The slow beep of a heart monitor slowly melded with his conscious. The world was dark and the whir of machines surrounded him. For a moment he lay contemplating the fact that he could not see before realizing he had not opened his eyes.

Slowly his blue eyes opened to the world, a sickly yellow crust covered his eyelashes, causing them to stick together until he opened his eyes completely. Ludwig groaned as a dull pain became apparent to his waking body. Everything ached, even his eyelids as he squeezed them shut again.

From one side of the room he heard someone shift and stand from their chair.

"Ludwig? Doctor! He's awake! Doctor!" Francis' voice was loud but it cracked as if he hadn't used it in years. Fast footsteps followed after his cries and suddenly Ludwig was surrounded by the hospital staff.

"Mr. Beilschmidt? Can you hear me?" a doctor shone a bright light into Ludwig's blurry eyes and the blonde squirmed to move away from the blinding light.

"Gilbert," he groaned and the doctor pulled away from him.

"Mr. Beilschmidt, answer me if you can hear me." The doctor in his white coat instructed.

"Y-yes, I can hear you..." He stared confusedly up at up at Antonio and Francis as the pair peered over the staff to see their friend. "Where's Gilbert?" he asked weakly.

The remaining two-thirds of the Trio's faces fell and they backed slowly away from Ludwig's bed as a nurse wiped his leaky eyes clean and the rest of the medical staff dispersed. The doctor stood solemnly beside the German and shook his head slowly.

"Mr. Beilschmidt, your brother refused immediate medical attention, he waited until your condition was stable, we were too late to-"

"Oh, gott, he's dead! Gilbert's dead!" Ludwig screamed warm sticky tears leaking from his eyes, "He can't be, Gil's a fighter!"

"No, Mr. Beilschmidt, your brother's not dead; however his brain was damaged in the crash. The temporal lobe was severely bruised and while waiting for treatment Gilbert began bleeding into his brain. We were too late with treatment, your brother slipped into a coma."

Ludwig stared at the doctor's serene face, only slightly clouded with worry. "Now, Mr. Beilschmidt, about your condition, you did not suffer severe head trauma like your brother, however your leg was pierced by the gear shift, no major damage you'll walk fine. A few lacerations along your left arm from the driver's window, again nothing severe. You did, however, have a slight concussion, so you'll be kept under observation for a few days at least. Your brother's head must have swung against yours during the initial impact."

The younger brother felt his chest tighten at that statement, he remembered the kiss. Gilbert leaning against him, his lips tasting of beer and cigarettes, he'd been smoking in the bar. It was all his fault, if only he had pushed Gilbert away sooner, no, he should have made them leave the bar sooner, then his brother wouldn't have been so reckless.

It was all his fault; he had done this to Gilbert, all his fault. The world slowed and his vision blurred.

"Beilschmidt?" doctor called, "Nurse! Blood pressure is over one-eighty, pulse ninety-four and rising, the patient is going into cardiac arrest! Paddles stat!" Francis and Antonio were forced quickly out of the room and into the hall.

"Clear!"

Electricity coursed through Ludwig's body and the heart monitor gave a long resounding beep as he flat lined.

"Clear!"

His body jerked off the bed, all his fault, it was all his fault.

"Clear!"

Another jerk and the loud long scream from the monitor became a steady pulse. "BP and heart rate returning to normal, patient is stabilizing."

Ludwig's body died once on that bed, but inside nothing could stop him from dying many times over.

~0o0~

"So, brother, it's been a year. Yes, today last year was the day of the accident. I'm still sorry all this happened, it was my fault, I was the one driving, I should have driven you home sooner." Ludwig smiled lovingly at the sleeping form in the bed. "The doctors are still saying you won't ever wake up, but I don't believe them, and you shouldn't either. You were always the fighter, Gilbert; you have enough fight for the both of us."

The blonde stared quietly at his brother's peaceful face; Gilbert looked so serious when he slept. Ludwig wished his brother would smile again; he missed his elder brother's smirks and grins, he missed everything about his unconscious brother.

"Mr. Beilschmidt?" a nurse poked her head into the small room, "You have visitors."

Ludwig smiled and nodded, "Gilbert, your friends came, just like they promised they would," he murmured as the nurse left.

Four friends entered the softly lit room; the afternoon sun tinted the walls orange. Dust caught the light turning their slow walk toward the bed into an almost dreamlike trance. The normally loud and crass Arthur Kirkland smiled sadly at the German seated beside his brother before quietly pinning a card to the already cluttered wall.

Gilbert had gotten cards from nearly everyone who had ever met him, even people who hadn't. Ludwig had been given a mail sack full of letters from children that went to school not far from their neighborhood. Ludwig didn't recall having ever known any of the names but he remembered the warm summer afternoons when Gilbert would go out to play with the neighborhood kids.

