| Warning: Naked Time |
"Oh man, what happened?" Steve asked, making his most intense face. He looked back and forth between you and Natasha. You barely had the energy to move to answer him but you knew he was actually talking to Natasha.
"Don't look at me, look at Tony," she said, shooting Tony a glare.
Still in his Iron Man gear, Tony bent down to lay you gently on the table in the medical room. You were wrapped in a couple of silver heat reflective emergency blankets, shivering and half out of it. "In my defense..." Tony said, stalling to think for a second, "...yeah, I got nothing."
"You were in charge, Natasha," Steve said, stepping closer to you to look you over.
"Yeah, well, my comm got knocked out," she said.
At that statement, Steve seemed to ease up on her. "Okay, so what happened?" he asked more calmly.
"We ran into a blizzard, it blew our hiding spots. Tony had her on lookout duty while we were inside. Strucker's thug sent a weather altering mutant outside after her. She got whipped around in the wind and snow and then, he buried her in a snow pile," Natasha said, biting her lip when she'd finished.
You tried to lift your head, just to see if you could, but it thunked back on the hard table.
Steve jumped into action. "Tony, get the doc on a call, Nat - more blankets and a hot water bottle..." he trailed off, looking down at you. "We'll get you fixed up." The other two were off already as he opened the blanket over your chest to pull your hands out. He looked at your red fingertips then covered you back up. At the bottom of the table, he pulled your boots off to check your toes. As he worked on checking you out, he talked to you, even though you didn't talk back. "Your digits look like they're okay... I get called to Washington D.C. for one damn day and this happens..."
"It's no one's fault," your voice creaked out. You closed your eyes tight as Tony wheeled a cart with a computer monitor over next to you. Steve covered you with another blanket and Natasha slipped a hot water bottle under your neck. Your head snapped upwards when you felt someone pick up your bare feet and hold them against their stomach. "Steve, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to warm your feet up, (Y/N)," he looked at you like he couldn't understand why you would question what he was doing. Even though your feet were cold, they were still ticklish. "This is how my mom used to warm me up in the winter after I walked home from school..." he said, pushing his sleeves up and sticking your feet up under his shirt, against his bare skin. He let out a little gasp at your cold feet against his stomach, but on your side, it felt so much better. "Put your hands under your arms," he said.
The video conference consultation with the doctor was fairly quick and painless, and mostly just a rehash of what happened with a check of your vitals.
Tony had left but came back with two heat lamps from his lab and he set them up on on both sides of the table.
Steve had sent Tony and Natasha both away to get themselves cleaned up and changed. "You're stuck with me," he grinned at you, pulling up a chair.
"You don't have to stay, Steve," you said. You were finally starting to feel better.
"I don't mind... unless you want me to go?" he said.
"I don't mind. How long am I stuck here?" you said, you could feel yourself starting to get antsy.
"That's up to you. If you start feeling better, I think you'll know when it's time." He studied your face. "Are you tired?"
"Just a little," you said, giving him a smile. "You're like the best big brother."
"Don't you actually have an older brother?" he asked, laughing.
"I do... you're actually nicer than he is," you laughed. After a few seconds of silence, you said, "I think I'm about cooked through. I'm starting to sweat."
"Okay, I think it's been at least half an hour" he said, getting up out of the chair and stepping behind you. "Sit up nice and slow." He turned off the heat lamps and moved the blanket so it was around your shoulders while you moved your legs over the side of the table. "You think you can walk?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so... can you hand me my boots?" you said. He handed you the boots and you took the socks out, they were wet and cold so you skipped them and just put the boots straight on your bare feet.
Steve walked you to your room very slowly. "You should take a hot bath, that would be good for you," he said.
"I'm not so much for sitting in a bathtub alone... too quiet and lonely," you said.
"Well I'm right next door, all you have to do is knock on the wall and I could probably yell through the wall." He was joking around now.
You laughed and then you looked at him straight-faced. "Wait, can you hear me in there?"
