England had left to fetch coffee for the four of them when the nurse started her observations. She'd performed them constantly every half-an-hour since Canada had arrived, trying to force his brain to start operating again. America whispered an explanation to France and Ukraine as she went about her work. She called Canada, surprisingly loud in the quietness of the room, and asked him to open his eyes, and to try and say his name through the breathing tube down his throat. She pressed her fingers into his palms and asked Canada to take hold of them, despite the cast restricting the movement of his left hand. She'd asked him to wiggle his fingers and toes, and then she said, "I'm terribly sorry, Matthew, but I have to cause you some pain now."
"Pain stimuli are the best way to reach a brain like Canada's; since it's all muddled only the most basic sensations come through," America explained softly. The nurse took the wide end of her pen and pressed it into nerves between his eyebrows and nose, giving it a violent twist. America winced, probably experiencing a sharp empathy pain of his own. But Canada did not stir.
Notes: Information about obs. taken from the book On the Edge by Richard Hammond.
