Chapter two
Kate woke up and saw a flashlight pointed to her eye. “Where am I?” There were three kids on the bed she was lying on.
One of the kids smiled “You’re in the children’s ward of Presbyterian Morgan Stanley children’s hospital I’m your doctor, try not to talk”
Another kid with a cast in his arm listened to her big toe through a stethoscope.
“Could someone tell me what the hell is going on here?” She said, trying to sound calm.
The last kid looked at her and frowned. “Oh you said hell” Kate rolled her eyes and touched her neck and found a collar there.
“Oh no…what’s this? I’m paralyzed” She cried and moved her arms and legs.
One of the kids rolled his eyes at her. “You’re moving, you’re clearly not paralyzed”
“Right, totally right. I knew that” At that moment the woman who saved her entered the room with a clipboard and a white coat.
“How’s our patient doing?” She grinned at the kids and Kate didn’t know what to think.
“I think she needs more fluids” The girl said, crossing her arms and nodding her head.
“Right Steff, let’s give her 10cc’s of Dr. Pepper” The kids laughed.
“You’re…you’re the one who saved my life right? You must be from out of town” Kate said, and the woman nodded, chuckling.
The kids didn’t bother to listen to Kate and ran out the door screaming “You can’t catch us Dra. Yelena”
“Well, I’m from Russia originally, but I’ve lived here for a long long time. I’m Yelena Belova, supervising pediatrician here.” She looked at her face.
“I’m…” She shook her head.
“Katherine Elizabeth Bishop, I know” Kate frowned. “I had to go through your wallet to get your I. D.” Kate nodded. “I’ve never met anyone who alphabetized their credit cards before” Yelena grinned again and Kate is trying her best to stay cool, because this woman in front of her is well…she is stunning.
“So…am I dying?” She smiled.
“Not on my watch” They chuckled and she helped her get the collar out. “Your X-rays are normal, hemoglobin levels are fine, but you do have a big neck” Kate touched her neck shocked.
“I have a big neck?!” Kate asked with a little raise of her voice and Yelena chuckled.
“No,no. It is a very fine neck. It’s just that it’s been a long time since I’ve had a patient over the age of six” They both smiled.
One of the kids came back and hugged Yelena who picked her up in her arms. “Dra. Yelena thinks you’re pretty, I can tell” Kate felt the heat go up to her face.
“Dra. Yelena also thinks all of you owe Miss Bishop an apology for acting like monkeys” Also? Kate thought.
“Sorry Miss Bishop” Kate smiled at the kid and nodded. The kid left again and Kate noticed Yelena’s hand.
“What happened to your thumb?” Yelena looked at her own hand.
“Oh…you fell on it with your big neck” Yelena smirked and Kate chuckled. This woman was something else.
After a while, Kate is back in her clothes and waiting for Yelena in her office. She looked at herself in the mirror and tried to get her hair as good as possible. She walked around and saw a picture of Yelena hugging a pretty redhead. Kate heard footsteps and sat down as fast as she could as Yelena entered the office.
“Your last test came back and everything looks good” Yelena sat on her chair.
“So I’m ok?”
“You’re great” They looked at each other and Kate could swear that she saw a flicker in the other woman’s eyes.
“Speaking of great…” Kate started. “That picture with your…” Kate waited so Yelena could fill in the gap.
“Oh, my sister Natasha” Yelena grinned.
“Yeah, it’s a great picture” Was that hope filling Kate’s lungs?
“She is the best” They both heard a woman screaming outside.
“WHERE IS SHE?” Kate knew that voice and she wanted to facepalm herself.
Kamala walked inside the office and saw Kate there. “YOU’RE ALIVE! OH THANK GOD”
“No God, just me” Yelena smirked and Kate rolled her eyes smiling.
“How did you get here?” But Kamala didn’t answer. She was full on staring at Yelena and back at Kate.
“Is she the one who rescued you?” Kamala asked.
