Hey guys! Enjoy the epilogue. I hope you all liked this! Leave a comment for me if you did? Let me know if you'd like a more detailed epilogue of full recovery, cause I can probably do that
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The next few days were by no means easy.
The first time Natasha woke up, she stayed awake for less than a minute before her eyes slipped shut again.
It had been only thirty seconds, but everyone was over the moon.
Clint's cheeks were wet with tears as everyone hugged, grinning and laughing in that relieved, slightly hysterical way.
Bruce assured them that the woman falling asleep so quickly was nothing but a good sign. She'd opened her eyes and they'd even moved around the room a little.
Tony asked whether her seemingly not noticing the tube down her throat was a bad sign and Bruce carefully explained that Natasha had probably been so exhausted that it hadn't registered. He was sure when she next woke and was more with it, she would realise and they'd be able to remove it.
Clint and Bruce stayed as the others dispersed, not wanting to crowd her, but staying close enough to the med room that they could be there quickly.
Bruce hugged Clint, rubbing a hand up his back. "Things are looking good, Clint." He said softly. "Really good."
...
As Bruce had predicted, Natasha did indeed wake up somewhat more coherent.
Clint was abjectly terrified as the woman struggled, hands coming up to claw at the tube. He rushed over, gently tugging her hands from her face. "Shh, Nat, you're okay. We'll get it out okay? Just keep calm."
"Hey, Tash, just keep still and I'll get the tube out okay? I need you to relax, you might want to cough or feel sick, that's okay." Bruce had already gotten the oxygen mask ready for straight after.
He carefully detached the tube from the machine. "Just breathe through your nose, it's going to be uncomfortable." With a firm grasp on the tube, he pulled it quickly but gently until the end slid out of Natasha's mouth.
The woman shuddered, eyes watering as she coughed violently, inhaling raggedly.
"Deep breaths, I know it hurts, just stay calm and take slow breaths." Bruce murmured, hooking the oxygen mask over her mouth and nose, easing her back against the mountain of cushions.
Clint swallowed hard, light fingers brushing over Natasha's hair and down her cheek. "Take it easy, Talia, you're okay."
Eyes squeezed shut and as tense as anything, Natasha pulled in grating breaths, wincing as the air moved down her raw throat.
"You're doing so good," Clint murmured, his other hand sliding into Natasha's, "nice and slow, babe."
...
The next couple of hours consisted of Natasha sleeping on and off and going through numerous tests to test both her mind and body.
Somehow, incredibly, Natasha's mind appeared to be unaffected, even after the seizures, fluid build up and lack of oxygen at times.
She could hold a conversation, could remember things from her past, knew the answers to the questions Bruce asked.
The only thing she seemed to be having trouble with was choosing the correct word, sometimes using the wrong one for what she was trying to say, or just not being able to come up any word at all.
Bruce was a little worried about that, but hoped that once some of the exhaustion tapered back, Natasha would be able to speak completely clearly.
So it was worrying, but considering how badly her brain could have been damaged by the whole ordeal, they were taking that as a win.
As far as the physical tests went, Natasha also passed most of those. Her reflexes were a little slow but still fully present and she could move every part of her body.
She was suffering quite a lot with weakness at that stage; needing help to sit up or hold anything. Another thing that Bruce hoped would fade, with physical therapy and time, he was pretty certain Natasha would be back to usual self in about a month. In that respect anyways.
He had no doubt that there would be bouts of chronic fatigue and pain, as well as developing coughs and the flu more often than was normal and there was still the chance that memory problems could occur, especially in the short term. But, things were looking pretty good, especially considering just how sick the woman had been.
Natasha would be off work for a good couple of months whilst they worked to get her back to the best health she could be in, but she was just beyond grateful to be alive at that point.
She could scarcely believe that she'd been unconscious for so long, and had come so close to death so many times in such a short amount of time.
The realisation that she'd nearly died because of a misunderstanding should have shocked her, but instead, when Clint told her what had happened, she laughed.
She told him that they'd almost died for less, and that considering how their lives seemed to go, it wasn't really surprising.
...
The first night after waking, Clint finally got to sleep in the same bed as Natasha, with no fears of pulling out wires or hurting her.
She settled into his arms as the archer told her story and just before she dropped off, he told her how worried everyone had been and that how glad they were that she was still with them.
Clint promised that the next day would be filled with visits and hugs and tears and probably presents.
But for that night, it was just the two of them, Clint holding Natasha tight, whispering softly the words he'd been too scared to utter should they have sounded like a goodbye.
"I love you."