FROST (Natasha Romanoff x female reader)

Chapter 44: Demise

The team rushed into the compound with Steve carrying Mara. They had called Banner on their way back so he could set up the medbay. At this point, they weren't even sure if Mara was even alive anymore. Natasha held Mara's hand the whole way to the compound as soon as she activated the auto-pilot.

She couldn't believe this was happening. She couldn't help but think this was all her fault. She regretted everything and especially that their last conversation was so hurtful. She just wanted to tell her she loved her and be with her forever.

As soon as they entered the building, doctors started swarming them and placed Mara on a gurney. They wheeled her off to the medbay and prepared her for surgery. Natasha took one last look as doctors cut off Mara's uniform. That's when they left out of sight.

Time dragged by as Natasha and the rest of the team waited to hear from Bruce. Wanda was deeply worried. Not only about her friend, but also about Natasha. The redhead just looked empty and almost dead inside. She just stared in front of her with a pained expression on her face as she bounced her leg repetitively.

Two long hours later, Bruce walked into the room. Everyone jumped up and looked expectantly at him. "I'll start with the only good news, which is that she's alive." Everyone sighed out of relief.

"But, she is in a coma and on breath support. She cannot breathe on her own yet. She was shot in the back four times, three of those shots went straight out through her chest, puncturing her lungs in the process." The team all looked down at the news, nobody able to hide their tears.

"That is not all, I'm afraid. She already had no pulse when we started surgery, so we had to do CPR first. It's even a miracle that she has a pulse right now. We need to heavily monitor her to make sure her heart keeps beating. The risk of her dying is very high in the beginning." He finished his briefing.

"How long do you think she'll be in a coma?" Steve asked him. "I don't know. Looking at her current state it could take weeks, months, maybe even years."

"Can I see her?" Natasha asked. Bruce nodded and she rushed out of the room towards Mara. When she got to the medbay, her eyes fell on her girlfriend. She was shocked at the sight, to say the least.

There, on a medical bed laid her girlfriend, unconscious, with a breathing tube down her throat and an IV attached to her arm with a needle. Machines were all around her trying to keep her alive. The sounds of the low humming of the ventilator and the beeping of the heart monitor filled the room. She was still in a surgical gown that only reminded Natasha of her horrible state.

Natasha grabbed a chair and sat beside Mara. She grabbed Mara's hand, noticing how cold it had gotten. She bit her lip in an attempt to control her tears.

She turned her head when she heard the door open and saw Wanda walk in. "Hey" Wanda said in almost a whisper. Natasha gave her a soft smile in return, quickly returning her focus to her girlfriend.

Wanda grabbed another chair and sat on the other side of Mara. She too had to hold back tears at the sight of her friend. She did not want to admit it, but seeing her friend with bullet holes riddled across her body reminded her of Pietro. She could not lose another person close to her.

"I should have paid more attention. Then she'd undoubtedly be walking around the halls with that stupid grin on her face." She said in a timid voice. Natasha quickly looked up at her.

"Don't say that. You could not see that guard coming. The only person responsible for this is the asshole that shot her." Natasha partly tried to convince herself by saying this. She hoped their argument did not distract Mara during the mission, but she couldn't help but fear that it did.

They sat there in silence for a moment before Natasha spoke up. "We had an argument right before we left for the mission. That's why she sat in the back." Wanda looked up at her, waiting for an explanation.

"When she was in Wakanda, I missed her and felt so alone. I missed physical touch. So, I made the biggest mistake of my life by turning to Steve for attention. We kissed and did other things. It never meant anything to me, but I ruined our relationship by doing what I did." She explained. She could see Wanda was mad at her, but the younger girl remained quiet. Natasha didn't know what else to say, so they returned to silently watching you.

Suddenly they were interrupted by a loud beeping noise coming from one of the machines. "Get Bruce, now!" Natasha ordered Wanda, who ran to find him.

"Please, don't do this to me baby..." she whispered, holding Mara's hand. The loud beeping turned into one long beep as she saw the heart monitor flatline. "No, no, no, NO" she yelled with tears streaming down her face as she started to do chest compressions on Mara.

Bruce ran into the room soon after and took over from Natasha, who was now crying against Wanda's shoulder. Every second felt like an hour as they waited for the long beep to turn into short beeps again. Other doctors had already come in to assist and to start using a defibrillator to hopefully shock her heart back into rhythm.

Seconds turned into minutes and Bruce looked at the doctors, who shook their heads. He turned to Wanda and Natasha. "I'm sorry. She's gone."