Russia awoke at seven fifteen in the morning. At first, he was tired from being brought out of the world of dreams, but when he recalled the fact that he wasn't required to attend the meeting and was allowed to spend the whole day with America alone, excitement flooded throughout his body, and it didn't take long for him to become wide awake. However, he wasn't able to enjoy the day right away, as the young nation was still in a deep, peaceful slumber and he didn't want to wake him for the sake of having fun with him. Instead, he figured it would be best to prepare for the day.
After lying there for ten minutes and staring at the ceiling, as he enjoyed the warmth of the hotel bed, he crawled out of the comfort of the warm mattress and blankets. Since America was disturbed by the fact that he no longer had a large Russian to cuddle, his caretaker placed a pillow in his arms, in order to imitate as best as he could a body. Fortunately, the substitute pleased the one he was caring for, as the other smiled and nuzzled his forehead against the pillow in his sleep. He smiled at the sight, as it was adorable, before turning away so he could gather the needed materials for his shower.
For whatever reason, ever since caring for America, Russia found the amount of time required for him to shower had decreased. In the past, it would take from thirty minutes, all the way up to an hour for him to shower in the morning. Now, he spent fifteen minutes bathing himself everyday. Even if he was satisfied with how productive he became in cleaning himself, he was still curious as to why the young nation's company lowered his time spent taking care of his hygiene. Was it because soaking in warm water for long periods of time was an effective way to cure loneliness, and since he was no longer lonely, he didn't need to do this anymore? He swore, somewhere on the internet, someone once claimed a study had proven lonely people tended to take longer showers. Whatever the case may be, he didn't believe it would hurt to take this person's word for it. It wasn't important to fret over it; he only found it interesting. It was also another reason for him to want to help America out and be his friend.
It was seven forty by the time Russia was finished showering and performing other tasks in order to maintain his hygiene. He strode over to the bed America was lying on to check on how he was doing, and at first, he was delighted to find the other was awake. However, his joy over discovering this was short lived, as it didn't take long for him to figure out the one he was caring for wasn't well. His face was paler than usual, and he was holding his stomach and groaning. His caretaker sat on the bed and rubbed his cheek in an attempt to comfort him as he asked, "Are you okay? You like you're about to throw up."
All he received in response was another groan, so he figured it would be best to urge America out of bed and told him, "Okay, I'm bringing you to the bathroom, so you can throw up in the toilet."
Perhaps it would've been better for him to bring the trash can to America, instead of dragging him to the bathroom to vomit. However, Russia didn't trust the tiny waste basket in the hotel would be suitable for such a situation. The young nation would be stuck sitting up, since his caretaker didn't trust he understood he couldn't throw up wherever he pleased, which left setting it on the floor out of the question, as he assumed the other would ignore its presence if he did this (after all, the bed was higher off the ground than what he was used to). He didn't want to risk ruining the bed or the carpet if the one he was caring for chose not to comply. Another reason why he didn't want to do this was because it would be an inconvenience for the poor hotel maids. Besides, America needed to understand, at some point, most unpleasant bodily fluids are supposed to go in the toilet. The three nations caring for him were growing tired of how dependent he was and believed he should've been able to do more things on his own by now. Sure, they didn't expect him to be an independent adult right away. They were aware the scientists modification of him was going to take years to fix. However, they believed he should still be able to do a few small actions on his own by now, so Russia was trying to encourage the one he was caring for to be more cleanly.
Fortunately, America was willing to follow Russia into the bathroom and obeyed as his caretaker coaxed him into a leaning position over the toilet. The one caring for him rubbed his back as vomit poured out of his mouth and into the toilet. No mess had been made, which relieved the more civil nation. He was also surprised by how well the young nation handled the situation. It was as if he understood what was expected of him. Perhaps this was a step in the right direction and it wouldn't be long before America would be able to do this without being told to. Maybe he'd even be potty trained within a few months, since it was one of the skills he appeared to be picking up on faster than the other ones (as odd as it was, though it probably had something to do with his age, as young children are far more difficult to deal with when it came to potty training). The young nation never had accidents, as he was wise enough to understand it was better to hold it for a few minutes than to be wet and smelly. The nations caring for him appreciated this.
