The Long Road Ch14
Oct. 6th, 2011 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lothinielflowermaidenAuthor’s Note: I know this isn’t my usual time of day for posting, but the chapter was ready, and I had some time to kill, so I decided to go ahead.
Warning: As always, any warnings from previous chapters can apply. This chapter does have a couple of specific mentions of the suicide attempt that occurred in an earlier chapter, as well as discussion and implications of eating disorders.
Chapter Fourteen
When Norway had left Birger’s house, he hadn’t had any idea where to go. He had abandoned his plan to talk to someone else from his government, in case they also thought that he was crazy.
He wasn’t able to take anything other than a single change of clothes. His phone and ID were locked in a drawer, so he could not take them with him. He also didn’t have any money he could take with him, although he planned to get some from his house. However, the amount that he could get from there was also somewhat limited.
Norway went to his house long enough to get a few more clothes, which he packed in a backpack. He also grabbed what money he had in the house, even though he wouldn’t get far with such a small amount. For a few minutes, he considered taking the short cut through the dimension that was only accessible to the nations. But he was afraid that if he went there, it would be easier for Scandia to get to him.
He regretted having been forced to leave his phone behind. If he had it, he would call someone from his family to ask for help, which he knew he needed. He didn’t have enough money for any kind of transportation. But, he wasn’t sure he could manage to walk the whole distance, and the closest house that he could get to that way was the one where they had spent most of Scandia’s visit.
Once he had what he needed, Norway quickly left his house behind, knowing that he would be looked for there. He did not want to take even a small chance of being sent back to Birger’s house, even if he doubted that he could actually make it to anywhere else.
~*~
Needless to say, the other government officials were not happy when Birger reported an edited version of what had happened the night before. Of course, Birger was careful to leave out anything that would paint him in an unfavorable light.
Of course, the head of the department was not fooled. “I was very disturbed to learn that you were forbidding Haldor to have any contact with his family. But I can at least understand that you were trying to protect him. Now, though, you could have actually put him danger by driving him to run away in the middle of the night. So, I need to know exactly what you said to him.”
“I merely told him that we could talk in the morning, when he was capable of being rational. And I told him that he didn’t have to come in to work today.”
“You told him that he was crazy? And, because you were keeping his phone locked in a drawer, we have to no way to contact him. Haldor is out there somewhere with no phone and no identification. You had better hope that nothing happens to him. Now, I have some phone calls I need to make. And you want to start cleaning out your desk.”
The first thing the head of the department had to do was inform some of the government higher-ups, all of whom were very concerned when they learned about what had happened. After that, he had to start making an actual attempt to find out where Norway might have gone. Eventually, they might need to organize an official search, but for now he started by calling his counterpart in some of the nearby countries. The department head still suspected that Norway would most likely go to a member of his family, so he called and asked that they be questioned to find out if they know anything. He was careful to stress that he only wanted to make sure that Haldor was safe, and had no problem with letting him stay with his family for a while if he wanted to. However, the calls failed to yield any information.
After that, he did have to start an official search in motion. However, he did not suspect it to have much success. If Norway did not want to be found, then he would be able to evade the search. And, the department head worried that after the things that Birger had said, that Norway would not trust anyone enough to want to be found.
He never entertained for a moment the idea that Norway might actually be irrational. Although there had been a lot of concern after the apparent suicide attempt in January, nothing had occurred after that incident that could possibly give the impression that Norway wasn’t in his right mind.
What did concern him was Norway’s physical condition, especially after he talked to the doctor. According to the doctor, Norway might not be strong enough to travel very far on foot, and the fact that he had no ID or money with him would severely limit his ability to get any other form of transportation. Not to mention the fact that the lack of money would make it difficult to get food, which Norway couldn’t afford to do without right now, when he was already noticeably underweight.
All in all, the department head was very worried about Norway, and very angry at Birger for causing this situation in the first place. He just hoped that they could find Norway before it was too late.
~*~
When the other Nordics learned that Norway had run away again, they were all worried about him. They all remembered the condition he had ended up in the last time, and now he was almost in that condition to start with.
They also tried to look for him, but all they were able to learn was that he wasn’t at his house, or the cabin he had gone to before, or any of the other places that they could think of to look for him. Although none of them wanted to say anything, they were all worried that something bad may have happened to him.
Once they ran out of places to look, there was nothing they could do except hope that Norway would come to them this time.
~*~
For a little over a week, Norway just tried to avoid any of the people searching for him. He knew that people from his government would be searching for him, probably in order to make him return to Birger’s house. He didn’t even want to think about what might happen if Birger’s version of what had happened that last night was believed.
