Chapter 18
Maddie awoke the next morning feeling like her head was full of cotton and her bones were made out of lead. Groaning at the discomfort of it all, she rolled over and tried to open her eyes, but the dim light of the morning caused a sharp stinging pain behind her eyes. Her body shuddered with fever chills and she thought briefly about taking some medicine but, in the end, she didn't care enough to get up. All she wanted to do was sleep. She had tried to be productive yesterday, now she was regretting that decision. Snuggling into her blankets, she curled into a ball and drifted back to sleep.
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An hour later the silence of the cabin was broken by the sound of a soft pop song and a quiet vibration. Maddie's alarm rang out, waking her from a strange fever-induced dream. Having completely buried herself in the warm duvet, she sacrificed only her hand and arm to the cold of the room. Quickly searching for her phone, she tried to silence it as fast as possible. Grabbing the offending metal rectangle, she brought it under her cocoon and groaned when the screen lit up. Seconds' later silence once again filled the room as Maddie let sleep take her.
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Around eleven o'clock Maddie was trying desperately to hold sleep, but a deep and steady knocking kept dragging her out of the peaceful blackness and into her aching body. Frustrated and confused, she lay unmoving with her eyes still closed, listening for the sound to come again. When it didn't, she turned over with an irritated sigh and tried to go back to sleep. But no…there it was again; the noise came from somewhere outside her room and sounded like someone was knocking on her door. That should have been suspicious, given her current location, but with her tired and fever clouded mind, Maddie thought nothing of the odd occurrence.
"Why did someone have to visit me today?" She grumbled and reluctantly pulled back the covers. Dressed in loose black t-shirt and pink plaid sweatpants, Maddie got up and looked around for something to cover her arms. But when her tired eyes passed over the room and didn't immediately see any type of coat, she gave up. Instead, Maddie gathered the old quilt from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around herself.
On shaking legs, she shuffled to the front door, stopping for a minute to cough and lean against the wall. She pressed her overheated face against the door, relishing in the small comfort that the cold wood gave her. The danger and absurdity of having someone visit her way out here still hadn't dawned on Maddie, so without putting much thought into the situation, she opened the door enough to see a man standing on her porch.
"Can I help you?" She croaked out, wincing when the morning light hit her tired eyes.
"Umm, Maddie?"
His voice was rich and deep, and Maddie felt a familiar tugging sensation in her chest at the sound. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation but opened them quickly when the room started to spin. Leaning heavily against the door, she settled her unfocused eyes on the face of her visitor and slowly her brain caught up to the situation. "Bucky?" She blinked a few times, thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her, but no, there he was, looking just as rugged and handsome as before. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you ok?" Bucky took a hesitant step forward, concern etched on his face. Maddie's legs picked that moment to shake and she stumbled back, clinging to the door handle for support. However, with her momentum and weight pushing against it, the door swung open, whipping her backward. The sudden movement was too quick for her already overtaxed brain to handle and, unable to regain her balance, Maddie braced for the pain of hitting the wall. But to her surprise, her body halted abruptly, and she dimly registered something hard and unyielding pressing against her back, holding her up. Her hand slipped off the doorknob and she let whatever was helping her, take all her weight. Her back suddenly became cold and wet causing chills to race up and down her body. She shook and groaned in pain, marveling at how even her skin hurt. Her legs were swept out from under her and Maddie's head spun as the pair turned and quickly retreated down the hall.
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Bucky moved quickly, cradling Maddie close to his chest. His mind had blanked when he saw her tipping backward, shoving everything away until she was his only focus. He didn't know what had happened, but it was obvious that she was sick. Her fever alarmed him, and he racked his brain for any knowledge he had for reducing fevers. An idea suddenly came to him, so he turned and threw open the bathroom door. He heard a loud bang and a cracking noise but ignored it, making a beeline for the pale blue bathtub. As gently as he could he placed Maddie down in the tub, maneuvering her to rest against the back wall. Plugging the drain, he turned on the water and adjusted the temperature, so it was a little warmer than body temperature.
