Search for the Soul Gem

Chapter Forty-Six

     Beep....Beep...Beep...

     My head felt like it was filled with a ton of rocks and my veins pumped with concrete. It took so much effort to move my knee even slightly to the side, even though I don't think it went far. The elephant sitting on my chest shifted just enough for me to gasp a breath in before settling itself back on my chest. A chair scratched across the floor before sliding back into a dull silence filled with beeping. I forced a full moan of pain out that took every amount of energy in my body to produce.

     "Lucy?" a soft voice broke from beside the bed. I tried to open my eyes to see who was next to me but I couldn't. It felt like they were glued shut. A warm hand pressed itself to my wrist, the fingers tickling to my skin. "Lucy, can you hear me?" the voice said. It seemed to take all my effort to try and open my eyes. With the last bit of the energy I could manage to force my eyes to flutter open. For a moment, I saw nothing; just blinding white light. I blinked a few times and shifted in the bed again.

     "Lucy! You're up!" the voice said. The beeping sped up rapidly along with my breathing. My vision cleared slowly, focusing on a very scruffy looking Banner.

     "Bruce? Where am I?" I asked, forcing myself to sit up shakily. My voice was weak and hoarse. I looked around the room and found that I was laying in a hospital bed in a hospital oom that I'd never seen before. There were computer screens and and touch screens with all kinds of settings and gadges that I'd never seen before.

     "You're in a hospital," Banner said as I was looking around. There were a couple chairs and love seats strewn around the hospital room. As I looked through the window on the wall, I caught sight of a familiar head of red hair sitting next to the door.

     "Is that Nat?" I ask, trying to stretch up further for a better look. My arms were too weak to hold me up and I collapsed back down to the bed. Banner help my shoulder down to the bed lightly to keep from getting hurt. My chest ached at all the sudden movement and a dull sting flooded up my leg. I let out a hiss of pain.

     "Yes it is-"

     "Why is she here?" I asked, cutting him off.

     "The whole team is here, they're down at the cafe-"

     "The whole team is here? Where's Tony? Is he here?" Iasked, swerving my head around again.

     "Yes he is here. He went off to track down the doctor," Banner assure, then added under his breath, "again."

     "Why aren't you down with the rest of the team'?" I asked again.

     "Thor's getting me food," Banner said, avoiding the question.

     "Banner-" Banner stood from his chair and walked over to one of the screens. He tapped a series of buttons on the screen before turning around to return to his chair.

     "I've called the nurse and the doctor, they should be able to talk to you when they get there," Banner said, carefully avoiding the question again.

     "You didn't answer my question Banner," I said. Before he could answer, the door was pushed open. Nat appeared in the doorway.

     "I saw the light-is everything okay?" she asked, her eyes landing on me. "Oh, you're up! The boys will want to know that you're up," she said.

     "Everything is okay Nat," Banner said quietly.

     "Well, I'll go tell the boys that you're up," she said. She shot a quick glance toward Banner before making her way back out the door. Once again I was along with Banner.