It hurt. A lot. It felt like his chest was on fire. It was hard to breathe. Every draw of breath felt like it could be his last. A few of his ribs were probably broken. The throbbing pain in his leg radiated to his whole body. It felt like he was on a bed made of knives. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything. He just lied there. Cold. Bloody. Alone. No- that wasn't true.

"Hey, you'll be fine. Just- just wait. It will be alright", he heard the male voice over his ringing ears and loudly beating heart. Something wet dropped on his cheek. The other was sobbing now, his strong facade shattered. He wanted to clean the tears from the man's eyes so bad. Assure him that there was nothing to cry over. Only that he couldn't do that. His whole body felt numb.

He wanted to smile, laugh at his own ridiculous situation.

But at the same time, he was scared. So, so scared. He hadn't gotten so beaten for a long time. What if this was it? His end. He didn't want to leave. Didn't want to leave behind all his loved ones, grieving for him. Norway, Iceland, and yes, even Sweden. And his people. They needed him.

Norway's warm hand was now holding his own cold one.

"I- I don't wanna die", he managed to cough. He could taste copper in his mouth. He was shaking violently, both of them crying. Norway's other hand was stroking his cheek tenderly. He had no idea when it had found it's way there, but it calmed him down a little.

"You won't. You promised me. Don't want to break your promise, I assume."

Denmark tried to chuckle but it came out strained.

He wasn't sure how he had let the enemies beat him to this point. First, he had been winning, covered in the blood of other men. Now, it was just his own. Maybe, just maybe he would meet them on the other side and ask for their forgiveness.

His eyelids felt heavy. How did it take him so long to realize how sleepy he was? He hadn't slept enough the night before the battle. Even Norway's sleeping form beside him couldn't make his anxiety go away. If he just closed his eyes, the pain would go away for the time being.

Norway's grip of his hand was a little bit too strong for his liking, waking him from his thoughts.

He had to blink a few times to see the displeasured face of his fellow country. He only then noticed the dark bags under his eyes and the dry blood that had just stopped above his eyebrow.

The Norwegian sighed and started ripping the bottom of his cape. Denmark stifled the urge to groan, missing the contact. "I'm gonna patch you up, okay?"

When the smaller boy had been hovering over him for a while, feeling was coming back to his body, slowly, replacing the numbness. He tried to sit up while ignoring the pain, only to be stopped by Norway. "What does mister think he's doin'?" he asked, seemingly annoyed. It's hard to clean someone's wound when they're moving.

"Sorry", Denmark mouthed. 'Idiot' was the only reply he got.

It didn't ache so much anymore thus making him feel more like himself again. "Aa, I wanna move", he whined. Norway rolled his eyes. He finished tying the cloth tightly around his leg.

"Nor, can you help me stand up?" Denmark grinned and took the hand that was offered to him. They were sore and tired but alive, and he was forever grateful for that.

I'm trying to improve my writing sooo I wrote this... English isn't my first language.