The Long Road Ch21
Apr. 11th, 2012 05:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lothinielflowermaidenWarnings: Warnings from previous chapters may continue to apply, and this chapter does continue to deal with the possibility of character death.
Chapter Twenty-one
Any hopes the family might have had the events of Iceland's birthday represented a turning point in Norway's condition were quickly dashed. The next day, Norway refused to come downstairs, and did not even eat anything. Any attempts made by the rest of the family to talk to him were ignored.
With the evidence that Norway wasn't getting better and the knowledge of how little time might be left, Sweden and Finland made the difficult decision to send Sealand to stay with England for the rest of the summer. They both felt it was a good idea for Sealand to have some kind of relationship with his biological family. And they needed to be able to concentrate on Norway—before it was too late.
The deadline before it might be too late to save Norway was only a week away, and no one had any ideas yet how to save him.
There was one change that had happened since that night. Iceland had stopped avoiding Norway, and had in fact started taking a turn in the vigil that the rest of the family was keeping.
On June 20th, as Norway's condition continued to deteriorate his family took him back to the doctor. They did not want to repeat the mistake they had made back in January, when they had almost waited too long to get him medical help.
Like every other time, the rest of the family was left to wait while Norway was examined, and each time the wait got more difficult. They all knew that one of these times they were going to be given the news that all of them dreaded hearing. After a long wait, they were shown into the same room where they always spoke with the doctor.
The doctor wasted no time before telling them what they had been afraid of hearing, "Haldor's condition is very serious, although you probably already realized that. He does not have any serious complications yet, but I am still worried he may develop them soon. And if he does, that will decrease his chances of survival."
"He hasn't responded to any of the things we've tried to do for him. Over the past few days, he has withdrawn almost completely from us. It started after his accident, but now we can't seem to be through to him at all."
"He did something similar before," the doctor told them. "After that incident in January, Haldor seemed very withdrawn. He was like that until early April. Although he was getting better physically during those months, everyone except Birger was concerned about his emotional state. Haldor seemed to have shut down almost completely, but Birger claimed that that was completely normal for him."
They hadn't known anything about this before, although the whole family had noticed that there was something off about the way Norway had been acting when they had seen him at the world meeting in March. However, they had seen him for such a short time then that none of them had really been sure. They all remembered his breakdown in April though—that incident was something they probably wouldn't forget in a hurry. They were all used to Norway rarely showing emotions, or any other sign of weakness, and seeing him lose control like that had made it clear to all of them just how much pain he was in.
"You said he still improved physically during that time, though?"
"Yes, but that was mainly because he was kept in the hospital until he had started to recover. And we could do that again, but I don't think it would do much more than buy some time. Given what has already happened, it is unlikely that Haldor will recover unless what caused this is dealt with."
It always came down to the same problem. They were limited as to what treatment methods could be used because of Norway's status—any kind of psychological help for nations was virtually unheard of. There were just too many aspects of their lives that could not be revealed to ordinary humans. And Norway did not seem willing to talk to anyone from his family, and it was unlikely he would talk to any other nation. He kept himself at too much of a distance from other nations to be able to talk to them, and they suspected he would not want to take the risk of revealing his secret—not with the use other nations might find to make of that secret.
"What else was done for him before?" They knew a little about the things that Birger had done that had led to this current relapse, as they had been in the room when Norway had been questioned about it, but they did not know what other things had been done—things that might have actually helped.
"Once Haldor was discharged from the hospital, he went to stay with Birger," the doctor said. "As far as I know, Birger did not allow him to leave the house except to go to the office and to come here for check-ups. Haldor was seeing a psychologist for a while, but that was stopped sometime in March. He refused to talk to her, as far as I know. I don't know much about the other restrictions Birger placed on him, but I'm sure there were some.
They had already known most of that, and that information didn't bring them any closer to finding a solution—all it did was increase the anger they had already felt towards Birger. Whatever they learned made it clearer that Birger had taken the worst possible course of action—good intentions or not. However they were quickly becoming aware of how difficult it was to find the right course.
