It was late in the evening when Russia figured there was no need for him to worry about taking care of America for the rest of the day. He'd fed the young nation four small meals that day, made sure he always had enough water to drink, talked to him (despite the fact that the other was unable to speak) for half an hour in order to provide him with some company and hopefully help him gain some language skills as well as helping him become more comfortable around other humans, and was willing to help him take care of some other needs the feral nation didn't understand how to take care of the same way a normal human being would. Russia couldn't help but appreciate America's obedience while he was being cared for. It was true he was still scared, for the most part, throughout the process, but his caretaker still couldn't help but be happy for the fact that he was handling the situation well, and hoped he continued to stay obedient.
The thing that worried Russia most, though, was that even though he'd been exhausted throughout the day, he was becoming aware of how the young nation was still refusing to fall asleep. By the end of the day, his refusal to fall asleep was turning into quite the wonderment, as it appeared as if he would pass out at any moment, due to how lethargic he was. This was when his caretaker figured it was time he encouraged the other to fall asleep. He did so by pulling America into his arms and cuddling him in an attempt to make his fear fade away, and the once frightened nation was eventually able to feel safe in the warm embrace that protected him, until he was lulled into a peaceful slumber.
After making sure America was sound asleep and tucked under the covers of his bed, he headed to the kitchen, in order to find something to eat for himself. He was hungry, after taking care of the weak nation for an entire day (though he definitely wasn't needy or commanding, which made the situation much more bearable for his caretaker) and taking care of some paper work of his own, which his boss told him he was going to have to fill out, if he wanted to be away from his country for a while. It was originally going to be turned in two days later. Now he had to have it finished for the morning, so he could send it off to his boss and receive yet another assignment. Fortunately, he was at least able to finish up his work while he was taking care of America. All he wanted to do for the rest of the evening was eat a large meal and do something that required little effort before going to bed.
When Russia entered the kitchen, he couldn't help but be a bit surprised by what he saw. He found England sitting there, staring at a pair of glasses that appeared to be quite familiar to him. It did take him a moment, since it had been two years since he'd done so much as glimpse at America's glasses, but he was eventually able to figure out that they belonged to the young nation he was taking care of. Unfortunately, upon further inspection of the glasses, he discovered that one of the lenses were completely shattered. He didn't let this affect his mood though (as much as England had let it affect his, anyways), and inquired, "How come you're so upset about those glasses being broken? At least you finally found them. We can always get them fixed, da?"
England flinched at the sound of Russia's voice, but was able to regained his composure soon after doing so. After all, he didn't want to appear intimidated by the other nation's presence, and end up expressing any potential weakness because of that, "Yes, of course we can get them fixed. But it's not that I'm worried about. It's just the fact that America hasn't been wearing his glasses for two years straight now. I just realized that because of this, his eyesight might be worse than it was before, and he might need a new prescription because of that. It might not be very likely that he his eyesight was affected by this, because he's a nation and what not, but there's still no harm in making sure. I'm just not sure how we're going to be able to have him take an eye test when he either can't or won't speak. Besides, he's far from trusting us at the moment, so it's probably going to be a while before we can have him be around someone he doesn't know."
Russia pondered everything England said for a moment; trying to come up with something to hopefully make light out of their current situation before saying, "I'm sure there's someone out there who will be able to give him a nonverbal eye test. Maybe we can ask his eye doctor. He might be able to find someone who specializes with this sort of thing, who also will be trustworthy enough to keep Amerika's identity a secret, in case they somehow find out. Not that anyone would believe them if they tried to say that he was a nation."
"Okay, but what about the fact that he doesn't trust humans? He's most likely not going to cooperate with the eye doctor. In fact, I'm afraid that he might even try to attack them. People who can give nonverbal eye tests are almost unheard of, so what are the chances of someone being able to give one to him, while at the same time, be willing to put up with him if he decides to attack?"
