"What?" Arthur asked.
The matron nodded, saying, "No more school for you little kiddies. Just go back up to your rooms and stay there the whole day. You've got more than enough stuff to keep you occupied, so I don't want to hear you brats." With that, she turned and walked back into her office.
We stared at each other. No more school? No more seeing Ludwig and Miss Elizabeta? No more history classes and planning our acts and forgetting this nightmare?
I suddenly realized why it was Miss Elizabeta looked at us the way she did yesterday. She knew it was her last day she'd be seeing us. I whimpered, and grabbed hold of Lovino and started sobbing.
We moved back to the room and sat there in stunned silence, my sobbing the only thing breaking it.
Up until I coughed, and it wasn't like the coughs Kiku requested I make happen, this was a hacking one like I was sick.
"U-um…Lovino…" I muttered, staring at my hands after I pulled them away from my mouth.
Lovino looked and gasped. "Japan, get over here, now."
Kiku got up and ran over, his eyes widening as he saw my hands.
Both of them were completely red, and considering the amount of blood I already lost, it was a safe bet I couldn't loose anymore.
Kiku joined us on the bed and started asking all sorts of questions, all of them too quick for me to understand and answer.
"Slow down!" I finally managed to tell him between questions.
Kiku nodded, examining my hands. "How's your breathing?"
I focused on my breathing. The truth was that it was starting to get really hard.
I winced as Kiku put his hand on my chest where a bruise was, and I could tell by Kiku's frown he wasn't pleased.
"J-Japan…am-am I d-dying?" I asked, feeling tears start to well up in my eyes again.
Everyone froze, staring at Kiku for an answer. But what could Kiku answer? 'Yes, you are, but don't worry because we'll be able to fix it.' That didn't seem right, but it also seemed wrong for him to say I wasn't dying.
Lovino growled, saying, "Of course you're not dying!"
Kiku shook his head, saying, "You are, if the blood loss doesn't kill you first, then you'll choke on your own blood soon enough. From the looks of it, the blood has started filling your lungs…"
We all stared at him horrified. For once in our lives Kiku, expressionless Kiku, was crying. His voice shook as he continued. "A-and I'm-I'm not sure if-if we can fi-fix it."
Alfred stood up and walked over to Yao's and Ivan's unoccupied bed. He pulled the sheets off and started tying them together.
"What are you doing?" Arthur demanded, but my mind had become dazed again, staring at the blood on my hands as I came to the terms that I may not live much longer.
Alfred took one end of the blanket rope and tied it to a bedpost, pulling the rest over to the window. He said, "I'm getting out of here and getting help for Veneziano."
"Bastard, you're crazy! You'll never make it to the ground!" Lovino cried.
Alfred shot back, "I've got to try! What would we do if we lost half of our Italy? Besides, we all agreed he's got the best voice for singing Marukaite Chikyuu! Where. Would. We. Be. Without. Him?"
Alfred saying that caught me off-guard, and I'm sure that if I could've, I would've been blushing from his compliment, but it seemed like I did already loose a lot of blood.
Lovino jumped off the bed and joined him, saying, "Then I'm going too!"
Arthur turned to Ivan, asking, "Can you create a distraction for the matron while they leave?"
"Of course," Ivan replied.
Arthur nodded, turning to Francis, still hopelessly clung to his arm. Arthur sighed and pat Francis on the head, saying, "I'm going to help Ivan with the diversion. Stay here and help Kiku and Yao in anyway they can."
Francis looked at him, but nodded, stepping back and joining us on the bed.
Arthur turned to Alfred and Lovino, saying, "When you hear the first sound, that's when it's safe to go."
"Right," Alfred and Lovino said. Lovino went and opened the window while Arthur and Ivan left.
"Where are we going?" Lovino asked.
Alfred blinked, saying, "One of us is going to find Miss Elizabeta. The other should head for the closest hospital to get a doctor."
"We'll both get Miss Elizabeta," Lovino argued. "She could help Veneziano while they get a proper ambulance over here."
Alfred nodded, just as we heard the first crash downstairs and a screech that came from the matron.
"Good luck," Kiku told them. Yao and Francis echoed them, while I said, "Please stay safe."
"We'll come back," Alfred told us.
They tossed the rope blanket out of the window and started descending.
