All This Time

Chapter 41

Oh wow..
So I wasn't expecting this to be the last chapter but here we are.
I want to thank those who read my first book and loved it so much that you read this one.
I'm soooo sorry it took me so long to finish these literally TWO CHAPTERS. I know how annoyed some of you probably are but for what it's worth. It's here now and I'm happy with what it's come to.

This has been a long ride and I hope you enjoy this final chapter of Jane and Bucky's story. :)

***

It was strange. It felt like hours later but at the same time, it felt like I had just closed my eyes for a second, and the next thing I heard his voice beside me. Then a sharp pain all over my body as soon as I realized he was picking me up. It felt like forever until I started hearing chatter and people everywhere, That's when I opened my eyes to see Bucky carrying me to an ambulance.

"Please. I think she has a broken rib," Is what I hear him say before I feel him lie me down on a soft bed. I turn to him and smile before he grabs my hand and kisses it. "You're gonna be okay, alright? Everything's gonna be okay."

I smile lazily and run my other hand on his cheek. He turns to kiss my palm before I pull that hand away.

I start to notice the people around us staring and I realize that I haven't publicly been seen with Bucky or as they know him as the Winter Soldier. I hope this shows a kinder softer side of him. A side that isn't the winter soldier.

He finally let's go so they can help me and they start to examine my body as I groan in pain and I start to hear Sam talking from afar.

"Your peacekeeping troops carrying weapons are forcing millions of people into settlements around the world, right? What do you think those people are gonna call you?"

I'm being sat up to look at my back while they lift my shirt and I can see Sam from afar. People crowded all around him with cameras and news reporters. It's his time to speak up and I think this is the only time I'm glad the cameras are out.

"These labels, 'terrorists,' 'refugee,' 'thug,' they're often used to get around the question, why?"

I turn to see Bucky listening intently right by the side of the ambulance I'm in.

"Those settlements that happened five years ago, do you think it is fair for governments to have to support them?"

"Yes," Sam responds.

"And the people who reappeared only to find someone else living in their family home, they just end up homeless?" The senator asks. "Look, I get it, but you have no idea how complicated this situation is."

"You know what? You're right, and that's a good thing. We finally have a common struggle now. Think about that. For once, all the people who've been begging, and I mean, literally begging for you to feel how hard any given day is...now you know. How did it feel to be helpless?"

There was nothing but silence that second.

"Now if you could remember what it was like to be helpless and face a force so powerful it could erase half the planet, you would know you're about to have the exact same impact."

"This isn't about easy decisions, Senator."

"You just don't understand."