Chapter 26: Hospital Room

James walked into the room, seeing a curtain up. A nurse came out from behind and gasped as she saw him. "My goodness you gave me a scare" the nice older woman began, clutching her chest before smiling, "She's not quite awake yet but if you want to sit and wait you can."

He nodded and watched the older woman exit. James pulled back the curtain, seeing her lying in the bed to his left. They had her in a blue hospital gown covered by a light sheet. Kelly lay on her left side with her head facing the window on the other side of the room. Her blonde hair was still a little messy, but fell across her shoulders and back and shone brightly in the little bit of sunlight in the room.

James swallowed hard as he took the chair by the window. As he sat down, he looked up at her face. Her eyes were closed and lips rested in a straight line. He leaned forward with his elbows on knees. He reached out a hand to brush a hair from her face but pulled back before he did. Burying his face in his hands, he sat there, letting his guilt wash over him.

Suddenly James heard a light sigh and looked up to see Kelly opening her eyes. They glanced around and blinked, then rested on his face. His face lit up as their eyes met. "Hi" he said.

Kelly furrowed her brow and asked, "Hi…do I know you?"

James felt his heart stop. He gulped. She doesn't remember. She doesn't remember and it's entirely my fault. Swallowing he said, "I'm James. We're …friends."

"Friends?" she asked, slowly propping herself up on her elbow, "For how long?"

"A couple of weeks so far," he said, smiling half-heartedly.

"Really?" she asked, "How did we meet?"

"We were both at the Smithsonian tribute to Captain America" he answered. The memory of her walking up next to him and talking without a care flew to the forefront of his mind. Only two weeks, it's only been two weeks.

"Huh," Kelly said, "I don't remember. Have we spent a lot of time together since?"

James again half-smiled, "We have. Quite a bit this last week actually."

She tilted her head and said, "What's your name?"

Swallowing he answered, "James Barnes."

Kelly pursed her lips and shook her head, "No… I don't think that's quite right. I think your name is James 'Bucky' Barnes. And we met at the Smithsonian and afterword you tried to kill me at the metro. Then I got pulled into this big ordeal to help you regain your memories and on the run from this crazy Nazi organization called Hydra. And to top it all off," she said curling her lips into a smile, "I got kidnapped by that organization and they had you try to kill me, again."

James eyes widened and his chest heaved, relieved that she remembered. Without thinking he stood and picked her up in his arms, to which she whimpered. Immediately he set her back down and asked, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you…worse?"

"Fine," Kelly answered, "Just please be gentle, still healing you know," she smiled, "I'm sorry, about the pretending to not remember thing. That was mean but on the other hand I thought we agreed you weren't going to attempt to kill me anymore."

He swallowed as he fell back into the chair. He cast his eyes to the floor shamefully. She tossed her feet over the bed and slid off. Kneeling in front of him, Kelly gently put a hand to the side of his face and said, "Don't feel bad. I know it wasn't you," she pushed a stray hair back and returned her eyes to his, "I tried my best to help you remember. I'm sorry I didn't succeed."

"You did," James said, staring back at her.

Kelly shook her head, "The kiss didn't work. That's how I got the knife in my side. I have the scar to prove it."

"Not the kiss," he answered, "but what came after."

She met his eyes and blushed, looking away, "Oh boy. I was pretty melodramatic there," she slowly stood, holding her injured side as she sat back on the bed, "But I guess you say some crazy things when you think you're gonna die."

Their eyes met again as James asked, "Did you mean it?"

Kelly looked at him, seeing the sparkle back in his eyes. Grinning she said, "What do you think?"

He leaned in, gently grabbing her face before he kissed her. She slowly put her hands on his chest, gently pushing him away. He stared at her with a furrowed brow, "What's wrong?"

She raised her eyes to his. "Nothing" she said, "I'm glad you know how I feel but you don't have to pretend with me. I know you still have some of your memories to get back and that's all this is," she glanced downward, "I don't think I can handle any more of that without having my heart break."

James pulled her chin up, looking in her eyes with nothing but anguish in his own. "You think that's all this is? I have all my memories back. I don't need anything. I'm kissing you because I want to. Even before I had all of them back, most of my memories came from your presence alone. Kissing you, I did that because I knew I had to. I felt it, deep inside my chest."

Kelly swallowed, staring at him in disbelief. "What are you saying?" she asked, gulping.

He slowly smiled and chuckled, shaking his head, "You really don't know?"

"You… love me?" she asked, voice wavering.

James glanced from her lips back to her eyes, "Abundantly."

This time Kelly was the one to grab him, pressing her lips to his eagerly. He smiled, gently pulling her closer to his chest. After a few moments they pulled away, still leaving an inch or two between their faces. She smiled, "I don't even know what to say to describe how I'm feeling," she said, before a stinging from her side made her grimace, "Okay I lied. Painful right now."

James gently put her back on the bed. "Take it easy. Don't want that to reopen."

Sighing contentedly, she said, "So, what are we going to do now?" she asked pausing for a second then adding, "Bucky?"

His eyes widened then he smiled and said, "You…you called me Bucky."

"Well yeah," Kelly said, "If you remember everything, then that's what you go by. Who am I to call you something you're not fond of?"

James was quiet for a minute then gently held her hands in his as he said, "You're the only one I want calling me James."

Her cheeks flushed as she smiled, looking away.

A knock came on the door as Steve and Natasha walked in. "Sorry to interrupt," Steve said, "but we aren't exactly safe here. Even if you did blow up Hydra's headquarters, we still need to move," He glanced at Kelly with a smile, "Will you be able make it okay?"

Kelly nodded, "I'll live. Just no more life and death situations today if possible."

They all laughed. James helped her up and gently lifted her in his arms as Natasha grabbed her clothes. He set her down towards the bathroom and Natasha followed her inside to help her change. After a minute or so, Kelly came out clothed. Looking at all of them she said, "Okay, let's make a break for it."