Back with the next chapter! To those of you waiting for the next part of Hetalia Tales 5:5 I must offer my sincere apologies! :( I had the chapter all written. AND THEN IT DIDN'T SAVE! DX I'll have to write it again but haven't yet found the time. This chapter is only out because it was already done but I promise that when it's done, the next Hetalia Tales 5:5 chapter will go up immediately. Please just bear with me!
Additional Character
Doctor Matthew Williams – Canada
Lieutenant Matthias Kohler – Denmark
Lieutenant Lukas Bondevik – Norway
Enjoy!
I don't own Hetalia or A Matter of Life and Death!
Chapter 4 : Call The Doctor!
Doctor Matthew Williams was up in his attic, playing with his toy. His telescope was one of his pride and joys as he polished the brass and the lenses. Many a time, back in Canada he had used this telescope to watch the Aurora Borealis and to gaze at the stars in the Canadian sky. Now he gazed at the stars in a new sky, at the different constellations that hung over England.
Matthew was one of many doctors assigned to the base but, because the village itself had no doctor, he volunteered to stay in the village to tend to the residents as well as attending to his duties on the base and he was well-liked by the villagers who took the polite Canadian doctor to their hearts and liked the idea of a doctor nearby.
Matthew's telescope stood by a pair of doors that opened on to a balcony where Matthew stood the telescope when he was stargazing and through the open doors, he could see village life go by.
"There goes Mrs Peters, Kumajirou," he said to his pet, a big white dog that resembled a polar bear cub. "Probably off to post a letter to her daughter, eh!" Kumajirou looked up and then put his head back down and went to sleep, completely uninterested. Matthew watched as a group of girls from The Myercroft School for Young Ladies from the nearest town cycle through the village and there went the ladies of the local WI out doing good again. And there went the land girls going out to work in the fields, Digging for Victory.
Another bicycle wove its way through the village and Matthew immediately recognised the US uniform the girl on the bike wore.
"It looks like Amelia's paying us a visit, Kuma," Kuma's head came up at the name of Matthew's little sister. Matthew continued to polish his telescope, knowing that his housekeeper, Mrs Mason, would tell Amelia where he was.
As if Amelia could not guess.
Amelia stopped her bicycle outside the cottage that her brother had been given as a surgery and leant it against the garden wall, opening the garden gate to be greeted by Mrs Mason, a cheerful middle aged woman who hair was on the verge of turning grey, who was sweeping the front step.
"Hello, dear," she greeted as Amelia walked up the path. Amelia F Jones was not as quiet as her brother but she was like a breath of fresh air whenever she came to see the charming doctor.
"Hi, Mrs Mason," Amelia replied. "Matthew where I think he is? In the attic, tinkering with his over-sized spyglass?" Mrs Mason chuckled.
"You know your brother so well," she smiled. "Go on up! I'll make some tea!" Amelia went in and climbed the stairs, smiling. Tea! The great British icon. She climbed the stairs to the attic to find her brother cleaning the telescope lenses.
"Careful, Mattie!" she said. "You'll wear the lenses away, the amount of polishing you do!" Matthew smiled at his sister, put down his cloth and hugged her. Kuma came over and Amelia pulled a treat from her pocket and fed it to him.
"And what's this I've been hearing about you," he teased. "Finding pilots washed up on the shore after jumping from Lancaster bombers without parachutes and surviving."
"That should be classified information!" Amelia declared.
"A miraculous story like that, you can't keep quiet," Matthew replied. "It was bound to get out. The vicar and some of the old dears are calling it a miracle, the old school British officers are calling it an example of how you can't kill the British spirit! Your squadron leader's become quite a celebrity but what's this I hear about him being billeted up at Hetalia House with your guys. You know you can't go around kidnapping good-looking RAF officers because you like the shape of their nose, eh!"
"It wasn't his nose!" Amelia declared, cheekily. "It was his voice! I fell for that before I ever saw him!" Then she became serious. "But could you come and examine him? Something happen last night …."
