So, just because a lot of you asked nicely (and some of you not so nicely) I have chapter 15 here for you!
No. No, no, no, no, no, Natasha thought as she stood in the hallway outside of the court room. She had hung up the phone five minutes ago and hadn't moved for where she stood in the hallway.
This isn't happening, she thought. This can't be happening.
Natasha felt her body start to sway and she braced herself against the wall to steady herself.
I'm asleep, she thought. That's it. I really did fall asleep during the hearing and I'm dreaming. This is all a dream. We didn't win the case, and Clint will be waiting for me outside of those doors when it's all over.
However, no matter how many times she told herself that, she couldn't convince herself that it was true. She managed to push herself off from the wall to walk back into the court room to find her dad. He was seated among the rows of benches waiting for Natasha to return, and when she did, he didn't like the sight of her. She looked like she did that day in the car when they started talking about the then-possible divorce.
"Natasha, what's wrong?" Mr. Romanoff said grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her in the eyes.
"I need to go to the hospital!" she wailed.
"Why? What happened? Is something wrong? Are you okay?" Mr. Romanoff said, panicked.
"No, I'm not okay!" she said through a sea of tears. "Clint's in the hospital. That's why he didn't show up today and I need to go there now!"
Mr. Romanoff was stricken with fear. He had fought so hard for them, and now this happened. He directed her out of the court room by the shoulders and they kept going until they got to the parking garage where Mr. Romanoff's car was parked. By the time they reached the car, Natasha was in complete hysterics. Mr. Romanoff pushed her into the car and promised her he would get her to the hospital.
A simple five minute car ride across the bridge to get to the hospital seemed to take an hour in Natasha's eyes. They were still on Main Street when Natasha called Clint's mom to make sure this was really happening. When Mrs. Barton picked up, she still sounded exhausted and weary and told Natasha that they didn't have any new information. Mrs. Barton told Natasha that they were in the waiting room outside of the emergency room, and to come find them when she arrived.
When they arrived at the hospital, Natasha barely waited for her father to put the car in park when she opened the door and sprinted for the hospital doors. She must have looked like a crazy person who needed to be committed to the psych ward when she burst through the door because many of the people seated in the waiting room looked straight at her with concern. Natasha spotted Clint's parents and his brother seated in the corner and she walked straight over to them with determination.
Before they could say anything, Natasha made sure she got the first word.
"What happened? I need to know what happened!" she demanded.
"They say someone ran a red light, slammed right into the side of the car - ," Mr. Barton said.
"Yeah, my car," Barney pouted.
"Now is not the time Charles," Mr. Barton said, and Natasha was suddenly confused.
"Charles?" Natasha asked, confused and slightly irritated.
"My real name is Charles Bernard Barton, but I just prefer to go by Barney," Barney huffed.
"Yeah, because going by the name of a big purple singing dinosaur is much better than Charles," Natasha scoffed, and then turned back to Clint's parents. "So…so what's wrong? What's wrong with him?"
"We don't know," Mrs. Barton said. Natasha got a good look at her and Natasha realized she had been crying. Natasha didn't blame her obviously. Her youngest son had just been involved in a serious car accident and they didn't know how he was doing. Natasha suddenly regretted her inappropriate behavior earlier on the phone with Mrs. Barton.
"The car hit on his side, so his injuries are, no doubt, severe," Mr. Barton said, hanging his head.
Natasha didn't want to hear it anymore. She looked behind her and luckily found an empty chair she could lower herself into. If she had kept standing, she probably would have passed out and smacked her head on the floor. She rested her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. She had that feeling again, that feeling she had in the court room when Clint didn't show up. She felt like she was going to be sick, violently sick, which was impossible since she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
No one said anything when Natasha's father caught up with her in the waiting room. No one said anything when he approached them, and he decided that it was best to not say anything at the moment. There was nothing at the moment that could be said to make the situation better.
After another hour, a doctor came out into the waiting room and announced Mr. and Mrs. Barton's names. Mr. and Mrs. Barton, Barney, Natasha, and Mr. Romanoff immediately scrambled from their seats and approached the doctor. The doctor introduced himself as Dr. Curt Connors and mentioned that he had performed surgery on Clint following the accident.
