The groan had quelled the worst case scenario from taking over your mind, but that concern was only replaced by others of still great magnitude. You knelt down beside the injured Russian, ideas of horrible injury or even paralysis spinning through your head.
He stirred slightly under the heavy limb.

"Ivan! Ivan, are you okay?!"

The large man groaned again before slowly bringing his head up to look up at you, an eye closed in a wince, a reaction to pain that put a pang of it into your own heart. He shifted again and grunted as he attempted to move the heavy branch away himself. You added your strength, and between your lifting and pulling and his shifting and pushing, the two of you managed to force the heavy branch off.

Ivan had to rest for a moment, coughing and panting at the labor.

"Ivan…" Though your breath was heavy from working as well, you couldn't help your concerns. You kneeled beside him, waiting for him to pant softly enough to talk.

"…_...Are you okay?"

His first words stunned you.

"Wh-wha-? I'm totally fine, Ivan, I landed in the snow! Are you all right?"

"…I…I am fine." Ivan coughed again. He tried to push himself off the ground, failing once with a pained grunt from him and a concerned yelp from you, before he got up onto his knees, then slowly, his feet. You rose just as slowly as he did, ready to be a crutch in case he fell down again.

"I…I am Russian. It takes more than twig to crush."

Again with the misplaced concerns! "B-but that wasn't a twig, that was an entire tree branch! You could have died or something!"

He shrugged, but quickly regretted the motion with a wince. "Is not important, I am fine now." You attempted to voice your argument, but he cut you off. "Fine. Is important, but worst did not happen." He smiled through the wince. "I am just glad you are okay."

You sighed with a tired yet slightly relieved smile which quickly disappeared when he took a weak and wobbly step.

"N-no, really, you look really hurt. Come on, I'll help you get inside." You reached around him, attempting to become a crutch, but Ivan quickly shrugged you off.

"It does hurt little bit, but I am walking on my own."

"But-"

"It hurts little bit, but I can still be walking on my own."

You remained quiet for a moment.

"I am strong like tree, not weak like fallen branch. I am tougher than tree branch." He took a few more steps then growled under his breath, repeating more to reassure him than you, "I am tougher than tree branch."

You didn't say a word, but rather followed him into the house, still ready to be a crutch if he needed one. Once you were both inside, your finally voiced your concerns again.

"Can I at least look at your back? To make sure it's not…bleeding or something?"

He paused for a moment of though, seeming to wrestle with ideas, before giving in. "…D…da, maybe it is best idea…"

Ivan reached down, grabbing the bottom of his sweater, and pulled it up over his head. As his arms extended upwards with a pained grunt, you focused on helping the injured man take off his thick sweater. After it was on the ground, you finally directed your attention to Ivan, again, your eyes met his chest.

The difference between your first meeting and this one, was that you were concerned about an injury and you realized how well toned he was. His size didn't come from a multitude of sweaters, but from muscle and mass. A pink blush covered your face, and you tried to ignore these discoveries in favor of assisting Ivan with his injuries.

"O…okay. Lay down on the couch on your stomach…"

"…Are you sure you are being all right? Your face is turning—"

"I-it's just the heat from the fireplace." You gave a quick lie. "J-just…let me make sure your back is all right."

He looked doubtful of your response, and opened his mouth to set forth a counter. Violet eyes looked into your eyes sternly, but the gaze softened as he discovered that there was no malice behind the fib. Compliantly, he laid back on his stomach on your couch, though his feet hung over the arm of the couch from his height, revealing his equally toned back to you.

You focused yourself on the task at hand, and gasped a little at the injury. He was bleeding slightly from the impact, though no bruises had time to form across ivory skin.

"Y-you're bleeding, I-I'll get the first aid kit."
Before you could receive his nodded response, you dashed off to the restroom where the kit was. Quickly, it was taken from its place on the shelf, along with a small washcloth covered in antiseptic. You dashed back to his spot on the couch, your blush still not fading.

He lay quietly on the couch, lost in thought and staring blankly ahead.

"Uhm…Ivan?"

He snapped out of his trance and looked up at you, his eyes filled with surprise, worry, then the usual smile. "Da?"

"I'm going to put some antiseptic on your back, but it'll sting a little, okay?"

