Chapter 44
I know you're all gonna like this! *squeals*:D
It was bright. Like- really bright. I feel my eyelids crack open just a bit and I immediately close them again. Wait-…. Did I die? Am I dead? Who turned the light on?-... Wait, hold that thought- Wasn't I shot?
I take a moment to open my eyes all the way; seeing I was in a bed; and it smelled weird. I guess I'm in the hospital. I look around the room; seeing no one in. Maybe this is a weird dream or something.
I shift and a pain shot through my chest. Nope, definitely not dead! I wince, looking down; I was wearing one of those hospital gown things. I take a minute to get a feeling for my limbs and finally lift my hand; lightly touching where it hurt the most; feeling a bandage.
So I really was shot... Well then.
I felt my eyes trail over the room when I saw sunglasses on the counter. I narrowed my eyes; trying to pinpoint where I had seen those before. Wait! They were Tony's!
I swallowed before closing my eyes again. I feel like I should be tired but I'm not. I move a bit and feel the sharp pain shooting up my body. I hiss under my breath; biting my lip. I took a moment to catch my breath again before moving a bit more.
I look up suddenly when I heard footsteps coming toward the door. Tony walked in and looked up from his cup of coffee; seeing me. Seconds later he dropped his cup and it was on the floor. I flinched; looking a bit startled for a moment. I take a deep breath; clearing my throat.
"Hi" I manage to get out. In that split second he was next to the bed and he put the back of his hand to my forehead. I went cross-eyed; looking at his hand in confusion.
"You're fevers broke." He says more to himself. I raise an eyebrow. As if it couldn't get any better several doctors were in the room seconds later; checking my vitals and other stuff.
What is going on? And why am I hooked up to so many machines. This is so weird.
"How do you feel kid?" Tony asked; sitting down in a chair to my right. I shrug; looking over at him.
"Like I was hit by a bus." I sigh. He smirks, but then gets back to being serious. I dropped my smile. What the hell, he is never serious.
"So Kate…. What do you remember?" He asked slowly. I raise an eyebrow. Is he drunk or something!? He never uses my name.
I strain my memory; trying to remember. What began to scare me was that at first I couldn't remember. I furrow my eyebrows when suddenly it all came back to me.
"I remember jumping in front of a bullet." I chuckle; then wince; rubbing my stomach gently. He nods after a few seconds; then jumps, taking his phone out of his pocket.
"I need to get Steve on a flight back here before he hurts me." He mumbles. I smile before thinking about what he just said.
"Flight? Where is he?" I ask. Tony was dialing when he stopped and hesitated.
"He's been in tracking down these people from the warehouse with Natasha and Clint since you-…" He stops himself. I furrow my eyebrows.
"Since I what?" I ask; hesitantly.
"Kate, you've been in a coma for about 5 months." He says. I stared at him for a good long minute before letting out a breath.
... A coma?...me? But, it couldn't have been that bad. It didn't even hurt that bad at the time; how could it have come to this?
"Me?" I whisper. He nods.
"They didn't think you were going to wake up." He says; adjusting himself in his chair. I nod after a few seconds.
"5 months…" I repeat. He nods. It was quiet for a few moments before he shook his head and picked up the phone again.
"I need to call them now; I'm guessing he's going to want to see you." He smirks. I nod and smile; leaning my head back.
~0~
It was dark and Natasha, Clint, Steve, and two other SHIELD agents who were flying the quinjet, were on their way to Australia. They were all still dirty and roughed up from the last mission in the City of Brazil. Suddenly there was the sound of static as the speakers were being override.
"How's my favorite trio of Agents?" It was Tony's voice. Natasha rolled her eyes and Clint chuckled.
"What do you want Stark?" Steve asked; not sounding too pleased that Tony hacked the system again.
"Well isn't nice to hear your voice to Cap'n."
"Tony, get off the line." Steve says sternly.
