Because of you readers, who had inspired me to create another chapter, I was happy with how the fic is shaping out. Without you, this would have been scheduled to be deleted a day or two later.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or its characters
Warning(s): Unbetaed, angst, character death (attempt), mild swearing, OOC-ness though I may add more than what were listed here.
Chapter II: Hospital Visits
Lukas woke up the following morning, eyes wandering back and forth between the bed, the room and his brother beside him, head resting on his folded arms.
The younger child was exhausted, his cheeks were red, and eyes were sore even though it was closed and black bags underneath.
Lukas let a hand, hesitating for a moment before raking Emil's hair gently, the smell of honey wafted to his nose. It was from his favorite shampoo, the one he always used to make him more attentive. Or at least he though.
Sliding his hand down further, fingertips brushed from the strands of hair, down to the nape and until it reached his back. Then he traced miniscule circles on it, carefully so he wouldn't wake up.
It was going so well, until the door opened, creaking as it opens wider.
A small blonde's head popped from the door frame, scanning the room searching for a certain occupant. Lukas stared at the intruder, face twisted into a scowl. The intruder quietly went it seeing there was someone sleeping and sat opposite the sleeping child.
"Hey Lukas," He grinned, the expression was idiotic yet it fits in his face as a puzzle piece to a puzzle. His blue orbs gleaming with restless bound of cheerfulness, irritating Lukas.
Lukas scowled again. "What are you doing here?"
"Is that how you treat someone who went the trouble just to visit you? Just to inform you, I even made a deal with my parents to ace the next test just to visit the hospital," Mathias said, face turned into a pout.
"Oh" Lukas went silent, eyes narrowing for a moment prior sighing. The corners of his mouth were begging to twitch upward, an internal struggle he was trying to resist yet he gave up. "That's so sweet. Little Mathias would be toping a test because of me. My, I'm flattered."
"Shut up"
"Mhm I thought you wanted a nice greeting or a complement rather? There, I gave you one"
"Oh please, we both knew you were being sarcastic" Mathias said, his eyes rolling away from Lukas.
"So? I bet you couldn't recognize the half of it" Lukas said. "Anyway what are you doing here?"
"I told you I came here to visit," Mathias said, mouth transforming into a frown. His eyes were fixed on the other, a gesture he's been accustomed to do when serious. He grabbed shoulders, squeezing tightly the lean shoulder blades, and pulled him into a hug.
Lukas winced, surprised by the notion made by the Dane. Sure he has been hugged before but you see he didn't like physical contact from others except his family, if anything it made him uncomfortable. "Mathias what are you—"
"Hey did you know I overheard a conversation between your mother and a doctor?" Mathias said his voice barely coherent and soothing. It was quite disturbing actually for him to see his friend talking in a whisper rather than his usually loud voice.
"The doctor told her that it was a miracle that you survived. Your fall from the tree brought a large impact to your body that damaged your skull, your spine and some few ribs. They didn't know how you survived but they concluded that it may be because of the snow that lessened the forced of the fall"
Mathias' face darkened slightly, and his arms loosening the grip at Lukas as he released him. He moved his mouth closer to his ear and whispered to him. "I was so worried about you"
He pulled back, and looked at him smiling remorsefully. Lukas looked back, wondering about the words he just told him right now. The information was hard to digest yet it was nice to see that your friend was worried about your wellbeing.
A groan escaped from the younger child causing Lukas to withdraw his hand. Emil stirred from his sleep and lifted his head, saliva drooling from his mouth.
"Good mowning," he said still half-asleep, eyes flickering between Lukas and Mathias. "Ah Mathias too"
Mathias grinned at him (Lukas wondered how he was able to change expressions pretty quickly) and ruffled his hair much to his chagrin. "Good morning, Emy. Did you sleep well?"
Emil groaned, and tried to swat his hand off his head before conceding. "Not really—I only slept for an hour or two"
"Well you should sleep more than that otherwise you won't be as tall as I am," Mathias said, giving him another ruffle before standing up from the side of the bed. "Anyway I better go ahead—my parents were probably waiting for me. See you later, Lukas, Emy"
Mathias smiled and waved at them before exiting the room, making it seems quieter. There the siblings were left alone, awkward atmosphere forming, making things tenser as it was before. They just stared at each other silently, not moving more talking.
After a few heartbeats later, Emil opened his mouth, thereby breaking the silence. "I'm sorry," he said, voice low and remorse. His eyes casting down on his hands as he fiddles them. "I'm sorry I dragged you out on the snow to play with Mr. Puffin on the loose. If I knew this would happen, I would have left him in the house instead"
Emil paused, rubbing his watery eyes. "But I didn't—I just left him with us! Then he flew on top of a tree and you—being the ever-so-kindly brother—went to pursue it but...I-I'm so sorry" his voice quivered and broken as he rubbed his eyes again, sobbing.
If Lukas was a type of person who freely conveys emotions to others, then he would have no problem comforting his brother. But here he was, staring at the child who was babbling his eyes out, and not doing anything.
Lukas held a hand on his stomach, feeling a pit forming inside. It was sickening, like the one he felt when he saw him crying yesterday. He wondered what kind of emotion would make him feel this. Was it fear? Regret? Guilt?
"Emil, look at me," he sternly command, though the tone of softness was evident. He brought his hand on Emil's face, caressing the tears away from his cheeks, bitterly smiling. "It's not your fault. We didn't know the puffin would do it nor I would fall and damage myself. So...stop crying, please?"
"But..." Emil sniffed, snout coming out of his nose. Lukas brought the silver haired child to his chest, burying Emil's face on his shirt and hugged him, whispering soothing words while cradling the poor child. Emil continued to cry until his eye lids were slowly conceding and fell asleep.
"Mom"
"What is it, honey?" Lukas' mother asked while pouring orange juice on his cup. She set it next with the sandwiches and brought the tray in front of Lukas to eat.
"Is it alright for me to go out for walk later?" Lukas asked, picking a sandwich and brought it into his mouth. "I felt very confined sitting here all day without doing anything"
"Sure, I'll ask Emil later if he could accompan—"
"Mom, please! I need sometime alone," Lukas pleaded, uncharacteristically voice laced with desperation and exhaustion. He gripped on the bedsheet tightly, wrinkles forming on the fabric, and looked at her eye to eye.
"Alright then," his mother sighed, raking a hand on her hair. "But you'll be using a wheelchair since your back is still healing. And promise me you won't venture far from someone's eyesight, okay?"
Lukas nodded, and resumed eating his sandwich. His mother was really a worry-rat sometimes, but he wouldn't trade it for another.
To be honest I was contemplating whether to post this or not since I already had a chapter II done before creating this, but it was inappropriate to leave you hanging so I'll just post the original chapter II as chapter III. Reviews, constructive criticism, favorites, follows are deeply appreciated, thank you