We looked at Kiku. He had gotten control of his emotions again, and was simply trying to breathe. When he looked back up, he had a determined fire in his eye. He wasn't going to let this play out without fighting it.
Kiku turned to Yao, asking, "Could you grab some medicine from the medicine cabinet?"
"Yes," Yao replied, running out.
I coughed again, feeling more blood covering my hands, and Kiku turned to Francis and said, "Get some damp washcloths and a few towels. We'll need to wipe the blood off Feliciano's hands and make sure he doesn't loose anymore blood."
Francis nodded and ran across the hall. We heard water starting to run in the bathroom. Kiku started telling me to just focus on my breathing and reassuring me that everything would be fine. "Big, even breaths," he said, and I followed exactly what he said.
A few minutes later, Yao and Francis came back in together, Yao carrying a few towels and the pills while Francis carried the damp washcloths.
Francis set to work cleaning off my hands and Yao held a washcloth to catch the blood I coughed up. While they were doing this, Arthur and Ivan reentered.
"She's not happy," Arthur stated, "But at least Alfred and Lovino are gone."
Kiku nodded. He motioned them over and said, "Thanks for the distraction; we were able to get plenty of things. Hopefully Alfred and Lovino will hurry."
Time wore on and after my hands had been cleared of the blood, Arthur and Ivan cleaned the washcloths and brought them back in, because it was clear that I was loosing more and more blood faster and faster, each washcloth was quickly becoming covered in blood – my blood.
The longer this went on and we had no sign from Alfred and Lovino about their success, we grew more and more worried. Arthur and Francis took up position by me, trying to keep me talking. Francis had gripped onto Arthur's arm again, but both of them were focused on keeping me talking. Only it was becoming harder and harder to keep going. Between the coughing and all the blood, I could hardly speak, but I found that my thoughts were gradually becoming more and more scattered, and I was becoming lightheaded.
Kiku seemed to realize this because I heard him mutter something before turning back to what he was doing with the medicine.
"Open up! This is the police!"
We heard the cry outside like a daybreak's bell, and it was a wondrous cry, for sure.
"Feliciano! Keep talking!" Arthur cried, grabbing me when I sputtered to a stop.
I started talking again, but now it was all just random things that I didn't even understand. Babble in a different language was what it was.
"Kiku!" Francis cried.
Kiku nodded. "Yao! Get them up here!" he told Yao from the door. Yao nodded and disappeared down the hall.
We could hear the matron opening the door and asking in a sickly sweet voice, "Is there a problem, officer?"
"We've received reports that you are mistreating the kids here," the officer replied.
"Oh, officer, where would you get that idea?" the matron asked in that same tone.
We all gasped when we heard Miss Elizabeta saying, "I was the one that called them."
"Ma'am, who's the boy up there?" The officer asked. We could just imagine him nodding to the staircase where Yao was probably pretending to hide while still seeing what was going on.
We heard Yao come running back as the matron talked quickly. "Oh, that's just one of the kids. A shy boy, he is. Poor thing."
"Shut up and let us see how Feliciano's doing!"
Lovino's cry was like another bell, and we heard him running up the stairs. Two other sets of footsteps followed and Lovino, Alfred, and Miss Elizabeta all ran into the room.
Right as I coughed up more blood into the washcloth. I couldn't keep myself upright anymore, and I felt my muscles give out as I collapsed sideways.
"No!" Lovino cried, running over to me. "Fratello, talk to me! You're not dead!" He grabbed my hand in a tight grip, but not tight enough to hurt.
"I-I'm not…" I muttered, sputtering out more blood in the process. Now that I was lying sideways, I could feel the blood making it's way into my mouth and forming a pool in my cheek.
We heard one of the officers come in and shouted, "We need a stretcher here ASAP! We've got an injured boy up here!"
Miss Elizabeta crouched down next to the bed in my line of sight. There were tears in her eyes as she asked, "How are you doing, Little Italy?"
Little Italy. That was normally a nickname she used when we were talking alone. It comforted me, enough to try and reply, but I only managed in coughing up more blood.
"How long has this been going on?" the officer asked.
Kiku winced. "He got the majority of bruises you can find on his body last night, along with various cuts and other wounds. Those wounds have been healing fine, but it wasn't until later we came to realize the degree of his internal bleeding…"
The officer nodded as medics entered with a stretcher. I gripped onto Elizabeta, trying to move away from the strangers, but only managed groaning in pain again and coughing up even more blood.
