Recovery
NATASHA POV:
We ended up following the roads that the large black van had taken several days prior. Clint and I kept going until we came to the last road that the car had been seen on. There was no more footage past this point so we got out of the car and decided to take the rest of the trip on foot, trying to find where it could have gone from here.
It took a few minutes but we finally found a big metal grate that was in the floor, covered by bushes and leaves. It was heavy but Clint and I managed to lift it up, revealing another road that went underground.
We both jumped back into the car and followed this new road down into the ground. We were only underground for a few seconds before the road curved back up to an above ground trail.
I wasn't sure how long we could drive without being detected so we opted to leave the car behind some trees while we continued on foot, not wanting to risk them finding us before we could get to Wanda.
Steve had been contacted and he was on his way with the Quinjet, ready for any type of recovery mission we may be walking into.
The road was twisty and it took us about 15 minutes to arrive at the edge of a giant warehouse. We could just make out guards standing in front of the doors and windows.
Steve insisted we wait for backup, saying that if Wanda was in there, we risked going in and getting captured without finding her. So Clint and I waited, watching from afar, trying to figure out who they were.
The Quinjet was going to land far enough away that it wouldn't be detected by the guards but close enough that we could get to it quickly if we needed to make an escape attempt.
Steve, Tony, Vision, and Rhodey all found their way to where Clint and I were.
"It's a HYDRA base," Steve whispered as he crouched down next to us. We saw one of their trucks leaving on the way here and there was a HYDRA symbol on the back of it.
"Shit," I whispered. "HYDRA got her." All of the worst possible things were running through my mind. HYDRA had kidnapped Wanda, one of my worst fears since she started living with us.
"We'll get her back," Clint told me.
We quickly ran through the plan. We were to get in, search it, and get out, trying to go as long as possible being left unnoticed. I wanted to kill each and every one of those bitches in the building but my main goal was to find Wanda.
Everyone stayed near the tree line as we snuck closer to the building. It seemed as if the guards were more there for show than anything else as they didn't look too concerned about anyone breaking in.
Our plan quickly got messed up when we opened a side door and a blaring alarm went off. Then the plan changed to attack and find Wanda.
We all ran through the building, splitting up, beating up anyone who got in our way while we looked through rooms to find Wanda.
I knew they had her because several men were reporting, "They're here for the witch." I saw red as I made my way through the men, throwing punches and kicks, not blinking an eye as I fired bullets into their heads.
We had comms but I didn't respond to them as I kept looking for Wanda. I was plowing through more and more bodies as I traveled deeper into the halls of the warehouse.
I saw cameras with footage of something laying on the floor, curled into a ball. I realized sickeningly that it was Wanda. I had to swallow down bile as I moved my way through the halls, blasting through the doors and yelling her name.
All of the rooms were dark and there was no response until I got to one of the last rooms. The second I opened the door, I was hit with the stench of bodily fluids.
"Wanda?" I asked, trying to see through the pitch black.
"Mama," I heard a small whimper come from the far side of the room.
"Wanda baby, are you in here?" I asked frantically as I tried to find the light switch. I found it right outside of the door and flicked it on, allowing the light to flicker on in the room.
That's when I saw her. She was lying in the corner, naked, shaking and bloody. Her entire body was covered with bruises and cuts and she looked fragile and sick. Her eyes were half way open and I watched as her body trembled. I ran over to her and tried to be gentle with her as I watched her cry.
Tears sprung up to my eyes as I listened to her pained whimpers as tears rolled down her cheeks. I tried comforting her with words, knowing anything I touched would most likely cause her more pain.
She kept repeating, "Mama," in the weakest tone I'd ever heard and it took everything in me not to break down into tears.
Eventually, Tony, Steve, and Clint had found their way to the room, having knocked everyone else out.
I heard them all gasp and mumble curse words under their breath as they saw the condition of Wanda. I scooted over a tiny bit to cover Wanda's body as I told them to grab a blanket. Wanda didn't need three more men staring at her in her vulnerable state.
I heard one of them run out and then Clint was next to me, running his fingers through her hair as he mumbled to her. Wanda looked as if she was going to lose consciousness at any minute so I kept telling her to keep her eyes open. I didn't want her leaving us and not coming back.
Steve got back quickly with the blanket and I wrapped it around Wanda, doing my best not to jostle her body too much. We needed to get her out of here. There would be more men coming at any minute.
I looked to Steve and he knew immediately what we needed to do. I turned to Wanda and told her that we needed to get her out of here.
