Here's chapter 27, hope ya'll enoy it!
August 17th, 1946; NYC; Brooklyn Naval Hospital
Peggy played with her ring as she and Phillips waited for an update on Steve's condition. She couldn't help but replay the horrific scene she and the rest of the group had run up to see. Steve, wounded three times. Mr. Olivier... she shuddered and shook her head at the memory. At least his widow wouldn't have to live in fear of him coming after her.
"Steve!" Peggy had sunk to her knees next to her husband and Bucky. "Steve, no!"
"It'll be okay, Buck..." Even when in immense pain, Steve tried to comfort his friend.
"We need to get him to a hospital," Phillips announced authoritatively.
"We can't! They'll figure out who Steve is!" Peggy panicked at the thought of Steve's identity coming to light.
"This is far beyond our medical capability," Phillips insisted. "We have to take the chance."
Mrs. Francitelli stood in the doorway. "Better the hospital than the police. I called them before the guns went off!"
Phillips and Peggy moved to pick Steve up, but Peggy dropped Steve as Bucky yelled. With an almost inhuman strength, he pushed Peggy away from Steve, thudding Peggy into the wall. His hand came up to wrap around her neck.
"Bucky!" Dum Dum and Pinky rushed to Peggy's aid while Jarvis stepped into the flat. Dum Dum and Pinky managed to pull Bucky off of Peggy and to the couch.
"The car is still out front; we need to get Mr. Carter to the hospital," Jarvis spoke from the doorway as Peggy went back to her husband's side.
Through some miracle, they'd managed to transport Steve to the hospital and upstairs without anyone noticing them.
Would Hydra and the Nazis find out about Steve now?
Faintly it registered to Peggy that she was gripping Mr. Jarvis' suit coat. The bloodstains stood out against the light grey fabric. Peggy and Phillips looked up as Nurse Cole stepped out from the room, closing the door behind her. She hurried in the direction of the storeroom and then back into the hastily made surgical suite.
"Was anything going on at your building when you left?" Phillips asked.
"Mrs. Olivier's mother was entering the building when I was leaving. She asked what floor they were on, and I told her. That's it."
"So we'll have to talk with Rogers to get an answer," Phillips said, looking much older than his sixty-one years.
The door to the impromptu surgical suite opened, and Nurse Cole came out again, closing the door behind her. "The surgery went well. Doctor Johnson and Nurse Stewart are bandaging him up and giving him some more Thorazine. The bullets are out. Doctor Johnson did need to take...;" Nurse Cole broke off as Nurse Stewart came out of the surgical suite, hurried over to the desk, and pulled open the bottom drawer. There was a shaking and rattling sound before she stood and hurried down the hall and around the corner with a box labeled Tampax.
"Doctor Johnson did need to..." Peggy said gently.
"He had to take the spleen out, but other than that, the bullets didn't hit any arteries or major organs," Nurse Cole relayed the surgical play-by-play.
"Thank God," Peggy breathed, sagging against the chair, tears finally spilling. Nurse Cole gave her an extra tissue as Phillips cleared his throat, overcome with emotion. It was several minutes before Peggy could speak again.
"Did Doctor Johnson say when we'd be allowed to see my husband?"
"He didn't tell me exactly. Once he's recovered a bit more." Nurse Cole glanced back at the room. "Doctor Johnson will come out and let us know."
Peggy nodded, still fiddling with her ring. Should she take it off? But where would she put it? She'd rushed out without grabbing her pocketbook, and she didn't have any pockets. Should she just tell Doctor Johnson and the nurses about her being married? Unintentionally, she'd already used the phrase 'my husband' with Nurse Cole.
Nurse Stewart rushed back around the corner and back into the surgical suite, the Tampax box still tucked under one arm.
Peggy stood up and began pacing, unable to stay seated. She paced in front of Phillips as they waited for Doctor Johnson to come out. There was silence behind the doors now, not even faint groaning or Doctor Johnson barking out orders.