"Well, this is all probably something that isn't going to happen right away, like you want it to. I personally believe that having him be able to see us as soon as possible will help him recover from his mental scars a bit. Maybe it would even help him recover his memory; if he was able to see the world around him. But we're probably going to have to wait a week or two, maybe even three, just for him to recover enough, mentally, to hopefully be able to handle an eye exam."
England stared at Russia, as if he didn't want to believe anything the other nation told him, but of course, he understood all of this would take time. Though he didn't want to be patient and wait for America to be better for months, possibly even years, he understood he would only cause more damage if he tried to speed up the process. Although, he was a bit skeptical of Russia's idea about having the young nation go to an eye doctor as soon as he was at least a little more comfortable around humans, as one of his questions had still been left unanswered, "You never answered my question about if he might attack the doctor. Are you sure that three weeks would be enough time to make him more civil?"
"I'm sure that he'll be fine," Russia replied, clearly at ease with the possible occurrence mentioned, "If he does show any signs of becoming aggressive, I can just make sure to stop him before any harm can be done. Though I'm sure by the time he's around us for three weeks, he'll realize that we're not going to let him try and inflict physical harm on others."
England considered what Russia told him for a moment, before finally giving in, "Alright, I guess we'd be better off doing it that way, then."
After that was said, England stood from the table with America's glasses still in his hands, and before walking out, he stated, "I'm going to bed now. Be sure to check on Alfred before you decide to go to bed yourself, alright?"
"Okay," was all Russia said before England left the room. Now that he was alone, and no longer talking to someone, he figured it was safe to search the cupboards and the fridge for something small to snack on. It was true his stomach was aching, due to the fact that he'd hardly eaten anything that day because of how busy he was, but at the same time, he didn't want to spend too much time eating a full meal, as he was tired and wanted to go to bed as soon as possible. Fortunately, he was able to find a box of granola bars, and ate one of them in order to fend off his hunger before making his way upstairs to America's room.
Upon entering the room, he'd initially believed everything was going fine for the young nation. He hadn't moved from his spot on the bed, and he didn't appear to be in any pain. However, when Russia strode closer to America's bed, into the dark room, he was growing more and more aware of discomfort on the poor nation's face. The young nation also appeared to be twitching once in a while. Was he having a nightmare?
A great wave of sympathy flooded through Russia's heart. He couldn't let this poor nation suffer alone while he was having a nightmare. Especially since he had an idea as to what he might be dreaming about. Which was why he pulled the sleeping nation into his arms, and muttered words of comfort to him, in the hopes of making him feel more safe.
Unfortunately, America awoke, due to the contact, and he definitely didn't receive the affection well. Instead, he became even more frightened, and was trembling more violently, but he still refrained from doing anything to fight what was going on. He was afraid fighting it was only going to make his situation worse. The young nation tried to keep himself together while he was being held in Russia's arms, but soon, he couldn't help silently crying, due to how helpless he felt. Despite the fact that his company seemed to be making America's fear even worse, Russia remained persistent in his attempt to comfort the other nation until he became more comfortable in his arms, and fell asleep once more. His caretaker held him a bit longer, in order to make sure he was peacefully asleep before tucking him back into the covers.
Though Russia now felt relieved, as he walked out of the room, he still couldn't help the small ache in his heart for America. Not only was the trauma haunting his mind, but it was also bothering him in his sleep as well. Yet he tried to stay optimistic as he pondered, I know that he's probably never going to be completely over this, but I hope that he at least doesn't end up losing sleep over some nightmares, if they end up being a common occurrence. Yes, he has annoyed me quite a few times in the past, but no one deserves to suffer with what he's going through at the moment. Especially since he can't even remember all those times he made me irritated.
A/N: I'm sorry if the quality of this chapter is lower than the others, but I'm just starting to feel very embarrassed about something I did a month ago. It's been affecting me somewhat since, but now it's starting to REALLY come back to haunt me. So I kind of feel like crap at the moment. Don't worry though, I'll still make sure to keep updating this story and what not.