Shinigami-cat: So yeah there are going to be a few OC's from now on. They don't really do much. They aren't that important, but they need to be in there for the story to progress… I OWN NOTHING!

House call

Gilbert was starting to worry about Canada. It wasn't that Canada was starting to rip things to shreds with his hands again. No, nothing like that. He was worried because ever since Canada had opened a link so he could talk to Ludwig, he had been asleep. Ukraine had said that it was normal to be exhausted after opening a link across worlds. But even she seemed to be concerned about Canada's unconscious state. She wanted to stay by his side to make sure he was alright, but she had other duties to perform as the leader of her 'tribe' so to speak. She mainly left that to Gilbert. Gilbert was okay with it too. He had experience dealing with sick people. Mainly Ludwig when he had gotten chicken pox when they were younger.

Ukraine slipped on her jacket and walked over to the front of the tent. "So do you have everything you need?" She asked Gilbert.

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah I got everything."

Ukraine smiled and turned to leave. "Good… Oh right I almost forgot!" She walked over to Gilbert and gave him small red bracelet. "I asked one of the doctors to come by and have a quick look over Canada. This bracelet acts like a translator. It will turn all language into one you can understand and vice versa."

Gilbert nodded and put on the bracelet. "Cool. Have a fun time or whatever… What are you doing anyway?"

"Finding a new base." Said Ukraine. "We try not to stay in one place for too long. Plagues and Grabbers can find us more easily that way." With that she walked out the tent leaving Gilbert alone with Canada.

Gilbert sighed and walked over to Canada; he was lying on a mattress Ukraine had gotten from her requirement closet, covered in a bear skin sheet. From afar Canada looked quite peaceful but if you got closer he looked anything but peaceful; he had dark circles under his eyes, his skin was covered in a thin film of sweat, he was taking in short shallow breaths through his mouth and every now and then he would twitch. Sometimes he would say things in his sleep, but he would with say it so quickly that no one could understand him or so softly no one could hear him. But that was a rare occasion.

Gilbert sat next to Canada and touched the blonde's forehead with the back of his hand. He didn't feel like he was burning up or freezing. It was odd. Gilbert sighed and wiped some of the sweat off Canada's forehead with a damp cloth. He could see Canada's eyes move slightly under his eyelids.

Gilbert bit his bottom lip. 'Crap… If I knew this would have happened I wouldn't have asked him to do that for me. But why did he do it when he knew this would happen to him? Is it because Ukraine told him to? Those two seem pretty close… Do they like each other? But before Canada said he wasn't straight… Maybe he's bisexual?' Gilbert shrugged. It seemed possible. But she also just seemed to have this older sister vibe about her. Maybe it was that.

Gilbert shook his head and pulled one leg up to his chest and leaned against it. It was nice that they didn't have to run for their lives or find food to eat for a while, but he knew they needed to do it again eventually. After all they were going to go to England's house. They would have to leave Russia soon. But in Canada's current state they weren't going anywhere. He sighed. "I'm sorry Canada." He muttered. "I'm sorry for all the stupid things that have happened to you because of me."

The tent flap opened up and Gilbert turned to see a woman. She was an old woman, her brown, wire like hair was done up in a rough bun, her thick clothes were grey in colour and her eyes were a murky brown colour. She looked over at Gilbert and frowned. "What's a demon doing in here?" She hissed. "Get out of here now before I get someone in here to kill you."

Gilbert glared at her. "Okay first of all I'm albino you stupid cow. Second of all who the fuck are you?"

The woman looked at Gilbert with sceptical eyes. "Albino you say? Demon blood flows through your veins boy… From several generations back."

Gilbert chose to ignore the fact that the woman was acting like a moron. "Anyway… who are you?"

"Ukraine told me I had a patient to see." Said the woman. She looked over at Canada. "I assume that's him?"

Gilbert nodded and looked back at Canada. "Yeah… he hasn't woken up in about three to four days."

The woman nodded knowingly and walked over to Canada. She sat down next to him and pulled a few things out of her pocket; a little flash light, a stop watch, a magnifying glass, an exothermic thermometer and some paddle pop sticks in plastic wrapping. She grabbed Canada's wrist, picked up the stop watch and started it. "Eighty three beats per minute." She muttered.

"Is that bad?" Asked Gilbert. "Should his pulse be lower or higher Miss?"

