Pain Is Power

48: Hold On

NATASHA'S POV

Seeing her lying there, hurt, badly hurt, killed me. "Nat you need to keep your mask on." Bruce encouraged moving my hands to put the mask back on. I inhaled the oxygen which helped. Her body was shaking a little Bruce said it was what her body did last time when she brought Peppa back and killed Dreykov. But this was worse, she had burns on her chest and neck branching off of her scar that was already there, they looked so painful.

It's what the infinity stones do to her, to anyone that uses them humans aren't built to be able to use them theres too much energy in them. The metal in her chest is the only thing that makes her remotly able to use them one at a time. She used them all at once I couldn't imagne what it did to her body. "Her results are back." Tony comes in with the tablet. "The metal it's melting," Bruce says almost unsure as he looks. I tried to see but they kept it out of my sight. "It's melting, Melting, its melting in on her heart," I say. "Natasha." "Take it out." "We can't." "She's going to die." "Natasha there's no way of us taking it out. I have been trying for 3 years to work around it and it's impossible." Tony told me. "She's going to die." "No... She'll fight." "Mask on please." Bruce tells me so I put it back on to avoid the argument.

"Please wake up," I whispered to her. "Natasha?" "Yeah?" I didn't look away from her, I held her hand being as gentle as I could so I didn't hurt her anymore, her hand stopped trembling slightly as I held it stabilising it in some way, her body was hot, her hands were hot and that's not like her, she always has cold hands. "Everyones complaining about how you're allowed in here and they're not." "She's my girlfriend and she's dying." "No one knows that." "Then they'll just have to deal with it okay. I'm not leaving her. She didn't leave me and I'm not leaving her."

"It's scary I know." "No, you don't. You don't know anything." I kissed her hand. "She's my girlfriend." "I know that. Nat, you need to tell them." "She doesn't want to." I wasn't betraying her just so everyone will stop moaning about not being able to see her right now. "She's too hot," I say tracing her hand with my thumb as I held it. "It's because of the burns." He tells me. "Her hands are never hot though... She's too hot. She needs to be cooled down." "Nat she needs to stay warm right now."

-----------

She hasn't woken up but her temperature was back to normal and her trembling has stopped, it just randomly happened now. She laid there, the doctor had put some cream on the burns on her neck and chest, they would leave scaring nothing she wasn't used to. "You have to wake up okay." Peter was talking to her holding one of her hands tightly. "You have to wake up because you need to take care of us like you always do. Like you did the other day." I haven't left this room. Peppa brought me clothes and food and water but I haven't had much of a need for that. I should never have let her go up there. I should have known better than to let her go off like that. It was her sister she was protecting and that would never change. "I need you to wake up because I can't do this without you. You're my big sister and Morgan needs you. I don't know how to do her hair or how she likes her pancakes. I can't tuck her in the way you do or protect her. We need you. I need you to drive me around and drop my girlfriend home I need you. I'm scared." I rubbed circles on his back to soothe him as he cried over Amelia.

"She can't die. Natasha, please. Please." I held him tightly. "She'll fight. She always has fought. why would she give up now?" I try and comfort him. "She might not have a choice, she's only human." I closed my eyes my own tears spilling over as his soaked into Amelia's hoodie I was wearing. After this week I think it smelt more like me than her now. It still brought me comfort, felt like I was wrapped in her arms.

"She won't give up," I say I had to believe my own words because if I didn't I'd break and I couldn't do that I had to be strong right now.

"Natasha." "Yeah." I looked towards the door. "We're going to take her for some tests, why don't you go get some shut-eye for a few hours." "No, I don't want to leave her." "Nat, you need rest you're no good to her if you're exhausted," Peppa tells me. "You too Peter."