Thanks for the reviews! I thought Fitzbarton was cute, too...and I'll try to figure out a way to get Clint to dangle over a fan...or seduce a rich guy LOL. I also hope I didn't scare anyone off with the warning! I just didn't want to upset anyone, and it will be further explained in this chapter. Did I mention I like to torture characters? It makes for good drama. It also makes for some interesting character development. As always, thanks for sticking with me!
"What's going on?" Clint was trying not to sound panicked.
"Mikayla has PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. She has cysts on her ovaries and by her reaction to the second wave of pain, I would say one or two ruptured. She also probably has irregular monthly issues, which could be heavy or non-existent. The bleeding she has now is too bright to be that, so something else is going on." The EMT's arrived. Steve met them and brought them up to Mikayla's room. She was loaded onto a stretcher and an IV was started. She was wheeled out with Clint right behind her. Steve and Natasha stripped her bed and Natasha took the bedding to the laundry room while Steve put clean linens on the bed. Bruce also followed the EMT's, giving them Mikayla's medical information. Once Natasha returned to the suite, she and Steve made their way down to the main area where Bruce was waiting. "They've taken her to Columbia. Clint went with her in the ambulance."
"Should we call Pepper and Tony?" Steve asked. The couple had left for a mini-vacation to some tropical island.
"Not yet, nothing either one of them can do at this point," Bruce replied.
"I grabbed her laptop," Natasha said. "Let me check something." Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "Yep, she's already emailed her team to let them know she'd be working from the suite today. Probably to spend more time with Clint." She looked at the other two. "Since she's already notified work, I agree with Bruce. Let's wait and see what the doctors say." The trio went down to the garage and sped to the hospital. Upon arrival, they rushed inside and found Clint in the waiting room. "Have they said anything?"
"Nope, they chased me out and said they'd be out as soon as they found what's going on." Clint was pacing back and forth with a worried but determined look on his face.
Natasha joined him as he made his way around the waiting room. "How are you?"
"I'm not used to this. I'm supposed to be the one getting hurt and needing medical treatment. She's an IT executive, that is not a dangerous job. Why her? First, she gets a concussion from her apartment being bombed, now this. What the hell is going on?"
She didn't say anything, but took his hand and squeezed it, letting him know she was there. Steve had gone to get coffee for everyone, and Bruce sat down in one of the chairs.
One of the doctors came out to the waiting room. "Mr. Barton?"
"Yes?" The group hurried over to the doctor.
"I'm Dr. Wilson. Your fiancée did have several ovarian cysts rupture, that was the main cause of the pain."
"What about the bleeding?"
The doctor took a deep breath. "You may want to sit down for this."
"No, I'll stand. Doctor, what is wrong with my fiancée?" Steve walked back in with the coffee and came over to stand with his team.
He took another deep breath. "Miss Fitzgerald has endometrial cancer." The color drained from Clint's face and Natasha inhaled sharply. "Please, Mr. Barton, sit down." Natasha took Clint's hand and pulled him into a chair. Steve and Bruce were already seated. "It's in its early stage, doesn't appear to have metastasized. We believe by doing a total hysterectomy, we can get it all."
Steve spoke up. "How's Mikayla?"
"We've got a morphine drip going now for the pain. She's sleeping. We'll need her next of kin to sign the consent forms."
Clint put his head in his hands. "She doesn't have any family, well, biological, anyway."
Nat spoke up. "I know who to call." She stood up and walked away from the group. "Maria, is Nick there?"
"Yes, have an update on Mikayla?"
"Endometrial cancer. They want to do surgery. Figured Nick was listed as next of kin."
"I've still got her file out, let me look." She rifled through papers again. "It's Clint. What hospital?"
"Columbia."
"We'll be right there." Maria hung up.
Nat rushed back to the group. "Clint, you're listed so you can sign."
"We'll get you the forms. Miss Fitzgerald has an excellent chance of survival if it hasn't metastasized, which as I said, it doesn't appear that it has. I'll have the nurse direct you to the surgery waiting room.
"Can we see her?" Steve asked.
"She's resting now, so if you're quiet and calm, yes. Once the paperwork is signed, we'll get the surgery going as soon as possible."