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the door opened and Doctor Johnson stepped through. "Cole, please come and take these rags to the laundry. If anyone asks questions, please tell them Sargent Barnes' surgical wound opened." He turned to Peggy and Phillips. "Once Cole and Stewart are back, I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered." He moved out of the way as both nurses headed towards the laundry.
Peggy darted forward and into the surgical suite. Being careful of his shoulder, she leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Steve's forehead. She struggled to contain her composure as Phillips, and Doctor Johnson filed in behind her.
"Is he going to be alright?" Peggy asked. She took Steve's hand in hers and held on tight.
"He did very well during surgery," Doctor Johnson commended with a gentle smile. "It appears that your husband metabolizes medication about as fast as Sergeant Barnes does, so we'll have to keep the Thorazine stocked for a while. I would also suggest stocking up on Goody's powder for home use, as well."
"I'll be fine, Peg," Steve promised, trying not to wince from the pain in his abdomen every time he took a breath. "I've been injured much worse."
When Nurses Stewart and Cole came back, Steve began. "The world is under the impression that Steve Rogers- Captain America- died in May of 1945. How many people could survive a plane crash..." Steve asked. "...especially with the number of bombs on board that plane? However, the super-soldier serum made it so I could do exactly that."
Both Nurses gasped in surprise. Peggy could feel Nurse Cole looking at her. Oblivious to the reactions, Steve kept on. "Communication got cut and the plane crashed; it's understandable that people assumed I'd died. I was able to eject from the plane before it hit the water. From there I made my way back to New York, and here I am," he joked weakly.
"How did you make it back to the States without someone recognizing you?"
"I'm as surprised as you are, but my best guess is, it's the beard," Steve responded. "No one recognizes me with it."
"Why aren't you telling many people you're back?" Cole asked tentatively.
"Hydra, it's Nazi deep science, they're still out there," Steve replied. "It will be easier for the military to capture the Hydra agents if Hydra thinks I'm dead. They were afraid of me, so they'll hide better if I'm alive."
"Will you ever announce you're alive?"
Peggy knew that the answer would be no. Steve hated the limelight. "I don't know. Probably not for a while."
"Will you be coming to visit Sergeant Barnes?"
"I was hoping to, but that's up to Bucky," Steve easily deflected. "We didn't get a chance to talk before..." He glanced down at the bandages.
"And on that note..." Doctor Johnson said while glancing around the room. "Where is he?"
"Still at the flat," Peggy said. "He was having a fit, so DumDum and Pinky volunteered to sit with him."
Dr. Johnson sighed heavily. "Cole, Stewart, stay here with the Captain. I'll go to the apartment to help bring Sergeant Barnes in."
"Let's call first," Peggy suggested. "I haven't seen Mr. Jarvis. It's possible he went back to the flat to help Dum Dum and Pinky with Bucky."
After dialing the number for the hall phone, Peggy breathed a sigh of relief as Mrs. Frnacatelli answered. "Mrs. Francitelli, it's Peggy Carter."
"Yes, Mrs. Carter?"
"Are my guests still there" Peggy asked, "or have they left to come back to hospital?"
"They're still in your apartment," Mrs. Francitelli said quietly into the receiver. "The quiet British one came back and is in your apartment as well."
"They're still at the flat," Peggy told Doctor Johnson, who turned and started striding down the hall towards the elevator. "We'll be there in a few minutes," Peggy promised, before hanging up and hurrying after Doctor Johnson.
When it comes to Colonel Phillips's age, I'm making him a few years younger than Tommy Lee Jones was when the first Captain America movie was filmed. Captain America 1 was released in July 2011, but I'm guessing it would have been filmed in late 2010/early 2011 when TLJ was 64. I've made Colonel Phillips 61 here. I have no idea what the mandatory retirement age would have been in the army in the 40s. But I figure even if it were 60 years old, they'd ignore it during wartime since Colonel Phillips seemed to be important.
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