Natasha gulped; she wasn't quite ready to hear about the damage but she braced herself by grabbing hold of her dad's arm. Dr. Connors said that when Clint came into the ER, he barely looked like he had been in an accident with the exception of the various cuts and bruises covering his body. Upon further inspection, he had some internal bleeding from the impact and a possible concussion, as well as several broken ribs, one of which punctured his lung. After an intense surgery, they had managed to stop the bleeding, as well as fix his collapsed lung. Dr. Connors mentioned he would be in a lot of pain when he awoke but he was extremely lucky and that he should take it easy for a couple of weeks.
After Dr. Connors walked away, Natasha could feel the room start to spin. Clint was going to be fine, but the part that scared her now was seeing him laying, helpless and vulnerable, in a hospital bed. Clint, the boy who saved her from playground bullies when she was little. Clint, the boy who stayed with her the night she was so sick she honestly thought she was going to cough up a lung. Clint, the boy who said he would fight for her today. Well, she sure hoped he was fighting for her now, but in a different context. Either way, after all of these years, Clint had seemed like her own personal superhero, but it turns out he was only human just like everyone else.
Mr. and Mrs. Barton moved from their place in the middle of the waiting room and approached the nurses' station to ask when they could see their son. Natasha wanted to know as well, but she had to be patient, and it killed her. She wanted to see Clint, and she wanted to see him now, but even if the hospital staff was allowing Clint to have visitors, she had to let his parents see him first. She couldn't be selfish.
Mr. and Mrs. Barton walked back to the group with their spirits a little more lifted. The nurses had told them that Clint should be ready for visitors within a half hour. There was no guaranteeing he would be awake because of the meds but they would still allow family to see him.
Natasha was extremely disappointed when Clint's parents had said that family was allowed to visit him. Natasha knew that Mr. and Mrs. Barton had always considered her part of the family, but she knew it probably wouldn't be enough in the hospital staff's eyes. They were extremely strict when it came to this sort of stuff. Mr. and Mrs. Barton saw the disappointment in Natasha's eyes and they reassured her that she would be able to see him in a half hour when he was allowed visitors.
The next half hour was absolutely grueling and Natasha couldn't help but check the clock on her phone every two seconds. When the half hour was up, a nurse came over and announced that they could see Clint. A pang of fright hit Natasha square in the chest. She watched as Clint's parents and his brother got up and headed for the doors that led to the rooms. They stopped and beckoned for Natasha to come with them.
"I'm not ready," she whispered. Mr. and Mrs. Barton nodded and they told her they'd come back out and check on her within a few minutes to see if she would be ready by then. She watched as they disappeared behind the doors, leaving Natasha and her father in the waiting room.
"I'll kill him if he does this to you again," Natasha heard her father say. "I fought hard for you two today and he goes and pulls a stunt like this."
Natasha let out a small laugh. "Don't Dad. The accident wasn't his fault. Some asshole ran a red light," Natasha said, trying to defend Clint.
"Well, when he gets better, he's going to get quite an earful from me," Mr. Romanoff said, and Natasha laughed. This divorce was turning her father into a different person and she liked it. Instead of making threats of violence, he was making threats to give a lecture, which if you really thought about it, that's worse than getting the shit kicked out of you.
Natasha wasn't sure how much time had passed. It could have been an hour, it could have been five minutes, but she was getting really antsy by the time she saw Mrs. Barton reenter the waiting room and approach Natasha. Mrs. Barton looked a lot better than she did earlier today. She looked like she could use some sleep but she was clearly relieved that Clint was okay.
"Natasha," Mrs. Barton said. "He's asking for you."
Natasha followed Mrs. Barton down the hall as they made their way to Clint's room. Natasha still wasn't sure if she was ready for this. Mrs. Barton halted in front of a room which Natasha assumed was Clint's. Mr. Barton and Barney were standing outside of the room; they were clearly going to give Natasha and Clint some privacy. Mrs. Barton gave Natasha a weak but encouraging smile and gestured towards the door.
Natasha took a couple steps towards the door but stopped. She was scared. She was scared to go in and see him. She heard someone walk up behind her and give her a little push towards the door. She whipped around and saw Barney with a stupid grin on his face. If his little push was supposed to get her to move forward, his plan didn't work because all she wanted to do was punch him in the face.
"Don't rush it, Charles," she snarled, and watched as that stupid grin was wiped clear off his face. She took a couple more steps until she was right outside the door frame, and then, she took a deep breath and stepped in.
The room was dimly lit due to the blinds being drawn. The only noise in the room was coming from the heart monitor which beeped to let Natasha know that Clint was still alive.
