Chapter 11

Austria's Emergency Part II

Joshua's Home

It took Joshua a lot longer to actually get the stuff ready that he wanted to take with him to Austria's house. He didn't want to make it seem like he was going to become a freeloader but he wanted to make sure that he had all his essentials for his stay. You know clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and all his basic necessities along with some books to read as well as his iPod and laptop just in case he needs it. He knew what he'd be spending most of his time doing and that was caring for an individual that if you had told him about a month ago that he'd be contemplating living with…he'd ask you to go see "the man"!

Austria's place

It had been an hour and a half since Josh left to go pack and honestly Prussia was worried that Josh wasn't coming back. It was a bit of a shock about what happened and the fact was that not Hungary or his awesome self knew about the illness. To say that it was horrifying when they saw Roderich in the state that he was in would be the grossest of understatements but true all the same. All he could do was wait for Joshua to come back from getting his things because it was the only way that he was going to be allowed near Austria's bedroom where Hungary was keeping watch.

In the aforementioned bedroom Hungary was watching Roderich while he slept. The good news was that the doctor said he was going to be fine but when he finally truly snaps out of it he might not remember much about the incident. Joshua would pretty much know what questions to ask him when he woke up but they (Hungary and Prussia) would have to wait for his return until then. As Hungary sat in there checking to see if he was going to be running a fever or anything else she could faintly hear a noise coming from the main hallway of the mansion.

Joshua had returned with bags in hand. Initially he thought it was only going to be about a two day stay but the faculty at the school convinced him to take a few extra days so he did just that. It should be noted that they didn't ask him WHERE he was going or WHY he need the time off but they gladly let him go and do what he needed to do.

As he entered the living room with Gilbert, Hungary walked in and told Joshua that Roderich was sleeping comfortably according to the doctors. She also told him that when he wakes up he would need to be asked some questions and Joshua would need to ask them. Josh accepted the task and as if like clockwork Roderich woke up from his slumber and Joshua went alone into the room per the request of his two friends.

As Joshua entered the bedroom it was pretty dark. The only light that was on was a candle that Hungary had lit so that it wouldn't be too bright for her friend when he in fact did wake up. Joshua understood this because when he wakes up from anything sometimes the eye can be really sensitive to light so he took his seat at the chair Hungary was sitting in and softly spoke to his friend.

"Hello Austria" Joshua said as he began the conversation with his friend. "Hello Joshua…what time is it?" Austria asked and Josh looked at his watch and told him it was quarter to 1 in the morning. When Austria heard this he almost shot up out of bed but didn't when he started feeling dizzy again. "Its alright Roderich" Joshua began "after the incident the guests that had been invited were notified of what happened and they understood that the event for the night was cancelled. I was told that they would be given a future date when it could be rescheduled but for now you need your rest. Do you mind if I ask you some questions? They're just basic questions but they are questions that will allow me to know how badly it affected you when the incident occurred." Joshua explained and Roderich nodded. He wasn't in any condition to argue with the request and it was a very reasonable one given all that went down.

"What's today's date?" Joshua asked and Roderich answered that question rather easily but again he knew it was first question of a few that Joshua was going to ask. "Where are we right now?" Joshua asked and again Roderich was able to answer this. He had to think a little bit because with the room fairly dark he realistically could have been anywhere but he knew he was home. The next two questions Joshua asked were designed by him not to be mean or play a trick but to see how his friend would answer the questions. "What do you remember about the incident?" Joshua asked and Rod mentioned a good bunch of details that were involved in it. He mentioned his sister and Prussia being at the dining room table and some chatter during the convo about some odds and ends and then he got up to go practice a number for the gathering. That was when he had his seizure and fell to the floor. The last thing he told Joshua was he remembered looking up and seeing his face before entering his deep but peaceful slumber.

"You've done well so far Roderich but now I am going to ask you this question: Who am I?" Joshua asked and Roderich sort of knew there was something to this question but he was able to at least give the basic answer. "You are Joshua Curtis, a dear friend of mine and from what I can gather by the noise outside you'll be staying as a guest for a few days no?" Austria asked and Joshua smiled when he heard "good friend" in Austria's description. Even if Joshua didn't outwardly show it or state it to anyone else he would hope that someday he could say that Roderich was his.

"You passed my friend" Joshua started "I don't mind telling you that you surprised me a little when you said 'dear friend' but I appreciate that. I don't mind tell you also that you are probably one of the closest friends I have as of late. I think I honestly spend more time here than home and that's a pretty interesting fact when you look at it." Joshua declared and Austria weakly smiled. He had hoped that Joshua would have had a different reaction to the "dear friend" comment but for now the fact that they are good friends was enough for him. Josh would tell you that he wasn't playing hard to get…and he wasn't but what he was doing was still very slowly coming to grips with his feelings and soon he was going to be able to express them in a way that even he hadn't planned.

As Joshua got up to leave the bedroom he could feel Austria's hand on his arm and when he saw the look on his friend's face he knew he didn't want to leave his side but at the same time he still had some thinking to do and part of that was how to finally approach the situation with as delicate as it was. Joshua knew it was going to be an important one but little did he know how it was going to affect his Aristocratic friend.

NEXT TIME

With Curtis now as a "live in" for couple of days just how is he to approach the situation that is coming up between Roderich and himself? What role if any will Hungary and Prussia play and is there a possibility that one other "Bad Touch" member could get involved?

Next Chapter: The Countdown part I