The Hospital
The sun filtered in through the window, the weak light of the winter sun coating everything in the hospital room in a soft blue haze. Natasha got up from where she sat by the window and walked over to the hospital bed that Ellie was still fast asleep in, her body tucked into a tight ball.
The Russian had barely slept the night before, spending most of her time checking on the tiny brunette before venturing across the hall and checking on the larger one. It had been 9 hours since surgery already with no sign of the woman waking up, still, Natasha slipped out of the room and checked on her once more.
Maria lay motionless in the large hospital bed, her normally vibrant tan skin looking pale and sickly. The redhead stepped closer and closer only stopping once she was at the railing, she ran her fingers through Maria’s hair until they met the shaved section. Stitches pulled her skin together, forming what would be a long scar curving from her temple to near the nape of her neck. She looked at the woman for a moment longer, intertwining their fingers for just a second before giving a soft squeeze and exiting the room.
The wall was cool on her back as she slid down it in the hallway that separated the two rooms. She felt entirely torn, part of her needing to stay and make sure Ellie and Maria were okay, part of her screaming to run. It had once again gotten too real too quickly and she didn’t know how to handle it, what if Maria never woke up, what if it was just another person to leave Ellie, what if she was just another person to leave the little girl, what if-
“Natasha?” a voice called from down the corridor and she blew out a long breath to center herself before looking at the source of the noise.
“Yep,” she stood up and looked at the man who wore blue nurse scrubs.
“What are you doing here?” Dominic Ruiz’s face was covered in worry as he walked quickly to meet her.
“I-” she shook her head, she had forgotten to tell the family about the accident after they had left them the day before, was that something she was supposed to do? Did people normally tell their girlfriend’s kids, friend’s parents about car accidents? How could she help Maria and Ellie if she didn’t know simple things like this? She needed to run she needed to get far away before she caused more -
“Natasha?” The man scanned her face with concern.
“We-” she shook her head once more, “we got in a car accident after we left your apartment yesterday, a guy hit a patch of ice and crashed into us.”
“Is everyone okay?” He glanced around quickly, startled at the news.
“Ellie has some internal bruising and a broken arm,” she motioned to the door in front of her, “Maria had a brain bleed and internal bleeding,” she tilted her head to the other door.
“And you?” Dominic once more scanned her.
“Oh, I’m fine,” Natasha brushed him off, she had a few aches and pains but nothing more than what she got on an active mission.
The man looked at his watch before glancing around, his eyes falling on another hospital room next to the one Ellie was in.
“Come on, I have a little time before my break is over, let me check you over,” and his eyes were so filled with concern, that the redhead followed him.
“Any spots that hurt more than others?” he stood in front of the examination table she sat on.
“Not really,” she lied.
Dominic squinted his eyes.
“My left knee,” she sighed and pulled up the leggings she wore until they were bunched on her thigh.
The nurse got to work, moving her leg this way and that way, noting when she winced and the large bruise on the outside of her thigh. He checked over the rest of her body in relative silence, only piping up to ask questions about old injuries and the ones that she had received the day before.
“Okay it looks like you just pulled a ligament in your knee and the rest of it is superficial bruising, but I can’t confirm anything without getting you down to imaging,” he concluded, taking the spot next to her on the table, “but I will say, you’re pretty tense all over.”
“Life as an agent, you should know that we never really relax,” she differed.
“Elena is bound pretty tight, sure,” brown hair bobbed as he nodded, “but this feels like more than just your old work and maybe even more than the accident.”
She didn’t know this man, not really, yet she still found herself sighing and starting a sentence she didn’t really want to talk about, “I don’t think I’m cut out to help a family that I’m not even part of, I think I’m in over my head.”
Ruiz smirked, “Natasha, I don’t think there’s a single parent out there who doesn't think they’re in over their head. I always feel like I’m messing up with Liam and that Elena is damn near the perfect parent.”
The redhead furrowed her brows, “He’s a great kid.”
“The best,” the man smiled softly, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing sometimes and that I’m making mistakes I don't think my wife would ever make. But she feels the same way about me; like she wasn’t home often enough when she worked for SHIELD and that she is too strict with him.”
Natasha took in the information, the little boy really was a great kid, sure he talked a lot but he was always respectful and helped anyone who needed it. She couldn’t imagine the Ruiz’s ever making a mistake with him.
“ I’ve found it’s not too tricky really, most of the time you know the right answer, you just can’t let your brain complicate it. You need to be there for her, love her, and don't overthink it” he glanced at his watch, “listen, I’m technically only 6 hours into my first shift here so I don't think it would look great to be late coming back from my break.”
The man pulled a pen from his breast pocket and wrote down two phone numbers on the crinkly paper they sat on, ripping it off and handing it to Natasha.