"I know!" Matthew replied. "One of the officers at the house gave me a call last night after you took him to the sick room. I was coming in later today after surgery at 5.00pm to examine him. He's been having hallucinations about some kind of messenger coming to take him to Heaven?"
"He believes the hallucinations are real," Amelia said. Matthew nodded.
"They will be," he answered. "To him! I'll know more when I see him so I'll see you later when I get there. I know you have to get back!" Amelia nodded.
"I see you at five then," she said and went to the stairs. Then she turned back to her brother. "Oh, Matt!" Matthew looked over at his sister.
"He does have a cute nose too," she quipped and disappeared down the stairs, leaving her brother to chuckle.
Lieutenants Matthias Kohler and Lukas Bondevik could hear the sound of a motorcycle as they drove their army jeep down the country land toward the base. Both men had been in England when both their countries were occupied and offered their military service to the British against a common enemy which was gratefully accepted.
Matthias held the steering wheel straight and checked the wing mirror, seeing a familiar motorbike revving up behind them. No one would have thought that the polite Canadian doctor was a petrol-head but his motorbike was his other pride and joy, one he did not get to indulge in very often because of fuel rationing, although he was granted a higher ration due to his profession, needing to get to places quickly. Those on the base, however, were familiar with the good doctor's love for his bike.
"It's Doc Matthews!" Matthias grinned. "Here we go!" At the end of their journey, the Norwegian was going to strangle the Danish man for encouraging this lunacy as he stepped on the accelerator when Matthew came neck and neck with the jeep in his leather helmet and goggles. The jeep and the motorbike raced down the lane, each occasionally edging ahead of the other. Then came the fork in the road as they waved to each other and Matthew took the fork to Hetalia House and Matthias and Lukas continued on to the base.
Matthew stopped his bike in front of Hetalia House, a Georgian edifice with big windows and Romanesque columns. He stripped off his biking gloves and his helmet and goggles and put them in the pannier on his bike and made his way into the house.
Matthew was told that Squadron Leader Arthur Kirkland was in the ballroom and as Matthew went in, he found the British airman was not alone. There were many in the room, mostly American, rehearsing the play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', making the costumes and one of the radio operators was making the poster.
"That's not how you spell Shakespeare!" the girl being fitted for her Titania costume said, pointed to the miss-spelt 'Shakespere'. The other girl snorted.
"Who are you, his agent?" she retorted. Matthew moved past them to the end of the room where his sister sat, playing chess, or trying to, with a blonde, bed-headed man with green eyes, in an RAF uniform.
"Good evening," Matthew greeted. Amelia looked up and stood to hug her brother. Arthur stood up out of his chair to meet the newcomer.
"Hi, Matt!" Amelia replied. "Arthur, this is my brother, Doctor Matthew Williams! Matt, this is Squadron Leader Arthur Kirkland!" The two men shook hands.
"Any chance of some tea?" Matt asked. Amelia nodded.
"We just ordered some," she replied and she and Arthur sat while Matthew went to get himself a chair.
"Who's winning?" he asked, indicating the chess board.
"Amelia's not bad," Arthur declared to which Amelia snorted.
"I think Arthur's being a gentleman and letting me win," she said. "I don't know one gambit from another and I think some of my moves have been illegal! Matthew, Arthur knows!"
"Knows what?"
"Why you're here!" she replied. "What you are! All about you! And that I told you all about him!" Matthew turned to Arthur.
"And have you told Amelia about your poetry?" he asked. Amelia looked between the two men.
"What poetry?"
"You didn't know this is that Arthur Kirkland!" Matthew had a collection of books on poetry and among them was a volume of prose by Arthur Kirkland but she had only seen the book once and forgotten about it.
"Oh, I didn't know!" she exclaimed. Arthur looked rather sheepish.
"I didn't want to brag!"
"I don't collect much modern poetry but I have your book," Matthew replied. "I like your point of view and I hope we can talk about it but let's get down to business." Matthew went into 'Doctor' mode. "Have you had vision or hallucinations before?" Arthur shook his head.
"What were you doing before the war?" Matthew had researched Arthur's file and launched into a series of questions to test Arthur's memory and awareness.
"I was at Oxford, studying European history," Arthur replied.