"Nursey." Said the woman. "Call me Nursey, and no. His pulse rate is fine. But I must admit it is a little high for someone who is asleep… But then again he seems to be running a fever of some sort." Nursey picked up her flash light and pulled back one of Canada's eyes. She shone the light into his eye and nodded. "Pupil seems to be working fine…" She put the thermometer under Canada's arm pit and waited for a minute. Once the minute was up she checked the thermometer. "Core body temperature is alright…"

"Quick question Nursey… What the hell did his eye sight have to do with anything?" Asked Gilbert. It just seemed like a stupid thing to do.

Nursey glared at Gilbert. "Do you have any medical training? No? So shut up."

"No need to get pissy with me." Said Gilbert with a pout. "Are you going through menopause or something?"

Nursey pointed the thermometer at Gilbert in a threatening manner. "Another comment like that from you and I'll shove this thermometer up your ass."

Gilbert glared at Nursey. She didn't seem that strong but then again neither did the Grabbers. They seemed more gross than anything. Gilbert shrugged and held up his hands in defeat. "Yeah, yeah."

Nursey smirked at the albino and went back to examining Canada. She pulled a paddle pop stick out of the plastic covering and opened up Canada's mouth. She used the stick to hold down his tongue. She grabbed her flash light and shone it down his throat. "Normal pink colour… But there is something just a little deeper in his throat." She looked over at Gilbert. "Hold the flash light. For a second." Gilbert did as he was told and held the flash light while Nursey grabbed another paddle pop stick. While holding Canada's tongue down with one stick she the other to scrape the back of his throat. When she pulled it out there was a thick black residue on the end of it. "What the hell is this?"

Gilbert's eyes went wide. 'Canada's sickness.' He thought. 'What should I say? Should I tell her he's infected with Croatoa? Crap… I have no freaking idea…'

Nursey looked at the black gunk on the end of the paddle pop stick and frowned. "I've seen something like this somewhere before… Back when my home was invaded by those things… But I can't remember…"

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah well if you don't know what's wrong with him you can clear off you old bat."

Nursey collected her things and stood up. She glared at Gilbert with cold eyes. "You travel with him don't you?"

Gilbert glared back with just as much intensity. "Yeah so?"

"Maybe you should do something other than sit around waiting for him to get better." She snapped. "Ukraine told me you two were heading for England. There's no way you can do that while one of you is so severely handicapped!"

"He'll get better!" Snapped Gilbert.

"Canada isn't the handicapped one!" Hissed Nursey. "He can fight! He can survive! What can you do? Follow him like a dog, that's what! I bet when you get into trouble out there he is always there to save your sorry ass! Grow a set of balls and pick up a sword! Learn how to fight and stop being a burden to him!"

"You don't know what you're saying you bitch!" Snapped Gilbert furiously. Nursey had no right to say anything to him about Canada. She didn't know anything.

Nursey just laughed at him. "You are stupid aren't you? Canada is a selfless person unlike you! He would willingly get himself killed to save someone in danger! I hope you sleep easier knowing his blood will be on your hands! You demonic little brat!" With that Nursey flipped him the bird and stormed out of the tent.

Gilbert just sat there stunned. 'What the hell? Why did she call me selfish? What did I do? She doesn't know me!' He looked back at Canada and frowned. It was true that Canada had saved him on more than one occasion, both here and in his world. He knew he couldn't fight, not like Canada, but was he really a burden? Perhaps or maybe Nursey was just being rude to him because he had demon eyes? He felt a small pang of guilt stab at his heart. He felt completely useless. 'All I do is get in the way… I can fight… I can't hunt… I'm just a handicap… I need to be stronger… I need to learn how to fight.'

He nodded at that thought. If he learnt how to fight he wouldn't be useless. He would be an asset. With that thought in mind he walked over to the requirement closet. He opened it up and looked inside. Of course there was nothing in there but dust. He stood back for a second and frowned. "How the hell did Canada do this? Just open it and say what you want right?" He clapped his hands and sighed. "Um… Manual on how to fight?"

Two seconds later he was hit in the face with a book called 'Basic fighting for dummies'. Ludwig would be impressed. Gilbert rubbed his now throbbing nose and sat down next to Canada with the book on his lap. He was going to learn how to fight if it was the last thing he did. He would not be a burden.

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By the time Gilbert had finished reading the book his brain was hurting like crazy. He wasn't sure how much time had passed but Ukraine was back. She was currently sharpening some knives. She looked over at Gilbert and smiled half-heartedly. "So what did Nursey say?"

