CHAPTER SIXTEEN
( ACHILLES HEEL )
THE MED BAY is teaming with nurses and doctors who all have treated agents before, never an I.T. They give odd looks to each other as they pass the makeshift hospital bed that Quinn was placed on, Agent Norris by her side reading a magazine.
If it weren't for the pain medications that she was given she'd feel embarrassed at the prying eyes but she felt warm and tingly inside. The sensation made her giggle to herself, causing drool to find it's way out of her mouth. The cotton that had been preventing her cheek from anymore swollen within her mouth wasn't absorbing any saliva in it anymore.
She absentmindedly touches her swollen cheek, wincing at the pain it caused. Agent Norris places the magazine on her lap and grabs ahold on her hand, pulling it away from her cheek and on to the bed.
"Let's not do this," she bargains with Quinn in a sweet voice, smiling at her even though she was thoroughly irritated on the inside. She was missing out on a whole days worth of work to spend it in the med bay with her trainee. "How long am I supposed to be in here?" Quinn asks with a lisp. Agent Norris shrugs her shoulders as she returns her attention back to her magazine. "A few hours, at least until the pain killers wear off. Didn't know they'd give you that strong of a dose,"
"Are you here to watch me?" Quinn asks, wiggling her eyebrows, making her instructor feel uncomfortable.
"I'm here to make sure you don't get into trouble while on meds," Agent Norris answers with an eye roll. "Do you think I'm weak?"
"I don't think you're weak. That's why I hit you so hard. I do think you're inexperienced," Agent Norris's voice sounds on edge from the constant questions. All she wanted to do was read her magazine in peace, yet she still was reminded why she was in the med bay in the first place with Quinn's yammering. "Do you think-"
"Shh," the agent hushes her, zipping her finger across her lips. It was a polite way to say zip it. Quinn narrows her eyes at her as she leans back into the bed. If her mind wasn't foggy she'd be able to defend herself but she couldn't under the haze of medications.
There was a commotion coming from outside the room, a flurry of people started to call out a certain name that made a shiver run up Agent Norris's spine, and forced her to toss the magazine off to the side. She knew he was on his way to see Quinn. She looked over at the I.T. girl, who seemed to be giggling from the medication once.
Agent Norris rolls her eyes, she was going to have to explain the situation herself. Steve's large stature appeared in the doorway, scanning over the small medical room where his friend lay in the bed, an agent at her side.
"Steve!" Quinn greets, her voice cracking under the drugs.
For a split second, he's relieved that she's somewhat okay but then his expression falters as he gazes at the bruise engulfing her cheek and the bandage wrapped from her jaw to the top of her head, an ice pack on the right side of her face where the bruise was. His gaze rests upon Agent Norris who smirks up at him. "What happened?" he asks, as he enters the room fully, stepping over to Quinn's bedside. "We had an accident," Agent Norris affirms, gesturing towards Quinn's bruised face.
"Is this considered work comp?" Quinn asks in a loud voice, startling the two agents in the room. "Probably not..." she mumbles to herself, answering her own question and relaxing back into the pillows of the bed.
Steve turns his attention back to Agent Norris, she scoffs at his gaze. "Would you relax? She's fine," she defends herself. Steve raises his brows at the word 'fine', crossing his arms across his chest. "'Fine'? Her head is wrapped up like a Christmas present. How is she fine?"
"We were training. She handled herself pretty well until we started parrying, then it got a little tricky,"
"Tricky?"
"She's actually really good, she knows how to defend herself pretty well. We're on the basics right now,"
"Who gave you the order to start training her?"
As if he had asked the magic question Agent Hill walks into the small medical room, her hands clasped behind her back as she nods to both agents in the room in greeting. "Miss Cruise, how are you holding up?" she questions the injured girl.
Quinn shrugs as another lazy smile crosses her lips. "I feel good," she hums out, stretching her arms above her head. "I feel really good," she emphasizes, her voice cracking once again. Agent Hill tries to stifle back a smile but she fails as she watches Quinn stretch again.
"Yeah, that's the Vicodin talking," Agent Hill hums out. She turns around to the two agents in the room who give her their absolute undivided attention. "She can leave after the Vicodin wears off, she's allowed to have the next couple of days off while her injury heals. We can't have the I.T. department questioning where she got her shiner. The doctors are already asking why she was decked if she's not an agent. We can't raise any more questions,"
"How long does the Vicodin take to wear off?" Quinn croaks from behind Agent Hill. She gives her a soft smile as she looks at her. "Four maybe six hours depending on how much they gave you," she answers, watching Quinn's face grow concerned.