Even with the risk of being found, he did not go too far, as he was still trying to decide exactly where to go. As difficult as it was to admit, he was becoming increasingly aware that he needed help. He could not continue what he was currently doing forever, especially as the money he did have was about to run out. Practically the only reason he managed as long as he did, was because he still wasn’t eating enough, which at least cut down on the amount of money he needed to spend on food. However, he was aware enough of the effect that was having on him to know that he could only do that for so long. He needed to go to someone.
Once he realized that, it was only a matter of deciding who to go to. Knowing that there was a good chance that he would be sent back to Birger, kept him from going to his government. His lack of identification and money, as well as his hesitance to enter the other dimension, kept him from going to his family.
Eventually, though, Norway remembered that there was one human who had seemed to actually be thinking of him as an actual person, and who had made several attempts to get him to admit that he was unhappy with Birger. And so, once Norway accepted the fact that needed to get help from someone, he made his way to the same building that he had been forced to go to at least once a week since January.
Of course, Norway hadn’t expected to get quite the reaction he did. The frequent doctor appointments that he had been forced to go over the past several months meant that he was recognized by some of the staff, as soon as he entered the building. He was immediately ushered back into an examination room, and very soon after, the doctor entered the room.
“A lot of people have been worried about you, Haldor,” was the first thing the doctor said to him. “Your government has had people searching for you since the morning after you ran away, and I think your family has been looking for you, as well.” For a few moments, he studied Norway, as if trying to discern his condition by looking at him. “You look like you’ve lost even more weight. Have you been eating at all?”
Norway thought for a few moments, before answering. “A little. I–” He trailed off, not really sure how to finish that sentence. He hadn’t really thought that anyone might actually be worried about him. Although he had expected a search, he had believed that his government would only look for him because of what he was. And, he hadn’t even expected his family to be informed.
“I’m going to need to tell your government that you’re here. They really have been worried about you.”
“I . . . I can’t go to them,” Norway managed to admit at last. He didn’t want to talk about why, though, didn’t want to admit to anyone that Birger had accused him of being crazy.
Despite his attempt at protest, the call was quickly made, and a representative from his government arrived very soon after. To Norway’s relief, it wasn’t Birger who arrived. Instead, it was the head of the department, who seemed very concerned when he saw the condition that Norway was in.
“Haldor, you should have said something to me. I didn’t know that Birger was keeping you away from your family, and I was very unhappy to hear about what he said to you.”
The two humans then went on to talk about him like he wasn’t right there in the room with them.
“How is he?” the government official asked.
“I don’t think his condition is much worse than it was last week, but I am concerned by the fact that he has lost so much weight in the last couple of months, especially since this is the second time within the last year. I think it would be a good idea for him to spend at least tonight in the hospital for observation.”
The discussion continued on similar lines for a little while, and Norway was beginning to regret that he hadn’t just stayed hidden somewhere. He might not be with Birger anymore, but he was still being treated like he couldn’t make any decisions about things like where he wanted to stay. It didn’t actually occur to him that the two humans might be genuinely concerned for his health, since he still thought he had that situation mostly under control. He was aware of the fact that he hadn’t really been eating enough since the previous summer, but he didn’t think about the fact that he was giving people a valid reason to be worried about him. He wasn’t aware of how frail the amount of weight he had lost again made him look.
In the end, he had as little choice as any nation ever did when their government decided to impose something for their own safety. And so, following a thorough examination, he was admitted to the hospital overnight for observation. And he was left with the question of where he would be sent once he was allowed to leave the hospital.
~*~
Norway slept poorly that night, as he had most nights since his birthday. This night especially, he was afraid of having another nightmare where humans could witness it. And, he was worried that the night day, he might be forced to return to Birger’s house, or that he might be sent somewhere worse. He knew that because of what he was his government would not allow him to stay alone until he was fully recovered. But because so much of what was bothering him were things that humans couldn’t understand sometimes having to be around humans made everything worse.
Shortly after he had made a rather unsuccessful attempt to eat breakfast, the doctor came into his room to check on him, and came over to the bed to speak to him, looking obviously disturbed by the amount of uneaten food on the tray but not actually commenting on it. “Haldor, do you feel up to having some visitors?”
After all the time that he had spent in the hospital earlier that year, Norway was aware that it wasn’t visiting hours yet. And, he wasn’t in the mood for what he suspected would just be another round of questioning about what was going on with him. His government probably wanted him to talk to a psychologist again, which he really didn’t want to do. So, he remained silent and refused to answer, hoping that his silence would be taken as an indication that he did not want to talk to anyone.