Russia flushed the toilet and left the room to grab a napkin, so he could give America's face a quick wipe. After he was finished doing this, he walked the one he was caring for over to the sink and attempted to brush his teeth. This turned out not to be the best idea, as the pungent taste of the toothpaste upset his stomach and caused him to vomit a second time. His caretaker sighed at this, but wasn't angry at the young nation for the incident. He figured it would be best for him to wait before trying to brush his teeth again, as it appeared to be upsetting his stomach.
When he was finished cleaning up the mess in the sink, he brought America back to his bed and afterward, tried to come up with the best solution as to what to do with him while he was bedridden. Even if he didn't want to inconvenience the hotel maids, he figured he had no choice but to sit one of the tiny waste baskets on the young nation's lap. He placed a towel underneath, in case a mess was made. When the one he was caring for attempted to remove the mini trash can from his lap, as he wanted to lie down, he was scolded, "Leave it be, Alfred. I know you want to lay down and not have to deal with it, but I don't want you to end up making a mess in the hotel room."
America groaned at the demand, but complied. Sure, being forced to sit, while he was sick, wasn't the worst experience he'd ever had to deal with, as he at least had a pile of pillows to rest his back on. It was the fact that he was unable to pull the covers over himself in order to stay warm, due to the presence of the waste basket, and how not lying down made his nausea worse. As much as he hated it, though, he was forced to deal with it anyway, as he didn't want to anger his caretaker. He'd rather deal with his queasiness worsening than be yelled at and have to deal with both an upset stomach and the urge to cry.
Russia didn't mind the company of Canada and England, as they barged into the hotel room in order to check on America. It would be wrong to deny them the privilege, as Canada was the young nation's brother and England was also close to him, as he once acted as a foster parent. In fact, he was happy the one he was caring for had other people who were their for him. After all, what would happen to him in his vulnerable state if he hadn't had three nations protecting him? Russia doubted the other nations would be fond of the idea of him helping his needy ally by himself, without anyone else's approval, so he figured the other would've had no one to care for him, aside from the people in his government, which he didn't believe was going to benefit the young nation. Besides, if it hadn't been for these two, would America had ever escaped from the scientist's cruel treatment? After all, they were the ones who brought attention to the problem and formulated a large portion of the plan to save him.
Canada was able to figure out the other must have had an upset stomach when he observed him holding a waste basket and asked, "Is he not feeling well this morning? How come he's sick?"
"The restaurant food seemed fine, and I can tell that no one else here is sick," Russia replied, "He doesn't show any other symptoms of ailment, so I think the reason why he's sick is because of stress. He had a bad day yesterday. He was forced to wake up early, endure a long car ride, and deal with a bunch of people he didn't know. He also woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. I can only imagine how stressful yesterday must have been for him."
"Well, I hope he feels better. It's too bad he has to deal with this sickness when things are already stressful enough for him lately. Just try to do everything you can to make him feel better, okay?"
"Of course I will."
"And if he starts to feel better later on, do you think you could try to teach him how to speak? I don't think we've been spending enough time with him when it comes to learning how to talk, since we were so busy trying to make him not so scared of everything. But we definitely need to start picking up the pace when it comes to teaching him to be more independent. I understand it has only been three and a half months since we started caring for him, but he's a nation, and he needs to adapt to the life of a nation as soon as possible."
"Alright, I'll be sure to try and teach him how to talk. You know I always try my best to take good care of him."
"I know you do. I just wanted to make sure we start focusing more teaching him to speak, that's all. We'll see you two after the meeting."
"Okay, bye."
With that said, both Canada and England bid farewell to the young nation, before heading off to the meeting. Russia set to work on attempting to make America more comfortable as he dealt with his queasiness. He provided him with water, in order to soothe his throat and calm his rebellious stomach. He also allowed the one he was caring for to wear a jacket, as the other was shivering from how cold the air conditioned room was to him.
Russia embraced the one he was caring for with one arm, which caused the young nation to snuggle him in response. They remained this way for an hour, as for whatever reason, the caretaker had a bout of exhaustion and preferred sitting down on the bed, next to America, over doing paper work. Besides, the other made a perfect pillow for him when the two were sitting up, as he was taller (but not too tall) and was able to rest his head on the young nation's without straining his neck. He was happy the one he was caring for didn't mind (though if he was stuck with the task of keeping him warm and was tired, he would've done this regardless of whether or not the other minded it).
