CHAPTER 18
*Please note that Elliot Dawes is an OC of mine and that this happens after Avengers Assembled and before Captain America 2, carrying on into that timeline.*
I began to hear more of the voice. The voice turned into a male. He began telling me stories about the war. His war that he died in. he told me about his crew, the Howling Commandos. He told me about a person named Peggy Carter. He talked about a Doctor Abraham Erskine. He told me about Bucky (he sounded…weepy? When he talked about Bucky). He talked about saving lives. Hunting Hydra. Stopping Hydra and saving the world. He told me stories I doubt anyone else has heard before. He told me them softly. Sometimes he'd pause and I'd hear someone else. I got the feeling he didn't want anyone else to hear them. I felt privileged to hear these stories. I wanted to wake up. I wanted to hold him and hug him and comfort him. I wanted to thank him. I wanted to see him. I began to push through the blackness. I struggled through the swamp in my mind. Slowly but surely, the swamp began to weaken and thin out. Soon things began to return to me.
My name is Elliot Dawes. I am 5'4 in height. I have brown hair… wait I had brown hair. My eyes are a dark green. I am a scientist. I… I couldn't go on. Everything rushed back at once and it hurt. I was overwhelmed by the suddenness of everything hitting me. I let out a gasp of air but I found my breathing obstructed. I began to panic. I can't breathe. Why can't I breathe?
"NURSE!" yelled my mysterious friend. "SOMEBODY!"
People rushed in. there was a sudden commotion around me. Something was yanked from my throat. It hurt. I screamed. A drowsiness washed over me.
My head feels full of a thick fog. I feel so heavy and useless. There's a dull pain thumping through my body like a drum. I begin to grow away from my surroundings. There's a steady, constant beeping sound. It sounds like someone's snoring gently. People are going past but it sounds like their on the other side of the door. Am I still locked up? I could feel my eyes twitched, eager to open. I want to see where I am but at the same time I'm too afraid. What if I'm in that cell back at HYDRA? What if the voice telling me war stories was my way of coping with the horror and pain? I've read about soldiers who've locked themselves in their own minds, in a fantasy world to cope with what they've had to deal with. Perhaps that voice is my fantasy? My eyes flew open before I could make my mind up.
I find myself staring at a white, tiled wall. There's a strong smell of antiseptic in the air. Perhaps they've just cleaned my room up? I looked around. To my right, Steve is sitting in a chair, fast asleep.
"Steve?" I yelped in surprise.
I go to sit up but find I've been restrained. Why am I restrained? What's going on? Did they capture Steve as well? The beeping intensifies as I begin to panic. Steve jerks awake at the sound of my freaking out. He's standing up at once and leaning over me. He places gentle hands on my shoulders. I wince at the touch. He lets go at once.
"Hey, hey. It's okay," he told me gently. "You're safe. You're safe,"
I look at him with uncertainty. He looks clean, and well. Perhaps it's only a recent capture? Or maybe he got captured on purpose?
"Why-why am I restrained?" I asked, my voice sounding cracked and weak.
"You kept thrashing around," Steve explained patiently. "Whenever someone touched you, you would scream and lash out. You broke a rib thrashing around. It was to keep you safe,"
I nodded slowly. I began looking around. I was in a room. There were two doors and two windows. Both windows had their curtains closed. Steve got up and partially opened the window with the longest curtain. I was hit by a bright light. I squinted my eyes until they adjusted to the sudden light. The light hurt. My eyes were more sensitive than bother. Outside. I could see outside. I strained against my straps to see better. I could see grass. And the sky. Oh it was beautiful. Steve closed the curtain quickly. A woman in green scrubs entered and looked surprise to see me awake.
"Oh, you're awake!" she said happily. "I'll go fetch the doctor."
The doctor took test after test. He sent me for every kind of scan and x-ray possible. I zoned out for a little while, not really wanting to know the extent of what happened.