You heard shouting from where you were, quietly emphasizing how important it was for Fury to be careful while he was out, which drew your attention away from your boss and to your girlfriend when you heard a voice that couldn’t be mistaken as anyone other than Maria saying, “She’s lost at least a pint.”
Fury shooed you away when you looked over to him, silently asking permission to be excused, and you ran down the corridor to find your girlfriend.
“Nat,” You breathed when you reached her, one of your hands going to her waist and the other going to cup her cheek.
She gave you a tired smile and hummed, “Hi, baby.”
Doctor Fine passed you off to her, knowing of your relationship, and you shifted so you could have a steady arm around her waist and use your other hand to hold the almost useless napkin she had on her shoulder.
“Wait, she’ll want to see him first,” Maria said, and you nodded guiding Natasha towards where you knew Fury was resting.
“About damn time,” He said when the curtain was opened.
-
Before Fury started explaining how he survived, they allowed you and Natasha a short moment to yourselves.
You put pressure on her shoulder, making her wince, “Sorry.” You mumbled, and your heart felt like it was going to implode because the last thing you wanted to do was cause her pain.
Nat shook her head and looked at you with searching eyes, “Baby, I’m okay, I’ll be okay.”
You let out a shaky breath and sniffled while trying to blink away the tears in your eyes. She looked exhausted. Her face was dirty, her hair was tousled, you had some of her blood on your hands, you couldn’t even begin to imagine what had happened, “I just get really nervous.”
“I know, detka. I’m sorry,” Nat said sincerely, reaching up with her good arm to brush strands of your hair away from your eyes.
You shook your head and smiled softly at her, “This is your job, Natty. And you’re good at it, I just can’t not be worried when you’re fighting people for a living.”
She nodded and leaned forward to kiss you. You knew it was another apology, nonverbal this time, but you kissed her back, of course.
“If the lovebirds are finished…” Sam trailed off, which made Natasha pull back and glare at him.
“Sorry,” You mumbled.
Nat placed a hand on your leg, rubbing lazy circles the skin there as Fury spoke, knowing that it soothed you.
“Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache.”
“Don’t forget your collapsed lung,” Doctor Fine added.
“Let’s not forget that. Otherwise, I’m good,” Fury said simply.
“They cut you open, your heart stopped,” Natasha spoke up.
Fury nodded, “Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn’t work so great for him, but we found a use for it.”
“Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?” Steve asked with a crease in his brow.
Maria crossed her arms, “Any attempt on the Director’s life had to look successful.”
“Can’t kill you if you’re already dead,” Fury deadpanned. “Besides, I wasn’t sure who to trust.”
Everyone seemed to understand that Fury intended to end the conversation with that, because the group dissipated rather quickly and Maria closed Fury’s curtain.
“Hey, are you fine to stitch her up?” Doctor Fine asked.
“Yeah, I can do it, don’t worry,” You nodded, but Natasha noticed the way your breath quickened.
Once it was just you and Natasha left in the room, you spoke in quiet voices.
“Hey, you don't have to do this if you don’t want to. I’m sure Doctor Fine wouldn’t mind,” She said when you slowly removed the cloth you’d been using from her skin and she was no longer bleeding out.
You gave her a look and raised your eyebrow, “This is my job, Natty. Trust that I do it well.”
“I know you do,” She smiled. “But I also know that with me you tend to get shaky-”
“I can do it,” You interrupted, turning around to grab your needle and its holder. “I promise I wont fuck you up more than you have yourself. Do you want something for this? I know you know, but it’s going to hurt.”
“Vodka,” She grumbled, which made you chuckle.
“That, we do not have,” You shook your head and straddled the bench, getting closer to her.
Nat smirked and you new something was coming, “You know, you’re lucky this is my non dominant hand because otherwise I would have to learn how to use my other one to fu-”
“You are not fucking me with either of your hands for a while, not until I’m certain your stitches are healed. And shut up, Fury is right there,” You glared playfully.
Nat ignored the comment about Fury and nodded, “That’s fine, I’ll figure something else out.”
You rolled your eyes at her and almost nudged her out of instinct before remembering what you were supposed to be doing. Your hands were shaking, though not as bad as they have in the past when you’ve had to give Natasha stitches, and she noticed. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your nose, “You can do it, Sam/n. You won’t hurt me.”
You knew it was a lie, but it was for your benefit, so you nodded, willed your hands to be steady, and got to work.
You muttered out apologies every time the needle broke the skin underneath her collarbone and you sung praises while you were pulling it through and making knots. It didn’t do much to ease her pain, but Natasha appreciated it.
“I’m just about done, my love, you’ve done great,” You half smiled, not taking your eyes off of her shoulder, but you could feel hers on you.
Nat hummed as you tied off your final stitch and kissed her shoulder blade gently. You wanted nothing more than to go home and lay in her arms but there was a long day ahead of both of you.
“Promise me you’ll be okay?” You whispered, resting your head where you placed the kiss and holding her hand.
“Baby-”
“Promise me,” You interrupted her and you begged that she wouldn’t give you the ‘I’ll do my best’ spiel this time. “Please.”
“I promise,” She squeezed your hand and ran her thumb along your knuckles. “I’ll be home before 10. I’ll come home.”