What Matters {B.Barnes Daughter} ✔️

~Fifty-Eight: Disbelief~

"How's she doing?"

"Oh, I think she's fine. Loopy, but fine. Not acting like she's in pain."

Steve smirked. "Good. The doctor said kids handle these types of things better than adults."

"Oh, God, tell me about it. Remember when you got your wisdom teeth out, you were like 20? Talk about a drama queen," Bucky said, his tone playful.

"Oh, come on. The doctor said it himself, my immune system was weaker than an infants. No wonder it took me a month to heal."

Bucky laughed, clapping a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know, I know. Anyway, I'm gonna take this up to her. Doctor said she needs to keep drinking water."

Steve gave his friend a nod as he began bounding up the stairs, a large cup of water placed carefully in his right hand.

Lizzie's tonsillectomy had been scheduled for months, and the day had finally came. The eight year-old was nervous, of course, but once she got in the waiting room and settled, she began to calm down.

The surgery went beautifully, and afterwards Lizzie was almost too tired to move. She had been resting in her bedroom ever since she arrived home, and luckily the anesthesia hadn't yet worn off.

Bucky took quiet steps approaching the girl's door, not wanting to disturb her if she was sleeping. He nudged the door open carefully, and was surprised to find that her eyes were open, only barely.

She was looking at the TV, but her eyes shifted to the door when she saw it had been opened. A shy smile appeared on her face when she saw Bucky standing in her doorway. The assassin smiled in return.

"Hey, doll. How ya feeling?" he asked, stepping closer to the girl's bed.

She gave him a wobbly thumb's up, her eyes wracked with exhaustion from the medicine. Bucky smirked.

"Good. I brought you some water, you need to keep drinking it, and stay hydrated, alright?"

The girl gave a drowsy nod, and took the cup carefully in two hands. She drew in a long sip, but Bucky didn't fail to notice how the girl winced harshly as she swallowed.

Bucky let out a dismal hum.. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

The girl nodded, lying back down on the bed and resting her eyes.

"Mm. I'm sorry, Liz. You can have some more medicine in a bit. For now, just try and rest. I'll come and check on you in a little while, okay?"

She gave another quick nod, obviously on the verge of succumbing to her exhaustion.

Bucky softly smiled at the girl, and silently turned to exit the room.

Before he could reach the door, he heard a soft, muffled voice pierce through the silence.

"Thanks, Dad..."

Bucky froze. He knew that Lizzie was heavily sedated, and probably didn't mean what she said... but she still had called him Dad.