Mary's Story (A Norway + OC Hetalia One-Shot)

Day 2 - continued

We drove until we were out of sight of Eugene and kept going. Zodiacs might've already begun to spread out into the countryside, and we wanted to get as far away as we could before sunset.
I stopped the car a couple hours down the road, however, even though Norway protested.
I grabbed my First Aid kit and forced him to get out.
"You really don't have to-"
I silenced him with a look. He sat on the hood of the car silently while I cleaned his wounds using a water bottle and an old towel. His left arm and shoulder was completely ripped up, and he had three long scars on his head, starting from his forehead and moving upward. It missed his eye by an inch, thankfully, but the wounds weren't shallow and would leave scars.
He was just in a lot of pain all together. He told me that his chest was beginning to bruise from when Evangeline hit him. But I realized, remembering all the dead bodies we had seen as we left Eugene, that we were lucky to have made it out of such a close encounter alive. The Zodiacs were deadly.
I wet the towel on a clean corner and reached up to wipe the blood from his face. He shut his eyes and held his breath as I pressed the cloth to his face.
I wiped away the blood as best I could, but there was a lot of it. The scratches weren't as deep as I thought they were, though, to my surprise. But then, when I saw the wounds on his arm were also smaller than they were just minutes before, I remembered one important fact about Norway.
I looked back at his face, and his purple eyes stared me down. They almost seemed to glow as the magic surged through his body.
"You don't really need me, do you?" I said, continuing to wipe his face anyway. He blinked and looked suddenly sheepish.
"It feels nice," he whispered. I smiled a little. I got out the bandages and wrapped his arm, but he told me to leave his face be. I doubted he would need the bandages for very long, anyway, so after wrapping his arm, I put the First Aid Kit in it's place in the back of my car again.
"All right, let's get going," I exclaimed, walking toward the driver's seat.
"Not so fast," Norway said, running around the car to block my way. I stopped.
"What is it?" I asked, putting a hand on my hip.
"You're vounded yourself, if you haven't noticed," he said, his gaze turning downward. I looked down and noticed for the first time that my lower calf was bleeding from where Evangeline had grabbed me. I swallowed the bile building up in the back of my throat and forced myself to focus on the present.
"It's not that big a deal..." I whispered, but I knew it was useless to fight with him once he had set his mind on something.
Before I could protest he knelt down next to me. I surrendered to his stubborn will and stuck my leg out so he could see it better.
"See? I told you, just a small-"
He put his hand on the wound, but, before I could cry out, his touch felt suddenly very warm, and then, a second later, all the pain was gone.
I blinked. The blood was there, but the wound was not. I could only see a faint scar.
"There... Now ve can go," Norway said, breathlessly, standing and slowly walking back around to the other side of the car. I watched him.
This wasn't the first time I had seen his magic in action, and it wasn't the last, but no matter how many times he did it, it always took my breath away.
Every single time.

*

We drove until sundown, and by then we were just outside of a little town in Washington called Tieton. I parked the car in a grassy lot surrounded by apple trees, but was otherwise empty and seemed safe enough.
I turned off the engine and then sat in silence. Norway sat with me, and I couldn't have been more thankful for such a loyal and caring boyfriend. I wiped my eyes, trying to shove today's events out of my head, but they kept replaying themselves over and over again.
"Hey."
I looked at Norway.
"Vant to sit on the roof?" he said, quietly.
"W-what?" I asked, not comprehending his words.
"It's hot in here. Vant to sit on the roof of your car?" he repeated. And then, with a slight smile, he added, "Ve can star-gaze. It's a beautiful night..."
"I... but..." I paused to compose myself. "Being out in the open probably isn't safe."
"The nearest Zodiacs are miles away. It's safe for now," he said, opening his door.
"How do you know?"
He looked back at me.
"The fairies are vatching over us," he said, solemnly. "Don't vorry. They'll varn me if ve're in danger."
I smiled through my heartache and nodded. We both got out of the car and went and sat on the hood, leaning against the windshield. The cool, early autumn air felt nice, and the stars were beginning to show in all their glory.
I was easily distracted by it all. My muscles relaxed and my eyes began to droop. But just when I was about to fall asleep, Norway spoke.
"Alfred thinks the virus came from outer space."
I smiled, but then as I thought about it, I realized it made sense in a way.
"Well, people are turning into their astrology signs," I whispered. "I never believed in that nonsense. But... now that I'm thinking about it... all myths and superstitions come from somewhere. Perhaps this happened long ago, when the earth was young..." I yawned, and then reached over and took Norway's hand. He squeezed my fingers but didn't say anything.
I closed my eyes, comforted by his hand in mine.

*

I woke up a few hours later for seemingly no reason.
I stared up into the sky, breathing in the sight of the deep heavens once again. My eyelids drooped. Before I fell back asleep, however, I glanced over at Norway.
But he wasn't next to me.
I sat up, my heart pounding. I was about to call his name, when I saw him. He stood just a few paces away from the car.
I relaxed and slid off the hood. As I approached him, I realized he was mumbling something in Norwegian.
His voice was desperate.
"Vennligst, vennligst nei! Nei, nei!" he whispered.
I stopped.
His shoulders were trembling. His head was hung.
He was staring at his hands.
"Norway?"
He didn't look at me.
I ran forward and grabbed his hands. He jerked away from me, but I had seen enough.
The metal glinted in the moonlight. His fingers were curved into a fist and his knuckles were embedded with silver.
I met his gaze, but couldn't keep it for very long. I looked back down at his hands. I couldn't speak, I could only stare.
No, please, no... Not him, too.
"Mary," he said, urgently, pulling his hands to his chest and stepping away from me. "You need to go. Now."
"No," I said, my voice breaking.
"Ja!" he exclaimed, holding his hands out toward me. "Somehow I managed to contract it, and you vill too unless you get avay from me!"
I took a deep, quaky breath.
"I am not leaving you."
"You have to."
"Nope!" I exclaimed, closing the distance between us.
"Mary..." Norway pleaded.
"Nope nope nope! I'm not leaving you!" I said again.
"But you-"
"Nope nope nope nope!"
I smiled at him, though tears filled my eyes. And then I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him tight. He kept his metal hands between us.
"I'm not leaving you when you need me the most," I whispered into his ear.
He took a deep breath and leaned his head on my shoulder. I shut my eyes tightly.
He was the only family I had left, and now I was losing him too.
Soon I would be alone.