Bound by Destiny | COUNTRYHUMAN AU

Healed

When I woke up, I was greeted by Red Cross. "Good morning!" he chirped as he helped me up. I thanked him, feeling my muscles aching. "What time is it?" I asked hoarsely. He looked at his wristwatch, "7.30am. Are you feeling any pain?"

I shook my head. In fact, I was feeling extremely refreshed–more than I had ever been since the nightmares started. Does it mean I'm healed? My train of thought was cut off by a loud rumble from my stomach. Red Cross looked at me in amusement as my face turned beet red. "I'll get you something to eat. Er...do you have any preferences or cravings?" he asked. I shook my head and thanked him. "No problem. Nurse WHO is dealing with some patients now–"

A yelp cut him off and laughter followed along. "Hahahahaha, Myanmar's such a baby!" a voice chortled. "Oh shut up Indo! You're brother's injured for goodness sake!" a female voice scolded Indonesia. It was probably the eldest sister of the ASEAN family, Vietnam.

Red Cross sighed loudly, looking like he aged another 10 years. "I swear ASEAN's kids will be the death of me," he muttered before looking a bit embarrassed when he realised that he had said it out loud. He smiled awkwardly before bowing and scurrying away.

I leaned back onto the pillows, rubbing my eyes, feeling the eye wax coming off. I stretched, wincing in pain. However, the aches soon disappeared and I felt much better. I laid in the bed, letting my thoughts drift about. A light knock jolted me out of my trance.

"Hello Poland. How are you feeling?" it was Singapore. I smiled and welcomed him in. "I'm fine. What brings you here?" I asked him, "I thought classes are supposed to be starting soon?" He nodded but pointed outside of the room towards where the voices were coming from earlier. "I'm supposed to escort dearest Indonesia to his classes and make sure he and Myan don't fight again," he rolled his eyes. I laughed good-naturedly in response.

Singapore only sighed in response, rubbing his forehead. My smile slipped off as I frowned in concern, "Is everything okay?" He gave me a strained smile and nodded. I gave him what Italy likes to call 'the mom-face' and repeated the question. His shoulders slumped and the light in his eyes dimmed. "Do you ever feel like people expect everything of you? To be the best of the best?" he whispered. I looked at him in confusion.

Singapore sighed again and rubbed his hand over his face. When he looked back at me, he had a smile on his face again. "It's okay. Please forget what I said. I'll be taking my leave now," he bowed and left. I sat in silence, reeling from his words. What happened? Why did he ask those questions? Is he okay? Something about the Singaporean seemed off but I couldn't place what the hell it was. Nurse WHO came in just then, with a tray of food. She kicked the door close and walked over to me. "Slept well I hope?" she asked me, setting down the food on the bedside table as she brought up the foldable table. My mouth watered at the smell of the delicious food and my stomach grumbled in hunger. I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon. As soon as the food was set in front of me, I began eating like a starving man (which in a way I was). Between mouthfuls, I answered, "Yep, I feel way more refreshed than I have in the past few weeks."

"Did you experience nightmares?"

I shook my head. "If I did, I don't remember them," I told her. Nurse WHO nodded, making a note in her chart. "Well, you slept without interruption so that's some progress," she mused, tapping her pen against the clipboard. "Oh by the way, where's Germany? Is he okay? Healing me surely couldn't have been easy," I asked, realising that I had completely forgotten about him.

"Ah, he finished around 11-ish last night. He seemed pretty tired–but I don't think it's nothing a good rest can't fix. I sent his teachers a note saying he'd be late."

I nodded. Germany's probably in class by now. Knowing him, he hated missing lessons and even if given a proper excuse to miss it, he'd always join as long as he was physically able to. I hope to see him later though. I need to thank him. Nurse WHO asked to give me an examination seeing that I was done eating. The first I blurted out was, "I don't have to take off my shirt again like the last time right?" She chuckled and shook her head. I heaved a sigh of relief.