[The joy crashes in on him at the reminder. As much as he wishes, it’s not just the two of them, and there are other obligations that mean less time with Steve and more time pretending he isn’t gasping desperately for air. He takes a deep breath and lets out a slow sigh.]

Yeah. They wanna make sure my nerves are taking to the cleanup okay. There’s no major damage so far, but checking is important to keeping it that way or somethin’, so they say.

[But Bucky just never liked doctors even on the best of days. He doesn't like being touched by strangers.]

...you gonna be poppin’ in to watch again?

[’Cause he always likes it when Steve does. Steve won’t let them do anything weird to him. Steve knows him best.]