She took another step forward and got a better look at him. He was awfully pale and there were dark circles around his eyes. There were tubes and wires sticking out of him from different places, including the one for oxygen on his face, which Natasha assumed was supposed to help him breathe because of his collapsed lung.
She took one more step towards him and that's when he turned his head towards her and a smile spread across his face. He feebly lifted his arm from the bed and reached out his hand as if to tell her to come to him. Natasha closed the space between her and Clint and she swatted away his arm only so her lips could connect with his. It felt like an eternity since she had kissed him, when in reality it was only this morning, but it felt so good.
She didn't want to break the kiss even though she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. They weren't sad tears, they were happy tears, but she couldn't keep them from spilling over. Clint could feel the tears spilling over her eyes and he broke away from the kiss to wipe the tears away with his thumb.
"You are never allowed to do this me ever. Again," she said trying to choke back more of the tears that threatened to spill over.
"I promise," he said, reassuring her with another kiss on the lips. When they pulled apart, Natasha ran her fingers over the butterfly stitches near his temple, no doubt an injury from the accident. He winced as she gently ran her fingers over it again and muttered a genuine "sorry" as she pulled her fingers away.
She lowered herself to sit on the limited amount of bed space, being careful not to disturb any of the wires that were connected to Clint. As she sat down and positioned herself so that she was seated on the very edge of the bed, Clint brought his hand up and cupped her face.
"So, when you say that I'm never allowed to do this to you ever again, does this mean…" he trailed off, hoping she would fill in the blanks.
She let out a small laugh. "Yeah, yeah it does. My dad got custody of me," she said.
Clint went to push himself up to give her a kiss but winced at the movement. Natasha started to fuss, but Clint swatted her hands away when she reached for him.
"No, it's the stitches. It's just the stitches," he hissed. "I think I pulled at them."
"Well, duh! If you move, it's going to hurt," Natasha added sarcastically.
"I was trying to give you a kiss," he said.
"All you have to do is ask," she said, leaning in to kiss him quickly on the lips. She didn't care how many times she had kissed him in the amount of time she had been in his room. She could have lost him today so she wasn't taking any chances.
Clint relaxed against the pillows but Natasha could tell he was still slightly in pain from his little stunt a couple seconds ago.
"You need more pain meds," she stated.
Clint shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, but I can handle it."
"That wasn't a question, it was a statement," she said. She searched for the button on the remote to call a nurse into his room to give him another dosage of pain meds through his IV and pressed it when she found it, much to Clint's dismay.
"I don't need them," he whined.
"Yes, you do. You missed the court hearing today, and this is your punishment. You are at my mercy," Natasha said as nurse came in to check his stats and inject his IV with more pain meds. Instantly, Natasha could see the drugs take effect. Clint started to relax and his eyelids started to droop.
"You going to stay with me, Nat?" he slurred.
"As long as I don't get kicked out for not being family, I'll stay with you as long as you want," she said.
"I'm going…to hold you…to that," he slurred as his heart rate slowed to a steady pace and the drugs took him under.
Natasha kissed the stitches on his temple and got up to drag a chair close enough to his bedside so that she could hold his hand. She tucked her feet underneath her and rested her head against the back of the surprisingly comfortable chair. She wasn't sure how long she sat there watching Clint's chest rise and fall with every breath he took, but she began to doze off after a while. As sleep started to take over her, she knew that, no matter what, her grip on Clint's hand would never slacken. She would never let go.
Clint assumed it was in the early hours of the morning when he woke again. Natasha was fast asleep in the chair next to him, holding on tight to his hand. He smiled at her sleeping form, and he was happy that she was the first person he saw when he woke up.
He wasn't sure how long he was awake until the nurses changed shifts at 7:00. It wasn't long until a nurse came in to check his stats and ask him how he was feeling. Clint replied with simple answers and the nurse glanced over at Natasha, still asleep in the chair.
"Your girlfriend?" the nurse asked.
Clint turned his head to look at Natasha, and didn't take his eyes off of her. "Yeah," he said with a smile.
"Lucky guy you are," she said in approval and walked out of the room.
Clint wasn't sure how much longer he sat there in total silence just holding onto Natasha's hand. It had to have been about an hour he spent in total silence until his parents walked in to see how he was doing. They were dressed in different clothes than yesterday so Clint assumed they went home, showered, and slept in their own beds.
