Disclaimer: I do not own the Captain America series or anything related to it. Faya Kline is my OC.
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Sometimes, very few times mind you, I wonder if I had known the truth about Jace, if I would still love him. If I would have let him in. I wonder how different my life could be now. But wondering won't solve anything. Wondering won't change the past.
For days I thought maybe nothing had happened. That I wasn't attacked in an alley by some crazed man, that another man hadn't saved me. That this stranger had helped me when I passed out from a mild concussion, took the time to carry me upstairs to bed, even with his injury. Put an ice pack under my head, and left out the aspirin. I could not, however, simply be imagining the bloody bandages left in my garbage, or the large lump on the back of my head. I could not imagine the headlines of the paper, "Wanted Suspect Found Dead in Alley".
As the weeks passed, I pushed the stranger from my thoughts as best I could. I went back to work after recovering from my head injury, caused by "a fall down the stairs at home due to the rain". Everything was going back to normal.
Then he came back.
I wasn't able to sleep. I kept tossing and turning until I couldn't take it anymore. I went downstairs and turned on the TV, snuggled up under some blankets on the couch, and watched an old favorite, Finding Nemo.
I was near the point of dozing off when I heard something at the front door. I turned down the volume of the movie, listening. Surely that couldn't be someone knocking at this hour?...
I heard it again, slightly louder this time. Slowly I got up, trailing a blanket around me. I shuffled to the front door and peeked through the peep hole. Gasped. Undid the locks as fast as I could. Ripped open the door, and pulled the poor man inside.
His face was bruised and bloody, and he had been leaning against the door for support. He stumbled slightly as I closed the door behind him, leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. His face creased with pain.
"Come on." I said urgently, gently tugging him towards the bathroom.
He sat down slowly, grunting with the effort. I pulled out my kit, restocked, and began pulling out just about everything. I grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cold water, then turned to him.
"May I?" I asked, motioning the rag towards his face.
One eye was nearly swollen shut. The other glared indignantly at me. I noticed now, his eyes weren't really blue. Not entirely. They were an incredible blue green. And they were beginning to glare as I realized I'd been staring far too long. He grunted, giving me permission to gently dab at his blood covered face.
I was relieved, and slightly horrified, to discover most of the blood was not his own. He only had a few cuts, and they weren't bleeding heavily enough to cover his whole face. Once it was clean, I took careful observation of his wounds.
"Your eye socket might be fractured." I said quietly.
I pulled out some antibiotic ointment and bandages, and snapped an ice pack to activate the chemicals inside. Once it was cold I offered it to him, and he carefully placed it over his eye. I then carefully swiped the antibiotic ointment over the cuts and placed the bandages over them.
"Another bar fight?" I asked humorously, trying to lighten the tension that had built up in the room.
This elicited another smirk from him, though slight as his lip was split. He leaned back a little.
"Yep. Drunk people and bars just don't seem to get along with me." He said.
I sat back, and quickly looked over the rest of him. He seemed to be ok.
"Anything else I need to fix?" I asked.
"I can handle the rest. If you don't mind..." He said, eyeing me with his good eye.
"Sure... let me know if you need anything else." I said and quickly left, shutting the door behind me.
I folded the blankets on the couch and draped them over the top. I went into the kitchen and pulled out some aspirin. He'd probably need it. Then I leaned against the counter, sighing.
Why did he come here, and not go to the hospital? Thinking more clearly now, why had I let him in? I didn't know who he was. Getting into brutal bar fights was clearly something he did on a regular basis. I needed answers...
He came into the kitchen slowly, still holding the ice pack to his eye, looking at me cautiously. I wordlessly motioned to the counter where I'd left out the pills and a glass of orange juice. He went over and took them. Turned back to me.
"Do you not have insurance or something?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"What?" He asked.
"Insurance. You really should have gone to the hospital last time, and this time." I said pointedly.
"Right, yeah. I don't have insurance." He said slowly.
I didn't really believe him, but did I really wanna push him? No, better not.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you so late at night. I just saw the lights were on, and seeing as you're a nurse, I thought you might be able to help me again." He said quietly.
I was startled by his explanation for a moment.
"It's fine. You saved me, after all." I said.
For a few moments we were both completely silent. Then he shifted, started moving.
"You're leaving already?" I asked.
"I've taken up enough of your time. I'm going home to sleep this off." He replied, that dangerous growl almost hinting in his voice.
"Well, do you want to take a few more bandages with you? Those will need to be changed soon." I offered.
He paused, as if amused by the thought.
"No, I have plenty at home. Thanks." And he was off to the door.
"Wait." I said quickly as he opened the door.
"What?" He growled, glaring his good eye at me.
"Do I at least get to know your name?" I asked.
He stood there for a moment, and his brow wrinkled as if he had to actually think about it.
"I...uh... no. Thanks for the help."
And he was gone.
Though I tried to relax, go back to watching movies, my mind was elsewhere. On the stranger. The confusion in his eyes as he seemed to try to remember his own name. At the way his hand had grazed the doorknob as he closed the door, making the strangest sound. Metal?
Sometime, as the sun was beginning to light up the world outside, I dozed off. I dreamed of green blue eyes.
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