“I wouldn’t call it a rescue…I…” Yelena started but stopped when she saw Kamala with her mouth agape looking at her. “Are you ok?”
“Me? Yeah, perfect. I bet you work very long hours right?” Yelena nodded but looked at Kate who shrugged. “Working late tonight?”
“What are you doing?” Kate whispered.
“Emmm…I shouldn’t be working really so..no” Yelena answered.
“That’s just fate. Kate and I were just on our way to Central Park. They’re showing old movies. You must join us and we won’t take no for an answer” Kamala took Kate’s hand in hers and walked to the door. Yelena following them.
“I’m sorry…I don’t think…” Yelena said, but was cut off by Kamala.
“Come on, let us repay you for saving this amazing woman’s life” Kamala grinned and Kate didn’t know what to do. Kill her? Thank her?
“Kamala…if she doesn’t want to go it’s ok..you can’t force people” Kate said, smiling.
“You do not want me to go with you?” Yelena said, looking straight to Kate.
“That’s not…I didn’t mean..” Kate stuttered, Yelena’s gaze was too intense.
“Of course she wants you to go! we both do, so please?” Kamala pouted. “We’ll even buy the popcorns and everything”
“Well, if Kate Bishop is sure…I’d go with you” Yelena looked at them but her eyes always ended up finding Kate’s.
“Yep..sure..” Kate said, awkwardly.
“Then that’s settled! See you there Dra” Kamala said, taking Kate’s arm and dragging her out of the hospital.
Well, that was great…Kate thought and sighed.
Kamala looked around the park and pointed to Yelena who was holding sodas and a bag of M&Ms. “Hey, there you are!” She nudged Kate’s side with her elbow. “She is here” Yelena looked weirdly between the two friends but chuckled.
“Here you have” She gave them a soda each. “Thought you’d like something to drink with the popcorn” Yelena smiled and Kate nodded thanking her.
“Oh no, look at that…” Kamala said, looking at her phone. “My nana needs me to go home…her TV is not working” Kate looked at Kamala with daggers in her eyes but Yelena just nodded, smiling. “I’m sorry, you guys enjoy the movie” She walked away but before she left she lifted both thumbs up to Kate without Yelena noticing. I’m going to kill her.
“Let’s hope she can fix her nana’s TV” Yelena said and Kate just nodded. “Shall we?” They both started walking and Yelena kept looking for a free spot to sit down. “I don’t think we’ll be able to sit Kate Bishop” That freaking accent was doing bad things to her.
“Don’t worry, I have a reserved seat” Yelena arched her eyebrow and followed Kate. They walked until they were next to a tree where a guard was waiting.
“I thought you weren’t coming today Kate” The guard said, hugging Kate.
“Hey Steve, this is Yelena. Yelena this is Steve, we go together to our archery club” Yelena smiled a bit surprised and took Steve’s hand.
“Pleasure to meet you” She said to Steve who nodded, smiling.
“Oh, pleasure’s all mine. Our Kate has a date” Kate froze.
“Oh no no…this is not a..” But Steve cut her off.
“What do you do for a living?” Steve asked Yelena, who found this situation amusing.
“Oh I’m a doctor” She smiled and Steve raised both hands up.
“A doctor? oh my, a doctor Kate” Kate wanted to facepalm herself so hard she could lose conscience.
“Steve!” Kate shouted and Yelena chuckled.
“Ok ok…I can take a hint” Steve grinned. “See you at practice kid” He left them alone and Kate can feel Yelena’s eyes on her.
“I’m sorry…I really am…he is just…ugh” Kate sighed and Yelena laughed.
“So…archery…” Yelena said, impressed. “You don’t look like the type…” Yelena said, and opened her M&Ms.
“I didn’t know I had to have a type of look to shoot an arrow” Kate arched her eyebrow this time and Yelena chuckled. “What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know…maybe a purple suit” They both laughed and Kate threw popcorn at Yelena’s face.
