Infectious

Chapter 15

They were all forced to wait in a private conference room since the waiting room was actually packed and they'd all recognize them.

Tony had his tablet turned on if front of him while her wrote down equations and Bruce corrected them when he had to, which was actually like once.

Clint slept on the small couch while Thor played with his own thumbs.

Natasha watched the door closely and rested her head on her hands, waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and the door opened. She looked up to the man dressed in a white coat then stood up.

He started explaining all these things she didn't quite understand except for the fact he still couldn't quite breathe on his own and had a tube sticking out of his neck. They couldn't intubate him because his throat had collapsed.

Steve, still unconscious, lay perfectly still with a tube sticking out of his neck and leading to a machine. More machines, beeping, numbers, more numbers, lines.

---

About 15 minutes later he woke up, his eyes slowly fluttered open and his face was immediately stricken with discomfort.

He tried talking, but no words came out, only a squeaky wheeze as he brought his hand up to his neck. "Hey, hey." Natasha whispered and took that hand. "You're ok."

He turned his head enough to look at her and pursed his lips. He shook his head a few times and closed his eyes.

---

He couldn't come off the ventilator, as the doctor had told them, his lungs had become to weak and he'd barely be able to draw any breath.

So now he was wheeled around in a wheelchair hooked up to a machine sticking into his neck.

He sat outside on the balcony, sometimes he'd try to draw, when his body felt like moving a little. But others times, he couldn't come to even opening his eyes.

Tony locked himself in the lab again, after a hair cut and a shower literally everyone forced him into.

Natasha spent a lot of time with steve.

Clint and Thor as well, movies, sitting, enjoying each others' company...

Bruce was back and forth. Checking on steve. Checking on tony. Helping tony.

The team was different, kind of in a good way, but also not.

This whole thing brought them closer together, but maybe it was bringing them closer only to tear them apart in the end.