"It's ok," one of the medics told me, "You're going to be fine."
I felt them place a mask over me. The other medic turned to Kiku and asked, "You've been the one treating him so far?"
"Y-yes," Kiku replied, startled.
The medic nodded. "Come with us. You can give us information regarding his condition. Is there anyone he'd want to come with before you guys are placed in police custody?"
We looked at each other, our eyes locking, and Kiku replied, "He'd want all of us there. Including…" He stopped to breathe for a moment, his voice shaking a little. "Including Ludwig and his family, along with Mr. Roderich."
The medic nodded, looking ready to ask something when Miss Elizabeta told them, "Just give me the information regarding where you'll be taking him and I can contact them."
The medic closed his mouth before nodding again. He picked me up and placed me on the stretcher, noticed how I winced.
He pulled up my shirt to see my chest and gasped. "Officer, have a look at this," the other one stated.
The officer looked and shuddered. "Are any of you other kids injured?"
I watched as they all looked at each other, before nodding. Arthur stated, "We've been raped, multiple times. P-poor Feliciano, though, he was always beaten up more than raped…he's got the worse wounds out of everyone here..." And look where it's gotten him. Arthur's sentence remained unfinished, but we could tell what he was thinking.
Miss Elizabeta told the officer, "It's best not to ask them. After we get to the hospital and I've contacted the family, they can give a better description. They got their adopted son from here, and he's started to take therapy sessions to help overcome everything that's happened."
The officer nodded, turning to the matron, who followed them up, saying, "You're under arrest."
"What for, officer?" she asked, trying to act clueless.
The officer growled, "For allowing these poor children to be raped and beaten up on a daily basis."
"But, officer, I-"
"I don't want to hear it," the officer growled.
As they were pulling the stretcher out and loading me into the ambulance, I lost consciousness, but I could still feel Lovino's hand in my own.
xxx
When I came around, I was breathing a lot better. I was also in a very nice, very white room. My mind remained foggy for a moment, before I remembered exactly what happened and tried to sit up to look around, only I couldn't. The upper portion of my body had been strapped down to the bed to restrain me from sitting up.
I looked and found that there were a few tubes in my arm, but they had removed the oxygen mask. In the bed next to me…was Lovino, staring at me with a frown on his face.
"Lovino, what-" I started, but he cut across me.
"By the time you arrived, you had already lost too much blood," Lovino explained. "I told them I was willing to act as a donor and give you some of my blood." He pulled up the sleeve and showed a bandage running along his arm, but he grinned and said, "The only thing that matters is that you're doing better."
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
"You just missed them. They went to the matron's court hearing. Arthur and Yao are acting as witnesses to what happened," Lovino explained.
"So, what's going to happen to us now?" I muttered, frowning. Would we be moved to another orphanage? With different kids and a different location…would we never get to see Miss Elizabeta and Ludwig again?
Lovino blinked, saying, "Miss Elizabeta's adopting us."
"Huh?" I stared, surprised.
"Actually, no, that's incorrect," Lovino sighed. "She and Mr. Roderich wanted to adopt all of us, but the police said that wouldn't help, though they agreed with keeping all of us together. They found everyone else different families where they could live and remain close to us. Miss Elizabeta and Mr. Roderich are just adopting you and me."
I frowned, but then smiled again. We were going to get to go live with Miss Elizabeta! No more orphanage and, most importantly, no more living through that hell. Ever again.
Lovino nodded. A nurse walked in at that moment and saw that I was awake. She smiled and picked up the clipboard with what was probably my progress on it. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I'm still a little light headed, but I'm feeling much better," I replied, smiling.
"I'm glad to hear it. We got you here just in time," she said, writing on the clipboard. "Of course, if we hadn't had your brother volunteer for the blood transfusion, we might not have been able to save you."
"R-really?" I muttered, startled. Had I really come so close to death?
"Yes," the nurse said. "But you don't need to worry about that anymore. You're recovering with excellent progress, and your doctor will be happy to know you've woken up. I'll go get him now."
The nurse put the clipboard back where it was and left the room to talk to the doctor.
"Fratello, how long have I been out?" I asked, looking at him in concern.
Lovino rubbed the spot on his arm where the bandage was, wincing. "About a week. The nurse was right; you really did come close to death. They said that if it wasn't for Kiku, you probably would've died."
