Chapter 16 - Hospital Visits

"You about ready to head out, Bruce?" Clint asks getting up from the table.

"Sure," Bruce picks up his plate to takes it to the sink. As he sets it down, his phone rings.

"Who's that?" Clint wonders aloud as he ties his shoes.

"Strange. It's Steve," Bruce replies as he looks at the caller ID, "wonder what he needs," he slides the bar to answer, "Hey Steve!...oh. Hi Bucky," he shrugs at the questioning look on Clint's face, "oh dear! I see...we are on our way right now ... but who? And why?... uh huh... well do you need us to bring anything?... ok. Bye."

"What was that about?" Natasha says, leaning against the counter.

"Well," Bruce takes a deep breath and sticks his phone back in his pocket, "it appears like, Steve's been, er poisoned."

"What?!" the others exclame, shocked.

"He passed out and that is all that Bucky knows for now. We best head out," Bruce says with a sense of urgency, "He said that he didn't need anything." Bruce opens the door.

"I'm coming with you," Natasha says as she marches after them.

They head out the door and get in Clint's truck. They arrive at the hospital in about 8 minutes. They walk into Bucky's room and see him sitting in bed holding a book and staring out the window.

"Hey Bucky," Natasha says as she plops down in the chair Steve had been sitting in.

"Oh, hey guys," Bucky looks at them with a half hearted smile.

"So," Bruce asks, "what's going on? Have you heard how Steve is?"

"No. I'm not sure what room he is in either," Bucky runs his metal arm through his now uneven hair, a nervous habit that he didn't seem to be able to get rid of. "I need a hair cut," he rolls his eyes, "apparently I had to have stitches on the back of my head so they cut the hair there and now it looks terrible."

"I could fix that for you," Natasha says, "let me see," she stands and walks over to get a better look, also to keep him distracted from worrying over something he could do nothing about, "it won't be hard to cover up."

"You'll be alone tonight," Clint points out, "you want one of us to stay?"

"No, no. I'll be fine," Bucky grimaces as Natasha pulls his hair.

"We'll be back tomorrow and I'll bring some scissors," Natasha picks up Steve's sketchbook as she sits back down, "When do you get to come home?"

"Soon."

"I'm going to go find out what room Steve is in, I'll be right back," Bruce says and heads out the door.

Bucky looks after him, jealous that he himself can't see his friend. He turns back when he hears Natasha fiddling with the pages of Steve's sketchbook.

"Let's take a look here," Natasha says, flattening the page that had bent when it was dropped.

"Uh, he might not..." Bucky starts.

"Yes?" Natasha asks.

"Never mind."

She turns back to the page that Steve had been working on when the poison kicked in. "Ooo, who's this pretty girl?" she croons.

"Let me see," Bucky leans up. Clint walks over and looks as well. "That doesn't look like you, Nat."

"Was it supposed to?" Natasha says, tilting her head to one side.

"Can I have that?" Bucky takes the note book, "this looks like my sister, Beky," he turns his head side ways, "yeah, that's my sister."

"Knock, knock," Heather says as she enters with Doctor Paul and Bruce. "How are you this afternoon?"

"I'm well, thank you," Clint says as he steps out of the way, "How is Steve?"

"You are welcome to go see him now," Heather answers as she rolls in the computer.

"You seem to be doing well," Doctor Paul says to Bucky as he crosses to the bed.

Bucky shrugs and nods. "As well as can be expected I guess."

"Actually," the doctor sits down on a hard-backed chair, "you are healing faster than most patients do. I think you will be able to go home tomorrow or the next day. We will have to see how you do walking longer distances, you were shot in the leg, and you won't be able to bend over for about four months, at the rate you are healing, it could be less."

"Does that mean the IV can come out soon? And what about my stitches?" Bucky rubs the back of his head feeling the thread.

"Heather," Doctor Paul says turning towards the nurse, "why don't you go ahead and remove Mr. Barnes' IV. Mr. Barnes," he turns back to Bucky, "sit up here and let me check on those stitches. We'd planned on taking them out this evening, but I think now is as good a time as any."

Heather removes the IV from Bucky's right arm then he sits up more and scoots to the edge of the bed. He tosses his legs over the side and sits where the doctor can see. As Doctor Paul removes the stitches, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce talk in hushed tones in the corner.

"Ok," the doctor says, patting Bucky on the shoulder, "all finished. While you're sitting up, mind if I take a look at your back?"

"Not at all," Bucky answers.

"Bucky," Clint says.

"Yeah?"

"We are going to walk down the hall and check on Steve. We will be back before we leave. If that's alright."

"Sure. I'll see you later," they start to walk out when Bucky calls after, "Hey, take him his sketchbook and pencils, will you?"

Natasha nods, "Sure," grabs the book and pencil case, and follows the others down the hall. "What room is it?"

"403," Bruce looks at the numbers on the wall as they pass.

"Hellooo," Clint calls as they walk in.

"Oh hey guys!" Steve is propped up in bed with his arms to his sides. He turns his head when they walk in and smiles.

"Heard someone tried to poison you," Bruce says as Natasha sets Steve's stuff on the side table.

"Yeah," Steve answers, "that's what I've been told. How's Bucky?"

"He's great. The doctor came in and said that he may come home tomorrow. If not, then the next day."

"That's good," Steve smiles.

"Bucky said you might want those," Natasha gestures to the sketchbook and pencils she'd set down.

"It would be great but," Steve tries lifting his left arm and he can't lift it very high. He tries again and is able to get it on his lap but it shakes the entire time it's in the air. "I'm unable to sketch right now."

"So, you can't move much at all?" Clint wonders.

"I can move my head. I can sit up too but that's about all."

"Steve," Natasha picks up his sketchbook and opens it to the latest, unfinished, drawing, "is this Bucky's sister? He says that it looks like her," she holds the picture for him to see.

"Oh, uh. No," Steve looks from the book to Natasha, "it was going to be you but it ended up looking more like a girl I met earlier today. Her name was Jamie and she was delivering a card and flowers for Bucky."

"Oh, I saw those, that was nice," Bruce says.

"Yeah. She was leaving just as I got back with dinner," he looks back at the picture, "she did look a lot like Beky. For some reason I can't get her face out of my mind."

"Oohhh," Natasha says grinning, "think she was pretty, did you?"

"No! I'm mean, she was but," Steve shakes his head, "it was more because of the look in her eyes. She looked lost, alone, scared, and angry. Also..." he pauses, looking for the right word, "guilty? I don't know. It's silly I guess."

"You can tell all that from looking briefly at someone's eyes?" Bruce asks.

"I guess I've always studied faces. That way I could sketch the emotions later," Steve shrugs and Bruce nods in understanding.

"We met Jamie last night actually," Clint injects, "She was delivering a package that had gotten sent to the wrong place."

"Strange that she looks so much like Beky Barnes, don't you think?" Natasha musses.

"Could be related," Clint shrugs, "I remember Beky working with S.H.I.E.L.D. when it was started. She was Beky Jankins though."

"That would explain it," Bruce replies.