Searching the room, Bucky found two bath towels and a small washcloth and set them on the lid of the toilet. A small moan came from behind him and he turned around just in time to see Maddie clip her temple against the edge of the tub as she slid down the wall. "Fuck!" Racing to the side of the tub, he reached down and gently rested her against the lip once again. "Shit! I'm so sorry doll," He said while inspecting the red mark that now marred the side of her head. "Shit" he muttered and raked his hand through his hair in agitation. "Ok, just give me a minute, and please, for the love of God, please don't move." Not knowing what else to do, Bucky kicked off his boots, disarmed, and shrugged out of his wet coat before gently lifting Maddie so he could slide in behind her. The warm water stung his cold skin, but he ignored the discomfort as he situated her to lie against him.
"You're going to have to bear with me here darling, it's been a long time since I've…" He trailed off as something was knocked loose in his mind. "I vaguely remember something about Steve and how a warm bath is ok for a fever." With a small smile, he whispered, "that punk was always sick."
Sweeping her long pale hair out from between them, Bucky gently tucked her head into his shoulder and, resting his left arm on the lip of the tub, he tried to maneuver his bent legs into a more comfortable position. The tub was not built for a man his size, but he had been in more uncomfortable situations before and, for Maddie, he would endure the cramped position for as long as she needed him too. At one point, with the water slowly rising around them, Maddie began to shudder. When goosebumps started to form on her arms, Bucky carefully sat up to adjust the water temperature. He felt awkward and foolish sitting in the tub with her, both were fully clothed and were little more than acquaintances to each other, but he didn't know what else to do.
When the water had covered Maddie up to her chest, Bucky turned it off and laid back, securing his arm across her middle so she wouldn't slip. Her shuddering and occasional sounds of discomfort slowly began to stop and, finally, she lay peacefully against him. His mind and body relaxed after that, leaving him to marvel at the turn of events. Absentmindedly he started to trail his fingertips through the water next to her arm, stroking her skin as he tried to make sense of the day. He had come back fully expecting her to slam the door in his face, she still could. This was a moment of weakness that he would see her through but when she was better, she still might kick him out. That thought caused sadness to tighten his chest, but he pushed it down, not liking how little control he had over his emotions right now.
'What the hell are you thinking Barns, get it together.'
Forcing his thoughts outward, Bucky began tending to his sick soulmate. Turning his head down, he rested his cheek against her forehead to check her temperature. Satisfied that she was no longer hot to the touch, he glanced around the room hoping to find something for her loose hair. The water was high enough that the pale ends floated delicately on the surface, while the moisture collecting on her skin caused some of her hair to cling to her face and throat. Unwilling to move around, Bucky could only scan the room and hope that he saw something within his reach. A strip of black around Maddie's wrist caught his eye and Bucky spent the next few minutes trying to pile Maddie's hair on top of her head without jostling her too much. It ended up a bit lopsided, but it did the job.
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The two were able to relax like that for some time before the water started to grow colder. Not wanting to cause Maddie discomfort or wake her from the rest she so obviously needed, Bucky scooped her up and gently placed her onto the floor, resting her against the corner bathroom wall and the tub, unwilling to leave her safety up to gravity again.
Water was rapidly forming pools on the floor around them and Bucky quickly reached for the towels he had set aside. A whimper caught his attention and he whipped around, praying that she hadn't hurt herself again. However, his relief at seeing her unharmed was short-lived when he looked down and found Maddie trying to straighten up. "Oh, my head hurts." She lifted her hand to massage her, no doubt, pounding head but Bucky stopped her by dropping to his knees and softly taking her raised hand, holding it gently but firmly in his own.
"Hey doll, how are you feeling?" Bucky asked softly as he gently inspected the now red and slightly raised area of her temple.
"Not so good, I think I'm going to be sick." With quick jerking movements, Maddie threw herself over the toilet and began emptying the contents of her stomach into the bowl. Wanting to help her in any way he could, Bucky started rubbing her back and encouraged her to let her body do what it needed to do. When she was finished, he helped her lean back against the tub where she rested her face against the cool porcelain. Grabbing the washcloth, he quickly wet it and helped her clean up.
"Are you feeling better?" He asked, only to receive a murmured half-conscious "yes" from the tired woman. Satisfied with the answer, Bucky wrapped her in both towels, picked her up, and, careful not to jostle her, exited the bathroom. From what he remembered of the cabin's layout; he could only assume that the door in front of him led to the only bedroom. And, thinking that she would be more comfortable in her bed, he opened the door, unaware that his brain would choose that moment to assault him with the horrors of the previous nights. Frozen in the doorway, the disturbing memory of his dream overlayed on the room, causing his body to shutter as he saw the room coated in blood. It wasn't the same room, he had never been in this bedroom before, but the red splattered on the walls and the pool of blood on the bed were easy enough to transfer onto what he was seeing now.
