They unloaded Natasha in record time and Clint never left his side as they pushed her quickly to the infirmary. Clint could tell that now that she felt safe, her adrenaline was wearing off and the full extent of her injuries was hitting her. He held the hand of her uninjured arm for support the whole time that S.H.I.E.L.D's doctors worked on her. Once they pushed anesthesia into her IV it took only ten minutes for her to go completely unconscious. Even then Clint still held her hand. He refused to move. It took them an hour to set and stabilize her elbow before they could pop her shoulder back in. Thankfully her shoulder wasn't separated so it was an easy fix. Her elbow on the other hand was badly broken and in the process of its breaking; it had split her radius down the middle, and caused a bit of muscle damage. The doctors were worried that she would never get full strength back in her arm, but Clint knew she would. His Nat was a fighter. Her ankle fracture was easily set and her three broken ribs weren't doing any damage to her lungs. Her pneumonia was the most concerning thing of all. Her fever was almost 104 and her lungs were in nasty shape. They were pumping her full of at least three different antibiotics to try and kill it. The amount of medicine they were pushing through the multiple IV's in her hand was crazy. Clint stayed by her side and never let go of her hand even when they were doing surgery on her elbow. He stayed with her the whole time, much to the disgust of the doctors. True to his name he always kept an eye on her. He refused to let Fury debrief him until Natasha woke up. They kept her sedated so she could heal about twelve hours before they began to wean her off the anesthesia. Her fever was still on the high end of 103; and that worried Clint immensely. He knew antibiotics weren't miracle drugs, but he had hoped they would have seen results before then. Nat didn't wake up for another two hours after they took her off anesthesia, around ten in the morning she opened her eyes. She blinked rapidly and groaned softly as everything came into focus around her. The first thing she saw was Clint smiling like the loveable idiot she loved at her.
"Nat. I'm so glad you're awake." Clint told her happily. Natasha smiled slightly and sighed heavily.
"Me… too…Everything…hurts." She told him breathlessly. Clint smiled sadly and ran his hand comfortingly through her hair.
"I know. I'm sorry." He told her sadly. She groaned in discomfort.
"What all did they break?" She asked roughly and started coughing loudly. Clint winced.
"Your elbow is shattered, the doctors don't know if you'll get full strength back in it. You have three broken ribs, and an ankle facture as well." Clint explained. Nat nodded.
"How bad is the pneumonia? I've never felt so horrible in my life." She croaked. Clint sighed.
"You've got a fever upwards of 103, the inflammation is in both your lungs and it is not good." He answered. Natasha sighed and tried to shift in the infirmary bed. Her attempts were thwarted by intense pain washing over her. A strangled cry of pain escaped her lips and Clint was instantly on his feet to help her adjust without hurting herself further. The doctors had instructed Clint to make sure that her elbow and ankle remained propped up on pillows at all times.
"How much morphine do they have me on?" Natasha asked. Clint shrugged. When it came to pain killers he hadn't asked them how much they were giving her. He wanted them to give her all they could.
"I'm not sure. I could call someone in here if you need more?" Clint suggested. She shook her head.
"It's okay. It's just a painful ache right now." Natasha assured him. Clint didn't look convinced but he let it slide anyway. Natasha sighed and put her IV hand up on her forehead. She could feel the heat radiating off her forehead. It was an uncomfortable dry heat and she now understood why she felt so cold and miserable. Her head felt fuzzy and she had a feeling that she was almost to the point in a fever where you reach delirium. A painful tight feeling rose up in her throat and she felt a coughing fit coming on. She groaned softly and tried to force the coughs back down her esophagus. Her attempts were in vain and however, because a few seconds later the coughs escaped and she erupted into a painful coughing fit. Each sharp rise in noise on the beginning of the cough caused Natasha's head to pound painfully. Nat groaned painfully and closed her eyes tight.
"You need to get some sleep Nat so you can heal. Would it help if I got into bed with you?" Clint suggested. Natasha nodded and sighed deeply. Clint smiled and nodded. He shook off his Hawkeye suit jacket off so he was left in his black under shirt, then he kicked off his heavy duty boot and climbed into bed with the Black Widow. He gently wrapped his arms around her so as not to touch any of her broken bones. Natasha sighed and melted into his arms, she closed her eyes and seconds later slipped into a peaceful sleep.
Natasha was tied tightly to a chair in a dark and cold room. She sat with her head hung in defeat gritting her teeth to keep from whimpering or crying out. She refused to let them know how much she was hurting. She couldn't give them the satisfaction of breaking her. Her side ached from where they had whipped her with a belt earlier. She felt pathetic. She never got caught on missions and if she did she always got away on her own. This time had been different though. She had been feeling nauseas for a few mornings before she had been compromised so when they came after her she was already weak and they had managed to thwart the great Black Widow. The door to the room opened and closed and Natasha looked up from staring at the floor to look at who had entered the room. Her captor stood before her with a wicked smile spread across his face.
"So Black Widow, where is your team?" He asked sarcastically. Natasha glared at him, but didn't respond. He came closer and grabbed her arm forcefully. Natasha bit her lip and stared him down. "I said, where is your team?" He asked angrily. Natasha shook her head and spit directly in his eyes. Her captor roared angrily and gripped her arm tighter and pushed down hard. A sickening snap echoed through the room and Natasha screamed loudly.
"NAT! Nat calm down. It's just a nightmare. You're safe, I'm here." Clint's voice pulled Natasha out of her fever and stress induced nightmare. Natasha blinked rapidly and first took in Clint's worried face before taking in her surroundings. He was right, she was safely inside S.H.I.E.L.D's headquarters. Natasha took in a raspy breath and coughed harshly. Clint rubbed her back until she was finished before he offered her a cup of water.
"Thanks." She croaked out when she had finished her water. Clint smiled and nodded.
"Nat there's something we need to talk about." Clint began. Natasha looked at him curiously. Clint smiled and gestured for Phil Coulson to come closer to Natasha's bed. Nat hadn't even noticed him standing in the corner.
"Natasha, something came back in your blood test that we need to discuss." Phil began. Natasha frowned in concern. What else could possibly be wrong with her?
"Okay." She answered cautiously.
"Nat, your blood levels tell us that you are pregnant." Phil told her.
Hey Guys! This ends the first two-shot in the series known as Black Arrow. Don't be too mad at me for leaving this at a cliff hanger. You'll get to see snips of what happened in the one-shot I'll post next. Please drop a review and tell me what you think.