Steve froze and his cheeks got pink. "I... I can hear you singing in the shower a little bit, but that's it."
"Oh, Steve, you should've seen your face!" you laughed. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." You patted him on the arm. "I didn't realize I was so loud in the shower, I'll keep it down." You couldn't stop smiling at him now.
"No," he looked at you, "don't stop singing... I kind of like it." He looked ever so slightly like he was feeling bashful and you'd never quite seen that particular face before. It was cute, actually.
"Well, I probably won't be singing tonight," you said, grinning at him. "Thanks for everything, Steve." You turned to go into your room.
"If you need anything..." he said, pointing to his room.
"I promise," you held up your crossed fingers. "Thanks."
***
In the middle of the night, you woke up to pain. Your head felt stuffy and ached like it was going to split open, your ears were causing you agonizing pain, your throat hurt and you had a cough. You went to the medicine cabinet to take decongestant and some cough medicine and then propped yourself up in bed. You already knew you were going to have to see a doctor in the morning. It was a mostly sleepless night after that, which is why sometime after 6:00, you threw in the towel on sleeping and just decided to get up and shower. Before you got in the shower, you sent Natasha a text: "I know it's early but could you take me to the doctor's this morning?"
Stepping into the hot water was relaxing, at least. You took your time since you knew it would be awhile before Natasha woke up and saw your text. After washing your hair and shaving, you started to see blackness seep into your vision and your ears became even harder to hear out of. You turned off the water and reached out for your towel.
BANG!
You opened your eyes slightly and then closed them again.
***
After that, it was bits and pieces that you remembered. You remembered lying on the floor and seeing the ceiling in your bathroom, trying to figure out where you were. You remembered seeing Steve's face very close to yours.
Now you were laying on your bed with Natasha sitting next to you and Steve pacing the room. He looked at you, and realizing you seemed fully coherent, he knelt down on the floor next to your bed. "Hey," he said softly, he seemed relieved, "you gave us a good scare."
You became aware that you had wet hair stuck to your neck and it was then that you remembered having taken a shower. You reached down to feel a blanket and sighed thankfully that you weren't lying there on full display. You looked into Steve's concerned face and he suddenly looked like an angel.
"I passed out, didn't I?" you said, followed by a cough. Your voice sounded so stuffy.
Steve's face grimaced more, "I should have taken you to the hospital yesterday."
"You did everything right," you choked out. "I need to sit up a little, I can't breathe..." you said, struggling to sit up. That was sufficiently awkward considering you were naked under the blanket. Steve turned away for a second.
Natasha looked at you. "I'm going to help you get ready and then we're taking you to the doctors."
"I'm going to go get my truck and pull up to the lower entrance while you get ready," he said to you. He grabbed your other pillow and said "For the car ride, it might be long - it's snowing like crazy out there."
Steve was off and Natasha looked at you. "Need help up?"
You slowly moved and stood up. Everything hurt now... it was not only your head and your ears but now your back ached too. You must have hurt yourself when you fell. As you walked to your dresser with nothing on, you froze in horror and looked at Natasha. "OH MY GOD, STEVE SAW ME NAKED..."
Panic ran through you.
Natasha laughed softly, "I don't think he was paying much attention, he was pretty worried about you." She looked at you for a reaction. "He heard the thunk when you hit the floor and he came over here to check on you. He called me to come and he already had you covered up when I got here."
You calmed yourself a little and pulled out some jeans and a t-shirt. She walked to your closet and grabbed a hoodie for you. "Come on, I'm going to dry your hair," she said, sitting you on the bed. The hair dryer made your earache feel better and then you brushed your teeth, suddenly you felt like a human being and not some kind of snot monster.
Natasha held your arm as you walked through the hallways. You whispered under your breath again, "He saw me naked."
She laughed. "Come on, it's not like you have anything to be ashamed of - I mean, you work out pretty hard."
"Nat, nobody looks good passed out on a floor with their mouth hanging open," you laughed.