“Your family is here,” the doctor told him, by way of explanation who the visitors were. “Someone from the government called them yesterday afternoon to let them know you were safe. They got here earlier this morning, and they want to see you as soon as possible. They’ve obviously been very worried about you.”
Considering how the past several months had gone, Norway hadn’t believed anyone from his government would call his family. He did want to see them, though. He had wanted to go to them, if he could have figured a way to do so that he actually felt was safe. And so, although he still didn’t say anything, he nodded to show that he was willing to see them.
Once he had been left alone, Norway closed his eyes and tried to mentally prepare himself for seeing his family again. He still did not know what exactly had happened to cause them to be sent away in January, so he did not know how to keep it from happening again. He needed to be as much in control of himself as possible, though, and make sure not to show any signs of fear while they were there, in case that led to his being forbidden to contact them again. His attempt at composing himself was brought to an end when he heard an all too familiar exclamation.
“Nor! We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Are you alright?”
Norway had opened his eyes at the first exclamation and had to use all of his self-control not to flinch when he thought that Denmark was going to touch him. He hated being touched by someone who was standing over him. To his surprise though, Denmark did not actually touch him, and in fact, remained a short distance from the bed.
The brief moment of apprehension passed, Norway relaxed enough to look for the other members of the family. He noticed they all seemed to be keeping some small distance from him, although he was less surprised that the rest of them had done so. He had gotten used to the way Iceland usually stayed at the far end of the room now, although it still hurt since he saw it as his child rejecting him. And, he trusted Sweden and Finland enough to know that they would respect whatever boundaries he wanted to set.
“How are feeling, Norja?” Finland asked.
Norway wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question, which was part of the reason he hadn’t answered the earlier question either. He wasn’t really alright; the fact that he had been admitted to the hospital pretty much proved that. However, at the same time, he believed that was just because his government was being overcautious. Looking at his family, though, Norway could see that they had been worried about him—that they still seemed to be worried. “I’m alright,” he answered at last, not wanting them to worry anymore.
He could tell, though, that his answer did not seem to have convinced them. However, for the time being at least, none of them questioned him. They also did not ask him about what he had happened to make him run away. In fact, they seemed to be obviously trying to avoid doing or saying anything that might upset him. Once again, he found himself wondering exactly what had happened to make Birger decide to send them away—what was hidden in those moments he still had no memory of.
It was only a little while later that the doctor and the government worker both entered.
“Now that you have seen for yourselves that Haldor is safe, I have something that I want to discuss with all of you,” the government worker said. “I have been going through the records relating to what happened in January, and nothing seems to have been documented explaining why you weren’t allowed to have any contact with Haldor. In fact, I had no idea that contact had been forbidden until you asked for permission to see him on his birthday. However, over the past couple months, I did notice that something was bothering Haldor, and I chose to look the other way, as did most other people who noticed. So, now, we need to determine the course of action that would be best for Haldor’s recovery. However, in order to determine that, we need more information.” He then turned his attention to Norway. “Haldor, we need to ask you some questions that might be difficult for you to answer. We hoped that you might feel more comfortable talking about some of this with your family here, since from what I have been able to gather, this involves them. However, if you would rather not discuss this in front of them, we can arrange that.”
Considering that the questions probably wouldn’t involve anything that his family didn’t already know, that was an easy decision for Norway to make. “I want them to stay,” he said. Truthfully, he didn’t want to have the conversation that he knew was about to happen, but he knew that delaying it would only postpone the inevitable.
A couple moments passed in silence, before the first question was asked, “According to Birger’s side of the story, you had a nightmare the night after the holiday. He claims that you were acting irrationally, and that you ran away sometime after he left you alone to calm down. Based on other information I have learned, I doubt that his version is true, but I still need to hear your side.”
Norway hesitated for a moment before replying. The last time he had shared any personal information with a human he had been accused of being crazy. However, knowing there were four people in the room who would probably believe his side gave him the strength to answer. “I did have a nightmare, and when I woke up Birger was in my room. He blamed the nightmare on the fact that I had been allowed to spend the day with my family. For several months . . . I had been unhappy with . . . some of his rules.” His explanation was somewhat halting, as he kept pausing to think of how he wanted to word things. “When he made that accusation . . . I—I couldn’t take anymore . . . I told him that I would report what he had been doing. At first . . . he accused me of repeating lies that my family had told me . . . and he made accusations against them. That was when I told him the information he had been trying to get for several months . . . He didn’t believe me, though . . . That was when he accused me being irrational. Then, he left, after saying we could continue the conversation later.” There had been more to the conversation, but he didn’t want to talk about that. He didn’t want to have to explain exactly what information he had given Birger, because he was afraid that doing so might make the other humans believe that Birger’s version of the events was the true one.
