I could stay awake just to hear you breathing, watch you smile while you are sleeping. One of them is in the hospital and the other won’t leave their side. Below are my Top 5 Favorite stories:
“i keep these memories in a lockbox (even I don’t know, even I don’t know)” (M, 7k) by infinite_wonders
Frankly, he doesn’t understand why he’s even here, at the blond man’s-- Steve Rogers’, Captain America’s-- bedside, watching him suffer and letting it hurt his heart as much as it does.
Except, that’s a lie, isn’t it?
Or, that Canonical AU where Bucky gets found and, three months into his tenure with SHIELD, gets to have the amnesiac's version of an existential crisis about the dying former best friend that he can't remember.
+ Post WS. Hydra injects something into Steve and it’s tearing him apart. There’s a lot Bucky doesn’t know, but he does know he’s staying near Steve.
-☆-
“give me your answer do” (G, 2k) by lazulisong
Bucky knows it's going to be a bad one when Steve wakes up again, lifts his head up from the side of Bucky's fancy electric hospital bed, and says, "Now don't get mad until I explain."
His voice has the tone that had meant he'd got into another fight and had two black eyes, or found a HYDRA nest and accidentally forgotten to tell Bucky or the other Howlies that he was going in to clear it out, or that he'd met a stray dog on the way home from the store and given it his share of meat for supper and was planning to eat boiled potatoes and stale bread, while expecting Bucky to eat his own share of the meat as if it didn't choke him.
+ Post WS. Surprise, you’re getting married! The one where Steve draws Captain Monkey taking care of Bucky Bear.
-☆-
“you and i were fireworks (that went off too soon)” (T, 1k) by tesselated
“What’d you wish for?” Bucky asks him, eyes opening again to look over at Steve.
Steve furrows his eyebrows in confusion, and Bucky smiles at him. “On your birthday. The candles. What’d you wish for?”
++
In a medic tent after Azzano, Steve sits at Bucky's bedside.
+ Post Azzano. The boys have a quiet moment of privacy where they finally talk about what they’ve both been through.
-☆-
“You Could Be Mine” (E, 33k) by lambchop33
Bucky Barnes never sees it coming when his buddy, Sam Wilson brings his buddy, Captain America, to visit him while he's recuperating in a hospital after a car accident.
He never sees it coming when he finds out sexy, courageous, self-sacrificing Steve Rogers is also... lonely.
One more thing he doesn't see coming? That he could possibly be the one destined to become the friend, the lover that Steve has been searching for ever since he came out of the ice.
+ Shrunkyclunks. Steve visits every day and helps Bucky’s physical therapy and recovery
-☆-
“I’ve Been Careless With a Delicate Man” (M, 8k) by Paraxdisepink
Steve lets SHIELD think he and Bucky were boyfriends so they’ll let him see the Winter Soldier in medical.
+ Post WS. Steve realizes he wants to date Bucky for real; Bucky thought it was already real.
-☆-
*More hospitalized fics in the Birthday List and here