My heart shattered when I heard her broken voice plead, "Please no." A tear fell down my cheek as I turned back to Steve, nodding to let him know it was time. He moved towards her slowly, talking to her quietly as he gently wrapped his arms around her.
Wanda's shaking grew more intense as he started to lift her up. She let out hoarse screams as Steve carried her, trying to get her into a comfortable position in his arms. She was crying and whimpering, her head lolling against Steve's shoulder.
Steve was quick to get out of the building and lead the way to the Quinjet. Bruce was luckily on board, getting all of the medical equipment ready after Tony had told him what was going on with Wanda.
I watched as Steve gently set Wanda down on the stretcher. I ran to her, gripping her hand lightly again as Bruce said he was going to sedate her.
"Is it safe?" I asked him, worried she wouldn't wake up.
"Yes, trust me, you're not going to want her awake for this," he said quietly as he gave her the sedative.
I heard Wanda say, "Mama," before she drifted off to sleep.
The second her body went limp, Bruce went straight to work, putting IV's in her arm, hooking her up to machines, injecting her with different liquids.
He gently moved me away from Wanda so that he could work better. I fought to get back to her side but Clint held me back, telling me that Bruce needed room to work.
Steve and Tony were both up at the front, getting us back to the compound as soon as possible.
I felt numb as I watched Bruce work on Wanda, cleaning her up and bandaging certain wounds. He got her to a certain point and then turned to me and said, "That's all I can do on the jet. She's stable. Cho and I will have to perform surgery once we get back."
"Surgery?" I croaked out. "For what?"
"Well she has a collapsed lung, that's what this tube is for," he explained, pointing to the tube that was coming out of her side, stitched into her skin. "We also can't be sure of all of her injuries until we open her up. She most likely has internal bleeding and it's easiest to manage when we're inside. I'm sorry Natasha."
I nodded, gripping Wanda's hand gently as I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand.
Clint sat next to me, rubbing my back as we flew back to the compound.
It was a relatively short flight and before I knew it, Bruce was running off the jet, meeting Cho on the landing pad as they both rushed her inside. I tried to follow but was unable to go through the pair of big doors. They told me I needed to wait and Clint dragged me back once he realized I wasn't going to listen.
She was in surgery for hours. My hands were still covered in her blood when Cho and Bruce came out after surgery.
"How is she?" I asked, standing up and moving closer to them.
"She's stable. She had several broken bones, a collapsed lung, minimal internal bleeding, burns, and other superficial injuries. We stitched her up and made sure all of her wounds were cleaned out and disinfected. Her leg is in a temporary cast to wait for swelling to go down and her hand has been placed in a plaster cast. Several of her ribs were broken but we can't do much other than try to manage the pain as they heal. She also had a fractured skull but as of right now, her brain does not seem to be injured. We'll monitor it over the next several days though to make sure she's okay."
"Is that it?" I asked quietly, staring Dr. Cho in the eyes.
"There was one more thing," she lowered her voice.
"What?" I asked.
"Maybe we should talk to you privately?" she suggested. I nodded and stepped into a different hallway with her.
"We did a rape kit on her. It is clear that she was assaulted several times. She had tears that needed to be stitched up and we gave her medications to try to reduce the chance of any pregnancies or STD's. We have some blood tests going now to see the extent of the assault."
"Okay, thank you," I told them, sucking in a deep breath. Even though Wanda would heal physically, she was going to have mental issues that weren't going to heal as easily. "Can I see her?" I asked.
"Of course. She's still unconscious but at this point, we aren't keeping her under so she should be awake soon."
"Okay," I mumbled as I followed Dr. Cho down the hall and to her room. Wanda looked so small lying in the hospital bed. Her body was hooked up to many different machines, monitoring her to make sure she stayed stable.
I moved closer to her bed, sitting in a chair next to it as I held her hand, rubbing my hand up and down her arm. My poor baby.
I wanted her to wake up but I also knew that once she woke up, she would probably be in a lot of pain. I just hoped she would be okay with seeing me once she woke up and that she wasn't mad or scared of me anymore.
I was tired from several days of not sleeping but I couldn't sleep yet. I needed to be here in case Wanda woke up.
I was only alone for a few more minutes until Steve, Tony, and Clint walked into the room. Steve and Tony stood on the opposite side of the bed but Clint came over to me.
"Hey Nat, how's she doing?" he asked.
"She's stable. She has a lot of injuries but she'll get better. Helen said she'll wake up soon."
"That's good, she's gonna be okay," he assured me. "How about you get some sleep?"