Russia was refreshed after the long cuddle session. He observed America's demeanor to determine if the other was doing better and was delighted to find the one he was caring for had no longer shown signs of sickness. Even though he was willing to relieve the young nation from the duty of keeping a miniature trash can on his lap, he still didn't let his guard down when it came to preventing the other from vomiting all over the place. He made sure to watch for signs of the queasiness returning.
Keeping in mind that fact that America's sickness may return, Russia grabbed a container of fruit from the small fridge, figuring something easy to digest would appease the young nation and his stomach. There was also a sweet, creamy dip to go along with the fruit, which he was sure the one he was caring for wouldn't be able to resist. He grabbed a plastic fork and sat on the bed next to his temporary room mate. After opening the lid to the container, he stabbed a piece of melon with the fork, dipped it in the the cream, and offered the food to America. The young nation accepted the offering, despite his stomach's uncertainty, and this process continued until half the container's contents remained. While placing the lid back onto the container, Russia made sure to encourage the other's obedience, "Good job on eating all that fruit! If you keep this up, you'll be at a healthy weight in no time!"
America couldn't help the smile spreading across his face. It was hard for him not to be flattered whenever his caretaker complimented him. His respect for the human never ceased to make him thirst for his approval, and the fact that all he had to do was try his best to comply with the other's wishes in order to receive it helped him grow more confident as the days passed by.
When Russia was finished placing the food back in the fridge, he sat down next to America once more and stated, "It's too bad you're afraid of people. We could go down to the pool if you didn't mind them. I'm sure you would love it. You can be energetic at times, so it would be a great place to release all that pent up energy. And if the pool water became too cold for you, you could always hang out in the hot tub. But I guess it wouldn't make a difference anyway. You aren't feeling too great right now, so it would probably be best not to bring you to the pool."
America gave Russia his full attention while he spoke, as the other continued, "I really want to do something with you today. I have time to spare, so if you felt better, I would be able to take you around the city. Maybe we could do that after the meetings are over. You're probably still nervous from yesterday, and need some time to get used to your new surroundings, so waiting a bit would be a great idea! Other than that, though, I should probably focus on trying to help you recover fully from your sickness. I think letting you soak in a warm bath will do the trick. After that, I could spend some time trying to teach you new words. You seem to be very close to learning how to talk. I know for a fact that you understand some of the things I tell you, we just need to get you to speak. I thought you would've done so by now. It usually takes a miracle to get you to shut up, so the fact that you aren't speaking yet is really odd. I'm still not used to this. But I guess it shouldn't surprise me. You seem to have a low self-esteem at the moment. You need to have more confidence in yourself."
Russia gathered a new outfit and America's favorite towel before saying, "Come on, it's time to take a bath."
America followed his caretaker into the bathroom upon catching sight of the towel. Even if the warm water was welcoming, he dreaded bath time because of the possibility shampoo or conditioner would drip into his eyes. He had difficulty preventing this from happening, even when he obeyed the other nation's request and tilted his head up when they rinsed out his hair.
Russia turned on the warm water in the tub and while it was running, poured body wash into the running water to produce bubbles. While the tub was being filled, he stripped America of his clothes and had him crawl into the tub. Once he was satisfied with the amount of water in the tub, he turned the faucet off and closed the toilet lid before sitting down on it to read a book.
The young nation was confused as to way his caretaker was reading a book, but figured he wanted something to do while he allowed him to play around in the tub before he washed him. Sometimes, the humans would allow him to play in the tub before bathing him. Since he didn't want to waste this opportunity, he messed around with the bubbles. His enjoyed attempting to build structures with the bubbles. He also found joy in letting clumps of bubbles fall off his hands and into the tub. There were even times when he would throw the clumps of bubbles around the bathroom, but this would result in a scolding, so he resisted the temptation.
After a while of playing with the bubbles, America grew confused as to why his caretaker wasn't cleaning him. All he'd do was glimpse at him once in a while to make sure he wasn't drowning. He didn't want to question it though, as he hated it when the humans washed him off. Even if he couldn't come up with a reason as to why the human was allowing him to mess around in the tub, he accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't be receiving a real bath, and slouched in order to allowed the water to envelope his torso. He let out a sigh of relaxation as the water soothed his muscles and stomach. It was as if a heavenly being was embracing him and telling him he was loved.
