Picnic fail
Sam woke up to music playing in the kitchen. He wandered out to find his mother and Bucky side by side at the counter singing along with minnie the moocher. He stood in the doorway and smiled as they moved along with it. He quietly pulled out his phone and recorded it to send to Steve. Gina came up behind him and leaned her chin on his shoulder.
"They seem happy. Just saying. I don't think it will go far but you know how lonely she's been since Dad passed. I mean she does stuff at church but she doesn't always connect with them. I say let them have their fun."
She walked into the kitchen and grabbed coffee cups for everyone. "So Sam and I were thinking it's a good day for a picnic. We figure you guys could make some food and he and I will go get a few more groceries. Sound good?"
Bucky was moving food to the table and smirked "you trust me alone with your mom?" Gina smiled "I think she can handle you. Besides I think it's a good idea if you don't make another appearance in town right now." They all agreed on that.
Once breakfast was finished everyone got to work with their tasks. Bucky did whatever Bea asked him to do. He chopped things up, he got her basket out of the attic and he pulled chairs from the basement. He was surprised when a box fell over and a picture fell out. A group of older men but one stood out in particular. He picked it up and took it up stairs.
"How did you know Gabe?" Bea looked over and saw him with the picture and smiled. "My father worked with him during the Korean war. I met him once or twice before he passed. Nice man. My father spoke the world of him. Gabe spoke about both of you. He would give talks at schools about the importance of diversity and working together. Who would have thought all these later I would be in the presence of another Howling commando." Bucky couldn't help the tears as he hugged the picture a little. "God I miss them so much."
She came over and pulled him into a hug. "I know it must be hard. At least you still have Steve. Just let it all out. It's ok." She guided him out to the couch and sat down with him patting his back as his tears dampened her shoulder. "You poor thing. Have you been holding onto this hurt all this time?" He nodded his head and coughed " I'm sorry. I shouldn't be unloading my emotional baggage on you. You didn't sign up for that."
She pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his face. "I will never turn away someone who needs space to grieve. You can't take care of yourself if you are worried about others and how they see you." He pulled her tight into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you for being kind to me."
It took about an hour to get to the place Gina wanted to go. It was out of the way but nice. There were a few picnic tables around and some hiking trails but that was it. Not another person to be seen. They set lunch up at a table in the shade. Sam was telling him about the different trails and mentioned one went to the beach and one went to a cave. Gina suggested they check out the cave and then they could go to the beach.
They were cleaning up lunch and horsing around when Sam shoved him a little too hard and he stumbled into the bushes. "Damn it Sam." He was immediately alerted to a sharp sting in his side. Sam froze "dude….freeze. please tell me you got a knife on you." He nodded "good cuz you're sittin on a copperhead. Any chance you can get it off your side?" He was listening to Sam but he couldn't focus. His arms felt heavy and his face wasn't letting him form words. He saw Sam lurch forward as he felt another sharp pain in his right hand. Without thinking he smashed his left arm down and felt something squish underneath.
"Gina, help me move him. God why did he have to find the only copperhead in Delaware. Steve is gonna murder me. Ma call 911, tell them we are heading to the hospital." Bucky could hear them panicking but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, he couldn't talk and he couldn't breath. He began to panic and he felt someone grab his hand. He couldn't see very well. He slowly faded out as he felt someone's hands on his back.
He woke up and noticed the tube in his throat. Sam was in the chair talking to someone. He was surprised to see Tony standing in the room. "Hey there he is. He lives to fight another day huh? Don't worry. We can cover the med bills just keep me posted if you need anything else. Get better Frosty." Sam got up and looked at him. "Man we thought we lost you. Been out for almost two days. Stark came out to make sure they were able to care for you properly here he also brought the anti-venom in. I'll go get a doc so they can unhook you from some of this stuff. Maybe you can get outta here tomorrow. Probably gonna stay with Gina and Ma an extra week. You can't travel like this."
He disappeared out the door and returned with a doctor and a nurse. They checked his vitals and a few other things and they slowly unhooked a few things and removed the tube in his throat. "Mr. Barnes, you have about two weeks to recover from this. You will experience pain at the bite areas for at least the next 7 days. The swelling will probably last for about two weeks. The discoloration should go away in time but the bites will scar. We will keep you for one more night and hopefully let you go in the morning but you will be on bed rest and medication."
They walked out and he looked at Sam. "What happened?" He sat at the edge of the bed. "When you fell, you landed on a copperhead. It couldn't get out from under you so it panicked and bit you a few times. You seriously cheated death. You coded several times while they tried to get you settled. I'll let ma know you're awake. She's been asking about you."
The next morning after a little arguing from Sam he was discharged after they ran a few more tests. His right arm was still at least twice its normal size and his torso was lumpy down to his hip. He had meds for pain and meds for his blood pressure and some to make him sleep if he needed it. Sam helped ease him into the car.
"I could have been out of here sooner if they didn't take more blood." Sam looked at him. "They shouldn't have taken more blood. Tony explicitly said no. Let me take a look at those discharge papers." He scanned the documents and frowned. "I don't like this. The blood work order is not in your paperwork. Let's get you home I'll call Stark. Good thing I put my address on there and not moms."
Gina helped settle him in bed giving him a few extra pillows for his arm. Bea was running her hands through his hair and talking to him quietly. He had just taken the meds as he was instructed. He could feel Bea's hand move down his face and to his neck she was then suddenly gone.
"Sam...Are you still talking to Mr. Stark? I think somethings wrong with James. He's clammy and not very responsive. I can barely feel a pulse." Sam held the phone aside "Be right there to check him. You catch that Tony? Yea, I can have him ready to move in an hour." Sam walked in and checked his vitals. "I don't understand. It's been days. Besides he's a super soldier. It takes a lot to keep him down long." He checked his body for any sign of missed bites or things that looked out of place but found nothing. "Ma, I don't want to alarm you but I think you and Gina might want to disappear for a bit. This whole thing seems bad. Tony is sending Dr. Banner to take us back to New York. Maybe it would be a good idea if you visited the family?"
Bea frowned. "Sam...let me come with you. I can help. I wouldn't feel right just….dropping him." He nodded "ok. Go pack what you need. You comin' Gina?" She shook her head "no, I owe some friends a visit. I'll call them up, I can be gone by tonight." She gave him a hug. "Take care of them."
Bruce arrived with Happy in tow. "How is he?"
"In and out. Lot's of difficulty breathing and slurred speech. His blood pressure is really low too. It's like the poison is hitting him all over." Bruce began checking him. "You are sure he was stable at the hospital?"
"Yea that's why he was discharged."
"Hmm well i have a few running theories. Steve and I both found the serum isn't built for venoms or nerve agents. It's part of how we handle the Hulk. Perhaps he's still struggling through and the anti-venom burned through his system before it could clear things up. Let's get him back to the tower."
Happy walked back in. "Boss had me set a perimeter. If anyone that isn't authorized steps foot here Friday's gonna get an alert and start filming." Sam gave Gina one last hug. "Take care. Call me when you're settled." She hugged her mom and they said goodbyes. Sam patted Bucky as they took off "we're gonna get you home."