Cave
Chapter Two
Zebraboymom
Disclaimer: They do not belong to me. Humph!
Author Notes: Thanks for the reviews guys. I love them so much and you are all so faithful to write them. When I start a story I am always committed to finishing it and I promise to never leave you hanging for too long. I try to get an update done every day unless something comes along to disrupt my schedule. Again, I live to read the reviews and I write better for them. Now, on with the story. Trapped below the surface, Steve doesn't know what happened to Kono, Danny or Chin.
Steve looked all the way around the cavern for Kono, but she hadn't surfaced. Fear gripped him as he thought about her maybe being knocked unconscious and losing her regulator. He pulled his out of his mouth and yelled her name.
"Kono! Kono!"
He was so stupid. It was obvious she wasn't there. He put his regulator back in his mouth and dove back down into the murky water created by the blast to try and find her. He didn't have to go too far to find her swimming towards him with one arm. He saw blood in the water and realized her other arm was hurt. He reached for her then and slipped his arm around her waist pulling her through the water as he reached out with his free arm. She used her good arm and together they were able to make good time back to the cavern. When they broke surface, he pushed her up onto the cavern floor around the opening. He pulled himself out of the water and dumped his tanks off, then knelt to help her with hers. She was really favoring the arm and he tried to be gentle with her. He accidentally snagged her arm with the strap and she drew in a sharp breath and made a small, strangled noise. He felt terrible for hurting her more.
"What happened?"
"Uh, I think the explosives went off."
"No. I mean your arm. What happened?"
"I slammed into a rock pretty hard and the water forced me against it. It tore my wetsuit and my arm apparently. It hurts like crazy."
Blood was running quite freely out of the torn wetsuit fabric and Steve knew he needed to get it to stop bleeding before she passed out. He looked at her for permission and then slid her zipper down to her waist and eased the wetsuit off her shoulders so he could take a look. Her eyes never left his. He could see so much trust in them. He hoped he earned that trust. He watched her carefully as he did and he could tell by the way she was biting her bottom lip that it hurt having the fabric brush across it. She was trying to be really brave, but he could feel her shaking a bit from the pain and the loss of blood. Steve gently prodded the cut until she winced. It was pretty deep. Steve had to press on it to stop the bleeding and felt terrible as she sucked in her breath. His eyes went straight up to hers and a look passed between them. Before Kono had time to think about what it might mean, Steve spoke.
"I'm hurting you."
"A bit, but I know you have to stop the bleeding. Is it deep?"
"Pretty deep."
He paused because he didn't know how to tell her. He knew she would want the truth.
"Kono, I'm going to have to put a few stitches in to stop the bleeding. We have no idea how long we're going to be trapped here and if you lose too much blood…"
"I get it. Don't tell me you have a first aid kit in that too."
"I do actually."
Steve reached in his fanny pack and pulled out a waterproof bag holding some ointment and dry gauze along with what looked like a needle and some thread. There were alcohol wipes and with a triumphant grin Steve fished out and held up a water proof band-aid.
"You are such a boy scout."
"Aren't you glad?"
"And you know how to suture. I remember you mentioned Seal training at Christmas when you were doing such a great job sewing Danny's costume. I guess it really does come in handy."
She was trying to lighten the moment, but Steve knew she was scared. He looked deeply into her eyes.
"Kono, I'm not going to lie to you about this. It's going to hurt like hell. I don't have any anesthesia, not even topical."
"Oh…okay. It is what it is, right? Let's just get it done before I chicken out."
"You? Chicken out? Never. I've never ever seen you walk away from a fight."
His voice became husky.
"That's what makes you so special."
Kono looked at his downcast face as he prepared the needle. He was genuinely concerned about her. She always knew Steve could be caring. She had seen him with victims time and time again. She had experienced it herself more than once. But the way he was treating her now made her feel something for him that she had never experienced before, deep affection. She found herself wondering about them and where their relationship might go. The thoughts made her cheeks flush. She hoped he would think it was just the pain.
When Steve had everything prepared, he looked up at her.
"Ready?"
