PHEW! I know it's been a while and I do apologize. I have been juggling this with some new obsessions, but no worries. Here is the next chapter for your reading pleasures! Hit me up with your thoughts and don't forget to check out the multitude of other stories on my blog. All my love and a happy new year.
San Juan rose up before me as a series of merchant shops and exquisite hotels mixed with lush green landscape, beckoning me in. A cool ocean spray at my back pushed me along. The threat of a lethal explosion from Hugh kept Wanda and I in line. Her shoulder pressed into my bicep the entire walk down the peer because this was not Guatemala. Hugh had intentionally deceived us and now the Avengers would be looking for us in the wrong goddamn country.
"Excuse me, sir." Hugh flagged down a young spritely man with a spit of dark hair on his head.
He was leaned over a fishing vessel, hauling out his catch of the day, a net flopping with colorful fish.
Hugh stooped to help him and Wanda whipped towards me, he ponytail of brown hair a snake curling dangerously beneath her ball cap. "We need to get somewhere with the internet," she whispered.
There was no use in telling her of my telepathic communication with Bucky last night because it was null and void now. Our best plan of action was to contact rescuers the old fashioned way and pray they had cooked up a plan to control Hugh. For now, our mission had to be placating and stalling him.
"My arm could hurt. Could be infected," I offered. "Can you make him see blood?" I asked.
"Mind tricks only work on those whose minds aren't already decaying," Wanda clipped.
"You want to go to the heart of the Bermuda, amigo?" the fisherman's voice jumped up a mix of amusement and fear. "No can do."
Hugh's face darkened, and the sea breeze picked up for a terrifying heartbeat before settling into its normal beating against the hulls of docked ships. He turned to us and Wanda jabbed my side painfully.
"I'm not feeling too hot," I said, making a show of swaying on my feet.
"How? It's so warm out. I am sweating in places I did not know one could. Of course, I was born in Canada and you are of the tropical variety," Hugh replied.
What was I, a fruit?
"She looks a little pale. Wouldn't you agree?" Wanda asked, placing her cool hands against my forehead.
"By my comparison, she is the darkest of us."
Hugh is fucking useless. I stirred the trees behind him, making their long palm leaves whack at the back of his thighs for a distraction. Wanda raised both eyebrows curiously at me while I drew a steading breath. How much force does it take to tear stitches? With a jerk of my arm, blood seeped through the bandage and I cried out in true pain. Now, the world did pitch sideways and I fell hard on my ass.
"She's bleeding!" Wanda declared just in case Hugh's simple brain couldn't grasp this situation.
"Where's the nearest hospital?" Hugh whirled on the fisherman he'd previously engaged in conversation.
"Five miles up that road. There's a better one more inland, but that looks serious. How did it happen?" he asked.
Hugh was picking me up in his hulking arms, thankfully ignoring the inquisitive nature of the man. Wanda raced into the street, hailing the first cab that drove past. She climbed into the front seat, instructing the man on where to go while Hugh cradled me in the back. I fought to keep seeing straight, to not let Hugh's pudgy, ruddy cheeks morph into the pale complexion of one Sergeant Barnes. I had to keep my wits about me. I had to keep conscious for Wanda's sake. Maybe I should have gone a little easier on my shoulder.
The race to the hospital passed in the time it took for me to blink my heavy eyelids. There was no surge of paramedics who raced out to meet us. Only a doorman who lazily held the splintering wooden door open more for a draft than to benefit any person needing quick transportation.
Hugh swept me up, my own personal gurney and sprinted inside, not the best idea for my deteriorating focus.
The waiting room consisted of five total chairs, all in grave disrepair; it would be a marvel if they supported any normal human's weight. The wallpaper was water stained and the carpeted floor was in grave need of a good scrubbing. A man sporting a beer belly and smelling of the native liquor hovered in a corner squinting at a mound of papers, trying to decipher the medical questions on them.
"Help!" Hugh pleaded to the receptionist.
She had a veil of dark hair cascading to cover her face and two pens tucked away between her lips while she was pressed nose to screen against the computer. She glanced up, bored, glanced down, and tapped away at her keyboard. "Name," she requested.
Hugh reared back, a bear about to lash out. Wanda slid between the two, placing a gentle, tolerate smile on her lips. "I can handle the paperwork if you let my friend go ahead and bring her back," she said.
The receptionist sighed and pointed to the double doors located to her right. "Bring her to the nurse. She'll find the doctor on duty and get you situated. You, miss, get this ten page packet. I hope you know everything about the patient."
