AN: GUYS! Guess what today is! It's Denmark's birthday! And yes, I've had a lot of sugar, and no sleep yet.
Anyways..
To those who reviewed:
ThatRandomReview: Um..thanks? I don't think that's supposed to be a good thing, though. That's normally a bad thing. A very bad thing.
Anyways...a very happy birthday to Denmark.
Enjoy.
Their normal was thrown off balance before the day's end. Lovino had went to work like normal, but as soon as he came in, he'd managed to find an argument with Antonio. Because honestly, he was working too hard to be good for himself, and Antonio was worried for his boyfriend, who was already on the verge of collapsing.
This argument was what started it.
"If it bothers you so much, then fucking help me, but stop complaining that I work too much, because I have to in order for Feli and me to survive, even with our mom back around!"Lovino shouted.
Feliciano covered his ears tighter and buried his head against Ludwig's chest. He hated when they fought. It was worse than the fights between their parents.
Antonio sighed. "Lovi..how am I supposed to help when you won't let me do anything to help? I've tried, and every single time, you've told me not to. Even if you ask for help before then."
He tried to keep his voice calm, quiet, but Lovino shook his head.
"Don't even..."
After that, Lovino threw himself into his work much more. It worried everyone, because they could see the toll it had on Lovino. They could tell he was killing himself by doing this.
As such, it was really no surprise when one day, a couple weeks later, even after Antonio and Lovino made up, the Italian collapsed one day after school.
Antonio caught him easily and picked him up, carrying him to where he could lay him down and let Vash examine him.
Vash immediately ushered everyone else away from Lovino and kneeled down beside him, quickly finding his pulse. He shook his head and sighed. "I swear, I'm going to kill him. Toni, c'mon. I'm taking him up to the hospital. Let them deal with him, since we don't have the equiptment or medication he's going to need when he wakes up."he said, immediately picking Lovino up.
Antonio rode in the back with Lovino's head in his lap. It was a silent ride. Vash was speeding slightly. But Antonio said nothing about it to him. He was too worried for Lovino to really care very much about it.
For the next couple of days, the group drifted in and out, checking on Lovino. Antonio stayed stationary in the hospital, staying with Lovino, only leaving to go get a shower and changed everyday before returning. It hurt, seeing Lovino hooked up to machines. Beeps constantly filled the room, showing everyone Lovino's heartbeat. It was steady, if a bit too slow to be normal.
Kaoru drifted in with Emil a few hours after Antonio came back and got situated beside Lovino's bed.
"Overexhaustion caused him to slip, huh?"Kaoru asked softly.
Antonio didn't spare him a look, but nodded. "Yeah. He's been in and out. Never said anything, but he's been awake a bit."
Emil frowned. "It's weird, you know."he said. "Seeing Lovi hooked up to machines to keep track of his heart rate and to help him breathe. He's always been the strongest willed person of our group."
Antonio looked over at him and nodded. "Yeah."he said softly. "And I guess..in a way, that's the reason, too."
A coughing fit from Lovino startled Antonio from his calm stupor and made him turn quick enough to gain a whiplash. He calmed again when Lovino caught his breath again and returned to a stotic state.
Kaoru examined Antonio. "How are you doing?"
Antonio sighed. "I don't know. Ask me again when I'm not sitting beside my near-comatose boyfriend in a hospital."he said. "I should have an answer then."
Kaoru nodded. "I know it's hard, seeing someone you care so much for in such a state. But you'll end up killing yourself if you keep this up. Have you even ate anything recently?"
"Yeah. A bit. I eat when I go to change and stuff, and then once here when they're making sure everything's set for the night."Antonio answered.
Emil spoke. "Well, we gotta get back to the others. But if you need anything, call one of us."
Antonio nodded, but he didn't seem to be paying much attention.
Lovino didn't wake for the next couple of days, and when he did, it was to Antonio's quiet sobs and broken whispers.
"You have to be okay, Lovi..you have to."
Lovino squeezed on Antonio's hand slightly, drawing the Spaniard's attention. "Lovi! You're awake!"
What got the Italian was that Antonio didn't try to wipe the tears away. He wasn't ashamed of letting Lovino see him like that. Not like Lovino was.
That day turned out to be the most hectic for them. For better or for worse, they didn't know. Not at all.
So. The thing with this is..one of my cousins, Dani, has managed this before. He overworked himself to the point where he was in the hospital for a good two months. In and out of consciousness. So, that's where this is coming from. I'm no doctor, but I'm decent with observations.