Russia didn't find it necessary to bath America at the moment. He was far from dirty, as he was bathed daily and it wouldn't hurt for him to miss one day. Besides, he wanted to reduce the other's stress, and since he wasn't fond of being scrubbed and having shampoo drizzle into his eyes, he figured it would be best to lay off this one time. Besides, the young nation lacked the tendency to become smelly. Russia figured this was because he was either blessed with a body that didn't produce much of an odor, didn't sweat much since he was rarely too warm, or he didn't exercise much and had no need to sweat. He wasn't sure if he'd be as willing to care for the uncivil nation if it was difficult to keep him clean, though he would be concerned for his health if bathing daily wasn't enough.
By the time Russia had finished reading two chapters of his book, he set it aside and grabbed the towel resting on the sink's edge. He unplugged the drain as a hint it was time for America to climb out of the tub, and when the young nation did so, he wrapped him in the large, soft towel. Soaking in warm water for a long period of time made the uncivil nation drowsy, so he leaned against his caretaker to prevent himself from losing his balance. Since he didn't want to become wet, Russia solved this problem by keeping America standing with one of his arms and using the other to dry him off. The other didn't mind it when the towel was removed from his form once in a while, as the room was humid from the bath and he was capable of enjoying the warmth even without the towel to protect him from any potential drafts.
Once America was dressed, his caretaker led him back to the bed and sat him down before the lesson began. At first, he'd been hopeful the young nation would pronounce the name of one of the objects presented to him, and although he would try at times, Russia grew less enthused about the teaching session when it occurred to him, once more, it wasn't going anywhere. The uncivil nation was embarrassed about his inability to speak and at times would attempt to avert his attention away from the task at hand. Russia didn't understand why he was ashamed he couldn't speak, or why he didn't give it all his effort, despite how much he wanted to appease him. Was he still afraid there would be consequences for attempting speech? His caretaker figured the scientists wouldn't have been thrilled to find him trying to speak and would punish him for any attempts he made. Whatever the case may be, they were successful in 'putting him in his place.'
After trying, and failing, to coax him to speak for half an hour, Russia gave up and stated, "We'll try this again later. Why don't we take a break now? Maybe if you watched some cartoons, you'd be more eager to speak. For whatever reason, you find those silly shows inspiring."
Russia brought out his laptop and set it on the bed. He opened it and put on one of America's favorite cartoons before returning to the adventure he was forced to pause in his book. Though he wasn't concerned the other was going to click out of the cartoon and search through his laptop, he still checked once in a while to make sure he was doing was he was supposed to.
America was happy to be allowed to watch cartoons. He hadn't been able to do so in a while and was growing bored. It was difficult for him to contain his excitement when a dog appeared on the show he was watching. He couldn't resist the urge to draw as much attention to it as possible as he cried out, "P-pup... p-puppy!"
Russia snapped his attention toward the young nation and asked with disbelief obvious in his tone, "Alfred, did you just speak?"
Upon being asked the question, America grew aware of his surrounding, as well as his rowdy behavior. He was worried he'd angered the human with his purposeless yelling. When his caretaker paused the video and opened his mouth to speak again, he braced himself for a scolding, "Can you repeat what you just said?"
America was confused when he detected excitement in the other's tone. He was excited about his yelling? Why?
When he received no answer, Russia lifted the young nation's dog plush in the air and pointed to it, "Can you tell me what this is?"
America grew nervous at the attention, but still complied, "P-puppy?"
Russia pulled the young nation into a hug, as joy overwhelmed him, "I'm so proud of you! You've finally learned your first word! It won't be too much longer until you're speaking on a regular basis! I knew you could do it!"
America blushed at the reaction he received for speaking. His caretaker was thrilled with something he did! He was overwhelmed with happiness, and he was to thank for it! How much longer would it be until he viewed him as an equal? Would he be able to have as much freedom as the other humans if he continued down this path?
It wasn't long after Russia freed America from his tight embrace when he grabbed a container of cupcakes out of the fridge and removed a chocolate one with vanilla frosting. The young nation focused all his attention on the cupcake. Was this a reward for making his caretaker proud? Perhaps he should speak more often.
America gobbled down the cupcake as soon as it was handed to him, while Russia petted his head, "You've improved so much since we first found you with the scientists. Just wait until the others hear about your first word!"