"Parents alive?" Arthur shook his head again. "Brothers? Sisters?"
"Four brothers,"Arthur replied. "One in the army, one in the Home Guard, another in the Fire Service and the youngest is still at school!"
"And you're twenty-seven?"
"Twenty-five!" Arthur corrected
"What was the cause of your father's death?" Matthew began making notes.
"Same as mine!" Matthew definitely made a note of that.
"Brain?" he asked, thinking of Arthur's episode the night before.
"No! War!"
"When?"
"1917," Amelia sat silently, wondering about all these questions but figured her brother knew what he was doing.
"Were you called up?"
"No, volunteered," Arthur replied. "Trained in Canada, went on ops in '41."
"Bombers?" Matthew asked.
"For a while," Arthur answered. "Spell as instructor, back to bombers. Lancasters!"
"Must have been on a lot of operations," Matthew commented.
"67!"
"I'm surprised they let you go with your experience!"
"New job!" Arthur clarified. "Master bomber!"
"Tough job?" Arthur shrugged.
"Someone has to do it!"
"About these headaches," Matthew asked. "When did they begin?"
"Headaches?" Arthur tried to sound nonchalant but there was a look in his eyes of someone who was being caught out. Matthew suspected because of the severe one Arthur had suffered the night before but this confirmed that he had been having them for some time.
"I know you have them," Matthew replied. "I know you've had them for a while and kept them secret! Especially from the MO. I also know about your eyes!" The fact that the headache hit Arthur behind the eyes was significant. Arthur began to feel defensive.
"You know a lot," Matthew felt Arthur was withdrawing.
"I'd like to know more," he replied. "I need to know more if I'm going to help you. Now when did these headache start?" Arthur sighed.
"Six months ago!"
"Bad?"
"Not at first!"
"Where?" Arthur put his hand on his head off centre toward the right. Matthew made another note.
"Frontal and temporal," he said, matter-of-factly. "Ever had a bang on the head?"
"I might have been dropped on my head as a baby but not that I can remember!" Both Matthew and Amelia chuckled.
"I get the feeling I've spoilt whatever you were thinking about," Arthur commented.
"You have, actually," Matthew replied. "Do you mind if I try something?" Matthew stood up. He turned Arthur's chair so he was facing the girl dressed as Titania. "Keep your eyes forward! Now, what can you see?"
"The pretty girl in the Titania costume," Arthur replied and Amelia felt a little twinge of jealously. Matthew nodded.
"Don't take your eyes off her!" he ordered.
"Won't be difficult!" Amelia's lips tightened. Matthew was sure Arthur knew the effect he was having on Amelia and was teasing her a little.
"Without moving your eyes," Matthew said. "What can you see on the furtherest right?"
"Fireplace!"
"And on the left?" Arthur frowned. The left seemed a little cloudy and everything was slightly out of focus.
"Windows?" Arthur was not very sure.
"Anything else?"
"Curtains?"
"Colour?"
"Red!" That Arthur was sure about! Matthew patted him on the shoulder.
"That will do!" he said and went to sit back down again. Amelia decided she was not going to be ignored any more.
"Well, if you're quite finished, staring at that girl...!" Arthur's face took on a teasing smirk.
"You have to do what the doctor tells you!" he quipped.
"No loss of appetite or decrease in thirst?" Matthew asked, jotting things down again.
"No," Arthur replied.
"In fact, you been eating and drinking more than normal," it was not a question.
"Have you been looking at my mess bills?" Arthur joked.
"And you've seen something?" Matthew's voice went back to serious.
"Someone!" Arthur clarified.
"Clearly?"
"As clearly as I can see you!"
"Ever had a similar hallucination?"
"No, thank you!"
"Do you believe in the survival of the human personality after death?" Matthew asked.
"I thought you'd read my poetry!" Matthew turned to Amelia.
"What about you, Amelia?" Amelia was surprised at the question.
"I've never really thought about it," she admitted. "What about you?"
"A little," Matthew replied. "Maybe too much, I don't know! One last question!" he turned back to Arthur. "Have you ever smelt something that couldn't possibly be there?" Arthur looked surprised.