“If you were that unhappy, why didn’t you come to me? I could have arranged for you to stay with someone else from the department.”
That was another question that Norway didn’t really want to answer. “I thought he was acting under your orders,” he admitted after a few moments of silence.
The rest of the questioning wasn’t much easier. He was asked to give more details about the way that Birger had treated him, about what exactly had been said that last night, and exactly what had happened back in January that had led to his having to be admitted to the hospital the first time. Norway did answer most of the questions about what had happened while he was staying with Birger, but he refused to give any other information. The events of that night had made even more convinced that he could not let humans learn anything about what had happened to him.
Then the questioning turned to something else that he didn’t want to talk about. “Why aren’t you eating?”
He didn’t really have an answer for that, and the question itself wasn’t strictly true. After all, he hadn’t completely stopped eating. “I don’t know,” he eventually answered, an answer that was mostly true.
“Do you realize what you doing to yourself?” This time the doctor was the one who ask the question. “Four months ago, you had lost enough weight that it was beginning to have a serious effect on your health. As I told you before, if you were human, you might not have survived. We can’t see you approaching that condition again, and just sit back and do nothing. And before you start thinking it, I’m not just saying this because of what you are. Right now, you are my patient, and I cannot let you continue doing something that is jeopardizing your health.”
“It’s not that bad,” Norway insisted. “I still have it under control.”
“Haldor, this might not be as easy to control as you think. And none of us are going to just be able to sit back and watch you risk your life like this.”
Apparently they had decided to stage an intervention. Norway looked over towards his family. None of them had said anything while he was being questioned by the two humans, but just having them there had made it easier to for him to say as much as he had. Of course, they also knew some of what he had not said—could not say. He wasn’t sure if they had been in on this intervention planning, but he could tell that they agreed with what the doctor had just said. He turned away again, because seeing their concern did make him feel like he was doing something wrong.
“You need help, Haldor. I don’t know what happened to you, but judging by the condition you are in, it’s something that you can’t deal with alone. You need to let someone help you.”
Did that mean that he was going to end up right back in a situation like the one he had run away to get out of? His government would just find someone else for him to stay with, who would control who he could be in contact with and whether or not he was allowed to attend meetings.
“Based on what happened last time, though, we think it might be best if you didn’t stay with someone from the government. We still don’t feel you should be on your own, until you have recovered more, but we have come up with a compromise, if you agree to you,” the government official said. “I spoke to your family earlier, and they are willing to look after you, if you would rather stay with them. It was wrong for Birger to try to keep you away from them, and I think they might have a better idea of what is bothering you than we do. However, if you would rather not stay with them, I can still look into making other arrangements. I don’t want to force you to stay somewhere you will be unhappy, especially after what happened last time.”
Norway didn’t respond immediately. He wanted to be with his family—that was pretty much all he had wanted since April. However, he couldn’t believe that he was actually being given that option; especially by someone from his government—not after the way Birger had treated that idea. Once again, he looked over towards his family, and finally managed to give his answer. “I would prefer to stay with them,” he said.
“Then you can stay with them. I will have your phone, and identification brought here before you are discharged,” the government official said. “Is there anything else you left at Birger’s house that you would like to have with you, or should we just hold onto everything else?”
Norway hadn’t really left that much at Birger’s besides the things that had been locked in the drawer. He had never been allowed to have much there in the first place, after all. He had left behind some clothes, a few books, and his stuffed bunny. Of those things, the bunny was the only one he kind of wanted, but he didn’t want to ask someone from his government for it, so he shook his head.
“Alright, I will have those things brought to you. If some kind of incident comes up, we will call you, but otherwise, you don’t need to come in to work until you’ve recovered. I don’t want you to worry about anything except getting better.”
“If that’s settled, I would like to talk to the four of you,” the doctor said, turning to the other Nordics. “There are a few things you need to be aware of before Haldor can be released into your care.”
~*~
They were led the same room where they had spoken to the doctor a couple of times back in January. And once they were all in the room, he didn’t waste any time getting to what he needed to say to them.
“Haldor will be discharged in a few hours, and I want to make sure you are ready to care for him.”
“Are you sure he’s ready? He seems to have gotten worse just in the last week.” After all, it had been only a little over a week since they had last seen Norway, when they had visited him on his birthday.
