Steve quickly removed an arm, which was supporting Bucky's back, to open the door to the hospital. He instantly rushed in with him, and once one of the nurses spotted them, she motioned them to follow her.
They came into a dimly lit room. A completely level bed sat in the middle, which he quickly laid Bucky down on. The nurse then rushed him out of the room, leaving Steve to stand there in silence and in complete shock to what just happened.
A few hours later, after having to get some food in order to calm himself, he slowly made his way to the waiting room and sat down. It seemed like hours before a doctor walked in and called his name. "Steve?"
He hesitantly got to his feet and followed the doctor into the next room. She turned to him, looking him straight in the eye. "Your friend is out of surgery. You may see him, but I won't sugarcoat the fact that the damage was pretty severe, but you got him here just in time. Luckily, he's recovering quite quickly. He'll be ready to leave within the next 3-4 days."
Steve nodded. His tense expression had quickly dropped, turning into relief. "Thank you.."
The doctor led him into another room. As soon as he entered, he could see Bucky's pale form lying under some thin sheets on the bed. After another few seconds of exchanging words, the doctor left him alone.
As he walked over, he noticed the TV hung on the wall, and the comfortable-looking chairs on both sides of the bed.
He lowered himself down into one of the chairs and sighed. At this point, he had pretty much completely forgotten the day's events. The strange pain he was feeling became practically nonexistent.
Steve rubbed his hands over his face. He was extremely relieved Bucky would survive. He was able to save him this time, but last time…
He still can't get over that. The train, Zola, Hydra. Everything. It was just- How could someone possibly do such a thing to a human being? Transform them into some sort of weapon by brainwashing and torturing them?
He stood up and walked to the side of the bed. He stared down at Bucky's unconscious face. Though, he did notice the color returning, which was a good sign.
A couple minutes had passed before Steve finally saw signs of his friend awakening. He was instantly by his side when his eyes opened, blinking repeatedly before landing on him.
"Steve?" He croaked. His voice was still sore, but it was improving.
"Hiya, Buck," Steve smiled.
Bucky blinked once again and lifted the thin sheet off of his torso, revealing a heavily wrapped bandage around the area he had been shot. He smiled.
"Good news. You're healing quickly, so hopefully within 3-4 days we'll be outta here," Steve said, looking down toward Bucky.
He did a weak fist bump. "Yes! I hate hospitals."
Steve chuckled weakly. "I do too."
The peculiar pain he was feeling earlier seemed to return. Steve felt the same weakness he had felt in his legs before they had escaped, return, but this time the feeling seemed to spread to the rest of his body. He hadn't realized his face had gone pale until he noticed Bucky's concerned look.
"You okay, Steve?"
Steve blinked, looking momentarily confused. He nodded, but remained silent after. All the while Bucky continued to watch him closely.
An agonized gasp escaped him. The last thing he heard was Bucky yelling his name before he collapsed to the floor.
The next time he awoke, it was pitch black. He found himself lying in a hospital bed, similar to Bucky's, except the room was much more crowded with machines. He seemed to be attached to almost all of them. An IV was stuck in his arm, and he was attached to a heart monitor and pulse machine, which he noticed were uncomfortably low.
He felt extremely tired, and his entire body was sore. He also found it quite hard to move.
Once again, his vision was blurred, so he blinked repeatedly until he could make out more of his surroundings. He groaned from the pain and barely had time to blink again before he heard an extremely relieved and familiar voice.
"Steve! Oh, thank god," Bucky soon appeared at his bedside, a sad smile across his face. Steve noticed, pretty quickly, the dark circles under his friend's eyes, so he must have not got much sleep. He was too tired to ask why Bucky was out of bed, so he asked the next question that came to his mind.
"How long has it been?" He muttered. His voice was quiet and weak.
Bucky seemed to take a quick glance at the clock, located above Steve's head on the wall. "Been about a week. God, Steve, I was worried sick."
Steve's eyes flew open the rest of the way. "A week?" He broke into a coughing fit soon after, the sudden surprise seeming to have caught his throat off-guard.
Bucky placed a hand on his chest and lowered the surprised man back onto the bed. "Easy, pal. You're pretty sick.."
Steve blinked. "Sick..? I don't get sick anymore.." He muttered. "not much anyway."
Bucky shrugged, "Well...it's probably from all that damn stuff those guys gave you. Your body could barely handle it. You almost died. Heart stopped twice."
Steve's jaw dropped. "Twice? Gods...I'm sorry, Buck.."
He noticed his friend glance down, fidgeting with his metal arm. "It's fine. Not your fault.." he shook his head slightly, a few tears forming. "But it did scare the living hell out of me. Thought I was gonna lose you right after you saved me.."
Steve looked at his friend sympathetically and then attempted to get up to comfort him, but quickly found that his body barely moved. He grunted, and then went into a coughing fit. Luckily, Bucky got the memo, and gently eased Steve into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face into his shoulder.
"'m glad you're still alive.." he murmured.
Steve gave a soft smile. "Ain't going anywhere."