Thanks to Cat on the table, Yaoi-Is-Life-and-Love and Praise's waterfall for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 67

Miguel tried to lose himself in his new book, but unfortunately his mind didn't want to wander away from the trail it had been on. He was worried about Lovino, yes, but he was also furious. Still furious. Part of his fury was caused by his cousin harming his friend, but another part came from the call he received a few hours ago. That was the point where Vlad decided that a trip to the bookstore was necessary, and he especially decided to find something closer to horror for Miguel to read.

He could still remember the conversation he had over the phone, which made his blood boil.

Miguel's blood ran cold when he saw Antonio's number on his phone. He wondered for a moment if he should answer it. He didn't want to. He didn't want to speak to his cousin.

"What's wrong?" Yao asked.

"It's Antonio," he answered.

"Like, what does he want?" Feliks demanded.

Miguel shrugged. Vlad narrowed his eyes.

"Answer it, and let him know what you think about him," he advised. "And see what he has to say for himself."

Miguel looked at the others before he sighed, answering the phone.

"What do you want, Antonio?" Miguel demanded.

"I… I heard you hurt your hand," Antonio said. "Um… Are you okay?"

"Why? Since when do you care about anyone except yourself?"

"Miguel…"

"No. Tell me, do you know how I hurt my hand?"

"…You… You heard about Lovino."

"That's right. I heard my immature, self-important, violent and psychopathic cousin tried to murder one of my friends, after spending years tormenting him. Do you have any idea how long it took for him to feel comfortable around me? Do you have any idea how long it took us to convince him that we aren't going to abandon him? Or how long it took him to feel relaxed enough that he could laugh around us? What were you thinking?! What in the world did he do to you that made you think that he deserves to die? Tell me!"

There was silence for a long moment. Miguel felt one of his friends place a hand on his shoulder, and he gratefully placed his own hand on top of it and squeezed it. He didn't care whose hand it was, just that he had someone to support him.

"Miguel, I-I know what I did was bad and stupid," Antonio said. "But…"

"'Bad and stupid'?" Miguel repeated. "That is a massive understatement! What you did… It's evil and insane! And for what? What did Lovino do yesterday that made you want to kill him? Why did you even have a knife with you? What were you thinking?!"

"I… I'm sorry."

"…You have a lot of nerve, don't you? You're 'sorry'? Do you think a 'sorry' is going to fix things? Are you saying that 'sorry' is going to magically get Lovino out of the hospital bed? You think 'sorry' is going to make up for years of abuse? And on that note, why are you apologising to me? I'm not the one you tried to kill! Do you think that Lovino's going to accept your 'sorry'? This isn't the first time you tried to kill him, after all. Do you think a 'sorry' is going to fix him? Do you think a 'sorry' is going to get rid of all of those nightmares? No, Antonio. If anything, your 'sorry' is just a way to make yourself feel better. You don't care about anyone but yourself. That's why you attacked Lovino, isn't it? Because your parents found out about the things you did to him and grounded you. You are too busy blaming him for everything instead of taking responsibility. But that's nothing new. You were like that since you were little. Whenever you couldn't get your way, you would throw a tantrum. And whenever you got angry, you thought attacking someone was going to help. I've been punched, kicked, bitten, scratched and strangled by you, and Lovino had it a lot worse. And I've put up with all of this. But not anymore! Any apology that comes from your mouth is going to be a lie. And I don't want to hear it. This is it, Antonio. I never want to see or hear from you again!"

He hung up the phone and immediately blocked his cousin's number. He didn't realise that he was trembling, or that tears were leaking from his eyes, until Yao and Vlad pulled him into a hug.

They had to wait until school let out before they could make their way to a bookstore. Vlad immediately dragged him towards the horror section, and he would have to admit, horror sounded like a nice idea under the circumstances. Plus, the scent of new books always had a tendency to calm them all down.

Both he and Vlad bought the book Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker. The name alone caught Vlad's attention, and when they read that this was supposedly Bram Stoker's story, they just had to get the book.

Vlad might have been the horror expert, but all of them understood that when dealing with anger and rage, horror was the best genre to immerse oneself in.

He still couldn't believe that Antonio had the nerve to call him to apologise. If he knew that harming Lovino would upset Miguel, then he shouldn't have done it! And did he honestly think that he could apologise any of this away?

With a sigh of disgust, he put the book away. He wasn't going to get far with that. Not in the state he was in. So instead, he turned his attention to Lovino.

How was he doing? Were there any complications? How long before he could wake up, and how long before the rest of them could visit him? How would he feel when he woke up? Did all of the progress they've made the last few months go down the drain?

He decided to text Feliks to ask for an update. It might take a while before Feliks could reply, but at least it was something.

Miguel and his friends had always been there for each other. They've never even had a serious fight before. And they made sure to include the two newest members into their fold. To make it clear to them that what applied to the five of them applied to the two of them as well. And they always helped out where they could. That was what made this entire ordeal so horrible for Miguel, and he suspected that the others suffered like that as well. There was nothing they could do at this point. All they could do was wait and hope.

