An Irregular Heartbeat // Countryhumans AU

Day One

America had looked at maps of his hometown for the longest time. Pangea, home of all the countries. They named it after the first country ever 'cause why not. It's not like she's alive to disapprove of the name anyway.

And now that America finally was able to see the bright lights of the city from afar during the night, he couldn't say he liked it. America had grown used to the dimness of the town his hospital was in. He had grown used to the fact that if you squint hard enough while looking outside your window, the stars twinkling in the night sky looked like lost, stumbling porcupines. Thinking about it, America could've been put in the city hospital, but the hospital America ended up in had better heart treatments available, so his family opted for it. Plus, it was quieter.

America sat on top of a bridge he had seen in photos online so many times that he couldn't count. Since he was so frustratingly bored, he would do that a lot. This bridge was one of his favorite places to look at... It looked prettier in photos. The glistening, bright sky he saw in all those photos had vanished behind the murky darkness of a rainy day. America looked down at the rapid, twisting water below and felt his stomach twist with it. He had never been very high up during his time at the hospital, so the drop before him terrified him. America scolded himself. He only had four weeks left to live and this is what he's afraid of?

He shouldn't be afraid of anything now that he was gonna die anyway. Why would it matter in the end? It's just a few extra weeks of living. In the grand scheme of America's life, a few weeks won't make much of a difference.

Except America knew that he had to force it to make a difference. This is his one shot to finally be himself, he's not gonna mess it up now. He can't mess it up now. America reached inside his pocket until he felt the cool glass of his phone screen. America pulled his phone out and looked at it sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry, my friend," America said as if he was making a speech at a funeral. "You have served me well for so long, I deeply regret doing this- but I must. I cannot let anyone find me and ruin my plans for the best few weeks ever. I'm sorry comrade, but you must die."

As if he was acting out the role of his phone in an overly-dramatic play, America moved the phone from side to side while saying "America, wait, please!" in a high-pitched voice.

America went back to his normal voice and held his phone dearly, "I am sorry, phone, I never meant this, I can't throw you away... SIKE!"

And with that, America threw his phone off the bridge, once again switching to a high-pitched voice, gradually getting softer as his phone went further away from him, "NOOOOooooooooo..." The phone plopped into the water. America frowned and said in his normal voice, "Well that was anticlimactic. Such a passionate scene, too."

America whistled and then started walking down the street to the Mobile-T™ Store. America headed inside and got an older model with some of the money he brought along with, immediately putting into the phone the one and only contact he memorized by heart beforehand: Rei's. It may sound excessive, but America's always been excessive, so deal with it. It kinda saddened America that he no longer had his family's contacts, but America knew that if they called him, his heart wouldn't be able to handle it. He has to do this without distractions, he has to live his life how he wants to live it.

He has to.

As America sat outside the store on a bench while getting rained on, he started planning out what he would do for the last few weeks of his life. He started putting things he's always wanted to do on the notes app. His end-of-life bucket list, essentially. 1, meet Rei. 2, go to a beach. 3, go to a theme park. 4, have real food. 5, fall in love. America originally put that one down jokingly, but America found that he meant it. But that's stupid- you can't fall in love in four weeks. 6, go to the moon. Another impossibility, but America wished that he could nonetheless. 7, learn how to swim. 8, sing in front of an audience. 9, dance in front of others. 10, make new friends. 11, watch the sunset from the bridge. 12, go on a Ferris wheel at night. 13, travel the world. Yeah, no, America was too broke for that. 14, go to a party. 15, go to a real school. That one was also impossible considering the last day of school was... what? In a few days? Yeah, that isn't happening. It was still fun to wish, though. 16, be free. America smiled and already checked that one off. 17, try alcohol. America wasn't anywhere near his own country's drinking age, but it's now or never, I guess. 18, have a lot of fun with Rei. 19, finish all the letters and hide them in the right spots and 20, be with someone who cares when death finally comes knocking.