Misguided Ghosts {A Bucky Barnes fanfic}

Chapter Sixteen

I walked through was seemed to be a never ending grassy field, bright light surrounding me from every angle. I looked down at my long, flowing white dress that skimmed the soft grass. I was amused at how it flowed with every move I made.
"Rosalie," a soft voice called for me. I looked up to see my mother standing a few feet in front of me.
"Mom?" I asked, tears starting to form in my eyes.
I ran into her open arms to be enveloped in her warm embrace.
"I've missed you so much," I whispered.
"I've missed you too, my little Rose bud." I laughed through the tears that had escaped my eyes. I looked back up at her to study her face. Just the same as I remembered. The more I looked at her, the more I realized what was going on.
"Am I dead?" I asked quietly.
"Well that's for you to decide," my mother responded, taking my hand and walking with me through the field. "You are welcome to stay, but I really think you should go back."
"What? No I don't want to go back. I just got here, and I want to stay here with you," I protested.
I started to cry again, but the source of these tears weren't from happiness.
"Rose, there are people back there who you need to go back to. James...he needs you," she explained, her voice failing towards the end.
"Go to him. I'll be waiting here." She nodded towards the source of the light.
I reluctantly started walking towards it, looking back at her.
"I'm always with you," she spoke with a sad smile. I turned back towards the light and continued to walk towards it until it engulfed me completely.
***
My eyelids slowly fluttered open, but closed when the harsh light made my head hurt. I opened my eyes again, slower this time to adjust to the light. I blinked a few times to clear my vision. I was hooked up to various monitors and machines, one of them beeping with the beat of my heart, a reminder that I was still alive.
I noticed some sort of weight in my right hand, only to quickly realize it was another hand. I looked over to the heap of a body next to me, draped over the railing of the bed in a strange manner.
That can't be comfortable, I thought to myself.
Bucky's hair hung over his face as he slept. I reached over with my left hand to gently brush his hair back. He looked peaceful despite all he probably had to endure the past couple days. Has it been a couple days? How long was I out?
His eyes suddenly opened, revealing the mesmerizing blue of his irises. I smiled softly at him, and he sat up in the chair that was next to my bed.
"Rose, you're awake!" He exclaimed. He broke into a wide smile, and he brought my right hand to his lips to place a tender kiss on my knuckles.
"How long was I out?" I questioned, my voice surprising me at how raspy and broken it sounded.
"Three days," he responded. My eyebrows rose in shock.
"You lost a lot of blood. The doctors didn't know what to do because injecting just any type of blood wouldn't save you. We did a couple of tests, and it turned out that we had the same blood type because we were tested with the same type of chemicals," Bucky explained.
"Well thanks for giving me your blood," I stated, smiling.
I scooted over in the bed, giving Bucky enough room to lay down beside me. He climbed in, wrapping his mechanical arm around my shoulders while he still held my hand in his large flesh one.
"I thought I lost you again," he whispered in my hair before placing a kiss on the side of my head. What was going on? Bucky wasn't normally this affectionate. Had I missed something while I was out? Did they get the scepter? I can't really remember anything after I was carried away from Bucky after being shot.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You were shot twice," he explained, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Obviously. No I meant what happened with you? You seem different," I said, tilting my head up to look at him.
"Ro, my sweet flower, my gal, my sun and stars," he whispered as he gazed into my eyes lovingly. He was naming off all of his names for me.
"How do you..." I was too surprised to finish my sentence.
"After you were shot, I remembered. Everything about you, about us, even some things about myself," he clarified.
"Is that all it took? Well I should have been shot forever ago," I teased, causing him to chuckle.
I began to laugh as well, but a sharp pain in my stomach made me wince. We sat in silence for a while before I spoke.
"So where do we go from here?"
"What do you mean?" Bucky questioned.
"Well with us? Our relationship. Are we starting over?"
"Why don't we pick up where we left off."
"And where would that be?" I questioned, a smirk playing on my lips.
"I think I can remind you," he stated before pressing his lips to mine.
It had been too long since I've had a kiss that made me feel...weightless. I pulled away from Bucky's soft lips because of a pesky thing called oxygen, and leaned my forehead against his.
