"Can I take Daisy out after breakfast?" Peter asked as everyone was finishing. You were already feeling tired from the antibiotics.
"That would help a lot, Peter, thank you" you gave a wan smile, and gave a small yawn.
"I'll go with you, I want to see if she does that new trick we taught her" Pietro grinned.
"A new trick?" you asked curiously.
"We have it so she dances in a circle when she's waiting for us to throw the ball" Peter smiled. "It's cute"
"She must really like you boys" you smiled happily.
"I need to go pack up for the week, can I walk you back to your room?" Clint asked gently seeing that you were already tired.
"Sure, I'd appreciate that" you gave another smile and tried standing up but your legs were hurting so you wobbled a bit.
"That will stop soon, I'll be doing my tests in your room" Doctor Cho noticed that you braced yourself on the table.
"I got your plate doll" Bucky gave a small smile.
"Thank you" you sighed, and gave him a weak smile grabbing the IV pole. Clint came over and offered his arm for you to hold onto and you slowly made your way back towards your bedroom. You had to stop a few times, afraid your legs would give out, but Clint waited patiently.
"Its going to get better, you just need to let the doc take care of you" Clint whispered. "I've gotten hurt on a lot of missions, it takes time"
"Its frustrating" you admitted. "I want nothing more than to go for a run, but I can barely make it to the dining room"
"It'll get better, let the team take care of you for now. They weren't kidding when they said we normally take down bases that size as a team. It's impressive you did it on your own. I told Laura about it, just a fair warning, she's sending me back with a care package until you're back on your feet" Clint gave you a smile.
"She doesn't have to do that" you flushed a bit.
"She knows how stir crazy I went when I was benched too. Just go with it, my wife is the sweetest person in the world" he spoke proudly. "You'll meet her and the kids someday. You'll see" he promised. He led you into your bedroom and helped you get up on the bed and tucked you in.
"Thank you Clint" you gave a tired smile.
"Anytime Newbie" he chuckled as you curled up in a ball. Alpine slipped in your door and came running in to lay on your hip. He walked quietly out the door, leaving it open just a fraction the way you liked it.
Doctor Cho woke you up when she came in for a blood sample and to take your vitals. You groaned already feeling like a pin cushion. She gave a small smile, and put the blankets back over you when she was done. Daisy was curled up in the small of your back snoring softly, and you knew the boys had gotten her to play for at least a good while. She seemed to relaxed.
"What's the bloodwork going to show?" you asked curiously.
"How the infection is coming. I'm starting to worry I might have missed some shrapnel based on how your body has been reacting" she admitted.
"You're pretty thorough, I'm not worried" you gave a tired smile, and she gave you a concerned look.
"Eight bullets, mistakes can be made" she sat down beside you. "You've changed a lot since you worked at Shield" she looked at you seriously. "It's been a good change. You don't seem to be forcing a smile all the time, it seems more genuine. You also seem a lot more relaxed"
"Its hard not to be relaxed around the team" you gave a shy smile. "They go out of their way for me I find. And they take such great care of Daisy while I'm out of my ass" you admitted.
"I think they know Daisy is important to you, and it's a way to get you to open up" she tapped your hip. "I'm just relieved you seem so much happier now" she stood up. "I'm going to test your blood samples, and then I'll be back. I might need a urine sample too"
"I hate getting those" you scrunched your nose.
"Its necessary" she shrugged. "Actually, before you go back to sleep lets get one from you" she pulled a cup with a lid from her pocket and you grimaced before standing up slowly. Alpine went over to snuggle with Daisy and Doctor Cho helped you get to the bathroom and waited outside the door while you did your business. You came out and handed her the cup wrapped in toilet paper and she smirked before helping you back to bed. You stopped long enough to grab a book and snuggled back in with Daisy and Alpine.
You dreamt of being inside the base again, only this time the bullet didn't hit your collarbone, it hit you much lower and you woke up with a scream and scrambled off the bed. You felt something rip out of your arm, and thought it was another knife wound and you moved to the corner of the bedroom trying to get your bearings. Daisy was at your face licking it and Alpine came over purring loudly trying to get up on your shoulder but you couldn't stop screaming. You started having flashbacks of all the times you got hit with knives or bullets inside of the base, of all the people that you froze and smashed. The buses of children that you didn't save. You heard sounds in your bedroom and Daisy growling and barking but you were too far gone. You felt someone pick you up and holding you closely and you could smell leather and pine and started to come around again. Daisy was going crazy barking and growling and you heard a deep voice grunt beside your ear.
"Come on girl, come back" you heard Sam's voice.
"You're safe" you heard Bucky's voice kept whispering over and over in your ear.