“Hey! сука” Yelena said but laughed.
“You insulted me right now, didn’t you?” Kate asked, grinning.
“Maybe” Yelena smiled. “Now, seriously, how did you get to say oh I want to throw a stick with a cord” Kate frowned at her and shook her head.
“Well…if you must know…my foster family are into it. Clint used to be a pro once upon a time…and I guess the rest of us just stuck to it” Kate looked down and Yelena nodded.
The movie started so they looked forward. Yelena took some M&Ms on her hand and threw away all of them except for the brown ones. Kate looked at her.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kate couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Oh…it’s something my mama does and I guess it stuck with me” Yelena shrugged. “I only eat the brown ones…you see, chocolate is already brown so it is logical to think that they have less artificial coloring” Yelena grinned and looked at Kate. This is bad…how can a smile melt me like that. Kate thought.
“That’s very…scientific of you Dra. Yelena” Yelena smirked.
“You should hear my theory of blue cheese”
“I really don’t want to hear it…I love blue cheese” Kate said afraid and Yelena laughed.
Music started filling their surroundings…the actress was singing a slow song. Everyone started getting up and dancing with each other. Kate moved from side to side with a smile on her face. She loved this. She remembered how her parents used to take her here and they would be the ones dancing. She felt a bit of confidence and looked at Yelena who was already looking at her. “Wanna dance?”
“Dance? oh…I don’t know..” Yelena said.
“Come on, She is asking you to dance..don’t leave her hanging…it’s rude” Steve said from somewhere behind the tree and Yelena smiled.
“Ok ok…” Yelena took Kate’s hand and they moved a bit further away from the tree. Because of the height difference, Yelena put her hands around Kate’s neck and Kate moved her hands to Yelena’s back.
The music kept floating around them, and they danced. They were in complete sync. Kate was surprised at how well Yelena moved.
“You’re very good at that” Kate said, with her head pressed next to Yelena’s.
“My mama forced me to take classes when I was little,” Yelena shrugged.
“Well, remind me to thank her someday” Kate said, biting her lip. She knew Yelena couldn’t see her.
“She’ll be happy if you tell her that” Kate chuckled. “I gotta say…it helped with the ladies” Kate’s heart stopped beating for a second.
“Oh, did you meet many girls this way?” Kate asked.
“Hmm…” Yelena thought. “I’d say…not the right ones” They looked at each other then. Now they were dancing face to face, looking at each other.
“How’s your thumb doing?” Kate asked.
“Never been better” Yelena said in a whisper. Kate felt a shiver run down her neck where Yelena’s fingers were caressing her.
Kate cleared her throat. “So…we have a competition…in a few days…an archery competition…maybe you should come?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t step on my foot” Kate looked down and Yelena smirked.
“Did I?” Yelena nodded.
“Yep”
“Sorry” Kate wrinkled her nose.
“Do not let it happen again Kate Bishop”
“Don’t tell me what to do…” They were looking at each other.
“Don’t…” Yelena started but didn’t finish her sentence.
“Don’t what?” Kate’s words came out as a whisper.
They’re inching closer, her noses bumped into each other and their lips are mere centimeters apart…when a bolt of lightning and a crackle of thunder made their appearance followed by heavy rain. They broke apart, looking at each other and laughing. Everyone scattered out of there looking for shelter. Yelena and Kate locked eyes on each other smiling, before leaving on their separate ways.
After a hot bath Kate looked at herself in the mirror and she could see the redness of her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes. Was this even real? Was she awake? She couldn’t help but think. And at the end the only thing she was sure before crashing into her bed with Lucky, was that she wanted to see Yelena again.
Yelena entered her apartment completely wet from the rain and a stupid smile on her face. что это было? (What was that?)
“Hey honey, how was your day?” A female voice said and Yelena sighed.