"What is Haldor's current condition?"
"He has mostly recovered from his injuries, and his ankle has healed well enough that he can begin to put some weight on it. However, he is suffering from malnutrition and low blood pressure. If he remains in this condition much longer, there will be increased risk of organ failure and eventually, death. He is currently being given an IV treatment—just to try to get some nutrients into his system. When that is completed, you can take him home."
This was the first time that it had been openly stated that Norway might die. By now the rest of the family had kind of suspected that, but not all of them were ready to accept the possibility.
"Is there still a chance to save him?" Iceland asked. He had overheard the conversation between Sweden and Finland, so he had been aware of the possibility that Norway might die. But hearing the doctor say it like that made it real, and he wasn't ready for it to be a real possibility.
"There is a chance," the doctor said. "I don't know how much of one, because it all depends on whether he continues with his current behavior. If he continues not eating, he will die—he probably won't survive through the summer."
The rest of the conference was taken up by another strategy session—one which failed to yield anymore solutions than any of the previous ones had. The one difference was that the doctor wanted to see Norway more often—in the hope of catching any complications as soon as possible.
Once they were back at the house, the family gathered in the living room to continue the strategy session. Norway had been settled upstairs in the bedroom he had been using for the past couple of weeks—the trip out had taken most of what little strength he had left, and he had fallen asleep almost as soon as they had gotten him settled. The rest of the family hated seeing how weak Norway was getting, and it just fueled their need to come up with a way to help him—before it was too late.
"How long have you known that Nor was dying?"
"W' don't know th't he's dying. W' just havn't been in denial about th' possibility."
It hadn't taken long for this strategy session to start degenerating into an argument. At some point during the earlier strategy session it had become obvious that Sweden and Finland had already known that Norway might not survive past the end of the summer. It had only been the presence of a human that had kept the impending fight from breaking out then.
Finland attempted to intervene before a fight could actually break out. "After Norja was hurt, I asked the doctor about his prognosis. I was hoping to find a way to help him, and in the course of the conversation, I found out that he might not survive past the end of the summer. I didn't tell you because it's not definite. There's still a chance that we might be able to save Norja And arguing about this isn't doing anything to help Norja."
For the time being, that seemed to prevent the fight that had been developing, but it might be only a matter of time before it broke out again. The two older Scandinavians didn't get along that well under good circumstances, but their shared concern for their little brother was the only thing keeping them from fighting right now. At the same time, it was what lay behind their most recent arguments—the fact that it was easier for them to blame each other for not having done a better job of protecting Norway than it was for them to blame themselves.
"But what can we do to help him?"
"According the doctor, the best thing we can do is get Norja to talk to us. And I think we should try to get him out of that room more, maybe even get him out into the yard. Keeping him shut up in here isn't that different than what Birger did." There was a slight difference in the fact that they weren't practically holding Norway prisoner like Birger apparently had. But they had kept him basically confined the house, since earlier in the month. And they should have realized sooner that that wasn't the best thing to do for him—that in fact, it might be one of the worse things they could do.
Over the next few days, Norway's condition continued to deteriorate. Although the rest of the family tried everything they could think of to help him, nothing worked.
The other members of the family spent as much time as they could in Norway's room, trying to find a way to get through to him, but with every day that passed, he seemed to withdraw even more.
Although they had come up with the plan to try to get him out of his room, they were unsuccessful at actually putting that plan into action. Norway refused to leave the room and end his self-imposed exile, and beyond making sure that he got any medical care that he needed, the rest of the family did not want to force him.
They could see that they were losing him, and felt completely powerless to do anything to stop what they could see happening.
Another thing they had noticed was how much he was sleeping lately. They weren't sure if that was an attempt at avoiding having to talk to them, or if it was another sign of Norway's worsening condition—it may even have been both.
