Chapter 16

By: MysticFantasy

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Clint walked down the hallway that led to the operating room where he last heard Steve was still being treated.

Guards were scattered about but the closer he got to the operating room, the heavier the guards became. Finally, he came to the doors of the operating room where four armed guards were standing. He stepped to the side to the observation window.

He couldn't really see Steve beause of the dotor's blocking his view along with thick blankets trying to warm the frozen captain and the numerous machines monitoring his vitals.

"Agent Barton?"

Clint looked to the person who spoke to him. A young looking nurse with her dark hair tied back.

"Yes?"

"I came to give an update on Captain Rogers." she answered.

"How is he?" Clint asked.

"His body temperature is still very low but it is increasing. Luckily, his body isn't as frozen as it was before. The dotor believes that he should be fully warmed within a few hours."

Clint felt a huge weight lift from his chest. His relief was huge and he knew that it would be the same for Natasha. He wasn't sure that anyone could take the loss of Captain America again.

"He'll be ok, right?"

"He will be. It's just going to take a little time." the nurse answered.

"Knowing Steve, I give him a week." Clint said before turning back to the window. The nurse took her leave and the archer was alone again. "Hang in there, Cap. I'm keeping you on that time limit."

With a light sigh, he began to make his way back to Natasha's hospital room. He knew she would feel relieved to know that her new boyfriend would be ok. This would surely lift her spirits after everything she and Steve had gone through.

He himself couldn't imagine fighting for his life in the same manner that they had. Steve especially.

First being sent to a place that reminded him of how he ended up in this new time, being shot down and being stranded in nearly that same situation, battling against the frozen tundra itself, being captured and then put on ice that nearly put him in that same frozen coma state.

This would surely mess with Steve's head once he awakened.

Clint made a mental note to make sure that he and the rest of the team were present when he did wake up.

Clint arrived at Natasha's door and entered when she granted access.

"Well?" Natasha asked, sitting up in her bed with worried eyes.

"He's going to be ok." Clint answered. "He's warming up and he should be ok in a few hours."

Natasha lightly smiled through a sigh of relief.

"He's not anything like he was before, was he?" she asked.

"No." Clint quickly answered. "The only thing the doctor isn't sure of is exactly when he'll wake up. Said it wouldn't be like last time though."

"I just hope he isn't tramatized by this. He had a hard enough time adjusting to this the first time. He doesn't need to go through it again."

"I give him a week." Clint said, repeating the words he had said to the nurse earlier.

"I hope it's less than that." Natasha said.

"You're probably right." Clint said. "Sometimes Steve is too stubborn for his own good. But I think it would be a good idea for all of us to be around when he wakes up. If he sees all of us there, then he probably won't panic."

The spy nodded. She didn't want to think how scared Steve might be when he regained consciousness.

Would he right away think that he'd been asleep for another seventy years and that everyone he knew would be gone?

The poor captain had been depressed and heartbroken after he learned he was in a new time with everyone he knew either already in eternal rest or about to be there themselves.

Surely going through the same experience again would snap his mind.

But he had nothing to fear. She would make sure of that. Along with Clint and the rest of the Avengers.

Natasha felt so relieved that Steve would be ok and they would be reunited soon.