"No," I said. "I need to be here when she wakes up."
"Nat, you haven't slept in days. You need to get some sleep to take care of her."
"No Clint," I snapped, showing him I wasn't up for an argument.
The room fell silent, the only noise was the beeping of the different machines. My hand was no longer rubbing her arm but rather sitting still, holding onto her hand.
Clint sat down in a chair a few feet away from me and Tony and Steve left the room silently. Bruce, Rhodey, Vision, and Pepper had yet to make an appearance. I honestly didn't care that much. The less people seeing Wanda injured the better. I know she would hate it.
My body was involuntarily trying to go to sleep but I managed to stay awake.
It had been several hours but finally, Wanda woke up.
It started with a tiny twitch in her hand that I was holding. My head had been resting on the bed but it immediately shot up when I felt her hand move. I then looked at her face and saw her eyelids twitching. The heart rate monitor picked up a bit as her heart beat faster. Her face scrunched up in pain and then I watched as her eyes fluttered open.
At first, she seemed to be confused. Her eyes weren't focusing on anything as they rolled around the room.
"Wanda?" I spoke quietly so as not to scare her.
Her eyes rolled in my direction and then they locked onto my eyes.
I saw her open her mouth but no words came out, just a small whimper.
"Shh baby," I was quick to soothe her. "Does anything hurt?" She didn't respond but kept looking at me, her eyes begging me for relief.
"Clint," I said. "Get Bruce or Helen." He quickly got up and ran out of the room, going to find one of the people who could take her pain away.
"We're getting a doctor baby," I told her quietly, gripping her hand a bit tighter as I moved her hair out of her face.
She seemed to be wanting to tell me something but every time she opened her mouth, all that would come out was a whimper or a squeak. "Shh, don't try to talk baby. Are you in pain?"
No response. She just kept looking at me, her eyes now filling with tears. I wanted more than anything to help her but there was nothing I could do at the moment.
"It's okay baby girl, we're going to help you feel better." Just then, Clint came back into the room with Helen.
"Hi Wanda, how're you feeling?" she asked softly as she checked some monitors.
Wanda just stared at her, trying but failing to speak.
"How about we get you some pain meds? I'm going to ask you a few questions, can you blink once for yes and twice for no?" Wanda blinked once.
"Good, do you know what happened?" One blink. "Do you know where you are?" There was some hesitation and then there were two blinks. "That's okay, you're in the hospital at the compound. Are you in any pain?" One blink. "Okay, we're going to give you some pain medicine. Is that okay?" Two blinks.
I interrupted Helen. "Wanda, the pain medicine will help you feel better. Can you let Helen give it to you?" Two blinks. A tear rolled down her cheek and the beeping on the heart rate monitor increased. "Sweetie, are you in pain?" One blink. "But you don't want pain meds?" Two blinks. "Why?" She looked at me as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Okay honey," I told her, wiping away the tears. "We won't give you any pain meds. Try to take some deep breaths for me."
Wanda seemed to calm down as I told her this and I listened as the beeping slowed down.
Dr. Cho looked confused but she put the syringe with the medicine away. We could always give her it once she fell back asleep but I didn't want to panic her right now.
"Hi Wanda, do you remember me?" Dr. Cho asked her. One blink. "Good, are you thirsty?" One blink. "Okay, we can help fix that." Dr. Cho grabbed a cup off of the bedside table and bent the straw next to her mouth. "Okay Wanda, try opening your mouth. I'll put the straw in and you just have to suck."
Wanda opened her mouth and we placed the straw into her mouth. It took a second but she started sucking and I watched the water move up the straw and into her mouth.
A few seconds after the water dripped into her mouth, Wanda gasped as if she had been burned and spit the straw out of her mouth. Tears started falling down her cheeks.
"What's wrong baby?" I asked, wiping the tiny bit of water off of her chin. "Did it hurt?" One blink. "Oh baby," I said as I ran my fingers over her cheeks. "Shh," I told her, trying to get her to stop crying.
I could see her chest moving up and down quickly as she tried to prevent herself from panicking. I gripped her hand as my fingers brushed through her hair.
"Try to go back to sleep baby," I told her, wanting to get some pain meds into her.
It didn't take long for her to drift back to sleep, giving us a chance to inject her with some pain meds. Helen also had a chance to check her incisions and wounds, making sure nothing was bleeding or starting to look infected.
There were so many cuts on her tiny body. I held her hand throughout the entire check, even though she was asleep.
