The Lone Wolf (Clint Barton)

Chapter 20: Coma

Third Person POV: (Focusing on Jackie's Hospital Room)

Twice Jackie had flatlined, twice they had brought her back successfully. Mostly because it was their job, but partly because they didn't want to be the ones that had to tell the Avengers that someone they cared about had died. Finally, after twelve hours of surgery, they had saved Jackie's life and stabilized her, but couldn't save the baby. The doctors and nurses were excited yet saddened, and the head surgeon, Dr. Chris Bakerson, came to address the room.

"My name is Chris Bakerson and I'm the head surgeon of this hospital. I oversaw the surgery along with some other very experienced doctors. May I ask which one of you is Clinton Barton?" Dr. Bakerson asked after entering the room. Everyone's eyes turned to Clint, who raised his head to show that was him. "Is it okay if everyone hears about Ms. Barnes's condition?"

"We're all basically family," Clint said. "Everyone knows just about everything about each other."

"Very well." Dr. Bakerson said. "Ms. Barnes is a fortunate person, we managed to stabilize her, and there should be no complications involving the wounds caused by the bullets. The bullets that hit her abdomen tore her uterus and killed the baby. We had to perform a hysterectomy to save her life. We'll put her on medication that will help her menopause. I do regret to inform you that Ms. Barnes has fallen into a coma and we don't know when she'll wake up. Visiting and staying arrangements are up to you all, we will accommodate."

"Arrange for two people to be staying with her at all times." Fury said, noticing how the Doctor had failed to mention that Jackie may not wake up, as it was a possibility.

"Of course. We'll take care of that. She's currently in room 305." Dr. Bakerson said. The staff had never seen so many people run so fast to get somewhere. When you have 22 people running through the halls, it's like a stampede, with nurses yelping and running into rooms to avoid getting run over. Pietro and Wanda made it there first since Pietro picked her up and used his speed to get there first.

"So whos staying first?" Steve asked, being one of the few who aren't out of breath from running down the halls and up two flights of stairs, following by another hall before getting in front of the room that Jackie was at.

"Matt, Sami, and I are going back to Houston tomorrow probably. We just needed to make sure she was okay and support you guys." Tyler explained, slowly catching his breath.

"Clint will." Nat stated. "I don't know about the other."

"You can." Fury said before putting his hand up to stop Nat from protesting. "I don't want to hear it. You two are the closest to Jackie. You will be staying the night, that's an order. However, it also is an order that everyone gets some rest and eats. The last thing we are more Avengers in the hospital. That includes you, Barton."

"Yes sir." Clint said, entering the room.

"She's thinking about you." Wanda told him, smiling sadly. Clint returned the rueful smile and grabbed Jackie's hand, carefully rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. After an hour of everyone watching her, they left, leaving Clint and Nat. Nat went to go get some food and Clint took the opportunity to look at Jackie's hands. They were calloused from years of fighting with tiny scars from punching foes. Turning her hand around, he saw numerous scars that were too smooth to be from fights or torture.

"When you first came to SHIELD, she stopped it to help you." Fury said, answering Clint's unspoken question as he appeared in the doorway. "After you moved bases to NYC HQ, I think she started again. You were the only reason she went with me to check on the tesseract. Jackie would've left to go stay the weekend at her ranch if I hadn't mentioned your name. She'll never admit it, but you're her anchor."