Hope and Dream

27.

Jimmy had to get out of the hospital and check on the bar. He had to do anything to get his mind off his little brother, images of him lying in that hospital bed with doctors rushing around.

He loved Katie like a sister, but he hated fucking doctors...

He approached the front doors of the bar, but immediately stopped in his tracks and stared at the wide-open door. He could have sworn he turned off the lights and locked up, but then again it was chaos when he left.
"Hello?!" Jimmy asked, cautiously approaching the doors, reaching his hand inside to grab his trusty bat hidden against the wall. Jimmy swung it over his shoulder and rushed inside, seeing his bar in shambles.
"What the fuck?" Jimmy asked.

That's when he heard the pained groan come from the corner of the room. He looked to the floor and saw Bucky in a pool of blood, trying to push himself to his knees.
"Katie..." Bucky groaned, grabbing his flesh shoulder.
"Shit!" Jimmy exclaimed.

He threw the bat down and rushed over to Bucky to help him. He wasn't doing it out of the kindness of his heart, hell no...not after how he treated her.

"What the FUCK happened to my bar?!" Jimmy exclaimed, finally noticing the extent of the damage. There was a bullet in the now shattered mirror behind the bar, blood all over the floor, and a used syringe lying on the bar.

"Katie." Bucky gasped out. "Where...where is she?"
He had managed to get himself onto a bar stool to lean himself against the bar top, placing his metal arm against the wound making him hiss at the pain. Jimmy spun towards Bucky, his hands clenching at his waist in anger, wanting to just punch something.
"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked.

Bucky took off his jacket and gloves...and that's when Jimmy saw the arm.
"Holy fuck..." Jimmy said with a gasp, finally realizing that Bucky was in fact... "You're..."
"First aid kit." Bucky demanded. "Now..."
Jimmy rushed as best as he could behind the bar and placed the box on the bar. Bucky tore it open and started gathering the desired items.
"Vodka." Bucky stated, knowing full well how much this was going to sting.
Without a question, Jimmy handed him a bottle of Stolichnaya and twisted off the cap. Bucky couldn't help but angrily chuckle at the irony in the moment.
"What are you gonna..." Jimmy started.

Bucky took a swig and then doused his shoulder in the clear liquid, slamming his metal fist on the bar, growling in pain. He took a deep breath and took out the scissors, along with his own blade from his pocket and some gauze.

Jimmy's eyes went wide as Bucky clenched his jaw as he opened the wound a few inches more.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Jimmy asked.
"The bullet's still in my shoulder." Bucky said. "I...DAMNIT..."
He clenches his eyes shut as the wound was finally large enough.
"I have to get the bullet out." Bucky said.
"Do you even know what the hell you're doing?" Jimmy asked.

Bucky clenched his eyes as he remembered his past.

"I've unfortunately had to do this a few times before, yes." Bucky said. "I've just never been able to feel the pain until now. Just...keep me talking or I may pass out."
Bucky raised his metal fingers to the wound and kept sucking in deep breaths to ready himself.
"What happened to my bar?" Jimmy asked.
Bucky dug into the wound and groaned in annoyance, pain overtaking his entire right arm and hand.
"Walker was here..." Bucky groaned out.
"Walk..." Jimmy started. "John Walker? Her ex?"
Bucky gave a guttural and painful moan as he continued to try and form a plan while listening to Jimmy...anything to get his mind off the pain...and his worry for Katie.

"I'll find you, Doll." Bucky thought. "I'll always find you."

Bucky could finally feel the bullet in the shoulder as he slowly pulled it out, letting out a sigh of relief. He instantly grabbed some gauze and bandages as he patched himself up.
"What the..." Jimmy asked. "How did he find her?!"
"Apparently he never lost her." Bucky gasped in relief as he secured the wound.
Knowing it wasn't a perfect patch job, it would have to do. Jimmy grabbed his bat from the floor and looked at Bucky.