"Roger that, but I think you might want to change your flight plans Rogers, cause I got a certain someone at the hospital here who wants to see ya." He says in a slightly teasing tone. Everyone looked back at Steve for a moment. He opened his mouth about to speak when nothing came out.
~0~
2 HOURS LATER…
I was sitting in bed; fiddling with a rubix cube. I had never had any talent with things, but it was all the doctors could find in the hospital. There wasn't anything good on the TV either… whoop.
"I wanna get up." I groaned; looking over at Tony. He had just finished calling everyone he possibly could about me being awake, and he even contacted Fury to get a hold of Thor. Except Sam, he didn't call her because I wanted to surprise her myself.
"Can she do that?" He asked the Nurse. She looked up from what she was doing and narrowed her eyes before biting her lip.
"Well-" She seemed a bit hesitant. Then she smiled. "Oh who am I kidding, I guess a few minutes out of bed won't hurt." She chuckles. Tony nods before turning to me.
"Now-" He starts. "Let's see if we can't get you on your feet before Spangles gets back."
"Is that a challenge?" I grin. He shrugs. I smile before pulling the covers back and slowly swinging my feet over.
Ok, here we go. First time being on my feet in almost half a year.
I take a deep breath before letting my feet touch the ground. I hesitate before putting weight on one foot. I feel that god damn shooting pain again and I curse under my breath.
"Take your time though." Tony smirks. I chuckle and nod; trying again. This time I managed to put my full weight on my feet. I took a few deep breaths before pushing off the bed. I feel my stomach twist funny and I wobble on my feet; losing my balance. Tony steadies me and allows me to take a couple steps.
After a minute or two of getting my balance I finally managed to walk out into the hall without help. I had a smile plastered to my face the whole time as I walked down the hall.
"Don't go too far." Tony says playfully. I turn back to him.
"It feels weird." I laugh; making a face. He smirks before he looked at something else; his expression changing. I raise an eyebrow.
"What?" I ask. I turn around and see what he looking at. Steve was about 20 feet away staring at me; looking-... Well, a mixture of shock and relief I guess you could say.
I feel my face go blank as I continue to look at him, and then furrow my eyebrows. What was he wearing? It was some kind of navy blue suit. At least that's what it looked like, covered in a ton of dirt and ash. He hadn't even taken the helmet off yet.
He takes a few steps forward then starts to walk toward me. I go a few steps.
"Hey, long time no se-" he immediately pulled me into a hug before I could finish. I make a pained face.
Yeah- ok, Ow. Little too strong on the hug there, Steve. I hug him back for a moment.
"Hey uh, Steve?" I start. "I uh, can't breathe." I manage to squeak out. He loses the death grip a little and I take in a quick breath.
"I love you too." He says quietly. I feel my breath catch; I swallow. Did he just say that? – Wait, did I say that!?... Oh yeah I did! I thought in the heat of the moment he would have forgotten that I said that. I smile and he pulls out of the hug; smiling at me. I bit my lip; smiling back. "But, you-…. Are so grounded!" He finishes; getting serious – I think. It was hard to tell since he didn't take his helmet off. I feel my face drop. Ok then….
"Wha-…?" I start but he cuts me off slightly.
"Don't ever do that again." He says sounding more worried than mad. I feel a smile come back onto my face and I hugged him again. He rested his chin on my head and I could hear Tony mumbling something along the lines of "isn't that adorable" I ignore it and continue to hug him.
"Oh man, the rumors are true!" I heard a voice behind me. We both pulled out of the hug seeing Clint. I smile before hugging him. "Welcome back to the land of the living!" He laughs.
"Feels good to be back!" I laugh; pulling out. Seconds later Natasha came up with a big smile.
"I knew you'd pull through Sanders." She smirks; hugging me. I couldn't stop smiling; knowing that these people, superheroes; Avengers, cared about me this much. I wouldn't give this up for the whole world.
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