By the time June 25th had arrived, with no signs of improvement in Norway's condition, the rest of the family had called to report that they would not be attending July's world meeting. They claimed the reason was because of a family emergency, which was the truth, although they gave no more details than that. However, given the rumors that had been going around for close to a year at this point, they knew that at least some other nations would guess what was going on. There had been some debate about whether or not it was a good idea for the whole family to miss the meeting, or if at least one of them should try to attend. But, given the way things were going, none of them wanted to be away from Norway right now—they were too worried that his condition might worsen, and that if they left, they might never see him again.
They had no idea just how close the crisis that they all feared was at this point.
There was nothing but darkness around him. Norway knew this darkness, and knew that it was only a matter of time before Scandia appeared. The worst of the visitations always began like this, with this featureless darkness.
Gradually, his vision began to adjust, but there was still nothing around him to see—nothing that he could use to orient himself. There was nothing but this featureless void. He could not even see the ground he was standing on—he could only feel it under his feet.
The longer he stood there, on a ground he could not see, the more his apprehension grew. At any moment, he expected Scandia to appear, to hurt him and to remind him how he had ruined everything by being born. But time passed—he could not tell how much time—and still Scandia did not appear.
After some time, the darkness in front of him began to lift a little, although he could still feel it pressing in on him from every other direction, there now seemed to be a clear path in front of him.
Nothing about this time was like any of the previous times, and Norway was growing increasingly uneasy. He knew he was dreaming—because this was how all the dream visitations started—but the fact that so much time had passed made him realize that there was something different about this time. And he knew he could not get out of there until he was allowed to. He never got to choose when the dreams ended.
Just in case, he tried to concentrate on making himself wake up, but after a few moments, he was still in that same featureless dark void. And he knew that he was trapped here.
The lighter area in front of him was starting to really look like a path, but he hesitated to go down it. He did not know why Scandia had not appeared, but he was afraid that path might be some kind of trap. But there was nothing there except the path, and he was not sure how long he could stay here in this featureless darkness.
After a few more minutes had passed, the darkness seemed to press in on him even more and the unseen ground he was standing on began to feel less solid. Fear of falling into the surrounding void forced him to take a couple of steps onto the path. Every time he stopped, the process would repeat, and he knew he was being herded deeper into whatever this place was.
Norway had gone some distance down the path before he was allowed to stop long enough to see that everything behind him had disappeared, leaving only the same featureless void that was off the sides of where he stood. He couldn't go back now—he really was trapped here.
Everything around him was dark, except the faint illumination that lit the path in front of him. His apprehension increased even more when he realized he was trapped. Except for those times when the scene itself had changed, he had never before left that initial area.
He was starting to wonder if this was really what he had first thought or if something else had happened when he heard the sound of footsteps from somewhere out in the darkness. He froze, knowing that what he had dreaded was about to happen, and after he had begun to allow himself to think the dreams had stopped.
Norway was not surprised a few moments later to see Scandia step out of the shadows.
Scandia closed the remaining distance between them, and then his hand closed around Norway's upper arm, the grip as painfully tight as usual. "So, you found your way here. You could just have come with me I told you to; things would have been so much easier."
"What do you want?" Norway was unable to completely conceal his apprehension. It was always like this when he was confronted with his father—there was some part of him that was still the frightened child that hadn't been able to understand the things his father did to him.
"I'm doing what should have done years ago and getting rid of you. You've proven to be very hard to get rid of, especially considering that you never should have been born."
Norway had known for some time that his father wanted him dead, but something had kept him from telling his family. Even when he had talked about the dreams, he hadn't made it clear that there had been an attempt on his life, although he had admitted to having been injured in one of the dreams. It had only been the knock on his bedroom door that had saved him that time. If he hadn't been woken up by that knock, he would have bled to death before his family had actually gotten around to breaking down the door.
"This time, I'm taking no chances that you wake up too soon," Scandia continued, in a reference to that last time. "Of course, this time you didn't lock the door, which means you'll be found sooner. But they won't be able to do anything to save you. If they even try—they might be glad to finally be rid of you, considering what a burden you've been to them lately. Although, this isn't the first time you've been a burden to them—how many centuries did your older brothers have to take care of you for?"