Kate walked with Wanda next to her, they were in another wedding and Kate was looking at her notebook while Wanda talked to her. She was trying her best to pay attention but her focus was on some blonde with her hands on her…
“Earth to Kate? Hello?” Wanda said, and Kate shook her head and apologized. “What’s gotten into you? You look different” Wanda said, smiling.
“Different? Different how?” Kate said, but couldn’t help the smile on her face.
Wanda grinned widely. “You can’t stop smiling Kate”
Kate kept on smiling. “I’m not smiling, this is just my face. See?” She could not not smile. “Not smiling”
“You look like a fool in love. Did something happen?” Wanda asked.
“It’s nothing” Kate shrugged.
“Then stop smiling” Wanda laughed.
Kate focused her whole body and tried to stop her smile, but it was impossible. “I can’t”
Wanda squealed and grabbed her by her arm. “Tell me everything, who are they?”
The loud noise of the greek wedding caught their attention and Kate saw Kamala trying to stop them from breaking the plates.
“OOOPA” They all shouted and Penny growled.
“Mr. Nikolaou, you cannot break plates here. This is the fucking Ritz Carlton” Someone threw a plate and Kamala moved just in time so it didn’t hit her head. Kamala looked at Wanda and Kate and saw them talking.
“This is like a fairy tale…she saved your life, you danced under the stars…you kissed in the rain…” Wanda said dreamingly.
“Almost kissed. We didn’t get to” Kate blushed.
More sounds of crashing plates.
“Is this normal?” Wanda asked, looking around.
“Greek wedding…completely normal” Kate shrugged. “I really don’t know what’s gotten into me Wanda…It’s been so long since I had a relationship that I feel like…like an idiot. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this way…I’m not even sure I have ever felt like this..”
“Then go for it” Wanda grabbed her hand. “With Bel, I had to play it cool for a while but then she couldn’t resist it” Wanda grinned. “Take it from me…play a little hard to get and she’ll be yours”
“We’ll see…what do you think of the room?” Kate pointed around.
“That’s not the main thing right now Kate, with my help you could be the next one getting ready to get married” She looked around the room. “And the room…it’s..it’s not…”
“Enough?” Wanda nodded as Kamala arrived in front of them with a pile of plates.
“Kate, everything’s out of control. Tell me what to do or do something” Kamala pleaded.
“If you can’t beat them” Kate took a plate and crashed it on the floor.
“What the..?” Kamala looked confused at her. “What’s gotten into you?”
“She met a girl” Wanda said and Kamala’s eyes flew wide open.
“She met a girl…?” She looked at Kate. “You mean..”
“Uh huh. I owe you a big one Kamala” Kamala squealed louder than what was humanly possible and let go of the pile of plates that crashed on the floor.
“OPAAA!” People screamed behind Kamala.
Kate took a deep breath and pointed to her target, it was her last shot and she needed to nail it to win the competition. She took a look at the crowd but couldn’t see Yelena there…maybe she came on too strong? Maybe she misread the signals…no, that couldn’t be..they almost kissed.
“Focus kid!” Clint screamed and she did so. “What is she looking at?”
“I bet she is looking for that cute doctor,” Steve said, grinning.
“Is she sick?” Asked Peter as Kate let the arrow fly and hit its target. Nate and Lila screamed happily and Kate lifted her bow to them.
She got closer to them and Nate jumped to her arms. “You’re the best”. He grinned at her and hugged her while Lila gave her squish on her arm.
“You’re even better than dad” Cooper said and Clint sent him a glare.
“Steve, did you see her around?” Kate asked, letting Nate on the floor.
“No kid, maybe she had an emergency at the hospital?” Kate nodded. That sounded accurate enough. She didn’t need to overthink everything…
“I’m really impressed and proud that my wife-to-be is such an amazing archer,” Peter said, putting his arm around her. Clint grinned at the interaction and pointed them to his wife.
“That’s very sweet of you Peter” Clint added.
“Once we are married, you can quit your job and spend all your time doing that” He said, proud of himself.