"She doesn't know." Muttered Gilbert. "She's a bitch anyway. Called me a demon on sight. Told me to get out of here. Stupid bitch."

Ukraine sighed and continued to sharpen her knives, occasionally holding it up to the light to inspect it. "Don't be so hard on her Gilbert. She just dislikes people with red eyes because of some horrible things that happened back at my house."

"What kinds of things?" Asked Gilbert.

Ukraine shrugged. "Well a while ago there was a large demon problem in my house. Lots of people were killed because of them. It was a horrible time. Luckily Russia was able to help me out and Belarus helped out too."

Gilbert nodded. Ukraine seemed to have good relationships with people. "So Russia's your brother right?"

Ukraine nodded. "Yeah… and Belarus is my sister." A pained expression spread over her face. "I hope they are still alive…" She looked over at Gilbert. "The last time I saw my little sister she was unconscious and bleeding heavily from her neck. I left her in the care of Lithuania… And Russia had a broken arm before he went into hiding..."

Gilbert nodded. "I know it isn't the same… but the last time I saw my brother was when I saw him at breakfast. I just nodded at him, letting him know I was going to school early to catch up with my friends… And then I talked to him…"

"I know." Said Ukraine. "It's pretty horrible… To not know that you might never see your loved ones again… But Canada is reliable. If he promised to send you home he will."

Gilbert nodded and looked over at Canada. He still didn't look any better. He bit his lip and looked over at Ukraine. "Teach me how to fight." He said.

Ukraine looked over at Gilbert and raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Teach me how to fight." Said Gilbert. "I want to know how to fight Plagues."

Ukraine shrugged and went back to her knives. "Why do you want to know how to fight? Canada can fight can't he?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Well of course he does. But I want to know how to fight so I'm not a burden… So I can defend myself… So I can defend Canada. He's always making sure I'm safe but he never looks after himself! He doesn't put himself first at all!" Gilbert clenched his fists and took in a deep breathe. "I want to be able to help out. I want to be able to hunt. I want to be able to defend myself and Canada if I have to."

Ukraine looked at Gilbert with a confused expression. Her eyes boring into his, searching for something. What it was exactly, Gilbert couldn't say. Suddenly she looked away. "You want to know how to fight to protect both yourself and Canada? That's very noble of you."

Gilbert blushed slightly and looked away. "Yeah well… I have to keep him alive don't I? He's the only one who can get me home damn it."

Ukraine chuckled slightly and nodded. "Of course Gilbert… Okay I'll teach you how to fight. But tomorrow. Its night now… I'll get Nursey to look after Canada tomorrow then." Gilbert didn't want that woman anywhere near Canada, but he had no say in the matter.

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Gilbert was lying on his back looking up at the tent roof. Ukraine had gone to sleep ages ago but Gilbert couldn't seem to get to sleep. He pulled up the fur covers around his chin and rubbed it with the side of his face. It was really soft. He rolled onto his stomach and looked over at Canada, who was on the mattress a few feet away from him. He frowned and sighed. 'God damn it Canada. Wake up already. You're no use to anyone unconscious.' He really wanted Canada to wake up. He needed Canada to wake up. If Canada never woke up he was never getting home.

Through the silence a voice cut through it. It was so quiet you wouldn't notice it unless the whole place was dead quiet. Gilbert quickly sat up and glanced around the room. His eyes fell on Canada. His lips were moving quickly, as if he was speaking really quickly and a whisper escaped his lips.

Cautiously Gilbert crawled over to Canada and moved his head ear close to Canada's lips to hear what he was saying. What he heard he would forever remember. "Blood." Whispered Canada. "So much blood. Where is it coming from? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you doing it to them? The screams. The screams. The terrible screams. What's happening? How could you do this? I'm sorry. I can't save you. Fire. Burning. Everything's dying. Why is it dying? It hurts. The burning. It hurts. It hurts so much. Burning. Dead. Everyone's dead. This isn't paradise. This is hell. It hurts."

Gilbert moved away from Canada. He didn't want to hear anymore. Gilbert gulped. 'A nightmare.' He thought to himself. 'It's just a nightmare. Crap has he been like that this whole time?' The thought sent shivers down his spine. Living out a personal hell inside his head for days on end. For his own sake, for his own sanity even, Canada needed to wake up. Gilbert clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He felt even guiltier than before. He had personally sent Canada into that hell.

TBC

Shinigami-cat: Hello! Yeah… Um… Review please?