FROSTBITE | S. Rogers/B. Barnes (FINISHED)

Ice Blue

"Alright," The nurse sighed, "Five minutes. And I'll be waiting right behind this door, Mr. Rogers. No funny business."

Janie frowned. She didn't know anyone by that name, or at least not as far as she could remember. The heart rate monitor involuntarily sped up its constant beeping and she silently cursed the damn thing. If she couldn't keep her heart rate under control, the place would be flooded with doctors and nurses in no time to check on her.

The door to her private room opened up slowly and immediately, Janie could sense the presence of another person inside with her. She could hear long, steady breaths and silent footsteps sliding across the floor toward her bed. The crackling of plastic spiked her curiosity and she had to fight to keep her eyes closed.

Janie took a deep whiff and was immediately hit by the smell of a man's cologne beside her bed. It prickled her senses and made her insides tingle in a pleasant way. More crackling of plastic, followed by the intense smell of roses.

She peeked up through her eyelashes. The man stood with his back turned to her, doing something with the table beside her bed. She couldn't see his face, but from what she could tell, he was very tall and broad. He wore a basic white t-shirt and jeans, no jacket. The definition of his muscles peeked through the back of his shirt and his shoulders rose and fell steadily in time to his breathing.

A sudden coughing fit rose in the back of Janie's throat, sending off all alarm bells inside her chest. She could feel it, itching near her tonsils from a lack of water and while she tried her hardest to keep it down, the terrible scratch only grew more persistent. She tried to hold her breath, but it was no use.

The man spun on his heel when the young woman began to cough relentlessly, her eyes wide open and darting around the room. 

Steve didn't expect her to be awake. It was getting close to 8 p.m. and he'd been doing some running around the city when he ran passed a small flower stand near central park. He wasn't sure why exactly he'd decided to buy them for the girl he'd saved or why he thought she would appreciate them in her current state of unconsciousness, but part of him needed to find out how she was doing.

Steve saved people all the time. Most of the time, they didn't even know it. He barely ever got to check up on them after the fact. The man was simply too busy. There were always new threats looming, and more people to save. Being a super soldier did not grant him very much time off. 

He'd planned to drop the flowers off in her room and get out, not to be standing by her bed with her fully aware of his presence. She'd been asleep for over four days now - the doctors thought it was simply her body trying to heal from the inside out - and nobody knew how long it would be before she'd wake up or what state she would be in once she did.

Steve ran to the adjacent bathroom to grab a cup of water from the fountain. The liquid spilled over his hand and splashed onto the linoleum floor while he clumsily sped back toward the bed.  Pull yourself together Steve, he thought to himself.

Janie gratefully took the plastic cup from his hand and began to sip it slowly, making sure not to choke on it or upset her stomach. She still didn't dare to look at the man, afraid of making eye contact with the stranger in her room. She felt vulnerable, exposed, and most of all, very weak.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am," he apologized, "I didn't mean to scare you."

She put down the plastic cup after drinking the whole thing and took a deep breath to steady herself. She hoped looking at the stranger beside her would help her remember who he was, but was disappointed when the neurons in her brain failed to lay down a connection between his voice and his face, and where she knew him from. 

Her face turned upwards to meet his. Blue eyes bore a tormented expression that was only confirmed by a deep crease between his eyebrows. Steve's lips were pursed in a thin line and he bit the inside of his cheek, afraid of what she might say or do. It was a bad idea to come here, he thought suddenly. This was why he didn't check up on victims post-mission. The awkward tension in the room made his skin crawl. 

What did he think was going to happen? Did he expect her to fly into his arms and shower him with compliments and thanks for saving her life? Did he expect her to burst out in tears in front of him? He didn't know. All he knew was the tugging at his heartstrings and the headache lurking at the base of his skull. He noticed his palms were sweaty and his mouth dry and instantly wished he'd taken some water for himself too.

"You didn't scare me," Janie whispered, "I heard you outside. You weren't exactly whispering out there."

Steve inhaled sharply and shifted from one foot to the other. 

"I uh," He rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry about that. She wouldn't let me in..."

"So you lied?"

Janie hated how raspy and dry her voice was after not talking for so long, but at least she could make herself be heard again. 

"I don't usually lie to get what I want," Steve admitted, "It's not something I take pride in doing."

"Isn't that the one thing pretty much all men say while they lie and cheat their way through life?" Janie huffed.

"I'm not really like most men," Steve said.

"That's the second thing they say," Janie stated, "Especially to their wives."

"I don't have a wife, ma'am," he replied.

Janie couldn't tell for sure if he was lying or not, but the slightly pink tint to his cheeks suggested he was telling the truth.

"Are you a cop?" She asked, her eyes narrowed and arms crossed, "I was going to go with reporter, judging by the sneaky way you lied to get in here, but you're too big to be a reporter. I figured those had to be skinny so they could squeeze their way into sticky situations unnoticed. You look more like a fireman, but I can't think of a reason why a fireman would be standing in my hospital room at nearly 8 pm on a... I don't know what day it is."

"Tuesday," Steve quickly replied with a small smile, " and I'm not any of those things."

"Mechanic? Plumber? A little late to be fixing pipes, don't you think? Unless you're here to fix my pipes. Mine are a bit rusty."

She proved her point with a small cough.

Steve blushed immediately, before he realized she meant her vocal cords. He mentally slapped himself silly.

A knock on the door, followed by the nurse letting Steve know it was time to leave interrupted their conversation. 

"Not a plumber either, ma'am," Steve walked towards the door, "Coming!"

"Wait," Janie said, "Aren't you going to tell me?"

"How about," Steve started, "you figure it out and tell me?"

"So you plan on coming back." 

It was a statement, not a question. She didn't quite know how to feel about it.

He offered a bright smile, not so awkward anymore, before walking towards the door. Just as his hand grasped the handle, Janie spoke up, "Thanks for the flowers."