"Come on Eden, open your eyes" I heard someone demanding. With as much effort as I could manage, I opened my eyes slowly. My vision was blurry but I could make out a face….gray hair, blue eyes. What was his name again? I struggled to remember, shaking my head in frustration...everything was too unclear.

I felt an IV in my arm and I was hooked up to a monitor that the paramedic (Jim?) kept glancing over at.

"Good! Eden I need you to stay still, ok? I called your friend. Can you tell me his name? Come on Eden, you need to keep talking to me…what's his name?"

"Bucky" I gasped painfully…my chest hurt and it was getting harder to breathe, I felt the tears brimming at the corner of my eyes.

I wanted Bucky…I needed him there beside me….I was scared, I was panicking, and I was in pain. I knew there was nothing he could do for the pain but I sure as hell would feel better having him by my side.

Jim (yeah, that's his name) was looking at the monitor again with a frown, "Tell me about Bucky, is he your husband? Boyfriend?"

I shook my head, confused. What was Bucky to me? We hadn't really discussed it yet; everything had happened so quickly between us. I knew I cared about him….more than I had ever cared about anyone before. It just felt right when I was with him. He was Bucky….he was my…I….I…

Say it Eden!

"I love him" I whispered.

I had thought about it but I had never said the words aloud before….the moment they left my mouth, I knew it was the absolute truth. I loved Bucky.

The wailing of the sirens turned off and I felt the ambulance come to a stop. I heard the driver open his door and slam it shut behind him. I could hear him yelling at someone but I couldn't make out the words.

"Eden, we're here, we're at the hospital. My partner is getting a nurse to come help us okay, just stay still."

"EDEN" I heard my name being yelled repeatedly…someone was banging on the ambulance door. It was Bucky's voice! He was there! Jim turned away from me to look at the door. He stood up and walked towards it.

I tried to rise up…I needed to see Bucky…I needed to tell him I loved him. The moment my head lifted up off the stretcher, I felt the most intense, blinding pain sear into my brain. It felt like my skull was going to explode.

I fell back onto the stretcher and before I could stop myself, I let out a long, agonizing scream of pain. Jim turned back around quickly and put his hand on my shoulder, his eyes widened when he looked at the monitor.

I heard the door to the ambulance opening and could hear the commotion outside…Bucky was yelling my name and someone else was shouting at him to get back.

"Eden, calm down, your heart is beating too fast" he turned towards the door "Parker, get in here NOW"

"Sir, get out of the way, I need to get in there to help your friend."

I heard Steve's voice, "Come on Buck, let them do their job."

The paramedic, Parker, stepped into the ambulance. A woman and another man were behind him, waiting for them to pull the stretcher out. I foolishly raised my head again…I was rewarded with a quick glimpse of Bucky. His mouth dropped open when he saw me and his eyes widened in shock. I let my head fall and another scream of pain escaped my lips.

When I finally stopped screaming, I felt my heart…it was beating so fast. I realized that it was getting harder to breathe, I raised my hand to claw at my chest, motioning that I was having trouble breathing.

"She's going into tachycardia. We need to move her now!" Jim instructed.

I felt the stretcher being pushed forward and I let my head fall to the side, feeling the tears sliding down my cheek. I could see Bucky clearly now. Steve was standing next to him, holding him back and out of the way. He was so close….I reached my hand out to him and called his name, "Bucky". The small amount of effort it took to gasp his name was too much. There was no more air left, I couldn't breathe. I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me away from the pain.

…xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx…

Steve sped the entire way to the hospital, swerving around cars and honking his horn at anyone who got in the way. I was attempting to stay calm…not to panic…not to worry. Eden would be alright, nothing could…no, nothing WOULD happen to her.

"Bucky, listen to me, she's going to be fine"

I can't lose her…not when I just found her. Not before I tell her that….

"I love her" I whispered. Steve looked at me, a shocked expression on his face.

"What did you say?" he asked again.

"I love her Steve" I saw him turn his head and focus on driving faster.

We pulled into the emergency room right behind the ambulance. Steve had barely stopped the car before I bolted out. The wail of the sirens shut off and I saw the driver get out and head towards the double doors, motioning for someone to help.

I reached the ambulance and started yelling her name and banging on the door. I reached for the handle but the driver saw me and rushed over, a man and a woman following behind him.

"Sir, step back. We're going to unload her. You need to wait over there" he said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Like hell I will" I hissed, staring at him with cold eyes. I made a menacing step forward, fists clenched, prepared to move him out of the way and get to Eden by any means necessary.

The sudden, heart breaking scream coming from the ambulance stopped me in my tracks.

The paramedic stepped forward quickly and opened the door. I heard another voice telling Eden to calm down, that her heart was beating too fast. Whoever was inside yelled out, "Parker, get in here NOW!"

I stepped forward to look inside but I felt a hand on my shoulder stop me, I looked up to see Steve standing next to me, a sad look on his face.

"Sir, get out of the way, I need to get in there to help your friend" he said, looking at me with sympathetic eyes.

Steve's hand on my shoulder tightened, "Come on Buck, let them do their job" he said quietly.

I watched as the paramedic stepped inside and the woman and man followed behind him. I moved forward a small step to peer into the ambulance and saw her.

Oh my God!

My mouth dropped open, I couldn't speak. The left side of her head was covered in blood, her face streaked with blood and tears. Her left arm had been bandaged but I could see the red seeping through. I watched as she fell back and let out another scream. When she stopped, I saw her reach for her chest.

She can't breathe!

"She's going into tachycardia. We need to move her now!" another gray haired paramedic yelled. They pulled her stretcher from the ambulance and I moved forward again. I had to see her, I had to hold her, I had to tell her I loved her. Steve stepped up beside me and held me back. "No Bucky, just wait" he whispered in my ear.

As they wheeled her out, her head fell to the side and she looked right at me, reaching her hand out and calling my name softly. The moment her eyes closed, I lost it. The tears that I had been holding back started to fall slowly. Steve had to use all his strength to keep me from running after the stretcher. I stopped fighting him and just stood there, watching as they pushed her inside, the double doors closing behind them. I wiped my eyes and let out a long shaky breath.

...

As always, thank you guys for reading my story. I have received so many kind reviews and it makes me smile to know that people are actually enjoying something that I have written. Keep the comments coming and I promise to keep updating daily.

Also on a side note, how would you guys feel about another story featuring Brooke and Steve? I was thinking of maybe working on a side project from their POV. Let me know what you think.