"How did you know?"
"So you have?"
"Yes," Arthur admitted. "But it's so stupid, I never would have mention it!"
"Arthur," Matthew replied. "The smallest thing could be important and tell us everything we need to know!"
"It won't tell me how I could jump out of a plane without a parachute and still be alive!"
"No," Matthew admitted. "But there's bound to be an explanation for that. Now, this Heavenly messenger! You said you saw him clearly! And this smell. Was it at the same time?"
"Yes! It was quite strong!"
"Pleasant smell?"
"Yes!"
"What was it?" Arthur gave a small laugh.
"Fried onions!" Matthew wrote that down.
"This messenger! Has he turned up again?"
"No but he will," Arthur replied. "He picks his own time. And freezes it!"
"Arthur's lodged an appeal," Amelia said.
"Against?" Matthew asked.
"His call-up!"
"Good!" Matthew replied. "Don't give in!"
"I won't!" Arthur promised.
"I've got bad news for you," Matthew warned. "You're being re-billeted to my house. For two reasons!"
"Which are?" Arthur asked.
"One, I want to meet this man the next time he drops in," Matthew replied. "Two, I'd like my sister to drop by more often and she will if you're there."
"What about my CO?"
"I've squared it with him," Matthew said. "Until we sort this. I'm your CO! And at my house, we have tea at five!"
"TEA BREAK!" Some privates raced in with a tea trolley piled with teacups and pastries and everybody gathered around, trying to get the best first.
"Here we get it at five-thirty!" Amelia declared with a laugh as she went to grabbed some tea and doughnuts for her brother and Arthur.
Matthew looked back over his notes and then put them away with a thoughtful expression.
Arthur had been in Matthew's cottage for a few days and his favourite room was Matthew's library, surrounded by books, not just on the shelves but on the desk, tables, even on the floor. He could sit in a chair and not move, even to get a book as many were within reaching distance. The days had been filled with medical tests, discussions with Matthew about his poetry and visits from Amelia. Matthew watched the romance between Arthur and his sister and, while he approved of Arthur as a suitor, he was worried about how Arthur's state of health would affect Amelia, should it take a turn for the worse.
Arthur was in the library, asleep in the comfortable armchair while Matthew and Amelia were out in the garden, playing on the table tennis table that Matthew had set up and both were deep in competition.
"Ah ha!" Amelia laughed as Matthew's shot hit the little fence, stretched across the table. "Another one to me!" Matthew grabbed the ball and got ready to serve.
"Ready?" he asked, hit the ball and it went back and forth again. It continued until Matthew missed and the ball sailed passed him.
"I wondered if Arthur's a good player," Amelia said, looking through the window at his sleeping form as Matthew went after the ball.
"Ask him when he wakes up," Matthew replied.
"He's been asleep for two and a half hours!"
"He'll wake at eleven!"
"How do you know?"
"I gave him a sleeping tablet," Matthew replied. He felt it was best if Arthur got as much rest as he could.
"How can you tell?" Amelia would be amazed if Matthew could time it that precisely.
"I can't tell exactly," Matthew admitted. "But I know the patient!"
"But do you know him?" Amelia asked. She had only know Arthur for about a week or two and she could not know him well in that time. Matthew had known him even less than that.
"I think I do," Matthew told her, confidently. "I think he's fascinating!"
"So do I!" Amelia replied, with a cheeky quirk of he eye brow.
"Medically, not biologically!" Matthew said, reproachfully as they went into the library. He poured them both a drink while Amelia looked over the open medical encyclopedias that littered his desks.
"What do your books tell you, Mattie?" she asked. A serious look crossed Matthew's face.
"I see a dark stranger in his life," he replied, like a fortune-teller predicting doom. Amelia went over to Arthur, picked up the blanket that had fallen off his legs and put it back over him.
"What's wrong with him, Mattie?" Amelia sounded worried. "Do you know?"
"I think I do," Matthew said. He hoped he was wrong but he did not think so.
"Will he be all right?"
"He'll be fine," Matthew prayed he was not giving his sister false hope.
