He was slowly coming to, the doctors had been working on his wounds for hours since Arthur and Matthew brought him back to his own country, out of the hands of the Russian. His eyes finally drifted open, attempting to focus on the bright room and the many movements surrounding him.
"Alfred? Good you're waking up. Can you hear me?"
Without notice, the American's eyes went wide, realizing what was going on. He sat up quickly, startling the medical staff.
"Please Mr. Jones, lay back down. We have not fully investigated your injuries"
Still he ignored there voices, his hands fishing through his clothing, searching for something. His jacket was in the far corner, but he searched through every other pocket he had. He found it, clutching it in his right hand, breathing deeply, pointing it at anyone in the room who was too close to him.
"Back...Get back all of you! Don't come any closer. I won't hesitate to shoot you..."
They never thought to take away his pistol, moreover they did not know he still had it. It had a full clip in it, so his threat was very real. They backed up very slowly, as to not scare him.
"Al...What's going on? It's just us...Please give me the pistol", the young Canadian prodded, reaching his hand out to take the weapon. The younger simply took aim instead, discharging the weapon into the Canadian's arm.
"What was that for Al! I'm just trying to help!"
"I don't know you...Stop calling me that! I already told you once...Get out...Right now..."
He raised the pistol again. He meant was he was saying.
"Ok! Ok! Don't be hasty, I'm going..."
Everyone was hurried out of the room, a bit shocked as to what had just occurred. What in the world had gone one to leave him like that? The medical staff worked on a plan, but decided it was best to leave him be at that point.
"What's wrong with him, Arthur? Why did he..."
"I...I don't know, lad. Whatever that Russian Bastard did to him those few days... Are you alright? We need to get that arm wrapped up"
"N-no, I'm fine! I just...want to help Al..."
"I've never seen something like that. It's almost as though he-"
"He locked up his mind"
"What?"
"He...In order to protect himself...His mind would lock his memories away...dehumanize himself.."
"Matthew, how do you...know that?"
"It's what they taught him to do a while back if anything like this happened..."
"Then you know how to reverse it, correct?"
The Canadian shook his head, oh how much more complicated it was than that. If they let him be, his wounds may get worse, and he could never recover, but if they went in there, they ran a risk to themselves. Who knew what was going through his head, rocking back and forth on that bed. All you could see is him clutching his gun, holding it tightly to his chest. Nobody was able to go into the room safely, so he had no other contact since the first time. They had tried many times to assist him, but all ended the same way. He had not slept or ate anything in nearly a week, the doctors worried about his physical health as well as his clear psychological turmoil. Someone needed to get in there to check on his wounds, which had not been treated since he woke up. They brought him into the hospital with terrible lacerations and hemorrhaging, and they were not even able to look for internal bleeding. Without proper treatment, excess movement could cause major bleeding, but it was much too dangerous to have any normal person go in there. England had to return home soon after. If he wanted to stay for a prolonged period of time, he would have to finish up some things at his home. That left Canada, who was more than willing to work with his brother.
I couldn't remember a time when Al's condition was this bad. He's never pulled a gun on me before...It's...Unsettling. He couldn't remember himself, he certainly can't remember me. I vaguely remembered when he would talk about his training, how he was able to protect himself from intimidation and torture. It was a way for him to not break under pressure, to never betray information. I thought it was a drastic idea at the time, though now I see its rewards, and tragic flaw. I stopped by Al's house to pick something up, before heading to the hospital again today. His nurse was constantly watching him through the window, worried about him. She had been working with him for nearly thirty years now, they were friends, as with all of his nurses.
"What is that for?"
"I'm hoping that maybe he will jog Al's memory a bit...Or at least help him trust me more.."
"Good luck Mr. Williams"
I opened the door slowly, alerting Al in the process. I never wanted to startle him, I didn't want that gun to make him do something he'd regret.
"Who's there this time..."
"It's just me, Matthew", I popped my head through the door, smiling gently at him.
"What do you want?"
"Just to talk"
"You do that everyday"
"Well, today I brought someone who might want to see you"
"Who would I possibly want to see?"
I brought in his bald eagle, a magnificent creature that he had been caring for over many years. I was wearing my ornithological wrist cover, though Al never needed one to protect him.
"That's..."
"Do you recognize him Al?"
The bird flew from my arm to its master, who instinctively held out his arm as a perch.
"My eagle...", he said, continuing to stroke the birds beak.
"That's good...You knew that", I took a few steps closer, but he tensed up, grabbing his gun once more, pointing the barrel at me.
"That's far enough"
I conceded, any stop closer was progress. I pulled over a chair from the far corner and sat down.
"Are you feeling any better today?"
My question was met with silence. He did that every day, sometimes he would respond to me, others he wouldn't. I couldn't push him anymore than I was doing, he would have to get better on his own time.
"I have food for you again today, if you're hungry"
He nodded his head in acknowledgment. He hadn't eaten since he arrive, and though I tried to help, he wouldn't take anything that I brought.
"You need to eat you know...I'm sure you're very hungry..."
He continued ignoring me...Like every other day.
"It's not poisoned or anything...I can assure you that", I munched on it, not wanting to let it go to waste. I looked over at him, still mesmerized with his bird.
"I'm sure he misses you...Nobody's around to take care of him since you're here"
Silence
"I'll bring him over more often...You deserve company you trust"
He glanced over at me, then resumed his actions with the bird.
"I'm going to have to leave for a while. With you out of commission, I'm helping out around NORAD and such. So this may be the last time I see you for a while"
I waited for a response, though I was careful not to keep my hopes up. I could only drop by for a few minutes that day, I had to be on a plane to Colorado in just an hour or two.
"I can leave him if you like. I called and Arthur is going to come over to look after you. You know him. He's your older brother that lives in Europe.. He said he'd come for as long as it takes, so I'll leave him here to take care of you. He'll be able to take him home too"
He seemed to listen a bit, though wasn't reacting in any way.
"Well, goodbye Al. I'll be back"
"Hmph...bye..."
I walked out into the hallway, I hoped at least Arthur may be able to make some progress while I was gone. I lingered around the waiting room, hoping he would show up soon. If not, I was going to be late.
Ah yes, finally back~ This one'll be finished soon...Probably 3 or 4 parts to it. I've decided to update on a 1000-2000 word basis, instead of when I finish, so that there is not such a long time inbetween updates :D
Yes, the description thing does say england as the second character, not canada, because he is more prevalent in the /later/ chapters...Sometimes I wish they would let me click three haha
And for the usual...DISCLAIMER! I am no writer, I'm just doing these for fun :D So sorry, but with my busy schedule, I won't be editing or revising any of these. Feel free to leave a review if you so wish, but if it's critical, I'll take your criticism but I'm not big on revising X( sorry! I love fluffy reviews though :D