We fell silent, trying to focus on anything but that subject. My mind drifted back to what Lovino told me before the nurse came in. Miss Elizabeta was going to adopt us. All of us would finally have homes.
Lovino broke the silence by saying, "You should've seen everyone when we came out of the ER. I came around to see them and I was able to get some of the information from them."
"What was going on?" I asked.
"They were singing Marukaite Chikyuu," Lovino said. "Arthur explained that it might help you sleep since the doctor's weren't willing to risk giving you some more sleeping pills. I'm guessing it worked?"
I thought about it. I didn't remember much, but when I tried to remember the blackness, there was a warmth with it that told me my friends, my family, were there with me.
Lovino smirked. "You should've seen the police bastards when they realized Ivan used the faucet pipe as a weapon. They agreed it was in self-defense, though, and let him off. I think they were scared of him, though."
We sat there laughing. It was true, Ivan could be scary, you just didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.
"Oh, and they've caught almost everyone that had ever harmed us. One of the first ones they caught was the biker that did this to you," Lovino explained. "He's spending the rest of his life in prison, and then some."
I smiled, letting myself relax. We heard the door open again and I looked. The nurse was back, and a Spaniard was with her. He had messy brown hair and looked like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Hello, Feliciano," he said. "It's good to see you're finally awake. I'm Dr. Antonio."
"Hello," I greeted him.
Antonio walked over to the clipboard and looked at it. He smiled and said, "I can safely say that you are going to be fine. You came through in the end, and we're all happy to know we didn't have to loose you so soon."
I grinned back. The nurse turned as she heard the door open again and chuckled. "Looks like you've got company," she said.
"F-Feliciano?" Ludwig stuttered, walking over.
I grinned wider than before. "Ludwig!"
"Hey, what about the Awesome Me?" Gilbert asked, coming up next to him.
I smiled, just happy to see them.
"So he's going to be fine?" their father asked the doctor.
The doctor nodded. "He is, soon enough we'll be able to remove the tubes, and then he'll only need to remain for another day or two for us to make sure that he's fully ready to leave."
Ludwig sat in the chair sitting next to my bed. "Do you know how scared I was when I walked into the classroom and didn't see you guys there?" he asked.
I shook my head. "We didn't know that we wouldn't be having anymore classes until the matron told us that morning."
Ludwig nodded. "Alfred and Lovino explained that. Miss Elizabeta and Mr. Roderich were trying to explain it to me when Alfred and Lovino came charging in." He lowered his voice, looking at Lovino, and muttered, "Lovino was a mess!"
"I heard you," Lovino growled from the next bed.
We chuckled, and Ludwig continued. "When Alfred and Lovino explained what happened, Miss Elizabeta was shocked, but she didn't waste a moment in calling the police. She asked us why we never told her before and we explained why, and everything that happened."
Dr. Antonio told us, "I can understand why you would think what was told to you guys to be true, but your friends did the right thing in finding Elizabeta and having her call the authorities. I just wish it didn't have to be under such extreme circumstances that caused them to do it."
Ludwig's and Gilbert's father said, "Come on, you two, we have to get going."
"C-Can I stay?" Ludwig asked, looking at me.
"It's fine with me," I told his father.
His father nodded. "Have Elizabeta contact me when you need to be picked up," he told Ludwig before taking Gilbert's hand and leaving.
"I'll leave you kids alone now," Dr. Antonio said.
They left, leaving the room empty except for Lovino, Ludwig, and me.
Ludwig seemed troubled, though.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
Ludwig sighed, saying, "If we had told someone sooner, this never would've happened. You wouldn't have been hurt to the edge of death, and Francis probably would've never gotten involved and…" I saw tears starting to slide out of his eyes.
Without thinking, I started singing Marukaite Chikyuu. I saw him smile as he and Lovino joined in.
"Fratello, get some more rest," Lovino said when we had finished, turning in his bed so his back was facing us. "You're going to need all the rest you can get."
Ludwig nodded. "He's right; you are going to need the sleep."
"Promise to wake me when everyone else arrives?" I asked, already feeling my eyelids grow heavy.
"Promise," Ludwig replied, and I let myself drift into sleep.
/AN
See? Lovino can be a good guy!
R&R Please!
AN/