Steve slowly made his way to the med bay. Seeing her in the hospital bed still made him sick. First, the Quantum Poisoning. Now, a concussion. A mild one, but it was still something that kept him from holding her. The bruise was almost fully healed, but it was still painful to see.
On top of his grief at seeing her hurt, he had all this new information running through his mind. He stood in the doorway. Did Bruce even know if Eva would wake up? What if she was in a coma? No, he couldn't think like that. He forced his body to move to her bed side, where he pulled a chair up. He sat hard, but he gently took her hand, wanting her to rest and heal without being disturbed.
He sat for a moment before working out what he wanted to tell her. He wanted her to be awake, but he doubted he would have had the courage to say anything if she were.
"Oh, sweetheart," he said, trying to keep tears from falling. "Why didn't you tell us how bad it was? Why hide it?"
He ran his thumb over the back of her hand. A tear finally fell free of his long lashes, dropping onto her smooth skin. He didn't even notice it, massaging it into her skin as he looked at her.
There were faint lines of pain on her face that hadn't been there before she had been taken. He wanted to erase them, but he knew that until they had confirmation that Nat was on OZ, those lines would always remain.
To distract him from his darker thoughts, Steve kept talking and said, "I have some news." He took a breath. "We learned Loki is now your brother. Crazy, right?" He kissed her hand, more tears starting to escape and he wiped them away. "That ritual you both had to do finished it. He said you're his twin now." He shook his head and looked down. "I didn't understand a lot of it, but-"
He couldn't take it anymore. Seeing her laying there broke him. This was the last place he wanted her to be. He didn't dare let the thought of children in, not after learning he would have been a father. He had a new found respect for that boundary that Wanda had set. The idea of even trying for a child when his was snatched from him by someone he once called a friend, by someone who was cruel and heartless, turned his stomach. He had known for half a second the love of a parent before it was taken from him, and now, he didn't want to risk that pain ever again.
"Please wake up," Steve begged, swallowing the lump that had developed in his throat. "I…" he took another shaky breath. "I don't know what to do-"
He couldn't finish. He put his head on their combined hands and cried. So much had happened in the last few days, so much information thrown at him. It was too much to hold in anymore, and the dam broke.
Eva chose that moment to flutter here eyes until they opened. The world around her was blurry but getting clearer. She looked over at who was holding her hand and weeping.
"Stevie?" she asked in a weak voice.
His head snapped up and he smiled. He stood up and kissed her through the tears, just happy to have his girl back.