"I've got Daisy, she's not happy about it" Steve's voice came through. You stopped screaming and felt yourself still hyperventilating.
"Come back to me doll, you're safe" you heard Bucky whisper in your ear. You hiccupped and buried your head in the crook of his neck trying to take in his scent. "That's my girl. Breathe slowly" he coaxed you and you gave a small nod. You felt him rocking you slightly and you started to relax.
"Buck, I don't know how much longer I can keep Daisy from trying to attack you again" Steve warned.
"She's going to have to get used to it. I'm here to take care of her too now" Bucky's voice vibrated through your whole body, and you flushed a bit.
"I'm okay" you finally squeaked out.
"Another nightmare?" Bucky asked gently, and you could only nod. "Was it in the base, or when you were a kid?"
"Base" you whispered.
"I've got you" he kissed your forehead and sat on the side of the bed with you still in his lap. You looked up to see Steve letting go of Daisy who launched herself at you and started licking your face again.
"Let me check your leg" Steve came over and lifted Bucky's pant leg. "She didn't break the skin" he assessed.
"Did Daisy bite you?" you looked at Bucky worriedly.
"She was protecting you, I don't blame her" Bucky shrugged. "But I wanted to protect you too"
"I'm going to go get Cho, she ripped the IV out" Sam walked out. You looked down and saw there was blood running down your arm and, on the floor, and scrunched your nose.
"Someone will come in and clean it up, don't worry" Steve gave a small smile.
"I should clean it" you shook your head, still holding on close to Bucky.
"Just let us take care of you Y/N" Steve chuckled.
Sam came back in a few minutes later with Doctor Cho while Bucky was still holding you close and rocking you slightly. You found it soothing.
"Nightmare?" Doctor Cho came over with a knowing look. Daisy gave a small growl, but you gave her a kiss between the ears and shushed her. "I thought the meds were stopping the nightmares, you haven't had one in a while. I remember I used to hear your screams even in my dormitory" she took your arm and started cleaning it before putting a large band-aid over the wound.
"It wasn't the meds" you flushed a bright red, and felt Bucky smirk as he kissed you on the forehead again. "I just felt safe" you continued looking up at Bucky's smiling face for a moment, and he leaned down and kissed you gently on the lips.
"It's good you've been feeling safer" she decided to let the intimate exchange go. "We are going to have to go with the other arm this time. The bloodwork isn't looking too good, we are going to have to do some x-rays. Thankfully, Bruce and Tony have that here so we don't have to leave the compound. I think I missed some shrapnel. If that's the case, then we will do the surgery in the lab, put you back in the regeneration machine and you should be healing a lot quicker this time around" she came over and started prepping your arm, this time going to put the needle higher up on the other arm. You could still see bruising from the other IV's that you had ripped out previously showing on your skin. You pouted slightly as she taped it on a bit thicker this time. Doctor Cho put the antibiotics bag back on again and gave you a sad smile.
"I'll carry you to lunch doll" Bucky announced quickly. "Its almost lunch time"
"I can walk" you started to argue.
"Let me take care of my dame" Bucky shook his head.
"I'll bring the IV" Sam offered as Bucky stood up and you wrapped your arms around his neck. Sam came over to grab the IV pole while Steve carried Daisy. Alpine crawled up Bucky's side, and perched himself on his shoulder giving a tiny mew. Doctor Cho took care of the door as they took you to lunch.
Lunch ended up being pizza again, and you could barely eat two slices. You saw everyone was feeding Daisy leftovers. Tony kept looking at you worriedly, along with Bruce once Doctor Cho gave her update thinking she missed some shrapnel. They agreed that you needed to be checked as quickly as possible, and would be headed to do that right after lunch.
"That would account for her still having such a massive infection" Bruce finally whispered to Nat. "We got to get it out of her"
"I have a magnet we can use to catch it as we pull it out" Tony offered.
"I'll need to call some of my staff over if my suspicions are right, just a warning. She might have to sit out supper" Doctor Cho warned.
"Until she's better, she automatically has a pass" Steve spoke up for both himself and Tony, and Tony nodded. "We were surprised that she's made it to so many meals to be honest"
"I have to try" you whispered.
"Lets see if we can get you a little better a little faster" Doctor Cho stood up and took your plate for you. Bucky automatically followed putting his plate away as well. He reached down and picked you up and you wrapped your arms around his neck again. Bruce got up and followed, taking the IV pole for you while you were taken to the lab. Daisy howled a bit, but Steve picked her up and gave her a small cuddle. She didn't like you were being separated from her so much.
"I need you to change into a hospital gown" Doctor Cho announced as Bucky set you on the table. You winced, not sure you had the energy to do that on your own.
"Do you need help?" Bucky asked quickly.
"Nobody wants to see me naked" you shook your head.