I knew I needed to get some sleep soon. I could feel my body starting to shut down, which meant that my emotions were going to get hard to control really quickly.
I allowed my head to rest on the bed next to Wanda, my hand still gripping hers. I wanted to stay awake to take care of her but my body didn't exactly agree with me. I had stayed awake longer than this before but things had been different since Wanda started living with us.
I finally allowed my body to get some needed rest while Wanda slept.
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o
My body jolted awake after a nightmare about not being able to find Wanda. I felt relief flood my body as I opened my eyes and saw Wanda lying in front of me but that relief quickly turned sour when I remembered where we were and what had happened.
Unfortunately, my jerking movement had woken up Wanda.
Her eyes fluttered open as they looked around the room, still not really focusing on anything.
She seemed to be calmer than earlier though so hopefully the meds had done their job.
"Hi sweetie," I whispered to her as I brushed her hair out of her face. "How're you feeling?" She seemed a little more aware this time than last time so I decided to try getting basic responses from her.
After a few seconds of no response, I tried something else. "Blink once for good and twice for bad. How're you feeling?" She just stared at me, tears filling her big eyes.
"Aww baby," I breathed out as I grabbed her hand again. "Can I do anything?" She shook her head slightly, just gripping onto my hand tighter as her body started to heave with silent sobs.
I wanted to pick her up and hold her but I knew that that would cause her more pain than comfort so I settled for just holding her hand and running my fingers through her hair as I mumbled sweet nothings to her.
"I love you so much baby girl," I told her, squeezing her hand. I knew that recovery was going to be hard, not just physically, but mentally. My guess was that it wasn't the physical pain causing her tears right now.
Clint made his appearance known as he moved closer to the bed, placing a gentle hand on her non-broken leg. She jumped at the touch but quickly settled down when she realized who it was.
Clint looked at me worriedly but didn't say anything as he rubbed her leg comfortingly. I turned my attention back to Wanda, trying to calm her down. She moved her broken hand to her chest and stomach as her body heaved with sobs.
I knew that her ribs had to be hurting with the effort of the cries.
"Try to relax," I told her, slowly moving the bed into a more upright position to support her ribs. "Shh honey, we've got you."
I gently pressed a pillow onto her stomach, guiding her hand around the pillow to grip as she cried. It always helped to give the ribs some support from the front when they're broken.
The only sounds in the room were the gasping sobs from Wanda and the beeping of the machines.
When Wanda had woken up the first time, she had looked dazed and confused. Now, she looked a lot more aware. She was probably overwhelmed by all of the memories that were most likely rushing back into her brain.
Her cries grew so intense she was starting to gag.
"Honey, try to calm down. Take some deep breaths with me," I told her, trying to guide her through the breaths. Her entire body was heaving and shaking though as she was doubled over from pain in her ribs.
I didn't know what else I could do. As she cried, the pain in her ribs got worse, causing her cries to become more intense, causing her to gag, which caused the pain to get worse, and so on. It was a vicious cycle and I felt helpless as I watched her cry.
I finally decided to try something else as I climbed onto her bed, scooting behind her. Her body was doubled over the pillow so there was plenty of space for me to fit behind her.
"C'mere baby," I said softly as I gently grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. I moved her slowly until her back was to my chest. I then leaned back, using my ab strength to lean all the way back into a reclined position, letting Wanda's body slump into mine.
"Shh," I told her as my fingers continued combing through her hair. "Follow my breathing." I made my breathing more pronounced as she leaned against my chest so that she could follow it better.
Soon, she started calming down. Her breaths were still slightly uneven and every once and a while, she would intake a sharp breath as her hand flew to her ribs but overall, she was much better than earlier.
I stayed behind her, allowing her body to relax completely into mine as I held her gently. I knew this position would make her uncomfortable eventually but right now, she needed it to stay calm.
Her non-broken hand gripped onto my hand tightly while she lied there, focusing on her breathing. Her tears had stopped and she now seemed exhausted again.
Clint stayed at the edge of the bed, just being there for support. He honestly couldn't do much right now. It was killing me that there wasn't more we could do for her.
I had asked Helen earlier why Wanda wasn't talking and she told me it was probably because of the shocks. She had been shocked with a shock collar which burnt her throat. Her throat was also probably raw from the screaming that was likely to have ensued during the torture.
She told me that it should go away soon though and that she should be able to start talking again in the near future.
Wanda finally fell asleep and I was able to carefully slip out from behind her. Now that I had gotten a little bit of sleep, Clint couldn't bug me about getting sleep. I could stay awake and watch my poor girl sleep.