"When do I get out of here?" I whispered.
"Whenever they decide you've recovered," he replied causing me to groan.
"Will you stay?"
"They'll have to drag me out of here," he responded. I laughed, resulting in a groan when pain shot through me again.
"Don't laugh," he stated with a smile.
"Oh thank you for your words of wisdom," I said, sarcasm dripping from my words. A soft chuckle vibrated through his chest, making me smile to myself.
"Hey! Are those sunflowers!" I suddenly questioned, looking over Bucky's broad figure to the table beside us. He turned his head as well, then looked back at me with a lopsided smile that made my heart flutter.
"Yeah. They're your favorite if I remember correctly." My smile widened, and I kissed his jawline.
"Thanks Buck."
***
The next hour consisted of the two of us talking about random things that came to mind, visits from Tasha, Couslon, Bruce, Tony and Pepper who brought me brownies, Sam, and finally Steve. The three musketeers were together once again.
One of my nurses came in and told Steve and Bucky that visiting hours were over, and that they had to leave. Steve gave me a friendly pat on the knee before standing from his chair and walking out of the room. Bucky reluctantly stood from the bed, and looked down at me with a saddened expression.
"You'll be back tomorrow right?" I queried.
"I'll be back before you know it," he said, forcing a smile.
He leaned down to place a kiss on my temple, his lips lingering by my ear.
"Make sure the window is kept open tonight," he whispered before kissing me once more. I pleaded with my eyes for more information, but all he did was wink before letting go of my hand and walking out of the room.
"Miss Lake, it's is currently ten o'clock. I suggest you get some rest," the nurse said with a kind smile.
"Thank you. Oh one more thing, could you open the window? I'm a little heated."
"Oh yes of course." I watched her shuffle over to the window, and open it just a crack.
"Thank you again." She gave a nod before closing the door behind her.
***
I was too anxious for whatever Bucky had planned that I couldn't sleep. I turned on the tv and channel surfed for about ten minutes before settling on Conan.
My gaze kept drifting over to the window every so often, waiting for my late night visitor.
I finally gave up on watching tv because my focus was on the window. I turned it off, then snuggled under the thin sheets. I was in fact not heated, but quite the opposite. A chill ran through me as a cold gust of wind came from the wide open window. Wait, wide open? As my tired eyes tried to adjust, a cold hand pressed against my cheek. This normally would have started me if I didn't smell the all too familiar scent of soap and cedar wood.
"Thought I wouldn't come?" Bucky's voice ran through the darkness as he climbed into bed next to me.
"I knew you would come. I just didn't know when," I mumbled, snuggling into his warm chest.
"Won't you get in trouble when they find you in here?"
"No. They won't find me. From what I've watched over the past three days, they stop checking in by ten thirty. In the morning, they come in at around nine or so, then visiting hours start at eleven. I'll be out before nine, but back as soon as visiting hours open," he explained.
"You watched over me for three days?" I asked, a small grin playing on my lips.
"Of course. I watched from the roof of the building next door. I had to ensure your safety."
"You really are a charmer, Barnes."
"Only with you," he stated causing me to make a noise somewhere between a snort and a chuckle.
"That was cheesy," I pointed out.
"Yeah," he breathed. I looked up at him to see his eyelids starting to droop.
"Go to sleep," I mumbled against his neck before placing a soft kiss against his skin.
He finally let sleep overcome him, but not before he pulled me closer into his body (if it were even possible), and hugged me like a childhood teddy bear. Sleep wasn't hard to find myself being wrapped in the arms of my long lost lover.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I just realized that my chapters are getting shorter. I apologize. That being mentioned, would you guys rather have shorter chapters that I update more frequently, or longer and more detailed chapters that you will have to wait for? I can do either, but I want all of your inputs. Also, I feel like the relationship between Bose (Bucky and Rose hahaha) is somewhat rushed in this chapter, but I thought that if Bucky remembers her and everything about their relationship, why start over completely? Plus I needed to write some Bucky and Rose fluff. It's been killing me that I couldn't for the longest time! Let me know what y'all think, and what you'd like to see happen. Comment, vote, share.
Madie xx