A shuttering inhale and a painful sounding cough jarred Bucky out of his nightmare and he looked down in time to see Maddy snuggle herself into his chest. Looking back up sharply, he was only slightly relieved to see the ordinary room in front of him, because only God knows how long it would stay like this. Any moment his fucked-up head could throw him back into a living nightmare that inky he could see. Letting out his own shuttering breath, Bucky quickly turned on his heel and brought her into the living room where he laid her down on the couch. Unwilling to go into that room with the vision of blood still haunting his thoughts, he retrieved the forgotten quilt from the floor next to the door and tucked it in around her.
After starting up a fire in the hearth, Bucky quickly retrieved his bag from the floor next to the front door and changed out of his wet clothes, throwing his dirty ones into the washing machine. Figuring that while he was in here, he should see if Maddie had any medicine stashed in the cabinets; Bucky glanced around the room and winced at the sight of the door. Inspecting the large hole that bisected it right through the middle, the vague memory of a loud cracking noise breaking the silence of the room as he hurried to help Maddie after she had collapsed in his arms, came to mind and he cringed at the acknowledgment of what he had done in his haste.
"Well fuck, I'm going to have to add that to her list of things to replace." He grumbled as he grabbed a bottle of liquid Tylenol and threw a dry towel on the ground to absorb the pools of water on the floor.
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Waking the sleeping woman to give her the medication was more of a challenge than Bucky would have thought, but after some persistence and gentle prodding, he managed to get her to swallow the cold medicine before she fell back into a deep sleep. Now as he smiled down at her sleeping form, he couldn't stop thinking about how lovely she looked snuggled up under the blanket and towels. A lock of her pale blond hair fell across her forehead as she shifted in sleep and he reached down with the excuse of checking her temperature to tucked it behind her ear. Letting his palm linger, he was happy to see that his impromptu and very unorthodox bath idea seemed to have helped cool her down.
Discomfort coursed through his veins, leaving him with too much restless energy to be able to relax next to her. So, getting up, he looked around the cabin to see if there was anything else that needed to be done, but disappointingly, he found everything seemed to be in order. Running a hand through his hair, Bucky grumbled and quickly took his bag to the table, placing all his weapons onto the dark wooden surface. Deliberately he sat so that he had an unobstructed view of Maddie and the forest and started to clean all of his equipment. He sure as fuck wasn't going to let down his guard now with his soul mate fighting off whatever cold she had. She was dead to the world and would be unable to defend herself if someone with ill intent found their way into this area.
'Everything seems quiet.'
Picking up his pistol he ejected the magazine and opened the chamber to remove the bullet before removing the slide.
'She needs reflective covers on these windows so no one can see in.'
Inserting a cleaning rod into the barrel of the gun, he started a task he had done hundreds of times.
'I should look at all the door and window locks while I'm here.'
Switching to a wire brush he cleaned any carbon that had built up on the slide.
'There's not even a peephole on the front door, anyone could come up and knock and you would never know who was there…the windows help but…'
His body stiffened at that thought, hands going still in midair and eyes widening in realization then narrowing in anger. Placing his gun pieces down on the table, Bucky turned his eyes to stare at his sleeping soulmate. If she would have been awake, he knew the look on his face would have startled her. He drew himself up to his full height and stared down at her, replaying their interaction from this morning over and over in his head.
"You didn't even ask who I was." Bucky began to pace back and forth in front of the couch, muttering and cursing to himself. "Fuck! I could have been anyone and what did she, ugh!" With a cry of frustration, Bucky collapsed back onto his chair. Dropping his head back, he let the chair take all his weight and gazed up at the wooden beams above him. "You're killing me here Maddie, why can't you worry about strangers the same way you worry about spiders?" The thought of her running around and hitting people with her shoes popped into his head and he would have smiled if he wasn't so frustrated about her lack of self-preservation. Realizing that he couldn't talk to her about his concerns right now, he grudgingly returned to his task, all the while keeping an ear out for any movement or sounds from Maddie.