Chapter Text
People crowded the busy hospital hallway, each managing to place themselves in front of Melinda one by one and make her life just a little bit harder as she tried to move past them in order to find what she was looking for.
“Come on,” she grumbled to herself as she maneuvered past another nurse who was attempting to administer aid to a patient who was stuck waiting in the hallway until they were given a room. “Where is she?”
Her eyes searched the hallway and skimmed over the door numbers, searching for the number that the receptionist at the front had given her.
“Where are you, Victoria?” Her heart pounded inside of her chest, the memory of the call that she had received from the hospital still fresh in her mind. This wasn’t supposed to happen to them, they were supposed to be safe from things like this. Their jobs required so much sacrifice and death already, so why was it that the universe was threatening to take Victoria away from her with a stupid car crash?
“Be ok, Victoria. Please be ok.” Suddenly her eyes passed over the number that she had been looking for, and she had to turn her whole body back around when she passed it during her frantic search.
Running over to the door in a panic, she grabbed the handle and almost ripped it off of its hinges in her rush to get inside.
Scanning her eyes over the room, she let them pass over the two semi-terrified nurses who had jumped back from the bed when Melinda slammed the door open, and watched in horror as their visitor found her wife laying in the bed in front of them and went pail.
Laying in the hospital bed in front of her, Victoria had bandages on her left wrist and shoulder, a brace protecting her neck, and black and blue bruises littering every visible piece of skin.
“Victoria…” she stumbled forward, lightheaded and dizzy all of a sudden. Finding the edge of her wife’s bed, she curled her fingers around the cold metal bars for support, and her whole body shook. She had never imagined that she would be called to a hospital for a car crash when it came to Victoria, not when they did even more dangerous things as a daily job. All this time, all these years she had thought about the day that she might have to say goodbye to Victoria, but it was never like this. It was supposed to be her in that bed, with all of the bandages and bruises decorating her body. It was supposed to be Melinda who was injured and suffering, not Victoria. She was the one who went out on dangerous missions and put her life on the Line while Victoria staid back on base and coordinated missions like the pro that she is.
She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block out the tears that threatened to fall down her face, not wanting to show her weakness in front of a pair of nurses that she had never met before. This wasn’t supposed to be how it went and she hated herself for not seeing it coming.
Behind her, Nick Walked into the room and pocketed his car keys, glad that he had been able to find a parking space while Melinda went looking for Victoria’s room. His entrance into the room was silent, as always, but Melinda knew he was there because of the sudden blanket of calm that seemed to follow him. The fact that he had put his trench coat over her shoulders when he saw her shivering was another clue to his presence, and Melinda let go of the metal bar on Victoria’s bed with her left hand and brought it up into the hard leather that was now draped over her shoulders, twisting her fingers into it and pulling it a little closer as Nick stood close in case she needed him.
Melinda had never been so thankful before for her friends in a tough situation, and she had been on multiple missions with almost all of them. The moment she had gotten the call from the hospital, every single one of them had changed the plans that they had been working on so that she could go check on Victoria without ruining the mission that they had been working on for the better part of a month. As soon as they saw her whole body go stiff at the news, and the colour draining out of her face, the entire group had started to make a shift in their strategy.
Nick had a car called up for him to drive, not wanting to use Melinda’s in case she tried to drive home afterwards in search of clothing, a shower or food. He also gave almost immediate go ahead for any change in duties that Deputy Director Hill and Agent Coulson needed to make in regards to the mission they were working on.
Maria changed the missions team so that Natasha was now taking Melinda’s place as the undercover Agent, and Clint was brought in from his mini vacation so that he could take over Natasha’s job of going in a getting the flash drive that they needed to retrieve from the target.
Phil had gone along with all of the changes Maria made easily, already organizing everything inside of his head so that the team was as flawless as always when it came down to Natasha, Melinda and Clint. While he did that he had also left the room to gather Melinda’s jacket and bag for her, not even giving her a chance to move her own feet before she had both items in her hand and was being led out the door by Nick.
And finally, Nick drove her to the hospital so that she could see Victoria, allowing everyone else to continue with the mission while Melinda focused all of her worry and energy on her wife.
If Melinda wasn’t thankful for her friends before, she certainly was now, and as Nick put a hand on her shoulder she did her best not to fall back into him. “She’s going to be fine Melinda,” his voice was softer then usual, but the calmness was something familiar and normal for her, allowing her to find some sort of comfort in his words. “Maria went to your place with the keys you gave her and is gathering up a new go bag for you with more clothing and less weapons. She’ll be around with it ASAP.”
“T…thank you.” Her voice broke as she spoke, and slowly she pried her right hand away from the metal bar and reached out toward Victoria, putting her hand over Victoria’s where it lay beside her body on the bed. She didn’t even notice the tears falling down her face, or the fact that her whole body was shaking. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to her was Victoria, and the fact that she hadn’t woken up yet.