protected || natasha romanoff [DISCONTINUED]

its me, i'm the horse in the hospital

i wake up in a hospital bed. maybe if i can get back to russia, i'll just be punished and then my life can get back to normal. i'm tied down to the bed. i roll my eyes and yank my IV out with my teeth. i wonder if that'll alert someone. i glance around, and my suit is gone. it's not like i can wander around outside in a hospital gown.

a doctor opens the door- he's by himself. either they don't think i can do anything, or he can fend for himself. the doctor doesn't say anything to me, but gets right to work putting the IV back in. i twist around as much as i can and elbow him in the gut. he stumbles back a little- come on, i didn't hit him that hard- and an agent comes in. he rushes over to him and he shakes his head.

"just tighten her up and sedate her again," he says with a sigh.

the agent nods and turns away from me. i can't see what he's doing in that corner of the room, but when he turns back, he has a needle full of clear liquid. he steps back over to me and rolls up my sleeve. i turn my head to bite his hand, but all that does is make him push the needle in faster.

-

i wake up to the agent's reassuring comment, "if she bites me again, i quit."

i open my eyes and beam at him. he breaks off the eye contact first when the doctor from before motions him over. i can only hear snippets of their conversation, but it doesn't sound good.

"alright, natalia," the doctor says. is he a nurse? a male nurse? "we just have a surgery to do. that bullet shattered a bone in your leg pretty badly, so we're just going to put a couple of rods in."

"you don't have to patronize me," i say.

he just sighs and starts preparing something. i've never had a surgery under anesthetic before. granted, i've never had rods put in my leg, but i also don't have a uterus.

and then i'm asleep again.

-

i wake up in a different room. there are more wires attached to me now, but i'm not tied down. i force myself out of bed and onto my feet, even though it hurts. i grit my teeth as i try to step softly. i start ripping off cords, knowing someone will come. i rush over to the table they seemed to be getting the sedatives from, and fill a needle with a similar looking liquid.
right on time, may pokes her head in.

"i have nothing against you," i tell her before pushing the needle into her arm. she tries to fight it, but is soon asleep. i lift her into my hospital bed and, before closing the door behind me, grabbing one more needle full of the liquid. apparently agent may has told everyone she could handle me, because the hall is deserted. carter doesn't seem like someone who would punish someone by breaking their hands, so the older lady should be okay.

i creep through the halls until i find a laundry bin. i dig around and pull out a black t-shirt and cargo pants. i duck into a washroom to pull the clothes on. not that i have any shame, i'd just rather not be interrogated naked.

"i haven't heard from agent may yet," i hear a familiar british accent say just as i'm about to walk out, "if there's a problem, i don't care what you have to do to romanova."

i guess she doesn't care about me. oh well. it's not like i'm used to being told the truth, i think, but it hurts.

as soon as i hear the agents walk past me, i slip back out into the hall. fortunately for me, whatever wing of the hospital i'm in is detached from the rest of the building. i barely have to sneak past anyone. this, however, did not satisfy my urge to beat someone up. i just start walking in a direction i think new york city is in.

i've been walking for about an hour, and i've started sweating a bit in the heat, when someone drives up next to me. not an agent, i notice. his car is looking a little worse for wear, and there's a collection of old wrappers in the cupholders. he rolls down his window. he's in desperate need of a shave, too.

"hey, hun, you need a ride?" he asks.

only everything can go wrong here, so of course i agree. i smile and open the passenger door, sitting down next to him. "thanks."

"what's a pretty girl like you doing out here?" he asks, starting the car again.

i buckle myself in and smile flirtatiously. "it's long story. what're you doing in new york?"

"i'm just comin' back from a trip," he tells me.

"oh, fun," i say cheerfully, bracing myself just in case.

"you know, you can stay at my place if you'd like," he continues, his attention barely on the road.

"watch out," i say as he nearly swerves into the other lane- fortunately there aren't any other cars. this was a terrible idea.

he puts one hand on my thigh. "don't worry, hun."

alright, it's not like he has any information i need. i slam his head into the dash, unbuckle his seatbelt, and push him out the door. i climb into the driver's seat and hide my smile.

but what do i do now?