He smiled at the memory of having to break up the loud shouting matches that would arise between Gilbert and some seven year-old over a goal or a point. Gilbert always so great with the children though, besides the occasional bickering, although blonde recalled having to scold his older brother for resorting to profanity when things didn't go his way.

Ludwig reached across the bed to push a strand of silver hair from Gilbert's face with a loving hand. He'd even thought of adopting a child of their own. But those dreams were long gone, replaced only by the haunting thoughts of what could have and should have been.

"Hello, mon ami, how have we been doing?" a thickly accented voice filled his ears and shattered his thoughts.

"Fine, just fine, Gilbert hasn't had any trouble, no more seizures." Ludwig replied distantly as he looked up at his friend and clasped his brother's warm hand in his.

Antonio smiled, "That's good, mi amigo, and you? How are you?"

"Just fine, Antonio, thanks. We're really glad you all came," Ludwig nodded his head. "Oh, by the way, Francis, have you and Arthur set a date for your wedding yet?"

"Ludwig," Francis sighed wearily taking Arthur's hand in his.

"Ludwig, the wedding was last month," the Englishman finished for his partner, "You weren't there."

"Oh, oh... I'm sorry, I've just been so... Preoccupied, I'm sorry that's not like me to do that..." Ludwig trailed off glancing at his sleeping brother with glistening eyes.

"It's alright, mi amigo-"

"No, it's not," Francis cut off the tanned Spaniard, "Ludwig, have you even gone back to work? Your grandfather's money is not going to last forever like this!"

"Of course I've gone to work! I understand that!" suddenly Ludwig's voice grew quiet as he glanced at his brother's softly breathing form.

"Shh..." He hushed the silent air around him noticing the quickening pulse on the heart monitor and stroked Gilbert's pale hand. "Of course I've thought of that, Francis... I've been working at the same law firm for years now, they understood why I had to be gone for a while, but I went back months ago."

"Ludwig!" came a sudden shout and Ludwig stood quickly, frightened by the noise he shifted closer to his brother's bed. A cheerful brunette burst through the door, his curl bouncing in excitement. "Ludwig, I haven't seen you in so long!" The young man hurried over to the blonde and hugged him tightly.

"H-hey, Feliciano," Ludwig stuttered, as soon as the Italian released him he took a slow step back.

"Oh, everything is so pretty in here; did you get all these pretty cards and flowers and- Oh, so cute!" Feliciano sang out in his singsong Italian accent noticing the stuffed panda Ludwig had brought from home and placed on the windowsill. The window being the only area of the room free of clutter.

"No, no they're all Gilbert's." Ludwig replied glancing around, he hadn't pinned up the few letters he had gotten, but he had read every single piece of mail the two brothers had gotten aloud to Gilbert.

"Oh," Feliciano's face seemed to fall as he glanced at the hospital bed, as though disappointed.

"Fratello! Where the hell are you?" a heavily accented voice rang out down the hallway, earning the owner a few desperate shushes from the hospital staff.

"Sir, if you could keep your voice down this is a-" the nurse was cutoff.

"Chigi! I don't care! Where is my fratello stupido?" Suddenly a darker brunette charged through the door, "Feliciano! Why are we visiting potato bastard and his vegetable brother?"

"Lovino, please don't be so rude…" Feli replied, his curl drooping.

"What do I care? It's time to go, fratello!" Lovi answered as he took his brother by the arm and began to pull his brother from the room.

Antonio smiled and Lovino before turning to Ludwig, "Visiting hours are almost over, we should all go, mi amigos."

The tall blonde nodded sadly, "I'll walk you all out, thank you for coming." The troupe trudged in silence to the elevators, as the group descended Francis turned again to Ludwig.

"Ludwig, I- Have you considered… Letting Gilbert go?" Dark blue eyes stared into the pair of clear icy irises.

"W-What? No! How could you? How dare you? He is your friend!" Ludwig snarled as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

"Was, Ludwig, Gilbert's… Gilbert's not there anymore…" Francis' eyes were dull and watery as he choked on his words.

"He still is alive! He's not brain dead!" The arguing pair stepped off the elevator followed by their friends.

"You have to understand that he's not coming back, Ludwig!"

Suddenly Francis' feet left the ground and his hands reached up to try and pry Ludwig's strong hand from his shirt collar. A nurse gasped as the German's fist swung back in preparation to hit the smaller man in his grasp, the Frenchman flinched instinctively, but the blow never came. Ludwig looked with wide surprised eyes at the dangling Frenchman in front of him and lowered his fist.

"Ludwig! Ludwig, stop!" an English accent burst out behind him. Slowly Francis's toes touched the ground softly as the tall blonde lowered him. Francis backpedaled quickly, rubbing the red marks around his throat from the tightened shirt collar.

Arthur gripped his partner's forearm, "You bloody fool! What the hell were you thinking, frog?"