She sits up from laying down in the bed. "Oh no, no, no, no, no," she chants out unhappily, removing the sheet from her legs. Agent Hill tries to calm her down by making hushing sound and placing a firm grip on her wrist. "My roommate's not home. I have to get home. I have a dog. He needs to go outside. It's important. He'll start to worry," she slurs out in a panic, her heart beginning to race at the thought of being trapped at S.H.I.E.L.D. for hours in the med bay just waiting to be released. "You can't drive," Agent Hill protests.
"I'll drop her off," Steve chimes in, earning surprised looks from Agent Hill and Norris. Quinn's eyes light up at his offer. "You have to debrief with Fury, you just got back," Agent Hill shakes her head. Quinn's hope starts to fade with each shake of Agent Hill's head.
"I'll debrief with Fury as she waits on being released from the med wing. It shouldn't take longer than that. In the meantime Blair can stick with her just in case she tries to bail since she's drugged up," Steve insists, earning an eye roll from Blair as she grabs her magazine once more.
Agent Hill's lips press in a thin line as she gazes at him, finally letting out a sigh of defeat. "Agent Norris?" she calls out to Blair without turning her back. "Yeah, I'll stay," the agent hums out. "Debrief with Fury first, then come get her," she instructs him before leaving the room. "Get better, Cruise," she calls out over her shoulder.
Quinn slurs out a thank you before laying back down on the bed. Sitting up exhausted her. The world seemed to spin as she opened her eyes. "Hey," Steve greets her with a warm smile. Quinn gives him a groggy hum in response, her lids were starting to grow heavy. "Get some rest, I'll be back," he tells her, stroking her forearm in a comforting manner. Quinn gives him one last small smile before letting her eyes rest.
He smiles at how peaceful she looks, only to receive a searing pain coming from the back of his left leg. He turns around to see Blair smirking at him as she examines the space between him and Quinn, her leg crossing over the other after kicking him in the back of the knee. He gives her an incredulous look as she begins to chuckle. "I just found your Achilles heel,"
~ BOOK ONE: WINTER SOLDIER ~
LUCID DREAMS WERE taking over Quinn's mind. Dreams of being a superhero like Steve, fighting off aliens while he stood by helplessly on the sidelines. For once in her life, she felt empowered, in charge of what happened to her. It was going fine until an alien tackles her to the ground forcing her to scream out in surprise. It starts shaking her shoulders.
Suddenly her eyes pry themselves open, squinting at the newfound light that made its way into the med bay room. The room still is spinning from the last time she shut her eyes, everything still seems to be in a haze. She remembers Agent Hill saying something about Vicodin. She peers around the room, Agent Norris - Blair - is no longer in the room.
"Quinn," a soft voice calls out her name. She looks right in front of her go see Steve's large stature standing over her, his hands grasping on to her shoulders. He must've shaken her awake. She smiles sheepishly at him before her lids become heavy once again. She can feel herself starting to go limp from the pain meds again.
"Hey Stevie," she whispers out. He smiles at the new pet name she calls him, never thinking he'd hear her say it. "Are you ready to get out of here?" he asks her, causing her to groan as she rubs her eyes. "What time is it?" she slurs out, attempting to yawn but the gauze around her head makes it short, irritating her jaw.
She slides her feet off the side of the bed, in an attempt to stand up. "It's seventeen hundred," he answers, wrapping his arm around her waist to try to steady her as she stands. "Seventeen hundred?" she slurs out trying to sound outraged but it comes out sloppy. She staggers forward as she tries to take a step.
"I've been out for hours," she whispers to herself as she tries to steady herself. Once again, Steve grabs ahold of her waist to balance her. She looks up at him confused but doesn't question him as she admits she can't walk on her own without her legs trying to give out. He passes her her purse, as she looks up at him, she can see the softness in his features as she digs around for her keys. There was no way she could drive home.
She could feel a tingly sensation in the pit of her stomach as she feels the presence of his hand around her waist. She tosses him her keys, feeling woozy as she begins to stride forward with him. She almost hits her head as she tries to get into the car he leads her too. She feels completely exhausted after walking all the way out to the parking garage.
She passes him her keys as she starts to strap herself in. "You remember the address?" she questions, as she leans her head on the window of her car. "I think I can manage," he states as he places a blue baseball cap on his head. She snorts as if a baseball cap could disguise him from being Captain America.
