THE FADING FALLEN ● Bucky Barnes X OC ● 18+ ● ENGLISH [COMPLETE]

Chapter 26

She looked at each one and stuck with Bucky. Then she started crying. He thought for a moment his heart stopped. Everyone expected the worst, until a liberated smile appeared on Shuri's face among the tears.

"The doctors were able to stop the bleeding. She's out of danger and will be fine."

The tension and fear fell away from them. It was almost as if they could have heard it.

Natasha walked up to Shuri and gave her a soothing hug. Sam fell around Steve's neck, who couldn't help but close his eyes in relief, while Wanda buried herself in Vision's arms.

Only Bucky still sat transfixed. It took him a while to realize what had happened.

The long hoped-for redemption broke through his self-control. Arms still resting on his knees, he folded his hands as if in prayer and pressed his mouth against them.

Hidden behind his dark brown hair, tears streamed down his face.

∼⋄∼ ○❖○ ∽⋄∽

A regular beeping sound was the first thing she heard. Emilia tried to open her heavy eyelids to find the source of the noise.

Before her eyes could even adjust to the dark surroundings, she felt the throbbing pain in her stomach. Sharply, she sucked in the air between her clenched teeth so as not to let out a painful gasp.

The first thing she saw was the clock on the opposite wall. It showed shortly after two - whether it was day or night, she couldn't tell.

To the right she recognized the door and next to the bed a small table and the ECG machine that reflected her steady heartbeat.

The dim light came from the left side of the room. She looked over and froze in motion.

Diagonally across from her, in a stuffed chair, there was Bucky.

His jacket lay over the back of the second chair next to the small round table in the corner.

He had his vibranium arm propped on one of the backrests. His head lay in his palm. Emilia saw, despite the dim light, the even movement of his chest under the black T-shirt - he was asleep.

In his lap lay an open book. It seemed that he had fallen asleep while reading. She wasn't able to make out what it was.

For a moment longer she simply contemplated his peaceful face.

Until the heavy tiredness spread through her again. Actually, she just wanted to close her eyes for a few minutes.

Instead, she sank back into a deep dreamless sleep.

When she woke up a few hours later, the chair was empty. Only his jacket and the book were still there.

Emilia moved around and found that the intense pain had subsided. At some point while she slept, the ECG and IV were removed.

She was doing well.

Whatever anyone said about her powers, the best part was still her body's own healing ability, which was accelerated tenfold thanks to Mother Nature and the gamma ray accident.

A normal mortal would probably have been able to leave the bed only after two weeks. She was now standing in the hospital room after not even... yes how long had she actually been there?

"As soon as we let you out of sight, you're jumping around again." Natasha, who was just coming through the door, snapped Emilia out of her thoughts.

She turned a little too quickly and noticed the slight still uncomfortable pain, whereupon her facial expression contorted in pain.