"Fr-Francis, I'm so sorry, I don't know-"

"No, Ludwig, don't. Insulting someone like that! Of course you're going to get banged up, cheese monkey!" the islander snarled.

"Francisco, mi amigo, this isn't like you..." Antonio said slowly.

"I-I'm sorry, Ludwig, your cousin, he, I've been talking to him..."

"Roderich? He hasn't visited once; you know he has always had it out for Gilbert..."

"You know that Austrian has a way with words, you can't expect him to tell you what's right," Arthur said to his husband.

"I know, I'm sorry both of you..." Francis smiled hopelessly and pulled his lover close, "Hon, hon, hon~ I think there's a punishment in order for your insults."

Arthur pushed him away harshly, "Get the hell off me, bloody pervert."

"Oh, but, mon cher~" Francis reached out for the Englishman who slapped his hands playfully away.

"I'll take them home, mi amigo," smiled Antonio.

Ludwig nodded, "Thank you all for coming."

"Well, then let's go, Lovi!" The Spaniard suddenly wrapped an arm around the impatient Italian.

"Chigi! Let me go you dirty Spagnolo!" replied Lovino furiously, but allowed himself to be walked through the automatic sliding door.

The married couple nodded their goodbyes to Ludwig before following their friends out. Ludwig turned and caught his breath when he nearly crashed into a short Italian brunette.

"You know we only want to help, Ludwig..." Feliciano said quietly, almost too quietly the German noted.

"F-Feli, uh, I know, times are hard for everyone... Shouldn't you be going?"

"I just want you to know that I'm here for you... Luddy," suddenly the Italian's thin arms were around his neck and his breath was warm against Ludwig's face.

"What the hell? Get off! What are you doing?" with a harsh shove Ludwig forced the smaller man off him. "How dare you? How dare you use him to get to me?"

"I'm only looking out for you, West,"

"No! No, you did not just call me that! Only he called me that! Only my brother!"

"Your brother, you could have never had him! You can have me!" Feliciano pleaded.

"I want him! I need my Gilbert! Not you, you aren't him!" Ludwig pressed the elevator button several times until finally slamming his thumb into it so hard the plastic cracked. "I want my Gilbert, I need him... And he needs me!"

"West-"

"Don't you call me that! Don't you ever call me that!" the German snarled through gritted teeth. The elevators doors opened and he began to step inside, "Only he could call me that, only my East..." With that he stepped into the elevator and the doors shut with a dull thud.

The warmer air in the elevator flowed around Ludwig and he breathed deeply as he stepped once again onto the third floor, where his brother lay. Slinking quietly into the dark shadowy room he reached out and pressed the "Stop" button on a small CD player on the bedside table, with a sudden click Gilbert's favorite song stopped. But the memories still haunted Ludwig, just like the voices that plagued the song's narrator. Gilbert always mocked him for talking about songs as if they were books, but Ludwig liked songs that told stories, they just seemed more interesting.

He remembered the day Arthur had come in, the first time he had visited since the accident.

~0o0~

The Englishman stepped quietly into the room and glanced at the CD player as the almost mournful tune rang out. "Hotel California?" the green-eyed man asked softly.

"Yeah, it was always his favorite..." Ludwig responded his ice blue eyes shimmering.

"I always took him for the punk-rock type... Guess you never really know someone..." Arthur trailed off remembering the days he had spent with Gilbert, in a rather short lived garage band.

"He never seizes when I play it... It must be true what they say about coma patients."

"What's that?"

"They can hear everything that goes on around them while they're unconscious..."

"Oh..."

~0o0~

Ludwig choked loudly on the lump in his throat before crawling slowly into the hospital bed with his brother, wrapping his arms gently around the albino's warm body. "Oh, Gilbert, what am I going to do? What am I to do while you're away?"

Ludwig lifted
himself up slowly to kiss his brother's lips softly before falling asleep to the raspy breath of the machines.

~0o0~

"Sir," a kind hand shook him gently and Ludwig blinked his eyes in the blue tinted darkness. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, visiting hours are over."

"Hm? Oh, oh yes, I'm sorry I must have fallen asleep." Ludwig slid off the bed and kissed Gilbert's cheek, "Gute Nacht, bruder. I'll be back tomorrow."

The blonde walked slowly out of the hospital and clambered tiredly into his car before driving off into the sleepless night.

~0o0~

The blonde reporter stood solemnly at a hospital entrance. "This is the Bell-Shepherd Hospital where for one year to this date Gilbert Beilschmidt has lain unconscious on a hospital bed. A year after the accident that took his brother's conscious Ludwig Beilschmidt still visits his older brother in this hospital although Bell-Shepherd's doctors say that the elder Beilschmidt may never recover. This is Kathy Cox, Channel 12 News."

Sorry these are taking awhile, I tend to be a bit ADD when it comes to writing... That and I have a lot of summer projects to do... Sorry I had to make Francis that bad guy in this one, couldn't help it... Hope you guys enjoy!~