The next several hours were long and hard. Wanda started developing a fever and she was in a delirious state. Bruce said an infection was probably starting and immediately started her on antibiotics.
I stayed next to her side the entire time, holding her hand and staying with her while she whimpered and cried. She was burning up and probably had no idea where she was.
Luckily, the fever only lasted the night, slowly lowering after several doses of antibiotics. She still wasn't talking but she was now resting peacefully again, her body no longer burning up. Helen had decided to put Wanda on some sedatives, trying to allow her body to rest while she healed.
Clint, Steve, Tony, and Pepper were frequent visitors in Wanda's room. They would bring by food to make sure that I was eating something, especially because I never wanted to leave my sweet baby. I left for a few minutes at a time, only to clean myself when even I could smell myself.
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o
A few days passed without Wanda waking up. She was on IV nutrients and hydration in order to allow her body to continue healing. Helen had told me that morning that she would start taking Wanda off of the sedatives. I was told that Wanda would probably wake up this afternoon.
Her body still looked badly injured but the bruises were now greenish yellowish rather than black and blue. There were still some of the bigger ones that were black but the green told me that they were starting to heal which was good.
It was later in the afternoon when she started to open her eyes. I watched as her face scrunched up, her mouth opening and closing. I finally saw her open her eyes as she looked around the room. Her eyes focused on me quicker than they did when she woke up the first time.
"Hi baby," I spoke quietly.
She opened her mouth and responded with a hoarse, "Hi." It sounded like a whisper of someone who had been smoking for an entire lifetime. It was something though.
"How're you feeling?"
I watched as she shifted slightly, followed by her scrunching her face up in pain.
"Try not to move honey," I told her quickly, standing up to move the blankets off her chest.
"Water," she croaked out, barely above a whisper.
"I can get you water. Hold on one sec sweetie." I let go of her hand and moved to the table to grab her water cup. I tilted the straw into her mouth and watched as the water moved up the straw and into her mouth.
She grimaced as she swallowed, no doubt due to the fact that her throat was still burned, but she continued to drink, slowly but surely. I ended up taking the water away, telling her we should take it slow so that she doesn't get sick. She nodded slowly.
"Hurts," she said carefully, moving her hand over her ribs.
"I know baby, I'll get Helen so she can give you some meds."
I pressed a button that was given to us so we could immediately call Helen or Bruce.
Helen showed up, smiling when she saw that Wanda was awake. "Hi Wanda, how're you feeling?"
"Hurts," she repeated.
"I'm sorry Wanda, I have a med that can help with that."
I distracted Wanda by talking to her as Helen gave her the med through the IV. We didn't want another protest like the first time we tried to give her meds.
Helen moved the bed up, saying that Wanda needed to work on moving a tiny bit. It was a slow and painful process for Wanda but she managed to get somewhat comfortable after she got moved up to a sitting position.
She looked exhausted and I couldn't even imagine how much pain she was in. Her movements were slow and sloppy, her limbs weak.
Wanda looked concerned as Helen moved closer, starting to check her wounds. Luckily, Helen was able to convince Wanda to stay calm as she checked over all of her incisions, breaks, and bruises.
"Do you think you could eat something Wanda?" Helen asked after she had completed her assessment.
Wanda just looked at me, not saying anything.
"What if we try something small like jello?" I offered. Wanda nodded slowly and Helen left the room to go grab some food.
She came back with a strawberry jello. "Alright Wanda, you've been getting nutrients through your IV but you need some actual nutrition through food soon. Let's start small. I also gave you an anti-nausea med to prepare for your first meal in a while. If it's too painful or you get too nauseous, let me know and we can stop, okay?" Wanda nodded towards Helen, turning back to me as soon as Helen was done talking.
I was handed the jello cup by Dr. Cho as she stepped back, busying herself with Wanda's chart. I opened the jello and scooped a tiny bit out, bringing it to Wanda's open mouth.
She was able to chew it slowly before swallowing it down. Each time she swallowed, her face would scrunch with pain. I felt horrible as her eyes started to fill with tears but she kept opening her mouth until the entire cup was gone. I had offered to stop several times but she kept insisting she could do it.
She managed to keep the entire cup down with only a minimal amount of nausea. That was a huge win! We gave her a little more water, lowered her bed, and told her to get some more rest. We also got some ice and heat for her ribs and broken bones.
As Wanda slept, I felt hopeful. I had been worried and still was very worried but Wanda was making small improvements and I knew that soon, she would be back to normal.