He smiled a little. "_, I am not like little baby. If I can take tree branch, I can take little stinging medicine; do not worry."

Even so, a sharp inhale met your ears after the washcloth was laid on his back.
"A-are you sure—"

"Da, da. Is just small sting on bigger injury."

After that, the Russia moved no more as you patched up his back. Not once did he whine or wince, nor did he gasp at any touch. The near-deafening silence between the two of you felt almost as painful as Ivan's injury. You put a large patch on his back, then secured it with medical tape, both retrieved from the medicine kit, repeating the action twice more to cover the extent of the wound.

When you finished, you closed the first aid kit, but instead of returning it to the bathroom, you kept it on the coffee table, in case of any emergencies. When you turned back to the man, he was lying on his stomach, staring again off into space.

"Ivan?"

"Da?"

"…What'cha thinking about?" Asking directly whether he was actually okay or not would be fruitless; he seemed to have something of a manly façade going on. That and you were genuinely curious of his thoughts.

"…In Russia, I was always helping sisters to make sure they were well. I am wondering if they are needing my help right now."

"Oh! You have sisters?"

He brightened up a little, a smile crossing his face at the mention of his family. "Da! I have two sisters. But they are...very weird."

"Oh, I'm sure everyone thinks their sisters are weird."

"N-no, really." A gloomy aura seemed to overtake him for a moment. You couldn't help thinking, for even a split second, that if this man was scared, something scary must be coming up. "Both of them, but in different ways.
"Really? Tell me about them." You smiled again, waving the silly thought away.
"Well, big sister Katyusha is kind of a cry baby. She is very pretty and really nice, though. She also has chest..." He struggled for the right words. "filled with big heart."

Even though he had tried to disguise the real meaning of his statement, the connotations of the last phrase didn't escape you. You giggled a little, and he smiled.

"Little sister Natalia is actually worse, though. She is very…What is English word..? Clingy." He shuddered at the thought, then began to sit upright, slow due to his injury. "She is never leaving me alone, and kind of scares me sometimes."

You stifled another laugh at the thought of this big man being afraid of his younger sister. Still, he seemed to be telling the truth. You smiled at him. "Aww, Ivan…"

He shook his head a little, now fully sitting upright. You moved next to him and sit with him on the couch, trying to ignore how close you were to a well-toned shirtless man, even if he was hurt. "She is very scary. I would be surprised if she did not follow me from home."

"Follow you from home…That's only a walk across the street, isn't it?"

"Not unless Russian border is across street."

"Oh…" You had forgotten, he prefaced his story with 'in Russia'.

"Still…Scary sisters is always better than being all alone."
Silence settled in, and you slowly realized the extent of his lonliness. It all clicked; he lived alone in an end-of-the-road neighborhood, people were afraid to talk to him; and now, you knew that even his family couldn't be here for him to help him emotionally in his worst times of need. He was truly alone in another country.

"A-ah…_? Hello?" The concern in his voice brought you back to the real world.

"Wh…yeah, I'm fine, what?" You quickly tried to rekindle the conversation. "How long has it been since you heard from your sisters in Russia?"

He blinked in surprise, then gave the question a moment of thought. "It…has been long time."

"How long?"

"…I have been living in America…two years now. I have no chance to talk with them since I moved; they have no phone."

You were concerned that the sound of your heart breaking would be audible to the poor Russian. All alone in a new country for two years, no friends or family to speak of…

You would have to fix that.

Gently, your arms wound around him in a hug, receiving a small gasp as you felt the need to hug him, carefully avoiding his injuries.

"What…?" His face turned slightly pink, and his eyes widened.

"I…That's so sad, Ivan…You must be so lonely."

He tried to keep his voice upbeat, like his usual happy self. "W-well…I have always been lonely, with or without sisters at times. Is nothing to being sad about. Besides, I have friend now."

You looked up to see him smiling.

"A very pretty friend," he added with a nervous giggle.

Your cheeks bloomed into shades of rose petals as his arms came about you and returned the hug gently. Time almost seemed to stop for a moment as the two of you heald each other closely in a warm embrace. The occasional hot coal's pop or sizzle was all that you heard, as even the snow outside was again forgotten in a single moment.

You knew that neither you nor Ivan would be lonely anymore.