The White Wolf

XVIIII

The smell of vintage perfume and baby powder wafted their noses as they entered the retirement home. Bucky had his hand clamped around Ava's, because if it wasn't, it would make his nervous trembling a whole lot more obvious. So many thoughts raced through his head. What if she didn't remember him? What if she resented him? The last time he had seen her was when she was just eight years old, right before he left for the war. He had promised her he would come back. 

Elderly people shuffled around, a group of old ladies huddled in one corner sipping tea and chatting among themselves. Another group of ladies ate their lunches with a few guys, and two men were playing chess at the table beside them.

Ava lead the way to the front desk at the center of the room, smiling kindly. "Welcome, how may I be of service?" The woman behind the counter forced a friendly smile. 

"My husband and I are here to see my great-aunt. We are in town, I thought it would be nice to visit." Ava returned the smile. 

The woman behind the counter, her name-tag labelled Karen, nodded. "And what is her name?" She asked, typing into the computer she stared at in front of her on the desk. 

"Rebecca Barnes." Ava stated. "I'm Yvonne, and my husband is Sebastian. I believe we are on the visitors list." She said, biting her lower lip.

The woman waited for the computer to load before smiling. "Ah, yes. The Padalecki family. She's just down the hall and to the left, room sixteen." The woman said. Thank God for Shuri forging documents. "Before you go in, I should warn you, she can't hardly remember anything that's happened after just five minutes. It might be difficult to have a conversation with her, she probably won't remember you."

Ava glanced at Bucky nervously, gently squeezing his hand before she nodded at Karen. "Thank you." She said, tugging Bucky along toward his sister's room. Once they reached the door, Ava turned to look at Bucky. "Ready?" She asked him softly.

Bucky hesitantly swallowed, staring at the door as if it were a two-headed serpent. He looked afraid, and seemed to de-age into a teenager again. Taking a deep breath, he nodded slowly. "I'm ready." He exhaled. 

She gave a nod, carefully turning the door handle and pushing open the door. Straight ahead, tufts of white hair stuck out over the top of the back of a rocking chair, like cotton. They could not see the person on the other side, just the chair facing away from them so that the person seated in it could look out of the window into the outside garden. Ava glanced up at Bucky, whose eyes were locked on that chair. Very slowly, they stepped closer. Ava let Bucky go first, rounding the chair to look at her. Her face was wrinkled, the sun lighting up her pale skin. Her hair was a combination of gray and white, curled around her head and frizzy. She was wrapped up in a nice sweater, a blanket across her lap. She looked old, and wise from years of life experience and loss. But her eyes, they were striking like Bucky's. At first, Bucky didn't quite believe that she was his little sister. She had changed so much from the little girl he knew before the war. 

"This is the prettiest garden I have ever seen." Her voice cooed out, shaky and feather-light from her age. She looked out at that garden every day, and every day she would say that as if it was the first time she had ever seen it, which, in her mind it was. 

Bucky felt tears brimming his eyes as he stepped closer, glancing out at the little flowers outside her window. "It is quite nice." He said, his chin quivering slightly as he stood beside her. Ava watched from near the door as the small woman turned her head to look at Bucky. 

The woman peered up at him, her eyes widening slightly. She gasped softly, her eyes locking with his as he knelt down in front of her. She blinked a few times, tears forming in her own eyes. "B-Bucky?" Her voice was a whisper.