Bucky bursts into the hospital room, his eyes wide and scared. The room was crowded. He shoves through, not caring who he pushes to the side.

His Stevie was there, dying. Bucky stares, terrified. Steve was hooked up to all sorts of machines; needles and pins in his arms, an oxygen mask over his mouth. It was scary seeing him so vulnerable like that, so helpless.

"Are you related to this man?" The doctor demands and Bucky shakes his head, pulling his eyes from Steve's limp figure.

"No, no I'm not. Is he okay? What happened?" Bucky demands. The doctor frowns at him and crosses his arms.

"Family only," he replies shortly and gives him a nudge towards the door. The nurses start to lead him towards the door and Bucky stops.

"Is he going to be okay?" He demands desperately. The doctor purses his lips.

"We don't know," he replies flatly. He looked worn down. One of the nurses bites her lip and gently pushes Bucky outside and closes the door behind them.

"I'm sorry about that. It's been a rough night," the nurse sighs softly and Bucky looks up at her.

"What happened?" He asks in a hollow voice. She brushes a hair from her eye and sighs again.

"Apparently it was a nasty car accident. Doctor Hirst is a little on edge, as we all are. Try to have some patience with him."

"Will Steve be okay?" Bucky demands and the nurse says nothing. Bucky stares through the window, looking helpless. "He can't... He can't die."

"You're his friend?" The nurse says. Her voice was quiet and soothing. Her hair was short, black and curly and she had warm, hazel eyes. Bucky swallows thickly.

"He's my boyfriend," he replies shakily, sinking into the hard plastic chair outside. Everything happened so fast.

The nurse kneels beside him and offers a kind smile. "I'm sure he's going to be okay." Bucky puts his head in his hands and closes his eyes. The nurse places a hand on his arm lightly. "My name is Trish. I'll try to help you however I can," She says softly and gets back up.

As she makes her way down the hall Bucky makes up his mind. He would get in to see Steve no matter what it took.

////

So each day he came back, sometimes slept through the night, in the hopes of seeing him again. Months flew by with no good news. Bucky often camped outside the hospital room. The doctor was often ticked at him, but he couldn't do anything. Bucky was sticking to their stupid rule of family only.

One night Bucky hears whispering down the hall. He listens hard and catches snippets of conversation.

"... not sure how much longer he can hold up." Then, "I don't know, Mrs. Rogers, we've tried everything. I'm afraid there's only one option left..,"

The option left Bucky shocked, frozen stiff. Their only option was to 'pull the plug', as the doctor put it.

Bucky waits until they're around the corner before he springs to his feet and takes off down the hall.

He'd gotten to know Trish well over the past few months. He had a vague notion of where she would be at this hour, so he ran to her.

"Trish, they're gonna pull the plug," Bucky pants as he bursts into the room where all the nurses on their breaks were gathered. Trish steps over, a concerned look on her face.

"Are you sure?"

"I overheard them," Bucky mumbles and starts pacing. Trish leads him outside and he takes off down the hall again. He couldn't lose Steve. He just couldn't.

"Well, what do you plan to do?" Trish asks with a worried frown, trotting to keep up with Bucky's longer strides.

"Barricade myself in and not let anyone touch that plug," he says plainly and Trish skids to a halt.

"Bucky, don't you know how dangerous that is?" She asks worriedly, putting her hands on her hips. Bucky looks at her and sighs.

"I have to. I can't lose him."

She studies him a second before nodding reluctantly. "I'll help you."

////

Trish opens the door and steps inside, pretending to do some checkups. She leaves the door open and as she walks back out, Bucky slips in and closes the door behind him.

This was crazy. It was madness, and Bucky only hoped it would buy Steve some time.

As the brunette steps closer he sucks in a breath. The machines looked like they'd barely done anything at all useful, simply halted Steve's death.

Bucky looks at the door before lowering himself into the chair beside the bed. His heart shatters as he looks at the blonde lying there. After months, things still weren't better. Steve was still trying to heal.

Bucky takes his hand and swallows. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there," Bucky mumbles and leans forward, he rests his head on the edge of the bed. He blinks hard and gives his hand a brief squeeze. "Please don't leave me."

He couldn't stand being alone again.

Trish rocks on her heels outside the hospital room, waiting anxiously for anyone to come by and try to get in. She prayed Bucky knew what he was doing.

////

The brunette stayed there all night after he'd barricaded himself in, begging Steve to wake up.

The family came back the next day. Mrs. Rogers was sniffling, Mr. Rogers looked solemn. "Let us in, Trish," Mr. Rogers demands sternly. Trish looks up at him innocently.

"I'm afraid the lock is jammed, Mr. Rogers."

Bucky scrubs at his itching, red eyes and wipes his face. Then he hears banging on the door minutes later.

"Barnes, get this door open!"

Bucky freezes. The time couldn't have come already, why didn't he do more, what could've he done to stop this? "Bucky, open the door!"

He doesn't move, squeezing Steve's hand, his heart beating into overdrive. All he could think was don't take him away from me.

////

The door burst open, the family and security rushed in. Trish hurries to Bucky's side but security gets there first. They start pulling him away.

"We have to do this! He isn't coming back, Barnes, it's over!" Mr. Rogers yells as the brunette struggles to get through.

"No, you can't kill him!" Bucky yells, thrashing violently. Trish looks down and tries to swallow the lump in her throat.

"He's gone, Bucky!" Mr. Rogers hollers, Mrs. Rogers sobbing beside him. Tension and alarm were high. Mr. Rogers leaned down to his son and whispered his last goodbyes. Mrs. Rogers, sobbing into her hands, did the same.

"Let me say goodbye, please!" Bucky sobs, the security toss him out and close the door quietly behind them. "No, no!" He wails, trying to get back inside. The door was firmly locked and Bucky's heart dropped as he heard a faint beeping sound, steady. And just like that, it was the end of the line.

"Bucky, I'm so sorry," Trish whispers. Bucky sinks to his knees and wraps his arms around himself, sobbing. Trish sits beside him and hugs him close, strokes his back comfortingly. "I'm so sorry."

////

Bucky stares blankly ahead at the funeral. Mrs. Rogers approaches and lays a hand on his shoulder. He flinches and looks up.

"I'm sorry, Bucky," she whispers and his face hardens. He glances down at the coffin as it's lowered to the ground and he gives his head a slight shake.

"I lost my best friend. My boyfriend. You lost your son. But at least I can say I did my best," he says quietly before getting up and walking off. Mrs. Rogers watches him go.

"We did all we could," Mrs. Rogers whispers to the grave.

////

So yeah, probably not a great start, but spideymanandloki insisted I publish my new book. *Shrug* They'll get happier, promise.