"Okay, go ahead and lay down on the couch and I'll be right back." Steve told me as we walked into his apartment.

"Okay." I nodded, heading over to the couch while he walked towards the bathroom. I laid down on my back on the couch, and lifted up my shirt slightly to show the wound on my belly. "Ugh." groaned as I examined the wound. It looked like a pretty shallow cut, but in all honesty, it hurt like a bitch. I touched the cut slightly, instantly wincing in pain.

A few moments later, Steve came out of the bathroom and made his way over to me. He was carrying a bottle of what looked like rubbing alcohol, a roll of gauze, some medical tape and a small tube of something. "Hey," he got down on his knees on the floor so he was about level with my belly. "Oh god."

"Calm down, Steve. It's not that bad…" I told him shrugging slightly

He set his first aid stuff down on the floor next to him, and turned his attention to me, "You know, I was in the military. A lot of men tried to be tough when they get injuries like this, and made it seem like nothing. But you know what ended up happening to those men?" I shook my head in response. "They ended up getting an infection, all the flesh in that area rotted away, and they ended up dying of sepsis. Do you want that to happen?" he asked me seriously

I gulped slightly at the intensity of that statement, "Um… No thank you. Go ahead. Do your thing." I told him quickly

He gave me a small smile before picking up the bottle of alcohol, and ripping off a piece of gauze, "Good," he said as he put some of the alcohol on the square of gauze, "Now this might sting a bit…" he warned me as he moved the gauze closer to my wound

I nodded and braced myself for the sting that I knew was unavoidable.

He put the gauze on my belly and began to clean the wound, causing me to hiss in pain. Thankfully it didn't take too long for him to finish cleaning it. Once he was done cleaning it he picked up the small tube of what I could now see is antiseptic cream. He grabbed the gauze and put a bit of the ointment over the length of them gauze before putting the gauze down over the wound. To finish it off, he ripped off two pieces of the tape and taped down the gauze to my belly.

"There, all set." he said to me with a smile.

"Thank you, Steve." I said politely, returning his smile.

"I'm only doing my duty, Ma'am." he replied seriously

I couldn't help frown a bit at that. I'm not sure why but something about that comment made me feel a bit sad inside.

I nodded, "Yeah." I answered simply as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

"Oh, okay. Are you going to hang out for a while?"

I shook my head quickly, "Um. I told my brothers I would be home for supper, and it's getting pretty late." I told him awkwardly

"Oh, okay. Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked me

I sighed and shook my head no, "No, I think I can handle it on my own." I told him, pushing myself up to my feet. I couldn't help but wince slightly in pain.

Steve's face quickly dropped in concern, "Are you sure?"

I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes at him, "Yes. I am one hundred percent sure." I answered as I began walking toward the front door.

Steve followed close behind me, stopping a few feet behind me as I open the door, "Okay, I'll see you some other time then?"

I turned back to him, and gave him a soft smile, "Yeah. Some other time."

I'm really sorry it took so long to get another upload, and then all I gave you was a wicked short chapter. I planned on writing a much longer chapter, but it just wasn't working out. So, I did my best, and this is what came out. I will definitely try and make the next one better though.