"Agree to disagree" he chuckled with a flush on his cheeks. He gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. "I wouldn't need so many cold showers" he whispered in your ear.
"I can do this" you decided on your own, your face was completely red. Doctor Cho handed you a hospital gown and you went into the changing room, being careful of the IV and changed out your clothes, glad you had gone with your powder blue lace panties instead of a thong again. You took off your bra and took a minute to rest before putting the hospital gown on. When you came out you flushed seeing how Bucky was studying you, and you walked over slowly and he helped pick you up by the hips putting you back on the table.
"I'm going to do a full body x-ray considering how many places you were hit, you'll need to stand for it" she warned you.
"I just need a minute to get my strength up" you nodded.
"It's going to take a while, so don't worry if you need breaks" she added.
"You don't need to stay Bucky" you looked at him, and touched his cheek.
"I need ta know" he shook his head.
"I'll make sure you're the first to know" you promised him, and took his hand giving his palm a kiss.
"Send someone to come get me when you're done" he nodded, leaning down to give you a leisurely kiss on the lips, staying for a few moments longer than necessary. Bruce cleared his throat after a moment, obviously not used to seeing Bucky be so affectionate. Doctor Cho just tried to hide a smile.
"I'll come let you know" Bruce promised, and Bucky nodded before giving you another kiss on the cheek before leaving slowly, looking back to make sure you weren't going to change your mind.
"Okay, lets do this" you slipped off the table, and made your way over to the x-ray machine. You saw them start to load it up, and went into a separate room, repeating the process several times. By the time they were done, you were exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to lay down for a while. You couldn't get over how tired you were all the time. You had a low immune system, but you had never felt so sick in your whole life except when you were a child. Doctor Cho helped you get up on the table, and you laid down on it, on your side and she put a blanket over you. Bruce took the x-ray's to Tony to help get them processed faster.
When you woke up again, they were looking at a wall full of x-rays, and you could see fragments of what looked like white spots in several spots.
"What's that?" you asked softly.
"Shrapnel. I had been too focused on making sure there was no internal bleeding, and getting out the worst of it, I missed some. We have to do surgery, or else the infections not going to go away. These are literally making you sick, and it explains why you are still in pain even after being in the regeneration machine a few times. I'm calling my team in" Doctor Cho grabbed her phone while Bruce pulled up a chair beside you and looked at you worriedly.
"I have my first therapy session tonight" you bit your bottom lip.
"That's going to depend on if you are out of the regeneration machine in time or not. Are you hungry or thirsty?" he asked gently.
"Not hungry, a little thirsty" you admitted. "How long will the surgery take?" you looked at him, hoping for an honest answer.
"To be honest, you probably don't have to worry about therapy tonight. There's a lot there, which explains a lot. Its going to take a while. I'll get it re-scheduled for tomorrow, and keep the Monday appointments going forward" he gave a small smile. "You'll like Doctor Joy, she's a good therapist. We all talk to her"
"What if she doesn't like me?" you asked worriedly.
"Its pretty hard not to like you once you let people get to know you" Bruce smirked. "When you are feeling good, you're like a little bit of sunshine in the compound. Between you and Daisy, it's been one of the better additions we've had"
"That means a lot Bruce" you felt your eyes fill a little with tears, he was so sweet.
"I'm going to fill in Bucky that you are headed for surgery as soon as the team gets here" he got up and held your hand for a moment. "Tony already knows, he saw the x-rays and is bringing in some of his equipment for them to use so it's a little easier, and we make sure everything is taken care of"
"Make sure that Bucky doesn't miss his VA meeting" you asked gently. "Please"
"Sam and Steve won't let him. He has a lot he still needs to get off of his chest, and his recovery has been doing a lot better lately" Bruce ruffled your hair and got up giving a small smile before walking out. You closed your eyes again, taking a small nap while waiting for the team to arrive.
When you woke up again, it was to Doctor Cho telling you to go take off your panties, since there was going to be incisions around your hip and leg areas. You flushed, and pushed yourself off of the table seeing the room full of people, and it looked like the room was turned into an operating room instead. You saw the anesthesiologist waiting with a gas mask for you and nurses were all standing around the room. You saw Tony was finishing setting up what looked like a large metal disk that you assumed was the magnet he mentioned earlier. You shyly went past everyone slowly and went to the changing room to take off your panties before putting on the paper gown they gave you to wear instead. You came back out and got back up on the table self-consciously.
"You need to lay back" Doctor Cho instructed and you nodded laying back slowly. You saw one of the nurses changed the IV bags since they were empty and put in new ones. They put the mask on your face and asked you to start counting back from ten. The last thing you saw was Tony looking down at you worriedly before you passed out.