“Give Elena a call if you need another set of hands today,” he stood up, “and I’ll be around to check on you when I get a break next, I can tell you all about the mistakes I’ve made as a dad.”
“Thank you,” the Russian’s voice was small as she spoke.
“No problem, it’s what friends do.” Dominic walked out of the room without another word.
She sat there for a minute longer, noting how low the sun still was, and figured she would have a little longer before Ellie was up. She pulled out her phone and added the two new numbers before finding a third.
“ Let me guess, she already crashed the car ?” her sister laughed into the phone.
Natasha stilled, how did her sister know that ?
“ Sister ?” Yelena spoke again as the silence lingered.
“ How did you know ?” she breathed out, worry filling her.
“ She is 7, there was no way it was going to last very long ,” the woman’s voice grew confused.
“What?”
“ What ?”
And then the pieces clicked into place and the redhead let out a breath.
“ We got into a car accident, a real car, not the toy car you got Elizaveta ,” Natasha clarified.
There was a long pause before Yelena asked if they were all okay and Natasha had to recall the events of the day before again. By the end, the blonde had promised to fly out at a moment's notice if needed, the third person just that day who had offered more help to her. She hung up the phone and did a quick tally of all the people who had come to help and those who had promised to come as soon as she asked.
There was Steve and Bucky who would be here in an hour or so to bring breakfast and a change of clothes, Clint whose flight landed in the next few hours, Pepper and Tony who would come again this afternoon with anything she could think of, and Dominic who had just said he would swing by periodically. Those were merely the people who would physically be there that day.
As she walked out of the room, she didn’t feel so in over her head.
40 minutes later, and with the smell of pancakes wafting in from the bag over Steve's shoulder, Ellie woke up. Natasha embraced the blonde and helped him set the food on the nearby table, Bucky leaned into the chair that sat between Ellie's bed and the door.
“We,” the little girl yawned and pointed her casted arm to her hair, “match.”
It was one of the few times Natasha saw the man smile as he took in his own French braids on either side of his head.
“ We do ,” his voice was low as he nodded.
“One pancake or two for her?” Steve started plating the food he had no doubt made.
Well she’s little, but she’s also seven now, and she didn’t really eat yesterday but -
Natasha slowed her mind and breathed, thinking of what Dominic said earlier.
“Two, she’s got an increased metabolism like you and Barnes and loves syrup,” she watched the blonde add another pancake to the plate.
The Russian helped Ellie get dressed, finding a short-sleeved shirt that accommodated her cast better than any of the other options. The little girl itched at it for a second before dropping it to the table that held her food with a dull *thunk*. Natasha and Bucky startled but Steve just sighed and helped the child cut up her food. The redhead tried to eat her own food but found herself picking at it and glancing at the room across the hallway more than anything.
“Are you all done?” she asked the girl across from her who hadn’t finished a portion of pancakes or eggs.
“It is for Mommy,” she created two neat piles, “when she wakes up she likes breakfast.”
“Well,” Natasha swallowed, unsure of how to break the news to the girl who had nothing but kindness in her heart, “we aren’t entirely sure when she will wake up. But, when she does, I'm sure we can find some food she likes.”
“Mommy… mommy always wake up before me,” Ellie’s eyes darted around, “wake up, have coffee and goes on tablet and then come see me and have breakfast and make me brush teeth and-”
The girl started breathing quickly, “And ask what doing at school and-”
The little girl's body was wracked with shaking as her eyes filled with tears, Natasha knelt down next to her chair and tried to console the child. Ellie tried to wrap her arms around herself, her cast knocking into the table once more as she winced and brought it around her midsection.
“ Come here ,” Natasha whispered into the girl’s ear, and immediately little arms wrapped around her neck.
She stood to her full height, little arms, and legs wrapped around her as she looked at Steve and Bucky. The latter's eyes were wide, the former motioned to Natasha to rub Ellie’s back as the child hiccupped and cried into her collarbone.
“You’re okay, Mommy is going to be okay,” she made a promise she didn't know if she could keep as one arm snaked under Ellie’s body to support her while the other rubbed soothing circles on her back.
“I know it’s scary and I know everything is a little different right now,” she voiced her own concerns to the child as she rocked back and forth, “but it’s going to be okay, you know why?”
Ellie sniffled loudly before leaning back just far enough that big green eyes met Natasha’s own.
“Because I’m here, and I’m not going to let anything bad happen,” she gazed into the tear-streaked face of the girl in her arms, “I promise.”
The brunette held up a pinky and Natasha locked her own in it, securing the promise.
It was quiet but she could see Bucky place a hand on Steve’s back from where they still sat at the table.
