Book Two, Thirteen Reasons To Forget You (Chose Your Own Adventure.)

Page 9

Maddie woke with a pounding headache. She was in her bed, and for a fleeting moment, panic shot through her. Then she remembered that she had fallen asleep in Bucky's arms. She sat up, mouth dry. The girl just wanted a drink of water right now. She padded to the kitchen and saw that Bucky had crashed on the couch. He woke when she filled her cup. 

Bucky got up as Maddie drained the glass and put it back down on the counter. Maddie noticed that Bucky had cleaned up the mess she'd made, even going so far as to halfway repair the holes in the walls. Bucky caught sight of her face again. The stitches should come out. Maddie turned away as she saw him staring at her face. Shame burned in her gut. Not even Bucky could hide his horror. 

"Let me take the stitches out." He said, making the girl jump. She hadn't expected that. She turned to face him again, frowning. She was wondering why he didn't look at her like the woman in the cafe had. Bucky noticed and he gave her a long, searching look.

"Your scars aren't something to be ashamed of. They just signify that you where stronger then the thing that gave them to you." He told her and Maddie swallowed as he referenced Sam. Bucky motioned for the girl to sit down as he went and grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom. He came back and pulled up a chair across from the girl. 

"Hold still." He told her as he pulled out a pair of small scissors. Maddie flinched as she saw the gleaming piece of metal come towards her face. It brought up bad memories of HYDRA, and for a moment, she was back in there, chained to the surgical table as a scientist brought the scalpel down. Maddie flinched backwards, jerking away from him. Bucky backed up, putting the scissors down. 

"Easy." he told her, holding up his hands in a non confrontational gesture. He felt a pang of guilt as he realized that he had probably triggered a flashback. The girl was doubled over in a panic attack, feeling light headed as she felt like she didn't have enough oxygen in her brain. She was hyperventilating heavily, and the panic seemed to squeeze the air from her lungs. She took ten minutes to calm down. Bucky watched silently, knowing this was something he couldn't help with.

"I'm going to cut the stitches." He told her as he sat back down, picking up the scissors again. He held them out in her direction, but not bringing them directly to her. He wanted her to stay calm. Maddie nodded, swallowing. She could do this. She wasn't going to freak out in front of him again.

She managed to stay calm as he snipped the stitches, and gently tugged them out. There was the odd feeling of something being pulled from her skin, but it didn't hurt. It almost tickled, but it was more of a steady, slightly harder pressure. Bucky threw the old stitches in the garbage, wincing as the pieces of thread were blood stained.