Bloody Hands and Broken Minds Book 1

Part Three - Chapter 50

"I'll be back." I whisper as I stand from my seat beside Steve and head to the bathroom.

I lock the door behind me. Leaning my back against it, I take shaky breaths. Bucky's gonna be okay. He has to be. I sniffle and turn on the sink, splashing cold water in my face before using a towel to pad the droplets off. I let out a breath before walking back into the living room to the see Tony talking with Steve.

"Are there any updates?" I ask hopefully.

"How is he?" Steve asks.

"There was some internal bleeding but Bruce was able to clean that up nicely and we're now focusing on the lesser injuries." Tony explains.

"Are there any major concerns?"

"How long will it take for him to heal completely?"

"The serum in his veins will progress the healing process along faster but I'd say to be completely healed...maybe a little over a month. His left leg is shit but Bruce and I are doing everything we can to get the healing process going. He's pretty beat up, he needs a few stitches here and there, he's got a broken rib, and his lungs look a little black due to the smoke but we can try to clean that up and get it cleared."

"Thanks Tony." Steve nods.

"Has he woken up since he collapsed?" I ask.

Tony begins heading back.

"Tony?" I try.

"Hey," Tony says as he turns to face Steve again, "Please don't tell Eve about his condition until we get him more stable. I don't want to freak her out and trigger a panic attack."

Steve nods his agreement.

"I'm literally right here." I say in disbelief.

"I'll try to update you as often as I can." Tony adds before he leaves the room.

"Are you two screwing with me cause if so this isn't fucking funny."

Steve doesn't make any move to acknowledge me.

"Hello?" I wave a hand in Steve's face.

"Steve I swear to god if you don't answer me I'm gonna kick you in the balls." I threaten and a chuckle sounds behind me.

"Do you always resort to violence darling?"

My whole body tenses as I turn to face Loki. He's smirking at me while carelessly leaning against the wall across from me.

"What did you do?" I demand as I march up to him. "What did you do to him!" I shout and I move to hit him but my fist freezes midair.

"You can't hurt me." Loki chuckles.

"Oh, I can do a lot more than that." I sneer as Loki releases his hold on me.

"You can try but then who would save your precious soldier?" Loki says with a sly grin.

"Bucky doesn't need saving, Tony just said he's gonna be okay." I argue.

"My poor, clueless, naive little love. Your soldier is knocking on death's door, he's pounding on it."

I shake my head but doubt creeps into my mind. I twist on my heel and run for the lab. I burst into the lab and I could fall to my knees at the sight. Bucky lies on one of the medical beds and is hooked up to a dozen different machines. The number of wires attached to the machines and Bucky's body look like tiny snakes running across the floor. The amount of lights flashing and the insistent beeps coming from the numerous machines is overwhelming.

Bucky's eyes are closed and he looks almost peaceful. It's as if he's simply sleeping but the small tubes running across his face say different. A deep gash travels from the far corner of his eyebrow to the middle of his forehead and is dirtied with grit and blood. A mix of dirt and blood matts a few thick locks of hair to his forehead and his normally clean kept hair is in knots and painted with dust and gravel.