“And it’s not just me, you have so many people who are going to make sure everything is okay,” Natasha diffused some of the tension building in her own chest, “you have Steve and Soldat and Lena and-”
She went to recall more names but Ellie spoke up, “and worms.”
Each adult locked eyes in the room, no one quite sure how to respond to that but still Natasha rocked back and forth and hummed in agreement, “And worms.”
They stayed like that for a while longer until the child let out a little sigh and probed Steve into sketching out more of the night sky onto her cast. Of course, the man obliged immediately, and soon the four of them sat around the hospital bed and watched as pencil lines etched over the ark color of the plaster.
Right after lunch had passed, when Ellie once again asked if she could save some of her meal for Maria, there was a quick tap on the door, and not one but two Bartons stood in the doorway. Laura scooped Ellie into a tight embrace as Clint scanned over Natasha for any bumps or bruises. He was her partner, she had gotten used to the checkover, but it had been a while since she had the same treatment from Mockingbird who did the whole thing with Ellie on her hip.
“You’re okay?” Laura placed a hand on Natasha’s cheek that was then mirrored on the other side by a much tinier hand.
“I’m okay,” she nodded.
In fact, they had just gotten the all-clear to go home from Dominic an hour prior, if they would actually do so was still up for debate.
“And Ria?” Clint scanned the room.
“Still unconscious,” she softened her voice.
They had gone into the room before lunch to watch Dr. Strange do a quick assessment of the woman. He hadn’t found anything to be concerned about yet and declared she just needed more time.
“Can we see her?” Laura asked, eyeing Ellie and Natasha suddenly had a feeling that maybe she wasn’t supposed to show the little girl the state of her mother as she had multiple times now.
“Across the hall,” the child pointed at the door through the opening to her own.
The woman kissed her on the cheek and they walked out of the room and into the one where monitors beeped softly and IVs dripped at a constant rate.
“The surgeons said that the operation was successful and that they were able to stop the bleed before it impacted her significantly,” she recited the words she had memorized, “her vitals are good, a little weak but good.”
They all took in the sight, Laura leaning into her husband as they did so. A minute passed, and then another, they were about to walk out before-
“It must be bad for you to both be here,” Maria’s voice was raw as she spoke, Natasha rushed over and took the woman’s hand in her own, lifting a cup with a straw to the woman’s parched lips.
She stared at blue eyes that were partially closed, and a little hazy, but once again full of life. Natasha swallowed hard as a lump grew in her throat, Maria was alive.
“You scared the hell out of us, Ria,” Clint smiled and pulled his wife even further into his side.
Maria tried her best to squeeze Natasha’s hand, “You okay, Ellie girl?”
“Yes,” the child climbed out of Laura’s arms and went to rush for the bed but slowed as she remembered the conversation Natasha had with her about how she needed to be careful with Mommy, “I have a cast now.”
A glint of sadness went through Maria’s eyes as she took in the dark material on her daughter's arm, “wow, would you look at that.”
“And some people can sign it,” Ellie placed it on the bed, “and Steve said he will even paint it.”.
“Very,” the woman swallowed hard, Natasha lifted the straw to her lips once more, “cool.”
They all sat for a moment, quietly taking in the woman being awake for the first time since her surgery, Bucky and Steve came in from across the hallway at the noise and then left to go alert one of the nurses. Natasha tried her best to explain what had happened, and how there had been a bleed in her brain and abdomen but they had been fixed on the last day.
“I’m okay, promise” Blue eyes met green that no-doubtedly swam with concern, “Takes more than a little accident to keep me down,” Maria said to the room of people who kept looking at her with concern.
“Good,” Laura wiped away tears that fell down her cheeks, “I don’t know how I was going to find another godmother.”
Natasha furrowed her brows and looked back and forth between Clint and Laura, Ellie’s eyes became comically large, Maria gave a soft smile.
“You’re serious?” The Russian finally got out as Laura reached protectively for her stomach.
“Yeah,” she sniffled again as tears formed once more, “so if we can keep the near-death experiences to a minimum that would be great.”
Natasha beamed and brought the woman in for a tight embrace, “dibs on naming her after me.”
“How do you know it’s a girl?” Clint laughed.
“I don’t,” she pulled Laura off to look at her before wrapping her arms around her once more, “but dibs just in case.”
“Congratulations,” Maria tried to sit up, winced, and laid back down with a smile on her face.
“A new baby?” Ellie tilted her head to the side and squinted.
The woman nodded and shook in laughter as the girl threw herself at the woman muttering something in her ear that made Laura’s eyes crinkle as she smiled. They all stood there taking it in, a new life, another member of their family-
“It must be bad for you to both be here,” Maria spoke, reiterating the exact thing she had said not 10 minutes earlier.