Bright light…

What's happening?

The world meeting. I was in the world meeting.

I'm… Moving?

Alfred forced his eyes open. There was something on his face… A mask? Alfred was panting, gasping for air and unsuccessfully filling his lungs during every breath. His heartbeat was dangerously fast, he felt as if he was going to black out at any second.

"Where..?" Alfred gasped. His body felt weird and numb, he could tell it was drenched in sweat, but that was the least of his worries. Where was he? What had happened?

A lady dressed in blue grabbed his shoulder and looked him in the eye. Her voice was low and serious, but the words were muffled. She was pumping a rubber bag that attached to the plastic mask that covered his nose and mouth. Alfred's ears rang and his head pulsed. He looked at the person holding his hand and saw Arthur. His brother studied him with extreme concern and panic. His eyes were red and puffy like he had been crying. Had he been? Alfred wasn't sure. He wasn't sure… What was happening. He was attached to some machines and now and then we would sway from side to side. So would the other people in the.. Car? Was he in a car? He could feel the vibrations of whatever he was in. It was nice and soothing. Alfred's mind clouded and he let his head hit the platform he was laying on. A stretcher, maybe. The lady cupped the young country's face and started talking to him, she even shone a light in his eye. Alfred squinted at the light and shifted his head.

Oh, hey Artie, Alfred huffed, his breathing still erratic. He looked at the personification of England, now hovering over him. Tears threatened to spill over his eyes as he tried to talk with America.

If he could just sleep. He needed sleep. Sleep…

Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!

Alfred felt his eyes roll back into his head. All the noises muffled and combined into a hum. He gasped for air as he felt his body shut down, his heart racing at unbelievable speeds. Monitors beeps rapidly around him as he blacked out.

"He's convulsing!"

Empty. Wherever he was, he felt alone. That was the first thing he noticed when he started drifting back to consciousness. The second thing, is that his mouth was unbelievably dry. Alfred's muscles felt stiff and heavy. He snatched a sharp breath as his eyes slowly opened.

Pressure. There was someone holding his hand. Alfred caught a glimpse of the messy blond hair. The person was slumped over, their head tucked in the crook of their elbow. The boy shifted his weight on the bed, causing his visitor's head to snap up. The blurry figure cupped his face in his hands and said a few muffled words, then ran outside the room. America focused on taking deep breaths. A thin tube was helping him getting oxygen, which made it easier to take a fulfilling breath. Some alertness returned to him, but drowsiness was still present.

"Alfred F. Jones." A man in white started, "Do you know where you are?"

Alfred squinted at the man talking to him, "No.. Who..?" he whispered in confusion.

"Oh, pardon." the blond man nudged past the other and placed Texas on his face. America blinked a few times as his eyes readjusted. Arthur was staring back at him. He took a step back and allowed the doctor to lift his glasses and shine a flashlight in Alfred's eye. He winced at the sudden light.

"Alfred F. Jones." The doctor repeated, "Do you know where you are."

Thoughts swam in Alfred's mind. Unable to come to a clear answer he shook his head and grunted. Arthur furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes darting from Alfred to the doctor.

"You were admitted to the hospital after you collapsed during your meeting. We treated you for both an Acetaminophen and Caffeine overdose." the man paused and looked at his clipboard, "How do you feel?"

Alfred looked at the doctor for a moment before responding, "Foggy." He croaked. The doctor took a note on his clipboard, said a few words to Arthur, and quickly walked out the door. Alfred let his head hit the pillow. He closed his eyes, hoping he would be able to drift back to sleep…

"Oh no you don't!" A voice yelled. Arthur quickly grabbed his brother's face and forced him to sit up, "Look at me Alfred you are not going back to sleep." Alfred groggily opened his eyes. He was met with piercing green ones that were red and puffy with tears slowly flowing down his cheek. The face lacked color and the eyes were sunken, like the person who owned them had gotten little sleep.

"England-" America started.

"No Alfred, you idiotically drank so much caffeine your heart was on the verge of cardiac arrest and on top of that you downed nearly a whole bottle of Tylenol!" Arthur's voice cracked, his body started to shake with sobs. He bowed his head and tried to compose himself.

"I was scared." Arthur whispered, "When you started seeing things, and talking gibberish." Sobs overtook him again as he tightened the grip on his brother's hand.

"England." Alfred wheezed, his throat sore and dry, "Water."

Anger briefly flashed on Arthur's face, but was quickly overtaken by a look of sympathy. He rubbed his face and stood up, "I'll be right back. Stay awake."

After Alfred had rehydrated, the older nation picked up where he left off, "Why did you do that to yourself?" He asked.

Alfred explained the nonstop headache and drowsiness that plagued him that day, leaving out the information concerning how much sleep he had been getting.

"And why were you calling me in four in the morning?" Arthur pressed, not breaking eye contact, "How much sleep have you been getting? On average."

America shifted in his bed and looked away, mumbling.

"What was that?"

"I don't know, three hours, maybe two."

"America!"

"What!" He yelled, "What do you want me to do about it! It's not like I can make it stop!" Alfred ran his hands through his hair and rubbed his face.

"I'm going to talk to your doctor." Arthur stated. He turned and quickly left the room, muttering disapprovingly.

Alfred felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He raised the phone to his ear, "What's up, Artie?"

"The hospital didn't release you yet you bastard!"

"No worries, just send the bill to my address."

A sigh of frustration erupted from the other end of the line, "This is about your health, idiot, not money!" There was a brief pause, "Where are you?"

Alfred hung up the phone and avoiding the question completely. He searched through his contacts, stopping at the right one and pressing call.

"A-america!" The receiver gasped in surprised.

"Yo! Germany! Everything has been sorted out so we can resume the meeting tomorrow!"

"Are you sure? You weren't in great shape-"

"I assure you everything is fine now!" Alfred cheered into his phone, "Sorry for the trouble I caused yesterday!"

"Yesturday? America," Ludwig's tone grew more serious, "How long do you think you were in the hospital?"

Alfred stopped to think for a moment. It couldn't have been more than just the night, England would have told him otherwise, "The night?" he guessed.

"Alfred," Germany began, using America's human name. Honestly it scared him, Germany never used human names, "You were in a coma for four days."

"Well," Alfred started, nervous laughter shaking his breath, "I'm a nation right? So I'll be okay!"

"I'm canceling the meeting, Alfred. Focus on your health." Ludwig said with finality, hanging up the phone. Ludwig's worry lingered in the air.

Alfred did his best to find his apartment on foot. His phone was out of power and on top of that he had no money on him. He got lost a few times, or zoned out and found himself at a dead end, but it was nothing to worry about! The only thing that ate away at him was the setting sun. And maybe the coma thing but mostly the sun. If the sun fell, he would be left out at night with the ghosts! He shivered. That wasn't something he wanted to think about.

Alfred finally made his way down the correct street and into his house. Grabbing a sandwich from the fridge, he made his way to his room to take a shower.

Since the meeting is canceled and it is getting pretty late in the evening I guess I'll play some videogames for a bit.

Video games for a bit turned into video games until one in the morning.

And then a failed attempt at sleep.

And then paperwork.

And then another sleepless night.