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After so long watching street lights stripe the ceiling of the car, the fluorescent ER lights are bright enough to blind. Peggy winces and turns her face into Jack’s shoulder, realizing too late that she’s probably bleeding all over his jacket now. A lot of her memory is fragmented, but she remembers insisting that head wounds always bleed and she didn’t need to go to the hospital. Apparently Daniel and Jack hadn’t listened.
The room is a mess of sounds and lights and smells— The smell is Peggy’s least favourite thing about hospitals. It doesn’t take long before the sharp antiseptic layered over something fetid and too-sweet starts to sink into your clothes, hair, and finally skin. When Jack was in the hospital after his shooting and Peggy stayed almost every day with him, she took two showers a day, trying to scrub the scent out.
“How can I help you?” The receptionist’s voice is chipper and even brighter than the light, it grates on Peggy’s ringing ears.
“She has a concussion and her arm is broken,” Daniel reports, “There may be internal injuries. She needs to see a doctor right away.” Peggy is fairly certain there are some internal injuries at play– Namely that it feels like glass is shredding her abdomen every time she breathes in. A broken rib, hopefully just one. She does not say this out loud because she doesn’t want to worry Daniel and Jack more than they already are.
“Alright, and who are you?”
“I’m her husband,” Daniel answers, sounding vaguely defensive. Peggy supposes that the way she’s collapsed in Jack’s arms does not make her marriage to Daniel immediately obvious.
“And who are you?” Against Peggy, Jack’s body suddenly tenses. It takes a moment for Peggy to realize the receptionist was speaking to him, with an edge in her voice that wasn’t previously present. The silence is stretching on too long.
“I’m both of their boss,” he says finally. “We work for the Strategic Scientific Reserve.”
“And may I see some ID for that?”
Jack starts to dig around in his pockets, muttering “I know I’ve got it here somewhere…” Peggy stands up to give him an easier time finding it and the floor decides to drop out from under her feet. Daniel catches her with a strong arm around her shoulders.
“You okay there, Peggy?”
The room is spinning, green tiles blurring with the white walls. The lights are a siren in her head. “I think I may need to sit down.”
“It’s alright, we’ve got you,” Jack says. She can’t see him, but hearing his voice and feeling the comforting presence of Daniel holding her up is enough to make her believe that everything will be okay. Daniel and Jack are watching out. They won’t let any harm come to her.
“Actually, sir… Chief Thompson, the ER is too crowded tonight,” the receptionist’s voice comes again. “I’m afraid I can’t allow anyone who isn’t family to stay with Mrs. Sousa.”
“It’s Carter,” Peggy snaps, trying to locate the receptionist in her field of vision so she can glare at her. “Mrs. Carter-Sousa.”
“It’s important,” Jack insists, “Someone could be after her. She needs official protection.”
“We simply don’t have the room. I’m very sorry, you’ll have to leave.”
Peggy’s legs were beginning to go weak. Black dots fill the edges of her vision. The last thing she hears is Daniel saying “It’s okay, Jack, I’ve got her,” and then everything goes black.