Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Ten

"Hey, Y/n! Are you in here?" Bucky calls as he pokes his head into the hospital tent.

"Just a second, Buck," I say as I finish stitching up the arm of the soldier in front of me and wrapping the wound in gauze. I send him out and turn to my friend as I sterilize my workstation and tools. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we're heading out again. An enemy force has been sent to Azzano and we've been given orders to defend the city."

I stop what I'm doing and look up at him, my breath catching in my throat. Although he and the rest of the soldiers have filtered in and out of camp for the last two months, watching him leave, knowing that he might not come back, doesn't get any easier.

"Okay," I finally choke out. "Please be careful."

"Hey, it'll be okay," he says soothingly as he wipes a smear of blood from my cheek, his hand lingering a second too long, before pulling me in for a hug. I wrap my arms around him tightly. "I'll be back in a few days."

He pulls away and I watch him leave the tent to join the rest of the troops. As I tend to my next patient, my chest feels heavy, and my lunch sits in my stomach like a rock. Something doesn't feel right this time.

Days pass by and there is no word of the troops. I busy myself in my work, trying not to worry, but failing. I fumble through my daily tasks, too distracted by my thoughts to focus.

What could have happened to them? I ask myself. What if they don't come back?

Without warning, I begin to panic, and I drop the suture I'm holding as I run from the hospital tent. I weave my way through camp, blinded by my thoughts, and soon find myself dropping onto my cot, putting my head in my hands as I try to calm down. My bunkmates quickly join me, having seen me run from the hospital.

"Y/n, honey, are you alright?" Georgia asks, sitting next to me as Marie and Evelyn remain standing. "What's going on?"

"You were right, Georgia," I reply, turning to her as tears form in my eyes. "I have feelings for him. What if he doesn't come back? I should have said something to him before!"

"Hey, hey," Marie comforts as she crouches in front of me, wiping the tears from my face. "There will be no crying today."

"Bucky will make it back, you'll see," Evelyn adds as she sits on my other side and wraps her thin arms around my shoulders.

My friends sit with me as I calm down and, when I do, we make our way back to the hospital tent.

"Hey!" someone shouts outside the hospital a few days later. "They're back!"

My head snaps up from my workstation and I feel a sense of relief as I scramble from the tent. Bucky's back.

However, that relief quickly turns to dread as I join the others to watch the soldiers march into camp. There are far too few of them. Colonel Phillips sent at least two hundred men to fight Schmidt's army, but there can't be more than fifty of them returning. Feeling the panic taking over, I run into the crowd.

"Bucky?!" I call out, frantically turning to scan every face looking for my friend. "BUCKY?!"

He isn't here. The world begins to close in around me and I suddenly can't breathe. Where is he? What happened out there? Bucky could be dead for all I know. I can't lose him, he's all I have left. I'm in love him. I didn't realize it before, but I do now. I've always loved him.

"What happened?!" I shout, grabbing a nearby soldier.

"We were outmatched," he blurts, startled by my confrontation. He struggles to free himself from my grip. "They had weapons I've never seen before."

"What happened to the rest?" I demand. "What happened?!"

"Y/n," Georgia says as she appears at my side with Marie and Evelyn.

"Georgia, take her back to the bunk," Evelyn orders, taking charge like she always does during a crisis. "Marie and I will take care of the wounded and meet you later."

Georgia nods and pries my hands from the soldier before leading me back to our tent. We sit on my cot in silence as I stare blankly at the ground, my head swimming with thoughts.

"I can't lose him," I breathe out as I begin to cry. "I simply can't..."

"I know, honey," Georgia replies as she wraps her arms around my shoulders. "I know."