Oleander - Bucky BarnesxOC

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: CANNONBALL

A/N: This is part 1 of 2 of the shit going down chapter. I have to leave you on a tiny bit of a cliffhanger so don't get too upset with me. I'll do my best to get the next chapter written quickly, but I really want to do this justice.

CW: Smut, descriptions of teeth pulling and violence.

Stones taught me to fly
Love, it taught me to lie
- Damien Rice, "Cannonball"

They're sitting at the piano, Dahlia playing softly while James watches her, his head rested on her shoulder. He's been nauseous throughout the day and she's almost certain he has a concussion. He seems so small and vulnerable now, his face bruised and partially swollen. Even with all of the cuts and scrapes, he's still beautiful. He tells her he's fine, he just needs to sleep it off or have a drink, but Rebecca won't let him do either. Dahlia has never seen him this helpless before, or this quiet. Usually, he commands a certain kind of presence that intimidates her, but today, he's much more reserved, letting Rebecca take control.

Dahlia plays softly to keep him awake while Rebecca reads a book with Alpine sitting in her lap. She teaches James some scales to keep him from falling asleep until the doctor gets here. James learns them enthusiastically - or as enthusiastically as he can. He looks tired, like he didn't sleep at all last night. There are big bags under his eyes and dark circles. Dahlia wonders what's going on in his mind as he mirrors her, playing the exact same notes, his fingers gliding up and down the piano with confidence. He's a bit of a natural when it comes to this. He has long fingers and a soft touch that make the keys sing. You can't really teach that.

At 4:30pm, there's a knock on James's door. Rebecca gets up to answer it, motioning silently for James to stay where he is. He sighs and rolls his eyes, but stays put at the piano bench with Dahlia.

"She's worried about me," he whispers.

"She should be. She's your sister." Dahlia reaches up and kisses him. "Are you still feeling nauseous?"

"No," he whispers. "I'm okay."

She kisses him.

"Maybe you should take it easy this week and stay home from work."

He shakes his head.

"I've got more meetings with Tony and some developers. I've gotta take Natasha to the Skid Row development—"

"James?" A deep voice calls. Dahlia and James turns around and her jaw hangs open a little. It's the guy she saw the morning that James had to stop by the warehouse to handle Yelena's shipment. James never mentioned that guy was his fucking doctor.

She looks over at James, who stares straight ahead, waving gently to the man in the doorway.

"Hey, Steven," he says softly.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks."

Steven gives her a tight-lipped smile and motions for James to sit on the couch. He checks James's reflexes, tapping on the insides and outsides of his elbows, his forearms, and tests the reflexes in his fingers and knees and ankles. He and makes him look Steven in the eye while he wiggles his fingers.

"Your job is to point at the finger that's wiggling."

James passes with flying colors. Dahlia sits at the piano wondering why he never mentioned Steven when he saw him that day. What could be the reason?

Steven checks James's eyes to make sure his pupils are dilating and contracting properly.

"Have you been nauseous?"