Prussia awoke to the distinct sound of a child softly crying. Blinking and rubbing his eyes, he slowly sat up. Germany must've had a nightmare, poor kid, he thought, and sure enough, his little brother was standing across from his bed, tears running down his cheeks. But this wasn't his typical "nightmare" look. His cheeks were bright red and puffed out, and his pajama shirt… oh dear. Germany had thrown up.
Prussia sighed and got out of bed, kneeling to Germany's eye level and pushing his sweaty bangs out of his forehead. "You sick, West?" he asked softly, and the child nodded pitifully in reply. There was no puddle of vomit on the floor, so Prussia scooped his little brother up and checked the bathroom. "I flushed," Germany said weakly. That was a relief, at least he'd thrown up in the toilet.
"We need to get you changed, West," Prussia sighed, looking at Germany's stained shirt. He sat him down on the bathroom counter and went in the child's room to get a fresh change of clothes. Germany didn't say much, just let his older brother take his shirt off him and replace it with a clean one. But the poor kid still had hot tears rolling down his face. Prussia wiped them off with the corner of his sleeve and stroked his little brother's hair soothingly. "Don't worry, little bro, big brother's gonna take care of you and make sure you get all better, okay?"
Germany sniffled and nodded, and Prussia ran a washcloth under cool water and washed his little brother's face. "Have you been sick all night?" he asked, feeling the child's hot forehead. "How long were you throwing up before you came to get me?"
"Well, my tummy hurt," Germany sobbed, "but I didn't want to wake you up, because I knew you had to work, so I didn't get you at first. But then I had to throw up, and I just felt so sick, I'm sorry, big bruder, I should have stayed-"
"Nein." Prussia cut him off right there. "Next time you're sick, West, you come to me right away, you understand? I will never be mad at you for something that isn't your fault, I just want my kleiner bruder to feel better. No matter what time it is, if you think you need to wake me up, you do so."
Germany nodded obediently but wondered aloud, "But what about work?"
Prussia chuckled as he got out some children's Tylenol. "Do you think I'm gonna set one foot out of this house when my baby brother is sick? Don't worry about me, West, I'll always take care of you." He poured the correct dosage of medicine in the little plastic cup and looked his brother in the eye. "Now, do you think you could keep this down? It's only a little bit, and you need it for your fever, but I don't want you to get sick to your stomach again."
Germany thought for a moment and slowly took the cup from Prussia's hand, sipping it and coughing a little. "Ja," he whispered, handing it back. "Could I go to bed now?"
"Not to your bed," Prussia answered. He picked Germany up and carried him into his room, laying him down in the large adult bed and gently covering him up. "I'm keeping you right here with me." He got in with his little brother and held him to his chest. Germany's little eyelids were already drooping.
"But what if… what if you get sick?" Germany asked sleepily.
"Don't worry, West, I'm too awesome to get sick."
And Germany believed him, until the next day when Prussia woke up puking into the toilet.