of damage the surroundings organs received, every tear, every disrupted layer of muscle, fat, and blood vessels, everything about the wound she studied. Her mind, her consciousness studying every millimeter, every broken vessel, every cellular tear that made up the injury until she had nothing else to learn anymore.
A very clear picture of the status of Bucky and the wound appeared in her mind and slowly she began to imagine every break and every tear on her own body. The depth of the wound, the exact way the flesh had been injured, the muscle tears, everything she had learned about it, she painstakingly carved into her own body.
In the process she could vaguely feel Bucky's wound begin to mend slowly. Every tear and break she imagined on her own body made the exact same one that constituted Bucky's wound disappear and heal as if it had ever been there before.
By the time she realized that exactly half the wound had been...for lack of better words, transferred to her own body, she became acutely aware of the time that had lapsed by.
It was time to stop now.
Slowly she pulled in her consciousness back to the center of her mind, severing the connections she made with Bucky, his heart, his pulse, his nerves.
Once she made sure she was completely severed from him she opened her eyes. Her vision blurred and her head throbbed as she blinked at the sudden feeling of only being connected to her own body. The abrupt absence she felt after getting used to Bucky's presence left her feeling empty. But this wasn't anything new. It always happened no matter who it was.
She swayed perilously as the concentrated after effects of her powers flooded her but she caught herself in time before falling over. Cold sweat beaded her forehead and iced her core, exhaustion pressed down on her heavily, and the pain…Sharp, persistent, and overpowering.
She cried out weakly but stopped herself from making anymore noise by biting down on her tongue. Breathing hard she checked Bucky's condition and noticed that he had fallen asleep during the process. The wound looked a couple of weeks old at most, the flesh starting to painstakingly pull together and mend from the inside out. The fist sized hole had shrunk to the size of something a little bigger than a bottle cap and all in all, it was healing nicely. She would have to go out later and somehow procure a suturing kit. It was all good that the wound was healing but without a suture in place it would take much longer to heal.
For now she would cover his wound with a fresh bandage and hope it wouldn't be aggravated and open up. The process was painstakingly slow especially with her level of exhaustion and sudden loss of blood. The pain in her abdomen was still sharp and persistent. It demanded her attention right now but she gritted her teeth and taped the bandage over Bucky's wound before slumping on the floor, her back against the couch.
Her hands shook as she looked down at her abdomen. Her shirt was already becoming soaked with blood. Cold sweat dripped down the sides of her face as she dragged her shirt up to reveal the fresh ragged fist sized hole that had been on Bucky earlier.
She swiped at the roll of bandages and haphazardly wrapped it around herself making sure it was tight enough but not too tight. For now this was the extent of what she could do, she could only hope that she wouldn't bleed out during the night. Breathing hard she wiped away the sweat on her forehead and proceeded to lay down on the floor next to the couch.
Pain, weakness, cold...her head was swimming around in circles, and she could barely see anything. Why had she done this again? Oh yeah, it was to help this man...this stranger who called himself Bucky.
The exhaustion that had been steadily pressing down on her now seemed to crush her. Her eyes shut immediately and still breathing hard her mind easily slipped into unconsciousness.