England grumbled as he got out of the taxi. America had missed the World Meeting without notice, and in his own country, even! If he was sick, the idiot could have at least called…

The Brit knocked on the door, making sure America would have been able to hear it anywhere in his massive house. When there was no response for a few minutes, he took it upon himself to open the door. He decided to check the first floor first, then work his way up to the third.

America wasn't in the kitchen, living room (surprisingly, Tony wasn't there, either), bathroom, or dining room. This surprised his former caretaker, seeing as how he usually was downstairs, even when he was sick. And even Tony hadn't come to call him names yet.

England was getting more and more worried as he kept going. Despite all appearances, he still cared for the energetic American as a brother. They had both hated having to fight, and hated never seeing each other as much anymore. England knew almost everything about America, and vice versa. England knew of America's slight crush on Belarus (although he questioned his taste in women) and America knew how England really felt about Greece (and had informed him that Japan had broken up with the cat-loving nation). America felt bad about forgetting Canada so often, and was secretly glad that he was dating Prussia (because the micronation always remembered his brother and kept him happy), even though he often butted heads with Prussia over the proper care of Canada. America actually preferred baseball over football, and still used British spelling of words. America had introduced Canada to Romano, knowing that they would get along. He was actually rather smart, and attended college every few years in order to keep up with the times.

Although England knew all of this, he rarely saw the younger nation, who could be rather secretive. He still kept a lot to himself, things only he knew. And he never even talked about the status of his nation anymore- even when it was rising (albeit slowly) once again.

"America?" England called softly; to be honest, he was terrified of what he would find. "Alfred, are you there?"

No response. Now the older nation was getting worried. Where could he be? England knew he had a small cabin out in the woods of Vermont, but only went there during the summer.

His younger brother wasn't in any of the guestrooms or bathrooms on the second floor (although, why would he be in the first place?), nor in any closets. England opened the last door on the floor apprehensively.

To his shock, the closet was full of mementos from America's colony days. There were the toy soldiers, the army uniform, even the rifle… And even more stuff was covered. England couldn't believe it- why had America kept all of this? When had he even started collecting it? He would have to question America on this when he found him.

With a sigh, England backed out of the room, closing the door, and went up the stairs. As England knew, America only had his master bedroom and storage space up here. Of course, he wasn't in the storage space (the old nation checked every nook and cranny just to be sure) and probably in his bedroom. With a sense of growing dread (although unsure as to why he was dreading the room) England walked in.

America wasn't on the bed, but the bathroom light was on and the door was closed. Maybe America was just taking a bath? He knocked on the door, and once more got no response. England felt his stomach drop, cautiously turning the doorknob- only to find it locked.

Thanking the lord he made sure he had his lock pick this morning, England took it out and picked the lock. Inside was America lying face down on the floor.

His senses all stopped. He could barely focus on America in front of him, with a buzzing in his ears. After a moment, he noticed it- a syringe sticking out of America's arm.

"No. No. Nononononono." England started panicking, and slid down the wall to sit. What could he do? He needed someone- France. He needed France. Barely thinking, he grabbed his phone and nervously dialed the country that was like his older brother.

"Bonjour, Angleterre. What do you need? Did you find America?" France asked.

"That- that's the problem. Just… Come here, please. I'm in America's master bath." England whispered, trying very hard to stop from sobbing. "And bring an ambulance."

"Merde. What happened? Just keep talking, tell me, Arthur." France sounded like he was rushing, and he started barking out orders to whoever was in the room with him (probably Spain and/or Prussia).

"I- I checked his whole house. He wasn't anywhere. Did you know he had a whole closet dedicated to the Revolutionary War and his colony days? I didn't. But then I came up here, and he was in the bathroom, and there's the syringe in his arm and I can't help but wonder why he never told me or why he hasn't told anyone probably or really why this even happened because it's just so not like him. And if he dies I'll probably die too because he's just my little brother, honestly, and he grew up too fast and maybe that's why he did this? He needed help, maybe I could've helped him." England continued rambling on and on, his mind still trying to deny what he had seen. He had his eyes shut by now, unable to take the sight. France simply let him talk, not trying to interrupt.

After only a few minutes (the meeting was held near America's house) England heard the front door open, and France's voice hit his ears. "Arthur, you might want to stop talking now. I'm coming up with the paramedics."

"A-alright… Thank you, Francis." England could almost hear the other's shock through the phone.

"Anytime, Arthur." With that, they hung up; and England stood, attempting to look presentable.

A few seconds later, the paramedics rushed through the door. They lifted America onto a gurney, and he barely stirred. At least he's alive…

"Sir, do you know his name?" One of them asked England.

"Yes. Alfred F. Jones, otherwise known as the United States of America." England had seen the special pins on their shirts that represented their knowledge of the countries.

He nodded, writing the information down. "Let's go."

England drifted down the stairs after them, finding France, Prussia, Spain, and Canada at the bottom. France and Canada came over to give him hugs.

"Come, let's go." France grabbed England's hand and dragged him to the ambulance, Canada coming as well. They got in together.

The ride was tense and seemingly long, although in reality not that long. And as England watched them roll America into the emergency room, he felt like he knew what would happen.

As they delivered the news, England felt himself break a little. After all, he had known. Who could survive from not being found for three days after a heroin overdose? Not even a nation.

And as England found the small child later that day, he knew. Although the old America would never be back, he would have to take care of his new America. And make sure that this time, he did nothing wrong.

A/N: …I blame writer's block and that story on the news this morning. Also my sore teeth (I have molars growing in and they hurt like hell). Seriously. What even is this.

(Although I have admittedly killed America in worse ways, England never had to bloody find him.)

Uhm… I'm sorry about this… Seriously.

It's my headcanon that countries can die, but only under certain conditions, and only if the body is truly ready to give up. In this case, anyone would die, thus leaving America to as well. IDK, just no.

But the A Team by Ed Sheeran came on while I was writing this and I just kind of died a little inside. Go listen to it while rereading this, it's insane.

STATUS FOR MY OTHER STORIES:

Trapped with Idiots: Will hopefully update soon. As I said, writer's block.

Expectancies and Disappointments: I finally finished the next chapter, but my pre-reader (not technically Beta, he just sort of reads the chapters over for me and gives me reactions and stuff) is a lazy ass.

I hope you at least enjoyed reading this…? It's a one-shot for now, but if enough of you want it then I'll write something else about the new America.

Please read and review~

~RedWhiteNBlue :3