So, guess what? I feel terrible about the chapter I posted this morning. You were all either crying, mad, or worse, both! In response, I had to post a day in advance! Not that I'm angry about that. I just can't live with the guilt! Enjoy this next chapter. There are still several more to come!
Chapter Twenty-One
Clint's P.O.V.
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. The sound of the heart monitor sounded with the likeness of a death toll. And I was standing there, watching it happen. I could see the medical staff trying to revive Hannah, but she wouldn't respond. Her frail, pale form now lay lifeless on the hospital bed. There was a moment of despairing silence before the doctor came out the door.
"I'm sorry, but we lost her." The doctor wiped the sweat off his brow, disheartened.
Flash forward: A white casket laid with purple flowers; Hannah's favorites. It was closed and ready to be placed in the freshly-dug ground. My friends were standing beside me, silently mourning as the casket started to lower into the cold earth. And then, a tombstone. One that read; Hannah Barton: You are Loved and Forever Missed. The one beside her read Bernard (Barney) Barton: Beloved Father and Brother.
I jerked awake, dripping with sweat and a feeling of dread looming in my mental atmosphere.
"Clint, it's alright." Nat's hands held me in their clasp, tight but reassuring. "She's alright."
I breathed in for a moment, praying that this wasn't just some other dream where she would be alive and okay, only to actually wake up and find the nightmare come true. I looked up and saw Hannah. She was still frail, but she had started to turn back into a healthy complexion. Her breathing was soft and slow, but normal.
I started to recall the events that brought us here. She was talking to Barney when she was last conscious. She had been so far from me, somewhere I couldn't reach her. And when she had closed her eyes, I feared she was gone for good. I remembered picking her up in my arms and hurrying her outside, the blood still running quickly onto my shirt. The other Avengers were waiting. Bruce had somehow found her pulse, much to my relief. Getting her to the hospital was no problem. Tony had opted to fly her there in the suit, since driving would take too long and we had to make every second count. We had met him in the emergency room soon afterwards to find they were working on her rigorously.
A few hours later, we were all still sitting in the emergency room, Nat and I's hands clasped in an unbreakable bond, half-fearing, half-hoping for word on her condition. The news came; critical, but stable. I learned later that they nearly lost her two times in surgery. Thank God they hadn't, or else I wouldn't be where I was now.
I leaned against the back of my chair. She put her hand on my shoulder and rubbed it steadily. The rest of the team was asleep in the hospital room. It had been a long night. The doctor may have said stable, but we knew things could go south at a moment's notice. I must have fallen asleep around three, but I could tell Nat hadn't slept a bit. Dark circles had formed under her eyes and she showed no signs of giving in to a peaceful slumber.
"You need to rest." She shook her head.
"Not until I'm sure she's going to wake up." She could be really stubborn when she loved someone. It was one of the things I loved most about her.
"She made it through the night. I think she's going to make it." And I truly believed it. She must have believed me too, because it didn't take long for her to fall asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. I slowly started to nod off as well, knowing that, for once, everything was going to be alright.
Hannah's P.O.V.
"Dad." I said happily, throwing my arms around my father after what had seemed like an eternity without him. His face was joyful, the best I had ever seen him.
"I've missed you so much." I let tears of joy fall down my cheeks.
"Oh, Hannah, I've missed you too." He said, enveloping me in another hug, only to pull me back to face him. "But you have to go back."
"What?" I was horrified at the notion. "Why?"
"You're alive." He explained.
"But how?"
"It is not your time. You have a lot of life to live yet."
"But I want to be here with you." I pleaded.
"No, baby." He shook his head. "Your family needs you."
"Who?" I asked.
"My brother and his family need you." He said, showing a picture, the one I had smashed before I left the Tower. I suddenly felt guilty for wanting to leave my other family too.
"But they...you...me..."
"You're in good hands, baby girl." He placed his hands firmly on my shoulders. "Your mother and I will be here waiting for you when it's your time. But for now, you need to be where you're loved as much as you were with us."
Tears of sadness started to well up in my eyes.
"I'm going to miss you." I wrapped him in what I knew would be our last hug for a very long time.
"We'll be waiting for you." He repeated, his figure beginning to fade from my vision.
My eyes opened groggily to bright white walls surrounding me. I was very confused, much like a deer in the headlights. Where was I? I took the room under further inspection and found that I had an IV stuck in my arm...and a heart monitor that had an annoying beep every few seconds. A hospital. That's when I recalled my near-death experience. How was I still alive? And Dad. I could remember my encounter with him vividly. It had to be real. I tried to shift myself upward, but I was met with a sharp pain in my side. The groan of pain that followed escaped my lips before I had the time to think.
"Hannah?" I heard my uncle's voice. I saw him in a chair, getting up rather quickly now and pushing me back gently into the bed. "You shouldn't move."
"It hurts." He chuckled lightly.
"Yes, I can tell."
"I thought I died." I was very curious to how I was still even here.
"You almost did...twice." He said. "You're one tough Barton, that's for sure."
"Must run in the family." I said, attempting a small joke.
Another question was looming in my mind, however.
"When do I have to go?"
"Go? Go where?" He cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
"Foster care." I looked down at my sheets, afraid of what was to come next. The thought of going to a real foster home after I was well made me feel worse than I already was.
"No, Hannah. I'm not sending you there." I perked up and looked at him, wondering if this was a joke or for real. His expression was serious.
"Really?" He smiled.
"Yep." He said. "Face it, you're stuck with us."
"I think I can live with that." I wrapped him in a hug, and he patted my back reassuringly. Within a few moments, however, I became very tired and fell back into a deep sleep.
Later on that day...
Clint's P.O.V.
There was a knock on the hospital room door. The team and I had all been sipping on some coffee to try and sustain us until the nighttime, but I could see some of us were still dozing off (Steve was repeatedly brushing a sleeping Tony off his shoulder). Hannah had fallen back to sleep after I had seen her awake and she hadn't woken up since. I couldn't blame her. She had to be exhausted after what she had been through.
I got up and made my way to the door, only to be greeted by none other than Director Fury. I couldn't help but feel a sense of hostility towards the man. After all, it was his push for Hannah to go to a foster home that led to her kidnapping. But I kept calm, like I knew I should.
"Agent Barton," He said formally, "I need to see you and Mrs. Barton outside, if you don't mind." Nat heard him because she came out right on my heels.
"Yes, sir?" I asked as I shut the door.
"I know it's been a long twenty-four hours for the both of you, but we must talk about your niece's erm...living situation." I felt the hairs on my neck rise.
"No." I said coldly. "She is NOT leaving us. If anything, she's more in danger without us than with us, and I, for one, am not..."
"Agent Barton." He interrupted. "You didn't let me finish." There was more?
"Given the current situation, it would be best that Ms. Barton stay with you. She's clearly safer in the hands of her family than with a government-issued caretaker."
I couldn't believe it. Director Fury was actually letting her stay? But I wasn't about to interfere with his decision.
"Yes, sir." I tried to contain my joy.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to." And with that he left us. All Nat and I could do was smile. We had our niece back.
If any of you were mad at me, you better be reviewing about how wonderful I am after reading this! LOL But I totally understand. I would be upset too! But really, please review and tell me I'm forgiven!