The surgery took over three hours, and Doctor Strange's skills were indeed remarkable. Black Widow finally pulled through and was out of danger.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! Give me your bank account number, and I'll transfer five hundred million dollars to you tomorrow!"
Blake said sincerely.
"No need to thank me. Once I enter the operating room, I give my all to save lives, even if I wasn't brought here willingly."
"When your friend brought me here, he claimed to be some kind of agent. If I called the police now, could they arrest you? Just earlier, you not only said you'd cut off my hands, but you also threatened to kill my girlfriend."
Doctor Strange stared intently at Blake, clearly still holding a grudge over the earlier threats.
"To be honest, I'm not sure. But what I do know is that even if they arrested me, it wouldn't matter. You could choose another way to get back at me—money, or maybe just beat me up?"
Now that Black Widow was out of danger, Blake could finally joke around.
"Forget it. My fists aren't as hard as walls, nor as fast as bullets. Since the police can't do anything to you and I'm not interested in money, you owe me one favor. If I ever need your help in the future, you must help me."
Doctor Strange's response was clever.
An agent from an intelligence department, plus Blake's superhuman strength and abilities—one favor was worth far more than money, and besides, Doctor Strange wasn't short on cash.
Blake smiled and gave him his phone number.
"The patient needs rest. I've given her a sedative, so it's best to check on her in a few hours. Also, don't forget to compensate us for the wall!"
With that, Doctor Strange hurried off. He had work tomorrow, and as a surgeon, he needed to maintain both physical energy and mental focus to perform well. That's why he only accepted surgeries during work hours.
Though it might sound a bit cold-hearted, it made sense.
By the time Black Widow opened her eyes, it was already daylight. Blake was sitting on a stool by her bedside, staring blankly ahead, gently rocking his head in boredom.
It was clear he had been waiting for a long time and was terribly bored. His slightly goofy expression made him look somewhat endearing. Black Widow smiled faintly.
For some reason, at that moment, she really wanted to kiss him on the cheek.
Being with this boy made her forget all the chaotic things in her life and rekindled a sense of childlike joy.
Black Widow gently held onto the bed's railing, attempting to sneak up and give Blake a kiss.
But as soon as she exerted a little force, a sharp pain tore through the wound on her back.
"Ouch!"S he let out a cry of pain.
Blake immediately stood up excitedly and said, "You're awake?"
"Yes!"
Having failed her sneak attack, Black Widow, with Blake's help, slowly sat up.
She noticed there was water, flowers, and even a hot dog on the bedside table, though it was unclear how long it had been there.
Clearly, it wasn't Blake's breakfast or midnight snack.
"Is this for me?"
Black Widow recalled that before the incident, she had mentioned feeling hungry and craving a hot dog.
"That's right. I remember you said last night you were hungry. The hot dog vendor must have been scared off; I couldn't find him. So, I bought this one from the hospital downstairs. It's pretty good. I tried one first before buying it!"
"Who eats a hot dog right after waking up from an injury?"
Black Widow drank half a glass of water with Blake's help as she spoke.
"Mood is more important than anything. If you don't like it, I can get you something else. You can have whatever you want!"
"Then I'll have this hot dog!"
Black Widow smiled, looking as happy as a girl on her first date.
"Wow, wow, wow!"
"I think we definitely came at the wrong time. I'd bet if we had come in a bit later, the two of them would've been kissing."
"Who knows, maybe they would've done something on the hospital bed, and tomorrow's headlines would be all about some scandal."
The speaker was Tony, and standing behind him was Hawkeye, who had been on missions and hadn't been seen for a while.
"I was on vacation, spending time with the kids at home, but Laura heard you were hurt and told me to come check on you immediately. These flowers were handpicked by Laura last night!"
Hawkeye held a bouquet of small wildflowers in various colors, handpicked by his wife, Laura.
Black Widow had a very close relationship with Hawkeye and his family, similar to the bond between Rhodey and Tony.
"Thank Laura for me. I'll come over for dinner sometime in the future."
Their arrival instantly made the hospital room lively. Not long after, Coulson also arrived. Blake exchanged a glance with Coulson, who subtly shook his head.
Since there was no breakthrough in the investigation of the ambush for the time being, they decided to help Black Widow remove the thorn in her heart first.
Blake found an opportunity to pull Hawkeye aside privately.
"I want to know what really happened in Budapest."
Although Hawkeye hadn't been around much lately, he had heard bits and pieces about Black Widow and Blake's situation.
When he heard Blake's question, Hawkeye sighed softly and began recounting his first meeting with Black Widow.
At the time, Black Widow was still working for the Red Room. During a mission to gather intelligence, she encountered Hawkeye, who was working for S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hawkeye had the chance to kill her, but he knew that Red Room operatives were all trained, controlled, and brainwashed from a young age.
So, instead, he persuaded Black Widow to surrender and join S.H.I.E.L.D. to fight against the Red Room.
However, S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't going to accept an enemy agent just based on Hawkeye's judgment alone. They needed proof of loyalty.
The condition was that Black Widow had to kill the head of the Red Room, Dreykov.
If she wanted to leave the Red Room and escape their pursuit, she had to join S.H.I.E.L.D.
Desperate to leave the Red Room, Black Widow planted a bomb in Dreykov's house. But just before it detonated, Dreykov's young daughter, Antonia, came home.
There was only a brief window of opportunity, and if they missed it, taking down Dreykov would be much more difficult in the future.
So, Black Widow made a ruthless decision and detonated the bomb.
Unfortunately, Antonia died, but Dreykov survived the explosion.
This act won Black Widow S.H.I.E.L.D.'s trust, but the blood of an innocent girl became the thorn in her heart.
Budapest was simply the name of the safe house where Hawkeye and Black Widow carried out the assassination, and it had become a code name for their mission.
"So, you're saying that she knowingly pressed the button and killed an innocent girl to escape the Red Room once and for all, right?" Blake confirmed.
"You don't understand how terrifying the Red Room is. I completely understand why she did it, Blake, you can't imagine…"
Hawkeye hurried to defend Black Widow, worried that Blake might misunderstand.
"No! You misunderstood. I just wanted to confirm if that's the incident that's been haunting her. I don't care about the girl's life or death; it wasn't her fault!"
Having received a clear answer, Blake grabbed Hawkeye and started heading back to the hospital room.
After walking a few steps, something seemed to dawn on Blake.
"Wait, you're saying Dreykov, the head of the Red Room, didn't die, right?"
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