"Thank you, doctor." Dr. Wilson turned and went back to Mikayla's room. "Clint, we'll all go in together if you'd like, or we can stay out here, and you can go."
He was stoic, matter of fact, his voice strangely calm. "She'd want all of you to be there." He stood up and shuffled down the hall to Mikayla's room. She was restless but didn't appear to be in any pain. The other three stayed outside in the hall and let him go in by himself. "Hey, babe," he whispered, taking her hand.
Mikayla's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," she whispered back.
"How are you feeling?"
"Morphine's a wonderful drug," she gave a weak smile. "Did they tell you?" He nodded. "Clint, I'm sorry."
"Nothing to apologize for, Mikayla. You're going to be okay." 'You have to be because I don't know what I'll do if you're not," he thought to himself.
"I know I will. Got a wedding to plan."
He squeezed her hand. "Yes, we do."
"I love you, Clint Barton. I'm sorry –"
"Shhh, stop right there. I love you, Mikayla Fitzgerald. We will get through this. Remember, part of a team now."
"Where are they?"
"In the hall." He motioned for them to come in.
She smiled. "We've got to stop meeting like this." She yawned.
A nurse came up to Clint and handed him a clipboard. He stepped away from the bed and let the others see her as he signed paperwork. When he returned, he found she had fallen back asleep. He sat down and began stroking her hair.
"We've got her back and yours, Clint," Steve said quietly and put a hand on Clint's shoulder. Nat was at his other shoulder and Bruce was across the bed. He nodded in agreement.
"And don't forget it this time, Barton," Natasha leaned down and whispered in his ear, bringing a small grin to his face.
The surgery tech knocked on the door. "We're ready for her."
Steve, Natasha, and Bruce left the room. Clint leaned down and softly kissed Mikayla. "If you fall, I will catch you."
"I will be waiting," Mikayla replied softly. Clint squeezed her hand and stepped back as the techs came and wheeled her off to surgery.
The ER nurse was standing outside the room waiting for him. "I've already shown the others to the surgery waiting room. If you'll follow me, I'll take you there now." He nodded and followed her down a series of twisting, turning hallways. "Here you are, Mr. Barton. The doctor will call when he's done. You should be hearing something in a couple of hours."
He nodded again and went into the waiting room. He found Nat, Steve and Bruce had been joined by Hill, Fury, and Thor, who had just returned from somewhere. "They said we should hear something in a couple of hours," Clint shared. Natasha handed him a cup of coffee, which he swallowed in one gulp. Hill pulled out a thermos and gave it to him, so he refilled his cup and finished that one, too. He filled the cup again, then sat the cup and the thermos on the closest table and sat down in the farthest corner away from the group. The others left him alone but would look up at him from time to time to check on him. Finally, Natasha stood up and made her way over to him. "Tasha." His voice was breaking.
"Clint." She looked at him and all she could think of was how he resembled a lost little boy. His hair was spiked all over as if he'd just gotten out of bed and he had a faraway look in his eyes. "She's going to make it."
"She has to, Nat. There's no other option. She doesn't have permission to do anything other than be fine." He looked at his watch. Had it only been 10 minutes? He wanted to go up to the roof where he did his best thinking, but there was no way in hell he was leaving this room until someone came out and told him his fiancée was fine, so he sat. He tapped his fingers on his thighs, trying to pass the time.
"Here," Natasha said as she handed him Mikayla's phone and a set of earbuds. "She's got plenty of audiobooks, try listening to one. You say you never have time, well, now you've got time." He looked over at his partner. "Listen, that's an order." He sighed in frustration but put in the earbuds and searched through the books until he found a spy novel that sounded interesting. He pushed play and leaned back in the chair. Natasha went and got the thermos and coffee cup from the other table and brought it back to him. He nodded in thanks and she set them down on the table next to him. She sat back down in the chair and looked through the magazines on the table while the rest of the team remained in their chairs, talking amongst themselves.
A couple of hours later, Steve and Bruce stood up to go to the cafeteria and get food for the group when the waiting room phone rang. Fury walked over and answered it as Natasha elbowed Clint to get his attention. "Barton!" Fury bellowed.