Norway wanted to believe that his family would find a way to help him, or at least that they would care enough to try, but he wasn't sure if they would be able to do anything. He knew that there was nothing he could do to save himself—years of experience with these dreams had taught him the painful lesson that he was powerless here. The other accusation Scandia had made—that he was a burden to his family—he did not even want to think about.
He struggled to get away, but his father's grip on his arm only grew tighter, and soon he felt himself being dragged off the path—away from any chance of ever finding his way out. That was the last thing he knew before everything went dark.
The rest of the family did not know anything was wrong at first. Although they had taken turns watching over Norway that night, as they did every night, they could not tell what was happening to him. As far as they could tell, he was sleeping peacefully, with no signs that the nightmares he had had before were returning. And certainly with no sign of the danger he was currently in.
It wasn't until the next morning that they discovered something was wrong.
Ever since that first day after he had been injured, they always left him alone for a little while before bringing breakfast up to him. This morning there was some concern that he hadn't woken up yet when they left the room—they were worried that if he woke up while no one was in the room with him that he might do something that would lead to his getting hurt again. However, despite their concern, they had noticed that Norway was sleeping a lot more lately, and they just assumed he needed the extra rest because of the condition he was in.
Even when the attempt to wake him up for breakfast failed, they didn't worry too much about it. After all, Norway wasn't in very good condition right now, and he probably needed the rest. Of course, he did need to eat as well, but they just decided they would try again to get him to eat something when he woke up.
As soon as breakfast time was over, Denmark had gone upstairs to be with Norway. The others knew that he would spend most of the day there, although they would also spend a fair amount of time upstairs.
A short time later, Iceland had also gone upstairs. Ever since the misunderstanding had been resolved, he had started spending almost as much time with Norway as Denmark did. Although he was only partially aware of thinking this way, Iceland hoped that by spending time around Norway, he could make his brother see that he was not ashamed of their true relationship.
Sweden and Finland had stayed downstairs. Although they were just as concerned about Norway as the other two were, they did not have the same degree of attachment to him that Denmark and Iceland did. The five of them may be a family, but they were a family made up of two separate family units, and Denmark, Norway, and Iceland were one of those family units. So, they tried to give that smaller part of the family some time alone each day. In the meantime, they found other things to attend to, such as making sure the breakfast dishes were taken care of and anything that needed to be done around the house was done.
Around mid-morning, Finland went upstairs to check on Norway, as he did most mornings. He was a little concerned to see that Norway was still sleeping, but did not worry too much about it. After all, he did not know if Norway had been awake at any point during the past few hours, and it did not look like anything was seriously wrong.
"Has he been asleep the whole time you've been up here?" Finland asked.
"Yes," Denmark answered. The tight grip he had on Norway's hand made it obvious how worried he was.
Finland took a closer look at Norway. There was no obvious sign that anything new was wrong. Norway seemed to be breathing normally and wasn't showing any obvious signs of distress—in fact he just appeared to be sleeping peacefully. But it was a little worrisome that he had been asleep for over twelve hours at this point.
Considering that their previous attempts to wake him up that morning had failed, and the fact that he was still asleep, though, Finland suspected that something might be seriously wrong with Norway. He didn't want to say anything to the others in the room yet, but he suspected that what they had all been afraid of might be happening—that it might now be too late to save Norway.
Author's notes: I wanted to have this chapter out a few days ago, but school's been extra busy lately, and the holiday weekend put me behind schedule a little.
The next chapter should be out by the end of the month or by early May at the latest. I've got a pretty clear outline for it, and have already written a few scenes. So don't worry about having to wait too long for a resolution to the cliffhanger.
I don't think I have any specific explanatory notes for this chapter, as a lot of what's left unexplained here will be dealt with in the next chapter.
Please review. I'd like to know if people are still following this story.