Lila and Cooper’s eyes were about to pop out of their faces. Laura came to the rescue.
“Well Peter, you’re not married yet and even so…Kate is an adult and can decide what she wants to do with her own life, don’t you think?” Laura said, sternely and Peter looked down. Kate sent her a grateful smile.
Kate looked at Peter and gave him a hard look before leaving.
Once back in her house she took a shower and decided to take Lucky for a walk. She opened the door and she almost hit him right in the face. Peter was there with a single rose and an apologetic face.
“Hey” He said.
“What the…what are you doing here?” Lucky growled at him. “Shh, easy boy”
“I just wanted to apologize” He gave her the rose. “What I said earlier was…I mean…I was a dick” Kate nodded and crossed her arms. Lucky stayed next to her.
“You were” He nodded. “Look, I don’t know why Clint wants this,” she pointed to both of them. “To work out..but I don’t even know you Peter”
“I know, and I also know you weren’t yourself today..you seemed a bit off…” She sighed.
“If we are going to talk…do you mind taking a walk with us? I promised him a walk” Kate said, pointing to Lucky. Peter grinned and nodded.
“Sure, let’s go” They walked to the street and every time Peter would try to walk next to Kate, Lucky would move and stop his path. “So…what happened to you?”
“I…” Kate thought for a moment and then sighed. “I was expecting to see someone there, but they didn’t come,” Peter nodded. She saw him trying to say something but she lifted her hand. “I don’t really want to talk about it”.
“Ok…I won’t say anything else…but Katy…I just want you to know that I’m serious” Kate looked at him. “At first I thought Clint was nuts, but…you don’t know how many nights I spent crying over you during high school” Peter chuckled. “so…when he said you wanted to get married soon..and that I could be the one…” He looked up at the sky. “I got excited” He looked at her now.
“Peter..that is…that’s really sweet” She smiled at him. “But I don’t love you”
“I know you don’t…I know you suffered before…” Kate tried to hide the shock of her face. “Clint told me”
“He shouldn’t have…that’s not his story to tell Peter…” Kate growled.
“I know…and I’m sorry for that too…I guess I just wanted to say…” He took her hand and Kate had to hold Lucky’s collar stronger so he didn’t bite him. “I’ll wait for you, I’ll be here whenever you want me”
Kate sighed. Peter wasn’t a bad guy. But she couldn’t dare to see har future with him when all she could think of were blonde hair and green eyes.
Yelena walked down the street and suddenly she stopped walking. She was next to a sports shop and in there she could see a purple bow. Her mind, her body, everything in her told her to keep walking…but she got stuck there in front of the display.
Kate walked next to a newly engaged couple and pointed to one of the buildings. “Come on, it’s right there” She smiled at them and guided them through the building till they were in front of the Bellas School Dance.
She waved to a few of her clients and grinned.
“Here you are. You’ve signed for five classes. Just be sure to pay up front” Kate smiled at them. “Stacie will help you out with that” She pointed to the brunette woman behind a desk as they left, someone called for Kate.
“Kate! What are you doing here?” Kate looked behind her and saw no other than Wanda there. “Please tell me you’re not here for dance classes…I don’t want to make a fool of myself in front of you” She laughed and Kate gave her a quick hug.
“I thought your classes were on Thursday?” Kate smiled.
“Oh yeah, we had to change it but this is great! Now you can finally meet Bel” Wanda turned around and started calling for Bel. Kate looked at the same time a blonde woman drinking some water lifted her eyes and looked at Kate. What the hell is happening? Kate thought and at the same time, said woman spitted the water.
“Bel honey, this is our wedding planner, Kate” Kate is stunned. She cannot move. They’re in front of each other and her brain wasn’t working. Her Yelena is Bel? Bel is Yelena? Seriously? Kate sighed. “Finally, two of the most important people of my life meet” Wanda grinned and Yelena gave her hand to Kate who after a bit of doubt took it. “Bel, this is Kate. Kate this is Bel”