Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel comics or characters or movies, and am making no money off of this fic.
AN: Written for the October 30th Whumptober prompt: caregiver.
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Storytime by luvsanime02
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Bucky Barnes never would have thought that he would be doing this sort of career, not when he first started college. Yet, here he is. Most people who know him are stunned at his choice of job when they first find out. No one really looks at Bucky and thinks of him as being a caregiver.
Bucky cherishes his job, though. He's never regretted being a caregiver for the elderly, and taking care of them in their final years when no one else can or wants to. Bucky has met some wonderful people during his career, and he never gets tired of hearing about the amazing lives that his patients have lived.
Bucky writes them down. He asks permission first, of course, and hasn't been turned down yet even once. All of these stories, though, they're really incredible, and Bucky feels like he just has to record all of them. Imagine if he wasn't there, and those memories were just lost forever?
Bucky doesn't even like writing, and is so glad that he lives in the age of computers where he can spend hours sometimes just typing down everything that he can remember, as fast as he can, before he forgets one single, tiny detail.
When the end comes, though, as it always does, Bucky falls to pieces every time. Not in front of his patients, though he's sure that none of them are fooled, but he just gets so close to all of them. He knows their favorite foods and drinks, and who still has living relatives and how many grandchildren they have, and who stole cookies out of the jar when they were a kid, and-
These are people. Lovely, wonderful human beings, and he's sharing their last moments with them so that they aren't alone, and Bucky can keep himself together until they're gone, but then he just can't pretend anymore. He can't act okay anymore, and he's sad for weeks and can't hide it at all from his friends, and they worry about him, but what is he supposed to do?
Stop caring? Quit his job? Bucky can't do either, and doesn't even want to try.
So, he opens his heart to these strangers, and becomes a friend and confidante to them before they pass away, and Bucky feels like he's doing something meaningful with his life, even though everyone's so surprised when they first learn what his job is.
Let them stare, and let them worry. Bucky's got a job to do. His next patient is Mrs. Feldman, a widower and retired teacher, and she worked tirelessly to help stop segregated schooling in her community, and Bucky can't wait to meet her already, can't wait to hear all of her stories, and when she passes, he'll be right there with her, holding her hand so that she's not alone.
That's just what Bucky does. That's what he's chosen to do with his life. It's not what everyone would do, or even what everyone could do, but it's what he chooses to do, and he can't imagine doing anything else.