It had to have been a couple hours later when Mr. Romanoff stepped into the room. Clint had assumed that he was just here to pick Natasha up but Clint was surprised when he asked his parents if he could speak with Clint.
Clint gulped from nervousness. The last encounter he had with Mr. Romanoff had been less than pleasant. He was still genuinely afraid of him. Clint almost wanted to tell his parents to stay in the room with him in case Mr. Romanoff flew off the handle.
Mr. Romanoff grabbed the other empty chair and pulled it up to the other side of Clint's bed and sat down.
"How are you feeling Barton?" Mr. Romanoff asked.
"I've been better," he said, shrugging.
"Gave us all quite a scare yesterday."
"Yeah, sorry about that, but it wasn't my fault," Clint said defensively.
"No, no, we know it wasn't, but you really put Natasha through hell. You know that right?" Mr. Romanoff said sternly.
Clint nodded his head but didn't say anything. He had a feeling Mr. Romanoff had more to get out of his system.
"I fought really hard to keep Natasha, but more importantly, I fought really hard to keep the two of you together," Mr. Romanoff said. "And for you to pull a stunt like that made me feel defeated, as if all of the hard work I had done was for nothing.
"Now I know you're going to be okay and you'll heal just fine but there's something you need to know," Mr. Romanoff said and took a deep breath. "You are the only good thing that has come out of my family moving here."
Clint was shocked to hear it. He remembers that night he met Mr. and Mrs. Romanoff and they had said that when Natasha would come home happy, they would instantly know that she had been with him.
"My wife was nothing but unfaithful to me in the present and the past, and she brought out the worst in me," Mr. Romanoff said. "Now that we are no longer going to be together, I'm hoping that I can get to know the boy that my daughter is so in love with, the boy that has taken care of her when her mother and myself didn't.
"Just don't screw it up," Mr. Romanoff said. "The last thing I want to see is my daughter not only getting hurt but losing her best friend. Do you understand me?"
Clint hastily nodded his head and mustered up a measly "Yes sir" in response. Mr. Romanoff rose from his chair and made his way across the room to the doorway. He hesitated before exiting and turned around to Clint one more time.
"Have her call me when she's ready to come home," Mr. Romanoff said. Clint nodded in response and watched as Mr. Romanoff vanished from his room. He looked over at Natasha and saw a smile spreading across her face.
"You were awake this entire time," he said. It wasn't a question; it was a statement because he knew she was a light sleeper. Her eyes popped open and she looked right at him with her beautiful blue eyes.
"I think you handled that pretty well," she said with a giggle.
"Your dad still scares me," he said. "I don't care if divorcing your mother will bring out the best in him."
Natasha got up and kissed him on the lips, and then brought her hands up to cup his face. She always loved when he did this to her, and she hoped he liked it as well.
"Am I still at your mercy today?" he asked as she ran her hands down his face and then his neck. She shrugged her shoulders as she continued to run her hands down to his shoulders, but she stopped when she reached his upper arms.
"I think we can make an exception for today," she said. "But you still owe me big time."
Clint laughed as he gently pushed himself up – slowly and carefully so as not to pull at the stitches in his abdomen – and kissed her on the lips with as much energy he could muster. He didn't want it to stop but he could feel the energy draining from him from sitting up for so long. Natasha felt him begin to lean back onto the bed and she put an arm around his back so she could help him lower himself back down onto the bed.
"You've taken such good care of me over the years," she said, her eyes still locked onto his. "I think it's about time I returned the favor."
Clint smirked and reached up to touch the side of her face before she leaned in once again to continue the kiss that Clint had unfortunately stopped. When they broke away once again, Natasha sat down on the edge of the bed and swung her legs up so that she was lying right next to Clint. They had to revise the way they usually laid in bed with one another, but it wasn't hard. Natasha rested her head on Clint's shoulder and laid her hand on his chest, while Clint wrapped his arm around her as if he was protecting her.
Natasha didn't even move when Clint's parents walked back into the room a couple minutes later. She didn't care anymore and she hoped they knew she was never letting go of him ever again.
Phew! He's okay! Do you guys still hate me? Are you still mad at me? Please don't be. I just gave you tons of fluff!
As always, thanks for adding this to your favorites, signing up for alerts, and reviewing (especially all of those angry reviews this evening. There were some pretty angry ones). Please continue to review, and let me know if you guys let out that breath you were holding in between the last chapter and this one (don't deny it because I feel like a lot of you were doing that haha).