She could only nod her head. He sat cross-legged and scooted up to her side facing her arm. He took the alcohol wipes and cleaned the cut as best he could. Kono tried not to cry and she was really proud of herself when she didn't. When the wound was ready he picked the needle back up from the bag.
"Hold onto my knee and when it starts to hurt too much feel free to squeeze me as hard as you need to. I mean it Kono. It's just you and me. No heroes here today. Scream, cry, do whatever it takes to get through this. It's just me and you."
Kono placed her hand tentatively on Steve's knee and took in a deep breath and blew it out.
"Go."
Steve knew he needed to work quickly so he pinched the skin up slightly and pushed the needle through before she knew what was happening. Kono's face was suddenly frozen in shock and she grabbed his knee so hard he thought he might scream. Her eyes filled with tears and they began to stream down her face, but she didn't scream. Steve started on the second stitch. She began to tremble and held onto his knee for dear life. He went to put in the last stitch and she finally broke down, sobbing softly and shaking violently. He finished quickly, putting the antibiotic cream on and the waterproof bandage over the wound. He could see her teeth chattering and knew she could be going into shock. He quickly unzipped his wetsuit so he could offer his body warmth and pulled her into his lap holding her tightly to his bare chest. She continued to cry for some time and he knew the pain had to be excruciating. His heart broke knowing what she had gone through. He held her close, rocking her gently. He stroked her hair and whispered softly to her.
"Shh. It's over. I've got you. It's all right now. I'm sorry I hurt you. I wouldn't want to hurt you for anything, Kono. You did good. You did so good, Sweetheart."
Kono's sobs began to subside and her breathing evened out again. She had her face buried in his neck and she hiccupped a few times trying to pull herself together. She didn't want Steve to think she was weak, but that was the worst pain she had ever experienced in her life. He was so warm. She settled into his embrace.
Steve held her close, being careful of her arm. She sighed, reveling in his touch. When she finally pulled back, he took his thumbs and wiped the tears off her cheeks. Her arm was throbbing, but his gentleness distracted her some from the pain.
"I'm sorry Steve."
"Are you kidding me? You were amazing. I've seen grown men; Navy Seals do much worse. I just hate that I was the one hurting you."
He brushed her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek.
"Kono…I…"
"Steve…it's okay."
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Kono could feel the warmth of his lips. She wondered what it would be like to feel them pressed to hers. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. She could tell he felt it too. They were so drawn to each other. She moved ever so slightly towards him and he did the same. Before she knew what was happening, he kissed her softly, gently, tenderly. She sighed and slipped her good arm up around his neck. He continued to explore her mouth ever so slowly. It was sweet and loving. If he was doing all this to distract her from the pain, it was definitely working. When he finally pulled his lips from hers, he dropped his forehead to touch hers and breathed in and out for a minute. Kono did the same.
"Okay, this, whatever it is, and believe me it is wonderful, will have to be revisited and soon, but in the meantime, we need to get out of here. The water has settled from the blast, so I'm going to swim back towards the entrance and see if there are any openings big enough for us to get out of. You stay here and try to stay warm."
Steve slipped back into his wetsuit and gently assisted Kono as she slipped hers back on. He zipped it up for her, staring deeply into her eyes as he did. He couldn't help himself; he placed one more sweet kiss to her lips and then slipped his tanks on and was gone before Kono could argue.
She suddenly felt so tired. She scooted back to the rock wall and leaned against it closing her eyes. She thought about the kiss and about Steve and how everything had changed in an instant. Maybe it was just the tenseness of the moment. What if Steve already regretted it? She tried to keep her eyes open, but she felt herself slipping from consciousness. Why was she so tired all of a sudden? She knew her feelings for Steve were real. They had been building for some time now, but what about him? Was he just reacting out of a need to protect her or was he feeling the same way she was? They would definitely have to talk and soon. She wished he would hurry back. She needed him there with her, holding her. What was going on? She had never felt this tired before in her life. She felt very heavy. With one last thought about the kiss, Kono slipped into unconsciousness. Her head dropped down onto her chest and she passed out.
