"You're telling me that you got Captain America-the War Hero, Steve Rogers-to become best friends with a thirteen-year-old kid? What, is this supposed to slowly introduce him to how irritating Generation Z is? Project Training Wheels or something?"
...
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Lizzie was in and out of consciousness for two days. She remembered bits and pieces, but the pain meds they'd given her had her wondering whether or not anything that happened was real. The first time she woke up, she was on a gurney and being led into hospital. The nurses above her were muttering back and forth about her injuries, and she passed out again when she heard them say 'immediate surgery'. The next time she woke up, she thought she was hallucinating. Sharon stood over her, tears filling up her blue eyes when Lizzie opened hers, and Lizzie thought she was seeing a ghost—that her mind was playing tricks on her—because she was dead.
"Lizzie—Lizzie, calm down," Sharon tried to grab her good arm when Lizzie's eyes widened in panic, and she glanced around the room before clawing at her hand to try and get the IV out. Tears from Sharon's eyes fell onto her skin. "Lizzie—Liz—Elizabeth, baby, please stop—"
Doctors came rushing in, giving her a sedative, and she was out once again. The third time she woke up, the world around her was not spinning as much as it had before. She managed to blink away the haze long enough to realize that Sam Wilson was sleeping in the chair next to her. His head was thrown all the way back and he was snoring loudly, which she figured had woken her up. Only after she glanced around and found an plastic water cup to throw at him did he jolt awake, standing up and instantly hovering over her side.
His eyes were alert, glancing over her to find the problem. "What—what is it? What's wrong?" She pointed to the cup she'd throw at him, and he realized what she needed. "Okay. Okay, I'll get you some water. I'll be right back—"
She had fallen back asleep before he returned, another dose of pain medicine knocking her out. The fourth time, Sharon was back again. Sam was seated next to her, the two of them talking lowly under their breaths with one another and occasionally glancing up. Once, upon doing so, they looked up and realized that Lizzie's eyes were wide open and she was gaping at Sharon with glassy vision. That was when she found out that she was not hallucinating—that no, Sharon was not dead—and Lizzie's wails and desperate pleas to reach for her sister only ended up causing a searing pain to go down her shoulder. Sharon crawled onto the side of her bed with her, and Lizzie did not let go, even when she fell back asleep.