The car rumbles to life, with it, she starts to lightly drift off only speaking when Steve has a question on which way to turn. The last question she remembers him asking is where to park to which she can barely mumble out before exhaustion hits her like a freight train and she dozes off. No matter how many times he tries to shake her awake her eyes stay glued shut as the lull of a soft snore echos in the silence.
Steve shuffles around in the car to find something that has her address on it. Of course, he had gotten her to the complex she lived in but he didn't know which apartment she was in. Finally, his hand comes across a sheet of paper with her name typed on it. An envelope from Dr. Meredith Woodruff M.D. from New York City, her address right smack dab in the middle.
Steve let's out a sigh of relief as he exits the car, wondering if that had been a previous bill from her mother's stay. It's tricky to get her out of the car, maneuvering her around to place her in his arms while shutting the door with his foot. He pleads with her to try to get her to stand up for a moment while he unlocks the front door to her building, she moans in protest as she stands, giving him very little opportunity to open the door before she slumps forward.
He takes her in his arms once again as he heads over to the elevator, tapping once on the button for the doors to squeak open. The ride up to the fourth floor where she lives in short, but in the meantime, he examines how she's curled up into his chest. The bruise on her cheek is starting to extend to her jaw in a dark purple mark.
He felt bad for her if he'd had known this is what Fury would do when he told him then he would've lied. He encourages her to stand once more as he tries to unlock the door to her apartment, this time she's a little more cooperative with him.
Once he swings the door open they're greeted by Rudolph who takes a running jump and knocks them both over in the hallway. Quinn shouts in pain as she presses on her jaw, the pain is blinding as she lays down on the ground of the hallway.
Steve is able to push Rudolph off of them before picking Quinn back up on her feet. Her legs give out as soon as she enters the loft, she starts to collapse to the ground but Steve is there, holding on to her arm for support. He grabs ahold of her waist, standing her up completely before dipping down and clutching on to the back of her knees, cradling her in his arms once again.
"Let's get you to bed," he coos, making his way down the hallway, with her approving of her sleeping. She directs him sleepily to her room, where he lays her down on her bed, before covering her up with the plush light blue comforter. Her eyes shut immediately as soon as her head hits the pillow. He's almost confident that she's asleep until he turns to leave and he feels her hand tugging on his.
"Stay..." she mumbles out in a croaky voice. "I don't want to be alone..." she breathes out, her eyes are barely open as they gaze up at him. Steve's lips press into a thin line as he debates whether or not this is her or the drugs talking. Yet, there's something in her eyes that spark something in him, it's fear hidden in her eyes. She's scared to be alone.
"All right," he whispers back to her, nodding his head. She gives him a lazy smile as she starts to doze off. Steve crosses over as he let's out a sigh of frustration, placing his hands on his hips while looking down at her. What was he supposed to do if she slept?
His fingers brushed through her hair absentmindedly, moving the loose strands of her ponytail out of her face. She smiles at the feeling in her sleep, causing heat to rush to his cheeks as he felt a small smile crawl across his face. He turned to observe the bedroom, clothes were thrown in a hamper sitting beside her dresser, it overflowed.
Pictures were placed on shelves that hung off of the walls, one of her as a kid with who she assumed to be her brother, another one of her with a grad cap and gown, along with various other photos. A degree adorns one of the shelves with a graduation date of 2008. He smiles as he looks at all of the things that made Quinn - Quinn.
There's a thumping that startles him a little, bringing him out of his curious state. He peers down to the golden retriever that had once chased him, leash sticking out of his mouth. Steve finally realizes that this is why she wanted to come home earlier. She had to take care of Rudolph, who, he assumed, hadn't been out all day.
The dog lets out a high pitched whine as he continues to stare up at Steve wagging his tail against the wooden floor making the thumping sound. He crouches down and pats Rudolph on the head as he takes the leash out of his mouth. "Let's go," he tells the dog as he hooks the leash to his collar, jingling Quinn's keys in his pocket to make sure he had a way back it, no telling if she'd get up if he buzzed the door.
Rudolph dances in circles as they make their way over to the front door, then he takes charge as soon as he's out in the hallway. They wait together patiently as the elevator doors squeak open, revealing an older woman with her tiny dog in her arms. She gives him a once over as they enter the elevator, his lips press into a firm line. "Evening," he greets, adjusting his hat. This was going to be awkward.