When they lift him off the banks of the Potomac, it looks like there's no way he'll make it.
"Steve, can you hear me?" Sam says, squeezing his hand in the back of the helicopter. There are so many EMTs waiting on the landing pad. Does he need all of them? "You're gonna be okay. You'll be okay." His voice is thick, and he dimly feels Romanoff's hand on his back, pulling him away.
He gets to know the vending machines in the hospital way too well. Romanoff comes by once a day, just after sunset, and chats up the nurses before going to see Sam; he figures out pretty quickly that she's talking them into letting him stay the night, which he's not supposed to. He doesn't say anything about it, but they play a lot of card games together. She's eerily calm, not looking over at Steve's unconscious, bloodied body all the time like Sam does, but he guesses she's probably feeling just as upset as he is.
The fourth night, one of the nurses brings him a more comfortable chair and gives him a soft look. "I think it's good you're here," she says, and Sam wonders about that, but he just says, "Thanks. I hope so."
Sam re-reads his book. He goes through the magazines in the hall. He thinks about going out to buy a book or something but it just seems too far. The smell of the recovery wing lodges permanently in his nose, and the sounds of guerneys going by, the white and blue flashes of doctor coats and scrubs.
There's one really bad night where he just can't sleep. He spends the whole night watching Steve, listening to his labored breathing, worrying that the stitches will pop again. His blond hair is stuck to his forehead with sweat and his eyes keep fluttering. Sam's been up so long that the sun is coming up and the morning shift is beginning. He can smell coffee and hear phones ringing.
"You're in dreamland," Sam whispers. "Can't stay there forever, Steve. You gotta come back." He leans over toward Steve's bed. "You hear me? Come on back to me, Sleeping Beauty." And then he swallows hard, thinking of Steve surrounded by ice, asleep for not quite a hundred years.
And he does something, then: he stands up, and he leans over Steve, just like he remembers the prince did in the movie when he was a kid.
"Come back," he says, and he kisses Steve on the lips, once, very gently.
There's a beat; and then he sighs, sits down, and turns Troubleman back on. He picks up a magazine.
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"Steve, can you hear me?" Sam says, squeezing his hand in the back of the helicopter. There are so many EMTs waiting on the landing pad. Does he need all of them? "You're gonna be okay. You'll be okay." His voice is thick, and he dimly feels Romanoff's hand on his back, pulling him away.
He gets to know the vending machines in the hospital way too well. Romanoff comes by once a day, just after sunset, and chats up the nurses before going to see Sam; he figures out pretty quickly that she's talking them into letting him stay the night, which he's not supposed to. He doesn't say anything about it, but they play a lot of card games together. She's eerily calm, not looking over at Steve's unconscious, bloodied body all the time like Sam does, but he guesses she's probably feeling just as upset as he is.
The fourth night, one of the nurses brings him a more comfortable chair and gives him a soft look. "I think it's good you're here," she says, and Sam wonders about that, but he just says, "Thanks. I hope so."
Sam re-reads his book. He goes through the magazines in the hall. He thinks about going out to buy a book or something but it just seems too far. The smell of the recovery wing lodges permanently in his nose, and the sounds of guerneys going by, the white and blue flashes of doctor coats and scrubs.
There's one really bad night where he just can't sleep. He spends the whole night watching Steve, listening to his labored breathing, worrying that the stitches will pop again. His blond hair is stuck to his forehead with sweat and his eyes keep fluttering. Sam's been up so long that the sun is coming up and the morning shift is beginning. He can smell coffee and hear phones ringing.
"You're in dreamland," Sam whispers. "Can't stay there forever, Steve. You gotta come back." He leans over toward Steve's bed. "You hear me? Come on back to me, Sleeping Beauty." And then he swallows hard, thinking of Steve surrounded by ice, asleep for not quite a hundred years.
And he does something, then: he stands up, and he leans over Steve, just like he remembers the prince did in the movie when he was a kid.
"Come back," he says, and he kisses Steve on the lips, once, very gently.
There's a beat; and then he sighs, sits down, and turns Troubleman back on. He picks up a magazine.
A rustling noise comes from the bed.
"On your left," Steve says, waking.