"Will he have any more hallucinations?"
"Yes!" Matthew sounded sure. "This collector fellow said he'd be back."
"Will it make him any worse?"
"Why should it?"
"I don't know." Amelia replied, her voice betraying her worry. "Seeing things, questioning his own survival, talking to someone who isn't there ….."
"To Arthur, he is!" Matthew said.
"He's not going mad, is he?" now Amelia was worried. "His brain's not being affected?"
"Yes, it is!" Matthew replied. "But not the way you think! That's why I asked him about his sense of smell."
"I did wonder about that!"
"He's suffering from highly complex hallucinations, mirroring real life," he said. "A neurologist would start looking for a connection to smell or taste. If it's there, we know where to look. I need to find out one more thing about his medical history and I should find that out soon."
"But how did he survive the jump from the bomber?"
"I don't know," Matthew replied. "It would help if we could find a reason for that but the main thing is for him to win his case!" Amelia was surprised that Matthew was taking this business seriously.
"Are you serious?"
"Very!" Matthew said. "He has to win his case! How depends on what message this collector brings!"
"But what if he loses his case?"
"If it looks like he's losing his case, we'll find out a reason why he survived," Matthew answered. "Even if we have to make one up! Fancy another game?" Amelia looked at Arthur.
"Don't worry!" Matthew reassured him. "See that bell!" He pointed to a silver bell that stood on the table near Arthur's chair. "He's promised to ring it if this collector person comes back. Now, about that game!"
"I'll beat you again!" she declared as she raced back outside with Matthew following her.
"No, you won't!" They went back into the gardens and picked up their paddles. The ball shot back and forth and they won a game each. They started the next game and they hit the ball back and forth toward each other and then.
The ball froze in mid-air! In fact, everything froze!
Amelia was stuck in the position of having hit the ball while Matthew was frozen, ready to hit the ball back and not a thing had moved.
In the library, Arthur's nose began to twitch as the smell of fried onions drifted into his nostrils and his eyes drifted open.
"Bonjour, mon ami!"
Yes, he's back! And he brings news! And Matthew's here! I wanted to have all the Nordics in but, to be in keeping with the history of the war, I could only get Norway and Denmark in as Finland was with the Axis, in conflict with Russia, Sweden was neutral and Iceland was neutral, allied held territory so I'm afraid it's just the two of them!
To takuya – I'm so pleased! :) Not so much ripples in the space/time continuum, more in the law and order of Heaven but Arthur's situation will still cause an uproar, trust me! ;)
To Maveriqua – No, I wouldn't have called it Natural Death either! :( True or maybe that they would have some kind of super power to find the souls they're sent for but apparently that's not the case, luckily for Arthur! :D
To Normandy – I'm not sure Amelia thinks he's crazy, more that there's something wrong and even Matthew thinks that there's a medical reason for Arthur's 'hallucinations' but that's the Big Question! Is it a symptom of a medical problem or is Arthur really being called up by Heaven? O_o You decide!
To Scarlet Phantom – Welcome back! :) Yeah, I haven't used a lot of nyo! characters and never as one of the main ones so I thought I'd have a go and Nyo! America seemed to fit the time period and situation better! Gaia, being the Greek version of Mother Earth, fitted the role of Head of the Records Department because she's in charge of the files of everybody on Earth so I just went Ancient Greece, Another one of the ancients will be showing up later! As for Paris, there are no words! T_T
To ArtemisIsis13 – No, it isn't! :( And an Heavenly messenger saying 'Oops! You were supposed die last night but I missed you, would you mind coming with me now?' would take anyone by surprise! Francis was the one who missed Arthur so if he couldn't get Arthur to come back with him, he was the one who was going to get the slapped wrist! XP I've never actually seen all of It's a Wonderful life! But I've seen enough to know about the Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings bit. And you're right to be concern for Arthur's health as you'll soon see! DX
Next week, Arthur gets news about his appeal from Francis and Matthew gets news about Arthur's medical history and worries about his worsening condition as Arthur struggles to pick a Defence Consul!
So till next time,
Hasta la Pasta!