Zubicu- a Hetalia fanfic.

Chapter 5

I step out of the room after a while spent gathering my thoughts, and coming back to my senses. Before I've taken five steps away from the door, however, I find myself instantly bowled over by a very excited- or perhaps just overly happy- Feliciano. "Vee~ Zubicu! There you are!" he squeals, drowning out my cry of pain as he hits my side in a hug tackle. I lie on the floor, knocked onto my good side, luckily. When he starts jabbering I don't repsond, just lie there, clutching my wounded side, curled up in a tensed and quivering ball, eyes squeezed shut and teeth gritted against the pain.

He takes a moment to open his eyes to look at me when he realizes I'm not repsonding. Suddenly, his eyes widen in realisation and he quickly scrambles off me. "Zubicu! I-I'm so sorry! I forgot about your wound!" he cries, clearly very worried about me now as he keeps jabbering on an apology. I want to reassure him, tell him it's alright and that I'm fine, but when I try to open my eyes I can't, I can't even move my mouth to smile a little in reassurance.

Since I find I can't answer, the only sound I manage to make is let a small whimper of pain slip past my lips. I hear footsteps retreating and assume he's gone to get help. Ugh. I think. He treats my wound and yet he forgets about it? He really is an over-excitable country. And people wonder why some of us get annoyed with him.

I lie there for about another minute, tears trailing down my cheeks from the intense pain keeping me frozen in position as I try to force myself to move, before I feel strong arms gently slip under me. They hesitate for a moment, then when I don't fight them, they carefully lift me again. For some reason, they feel familiar, which causes mixed feelings. It's kinda good because that means I'm not being handled by a total stranger, which is the last thing I need, but it is also bad because it means that for all I know I could be being kidnapped. By someone I don't like. Who could be taking me to Iggy. One hand gently rests on the back of my head, and I instinctively lean into this person's chest as they move, bobbing up and down slightly with every step.

Soon I feel a bed under me and the arms disappear. I curl up again on my good side, hoping they'll go away so I can let the pain go. I feel them trying to move my clothes and whimper, tensing more, only causing myself more pain.

"Sasha-chan, I can't help you if you won't let me see the wound." he says. My breath catches in my throat when I realise it's Japan again, but eventually nod and - slowly- stretch myself out, trying my best not to jolt suddenly and cause myself intense pain, as I am quite a shaky person. He waits paitently until I'm finished and settled again, then gently lifts my jumper off of my side and then raises the top carefully, only to above the bandages and no higher. He knows I hate being exposed and respects privacy. Then he edges the bandages off. Both of us hiss at the same time, him clearly at the sight of the wound and me at the sudden pain of it coming into contact with the air. I resist the urge to curl up again. "Is it...bad?" I ask, although it's more like a squeak with resisting the urge to scream in pain.

"N-no, it's fine, just a little scratch..." he says quietly, clearly lying to stop me from worrying. I open my eyes and turn my head to look up at him.

"Kiku-chan, please don't lie to me. I understand you don't want me to be worried or scared and I'm grateful for that, but I can't see it and I want to know the truth. I want to know exactly how bad it is. Please don't lie to me." I repeat, my voice quiet on the last line. Finally, he meets my gaze and sighs.

"It's bad. There's a lot of blood and it's still bleeding. Italy tried to help but he just made it worse, so this is going to be really painful for you now. I just need you to hold still, OK? I'll try and make it as painless as I can, but sadly I don't have any painkillers to help." he says. I nod, swallowing my fear, and turn my head back on its side to face the wall.

Something rustles, probably Japan going through the first-aid kit. I faintly begin to sing to myself in an attempt to calm my nerves. Suddenly, I feel something gently wiping at my side and flinch on instinct. "It's OK. I'm just using a damp cloth to clean the wound." His voice works to soothe me and I allow myself to relax. He continues to gently wipe away the blood on my side. Despite that, I still feel some pain, but it's not enough to cause me intense discomfort, and it's mild, so I ignore it. Eventually the cloth goes away and I continue to sing faintly.

Suddenly, pain spikes through my body, starting at my side, and I make a noise that's something between a hiss and a loud cry of pain, my body arching on instinct. I force myself back into a normal position as he apologises again and again, and turn my head to look at him, tears of pain welling up again. The pain and tears combined make my vision blurry.

He must see the fear and confusion in my now misty emerald-green eyes, because he gently explains again. "It's just some disinfectant and treatment cream. It does sting a lot, I know, but I promise it'll be better after a while." he says. I nod and allow him to finish, trying my best to stay as still as I can. Even so, he can only work for a few seconds at a time before the pain becomes too much. I try to let him work for as long as he can before I have to make him break away from my side, though.

Finally, it's finished and he replaces the dirty bandages with clean ones, before gently pulling my top back down over them. I quickly stop his hand before he can put my jumper over it, though.

"No, don't. I'll overheat." I say quickly. It looks like he frowns slightly, but then nods. Our hands suddenly meet and I feel my face flush. Quickly I look away, sensing he's blushing too, although I don't understand why. I quickly remove my hand from his, knowing he's got the message. He leaves my jumper alone, letting it fall back on the mattress behind me. There's a little while of silence between us before he speaks up.

"Sasha-chan?" he asks quietly. Flinching slightly at the sound of my real name being used again- that makes it three times in one day- I look up at him cautiously.

"Yes, Kiku-chan?" I ask. He smiles down at me, before leaning down so his forehead rests against mine, making a small blush appear on my face. He's careful of my side, I notice.

"Don't leave me. Will you?" he asks. I shake my head, and he smiles, pressing his lips against mine softly. My blush deepens, but all the same, I kiss him back.

I'll never leave you, Kiku...I promise...