…

Leon and Mei stood in front of Yao's door. They had heard the rumours of Lovino being comatose after an attempted murder, and they'd searched everywhere for their elder brother. They finally managed to get Mr Kirkland to tell them that Yao had been excused from school because of what happened. They were also able to confirm that the rumours were true, and that none of the details that reached them were exaggerated.

That actually made things worse.

After school, the twins had gone to the nearest bakery where they bought a slice of cake for Yao. They knew that he needed the comfort, and considering they were both dangerous in the kitchen, they decided that this would be a nice gesture.

They liked Lovino, and couldn't imagine anyone wanting to kill him. No one could.

Leon was the one that decided to knock on Yao's door, and they waited a while for their elder brother to open it. Yao looked tired, and his eyes were red and puffy. He'd obviously been crying at some point.

"We heard about Lovino," Mei said. "How are you holding up?"

Yao shrugged.

"I just feel so helpless," Yao said. "There's nothing that I can do for him at this point. This isn't like anything we've dealt with before, and I have no idea how to handle it."

Leon and Mei exchanged a look, and Leon held out the box of cake.

"We went to the bakery and got you a slice of cake," Leon said. "It's going to be healthier than anything we can make."

"You always use food when trying to comfort someone," Mei said. "And we wanted to do the same for you."

Yao looked surprised by the gesture, but accepted the cake nonetheless. He smiled when he saw it, before the smile fell.

"I'm… I'm sorry," he said. "I just… I'm not in the mood to make dinner tonight."

"We understand," Mei said. "We also got some toppings for sandwiches. We can do that at least."

Yao nodded and smiled.

"Thank you," he whispered.

…

Alexandru could see that his brother was upset, but he didn't know why. He was also surprised when he heard that Vlad wouldn't be going to school the next day. Was he sick?

Alexandru finally decided to ask him. He knocked on his brother's door before entering, not surprised to see him lying on the bed with a book in his hands.

"Hey Alex," Vlad greeted. "What's up?"

"That's what I wanted to know," Alexandru said, sitting down on the bed. "I heard you're not going to school tomorrow. Are you sick?"

Vlad shook his head and sighed.

"No, I'm not sick," he said. "It's Lovino. He's in the hospital."

Alexandru's eyes widened.

"Is he okay?" he asked. "Is he sick? Is he hurt?"

"He's hurt," Vlad said. "Really badly. People tried to kill him."

Alexandru's jaw dropped. He didn't think that it would be something like that. Vlad closed his eyes, and a tear escaped one of them.

"He's in a medical coma," Vlad said. "He should wake up in a few days, but… there's always a chance that something could go wrong."

"What's a coma?" Alexandru asked.

"It's… It's when the brain gets damaged so much that you can't wake up. You're not dead yet, but in some cases, you might as well be. It can take a long time to wake up. Sometimes months, sometimes years. And some people never wake up."

"S-so… There's a chance he'll never wake up?"

Alexandru looked at him teary-eyed. Something like that sounded horrible.

"The doctors put him in a coma," Vlad continued to explain. "When the doctors do it, it's because they're trying to make the damage less, and because it's the best solution. He lost a lot of blood, and there's some swelling in his brain. So they thought it would be best to put him in a coma. You know how you sleep to feel better when you're sick? That's what they're hoping for."

"So… when is he going to wake up?" Alexandru asked.

"I don't know," Vlad said. "That's what scares me. It could be a few days, and it could be a few weeks. And in that time, something could go wrong, and he might never wake up."

Alexandru didn't know what to say in this moment, so he climbed onto his brother's bed and hugged him. Vlad hugged him back. Vlad was always there for him, so now Alexandru could be there for Vlad.

…

Heracles looked up when his mother knocked on the door. She smiled gently at him as she brought him a plate of dinner.

"How are you holding up?" she asked.

"I'll feel better when I can be sure that Lovino's okay," Heracles replied.

Helena placed the plate on the bedside table before sitting down on the bed beside him and hugging him.

"I can't even imagine what you're going through," she said. "I also can't imagine what Lovino's family must be going through. Hearing that something bad happened to your child is every parent's worst nightmare. But… I suppose hearing that someone hated your child enough to want to kill them is bad enough."

"Miguel's probably taking this the worst of all," Heracles said. "His cousin was one of the people responsible. He called Miguel today to apologise to him, but… I think Miguel disowned his cousin."

"I honestly can't blame Miguel. But it's not so easy to just disown family."

"Well, apparently his cousin picked on him too, so it was easy enough."

"…I'll have to check in with Isabel. And I'll also call Romulus to hear if he has any news."

"This… this is all just so unreal. I-I mean… Yesterday we were still discussing our Christmas plans, and now… Now we're not sure if we'll even have a Christmas together."

Helena smiled softly before placing a kiss on his head.

"Don't give up hope, okay?" she said. "As long as there's a chance he'll recover, then he will."

Heracles couldn't help but smile at his mother's optimism.