I glanced worriedly at Wanda while Hugh bustled to get me to medical attention. She nodded confidently before the doors shut between us.
What I remember from the impromptu doctor's visit involved a multitude of needles varying in thickness, some reminded me more of a link of sausage than something meant to go into my skin. Hugh hovered the entire goddamn time, his hot breath acting like an unfortunate version of smelling salts keeping me painfully conscious.
"This was sloppily done. Were the sewing tools even disinfected? Look at this right here. If she hadn't torn the stitches, that infection could have spread and killed her. It's a miracle it remained dormant for as long as it did. You have an impossible immune system." The doctor was way too knowledgeable to have ended up in such a run down facility, but maybe she liked the slow pace around here; I suppose her rapid manner of speaking made up for that. Of course, I understood every word of this. Hugh just turned to me, eyes wide without understanding while the doctor babbled away in Spanish. I translated, focusing on that instead of the scalpel scraping away the deadened skin.
The procedure was fairly short and I prayed Wanda had managed to send out some sort of distress signal with the one computer in this place in the limited time frame. As the doctor began cleaning her work area and supplies, Hugh clasped two hands on either of her slim shoulders, startling the woman. Instead of jerking away, the doctor just smiled tiredly. She was not afraid of him. The action was one of innocence, one from someone who didn't know the levels of destruction Hugh was capable of. It gave me pause along with Hugh's next struggled words.
"Gracias," he botched the pronunciation and looked to me for approval.
I nodded a quick encouragement and Hugh pulled away shyly.
"De nada amigos." He turned to me, giving the instructions on how to get discharged and passing a prescription for painkillers into my hands.
Hugh walked closely to me while we made our way back to the front desk. Wanda glanced up from a housekeeping magazine, satisfied smirk hidden behind pursed lips.
"Everything go well?" she asked.
"Yes," Hugh patted my back, smiling easily. "I think it best we find a place to slumber this eve. Perhaps we will find a boat master to transport us with the new day."
"Good plan."
The motel we ended up at boasted of a Las Vegas theme, the walls painted with chipping silver, the floor covered with a lethal red carpet. Hugh busied himself with playing on the rigged slot machine positioned between the two queen beds instead of a nightstand.
I requested a bath to wash away the grime accumulated from the city and Wanda volunteered to make sure I didn't drown. Hugh happily agreed, mind preoccupied with the prospect of being reunited with his wife with the coming sun.
As I sat in the lukewarm bath water, careful to keep my wound above the surface, Wanda traced her fingers over the shower curtain dividing me from where she lounged on the other side.
"You got the word out?" I whispered.
Her shadow dipped a nod. The sink water pounded away at full blast in the background, drowning out whatever words we spoke.
"Told Roma, that was the secretary's name, I told her that there was some kid out back vomiting everywhere. She was reluctant to go, but I persuaded her a little bit." Magic danced between her fingers. "I sent an email to Stark's company. He should be here shortly. Hopefully he has a sedative for the beastie."
I kept quiet, agreeing, but unsure how that settled with me any longer. Hugh reminded me of Bucky in a sense, pre the cure. Meaning well, but completely out of control of his actions. His heart was good and I was too damn forgiving. Maybe that part of my nature would take a bite out of my ass one day, but for now I couldn't imagine hurting the big lug more than necessary.
"We're gonna get out of here," Wanda said, interpreting my silence as fear instead of unease.
"I miss Seattle," I murmured. "I know it was just a hiatus of sorts, but it was the safest I've felt in a long time. You may have weirded me out, but I knew you meant good. You're kick ass.
I heard the smile in her voice when she responded. "Wish I was useful now."
"Are you kidding? You're the only one who's done something productive. The only thing I've accomplished is bleeding everywhere."
"You keep him calm. I don't know how. I couldn't do it. I don't know how you keep calm. My insides feel like I swallowed a bottle of poison."
"Did you ever meet Hasina? T'challa's little Zen warrior."
"I don't think I was given the pleasure."
"Well, she helped with that. Also I almost destroyed Wakanda, so I had to get a reign on my emotions. That was embarrassing. I keep calm, I keep in control. Also, I trust you to watch my back, so I'm not terribly worried."
She pushed back the curtain just enough to meet my gaze, green eyes sparkling with the precarious peace of our little shared oasis. She reached out her hand and I took it in a firm grip. We stayed there until I was wrinkled and the contained heat made her begin to perspire. Even then, we hesitated to leave and enter the too real situation waiting for us. But we had each other, and we would get through this. I couldn't sense fear like her, but I knew neither of us would let it overpower us, not when we could lean on each other.