"At least you can laugh about it," she said.
***
Getting to the doctors took forever with the snow but that was okay because there was time to kill before your appointment. Thankfully, Natasha had thought to call your doctor's office before you left. Steve and Natasha had made you comfortable in the back seat, your head was leaned on your pillow.
At the doctor's office, Steve pulled the car up to the front door and helped you inside like you were made of glass. "I'm okay, Steve," you said, reassuringly.
"I know... I'm just afraid you'll pass out again, that's all."
Natasha and Steve waited in the waiting room for you while you saw the doctor. When you came back to the waiting room, they waited for details.
"Bronchitis and a double ear infection," you said, smiling as you held up your antibiotic bottle in one hand and ear drops in the other. Steve got up and stood next to you. "I need lots of rest."
On the way home, Steve made a quick stop at a grocery store and came back to the truck with, among other things, a rotisserie chicken and Gatorade. You gave him a funny look. "I'm going to make you chicken noodle soup," he said and handed you a Gatorade. "Start drinking."
"I could use a drink after this morning," you giggled.
Natasha looked back at you and laughed. "I thought you already had been drinking... what, with all the running around naked and everything."
When your face felt hot, you knew it wasn't just the fever. You caught Steve glancing at you in the rear view mirror and he turned away.
"I think I embarrassed Steve," she said, playfully.
"You know what, Romanoff?" he said, poking back at her.
You wondered what Natasha was up to, she seemed to be pushing hard. Ultimately, you felt too crappy to care at this very moment.
***
They got you settled into bed when you arrived back at the compound. Steve gave you your first dose of antibiotics and put your ear drops in for you. He told you he'd be back a little later with chicken noodle soup for you. "Get some rest," he said, closing the door quietly. The sleep you had after that can only be described as a coma but you did feel a lot better a few hours later when he came back with a hot bowl of soup for you. He sat it down on your nightstand with crackers and started for the door.
"Steve? Are you leaving?" you asked.
He looked back at you. "Do you need something?"
"Would you keep me company?" you asked, glancing at the bed to suggest he have a seat.
"Ahhh, sure," he said, but he didn't seem so sure.
"I'm sorry, if you have things to do..." you started.
"No, I don't. I can stay," he said, looking right at you. That's when you realized he really hadn't been looking at you. At least, not for a while.
"I'm sorry about this morning," you said, holding the soup bowl close to your face to blow on it. "I didn't mean to be so much trouble."
He shook his head, "You're no trouble at all, we were worried about you."
"You're a good friend," you smiled and spooned some soup into your mouth. You were quiet for a second and then you said, "Now you're a really good friend since you saw me in my birthday suit." You didn't look at him but you kept grinning.
Steve laughed out loud and looked at the floor. "You're funny, (Y/N)."
"Is it going to be weird now? - with us?" you said playfully.
He looked at you and his face got a little more serious. "Well, I was kind of hoping to ask you out before I saw you naked," he smirked, "but since you put the cart before the horse... Would you have dinner with me? - I mean, when you feel better?"
"Awww, Steve... yes, of course. I would like that." You were genuinely touched. You continued to eat the soup.
"OR, if it's easier, you could just get naked now so we're even."
Steve laughed so hard, his eyes closed and he laid back on the bed. "Not now, Steve, I'm sick... remember?" you played, barely able to contain your laughter.
"Oh, you are funny. You know, I have been wanting to ask you out for a while..." he looked at you sweetly. "Now that you've been frozen and unthawed, I guess we something in common to talk about."
You looked over at him and thought there was no better reason to get healthy fast, than to go out on a date with Steve. "Looking forward to it," you said. "Are you going to stay for a while? I'd like your company."
"I'll stay," he said. "I'd love to."
"Okay, and you know, if you want to get comfortable and take your pants off or something..."
The two of you laughed until you were red. Now you were really looking forward to spending more time with this wonderful guy who was sweet enough to make you soup and take care of you. You watched his face and thought, I just love this guy. What a sweetheart.