…

Gupta tried reading, but he picked the wrong book. One of the characters was in a coma, and it hit a little too close to home at the moment. He put the book away in disgust, before turning to his shelf to look for another book.

He decided to go for fantasy. It was definitely far enough away that it wouldn't remind him of what happened. He scanned the bookshelf for a moment before picking up The Spirit Thief. Just as he settled on his bed to read the book, his mother knocked on the door.

"Hey," she greeted. "I brought you some dinner."

"I'm not hungry," he replied. "I feel a bit sick, to be honest."

She sighed, before coming over to hug him.

"I spoke to both Feliks's father and Lovino's father," she said. "Apparently there's a chance that he might be moved out of ICU tomorrow, or on Saturday."

"Until he's out, I'm not going to get too excited," he said. "I don't want to jinx anything."

"You won't. I'll be home early tomorrow." She handed the plate of food to him. "And please, eat something. You're not doing anyone any favours by starving yourself."

He reluctantly accepted the plate. The next few days were not going to be easy for any of them.

…

Antonio lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. All of his electronic devices had been confiscated, and he now had absolutely nothing to do. He was alone with his thoughts.

His mother had agreed to allow him to call his cousin, but she wanted the phone's speaker to be on, and she wanted to be present. So, she heard the entire conversation, and Antonio had to explain about the punching, kicking, biting, scratching and strangling (the last one only happened once, and she already knew about it). And when it was finished, she took the phone and said that she didn't blame Miguel at all.

He and his cousin didn't always get along, but Antonio knew that Miguel was a nice guy. Asides from a few snide remarks, he was willing to spend an afternoon with Antonio and his friends when they came in to Miguel's town. So hearing Miguel chew him out like that was painful. They weren't friends, but they were still family, and hearing his family so angry at him was the worst thing he could have ever imagined.

And he couldn't find it in himself to disagree with anything that Miguel told him. He was right. There was nothing that Lovino could have done to him that deserved death. And the previous day… They were the ones waiting for Lovino. They followed him. They ambushed him. And all Lovino wanted to do was go shopping.

They always got into trouble at school because of Lovino. Or rather, because of the things they would do to Lovino. And thinking back on it, Lovino was the one that received more trouble than them, even though he was the victim. And they would never get into trouble with their parents. This was the first time. This was what made them so angry.

The anger had faded now and was replaced by horror. Antonio understood what he did was wrong, and that there was no excuse. There would be a trial, and once Lovino was able to testify – to tell everyone about what happened – then Antonio could be locked away, treated as the criminal he was.

He was terrified, and he wanted to find a way out of this, but the conversation with Miguel showed him that there was no way out. 'Sorry' wasn't going to convince Lovino to forgive them. It sounded too hollow. Too dishonest. And it sounded too much like they were trying to protect themselves.

Antonio messed up, and there was no fix for it this time.

…

Fryderyk was with the anaesthesiologist as they looked over Lovino's condition. His heart rate and breathing appeared normal, and his blood pressure was as normal as it could be in the current situation. But more importantly, the swelling in the brain had gone down quite a bit.

They said that what didn't kill you made you stronger, and Fryderyk was inclined to believe it where Lovino was concerned. The boy had suffered a lot of abuse while growing up, and his body adjusted accordingly. It definitely helped that he was healthier than the last time. At the very least he wasn't malnourished.

Fryderyk knew of at least two other concussions Lovino had suffered from, and he suspected that those past experiences might have been helping him to recover faster.

"I think we can try to lower the dosage," Fryderyk said.

The recovery was important, but it was also important to get the patient out of an induced coma as soon as possible. They would do so gradually, and at the first sign of trouble they would have to put him under again. But Fryderyk was confident that Lovino would be awake at some point during the weekend.

Once they were sure that his body could function on its own, it might be safe to remove him from ICU. And then they would just have to wait for him to wake up. The advantage of this type of coma was that it wasn't as complicated as a natural coma, and as long as there weren't complications, he would wake up without trouble.

I looked through some information on comas and medical comas. There's a process with awakening from a natural coma, but asides from possible complications, there's no hint that a medical coma takes as long, and is similar to waking up from anaesthesia. They also hope to get the patient out of the coma as soon as possible in order to prevent more damage, but they still have to gradually reduce the dose of anaesthesia he receives. Again, I'm no expert, so I might be taking liberties, and if there are mistakes, I'm sorry.

One thing that makes Lovino's coma different is the fact that the blood loss was the main problem, and they were just worried because there was swelling in the brain. Since the body accepted the new blood, they just had to observe the swelling, which turned out to be less severe than they anticipated.

So, Bargain Books had a huge book sale, especially since it was national book week recently. Dracul (unfortunately not on sale) was one of the books I got during the weekend, and I'm looking forward to reading that one in particular. The Spirit Thief (and the entire series, actually) was something I read about two years ago, and I really enjoyed it.

Also, I think horror is a good genre for when you're angry. In my opinion, any malicious thoughts or pent-up aggression might be satisfied by reading/watching horror.