Not So Normal {A Captain America Fanfic}

Chapter 11

I was running down a long hall. The hall changed colors with every step. Red. Blue. Orange. Purple. Green. Yellow. It was a cycle that never ceased to end. I wish it would. My legs somehow didn't hurt, my lungs weren't trying to grasp for air, it was just my legs running instinctively. No, I wasn't like any of my runs with Steve.

Steve. Where is he? Where am I? I kept running looking for door or an exit but the only thing in sight was the walls that were seemed to be stuck in a disco in the 80s. How long was I running? It felt like mere seconds but maybe it was minutes. It couldn't be more than an hour. Suddenly, in the distance, I see a wall in my path. It didn't change colors like the rest, it was just a white. I wanted to stop, avoid running into the wall but I couldn't. My legs kept sprinting toward the wall, not giving up. I told myself to stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.

Nothing. I rushed closer. And closer. Until I was one stride away from the wall and I braced myself. When I hit the wall, all I could see was white. No, not white. Bright. It was a bright light. I squinted and slowly my eyes adjusted. The light became more tolerable and I could start to see light bulbs. I opened my eyes more and saw the tiles on the ceiling. I was back to the real world, that didn't have any changing colored walls. My hearing rushed in all at once. Beeping and a soft breathing. So soft I couldn't believe how I could hear it. I slowly moved my pupils around but I couldn't see much from the corner of my eye. I felt fine. I didn't feel tired or queazy, if anything I felt like I could run a mile. So I sat up, not needing to use my arms for support. I didn't make a sound while sitting up and looking around, no wonder why the man who sat in the chair didn't immediately look to where I was.

There he was, Steve Rogers, sitting in a gross teal chair that looked terribly uncomfortable, hands folded, head down.

"On your left," I say, Remembering our first run. Good times. His head snapped up and his eyes were wide. He looked tired but not much considering he was the Captain America. He also had a face on that said, 'déjà vu.'

"Are you alright? Lay down! Lay down!" Steve said, concerned. He stood up and walked toward my bed.

"I'm fine! I feel great!" I told him and kept my sitting up position.

Steve breathed sharply. "You feel great?" He asked, concerned.

"Yeaaahhh, isn't that good. Like, recovery and all that?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yes, but-"

"But? Aw come on. I got stabbed by a knife. I can't be that damaged," I say, more to myself then Steve.

"It's better if Dr. Banner explains things to you," he tells me. That doesn't sound good.

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After we chatted a bit about what had happened after I took my little nap, Banner came in, clipboard in hand. "What's up, Doc?" I asked, impersonating my childhood hero, Bugs Bunny. Okay maybe he wasn't my hero. It was more like Hannah Montana. Of course, that didn't end well.

Banner gave a quick smile and looked down a his clipboard. "Amelia, I want you to know that we did everything we could to keep you, eh, normal," Banner says, not breaking eye contact with his beloved clipboard.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Banner looked up at me. "Let's start with how long you were out, you were in a coma for about two weeks. And that knife was more than a knife," he started and I raised my eyebrow. He sighed and continued. "See, when the 'knife' was inserted in you leg, a robotic insect crawled through your blood, into your heart and to your eye. Usually, knives like that rip your eye out and then go for the brain and shut it down. The motto must to be intact.

"However, we were able to get the bug before it did anything to your eye. The robotic insect was smart though, and realized that it had to somehow kill you fast. It skipped over the eyeball process and went straight to your brain. When we got the bug out of your system, your body started to shut down. You were turning off, your coma deepened, and you were, in a sense, getting tired.

"We didn't know what to do at that point, no stimulants could boost you nor a shock. So, I did something a doctor should never do. I used something that had not been tested for humans," Banner said and hung his head low.

"Doctor, it's alright. I'm alive and I'm here. You must have done the right thing. Besides, it was the only hope" I assure him and myself.

He sighed. "Yeah, sure. In the end I got a mixture from my lab called GW1516. When we tested it on rats, it raised their endurance, they could do things for a long period of time without getting tired. I thought if this could boost you, you would start to turn on. And you did. You came back to life. But you didn't stop," Banner said and tried to say more but he scrunched his eyes. He regained his thoughts and continued.

"A normal heart beat when is 60-100 beats per minutes. Yours reached to 300, you should be dead," he said and stopped.

"But- but, am I dead? Is this heaven or something?" I asked frantically.

"No, no it's not sadly. You are alive. Your heart beat right now, it's still at 300," Banner said and I put my hand to my heart. It vibrated. My chest did just more up and down with my breaths, it vibrated. "We haven't tested anything out on you because of you being in a coma but we assume you will be able to do more. Move faster, think quicker, never get tired," Banner finished. He stood up and looked at me. "I'm sorry." He said. Banner looked at Steve, who was silent and just looked at my face the whole time, and nodded. Doctor Banner left with his head down.

I just sat there, shocked. He said I might run faster. That would've helped if I was in grade school and having to run the mile. Think quicker. But how? Math problems? Plans? If I have to catch something I dropped? But the never tired got stuck in my head. I wouldn't sleep? Was my coma the last time I would rest my eyes? This has been the weirdest weeks of my life.

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