The doctor seemed to be taking a minute to consider his answer. “Truthfully, I’m not entirely sure, but I feel that based on what happened before, keeping him here probably won’t do him any good. I don’t know exactly what is bothering Haldor, but the physical problems he is having all seem to be caused by an emotional issue. At this point, I would say that the only way Haldor can recover is if that emotional issue is dealt with. My hope is that you will be able to give him whatever help he needs with that, because I don’t think there’s anyone else who can. We haven’t had much luck finding someone that he will talk to about anything that is bothering him, so I am hoping that he will talk to you at least.”
“He did talk about it a little bit at the beginning of April,” Finland said, referring the conversation they’d had the afternoon before the meeting. As far as anyone knew, that was the only time that Norway had talked to anyone about what was bothering him. Even most of what the family knew, they only knew because of what they had witnessed on that final morning of Scandia’s visit, and because of some of the comments that Scandia had made during that confrontation.
“I thought his emotional state had improved after he came back from the meeting,” the doctor said. “Some of us had been getting very worried about Haldor’s emotional state for several months, although at least one person claimed it was normal behavior for him. But it actually seemed like he didn’t actually feel anything, rather than like he was just trying to hide what he felt. I have noticed that he does that a lot of the time lately.”
“What about his physical condition? Is there anything we need to watch for there?” They wanted to avoid a repeat of what had happened last time, if they could. At various points during the last few months, they had all wondered if they had made a serious mistake by waiting so long to make sure that Norway got actual medical help. If they had taken him to a hospital right after they had found him, then it might have been possible to avoid the deterioration in Norway’s condition that had started with his panic attack at the world meeting and culminated in his suicide attempt. They couldn’t exactly ignore the fact that Norway could have died because they had waited so long before taking him to the hospital. But, they had given in to Norway’s instance that no one learn of his condition, and because of that, they had almost lost him.
“Haldor’s condition is still better than it was in January, but if it continues to deteriorate, it won’t be long before he reaches that point again. His blood pressure is a bit lower than it should be, although not dangerously so. However, if he starts having problems with lightheadedness or even fainting spells, that might be a sign that he needs medical help. As you might remember, a few months ago, the malnutrition actually had an effect on his heart. Fortunately, that resolved itself once he managed to gain back some of the weight he’d lost, and that has not recurred yet. However, if it does happen again, it might be harder to resolve this time. That is main reason I want you to watch for the symptoms of the low-blood pressure worsening; that may be a sign of some underlying problem. The main issue though, is that Haldor needs to get his weight back up to a healthy level. However, there are some things you will need to watch for there as well. I will make sure that you are given these instructions in written format before leaving, but basically you need to watch him to make sure that he is actually eating. Also, since he has probably been eating even less than usual in the past week, there are some things that he shouldn’t eat right away. All of that will be included in the printout, though.”
That was actually a little more than they had expected to be told to watch for, and it made them a little worried that Norway’s condition was worse than the doctor was telling them. That worry was not lessened when the written instructions they were given turned out to include information on how to help someone who was dealing with an eating disorder.
Author’s Note: This chapter is probably the end of the involvement that any of the human character will have in the story. I know I’ve said that before, but this time I think it will actually be true. And if anyone is wondering, Birger did get some trouble for the way he’d been treating Norway, but I’m not sure exactly what happened to him. The best case scenario for him is that he got transferred to a different government department.
Also, I don’t know if anyone is wondering about this, but since I did mention it being included in the instructions that the rest of the family was given I want to clarify that Norway has not actually been diagnosed with an eating disorder. He is showing some of the symptoms of one, and obviously his doctor is aware of that fact. However, no official diagnosis is being made, because they’re not sure whether or not he actually has one.
The next chapter should be out by the end of the month, and depending on how much time it covers, may finally include at least one long overdue conversation.
Once again, I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I don’t think there’s anything specific that I need to reply to this time, but I will say that one of my reviewers might not what I was referring to in the previous paragraph, when I mentioned that a long overdue conversation might finally be had. (And yes, that is intended to be something of a teaser for the next chapter.)
Warning: As always, any warnings from previous chapters can apply. This chapter does have a couple of specific mentions of the suicide attempt that occurred in an earlier chapter, as well as discussion and implications of eating disorders.
Chapter Fourteen
When Norway had left Birger’s house, he hadn’t had any idea where to go. He had abandoned his plan to talk to someone else from his government, in case they also thought that he was crazy.
He wasn’t able to take anything other than a single change of clothes. His phone and ID were locked in a drawer, so he could not take them with him. He also didn’t have any money he could take with him, although he planned to get some from his house. However, the amount that he could get from there was also somewhat limited.
Norway went to his house long enough to get a few more clothes, which he packed in a backpack. He also grabbed what money he had in the house, even though he wouldn’t get far with such a small amount. For a few minutes, he considered taking the short cut through the dimension that was only accessible to the nations. But he was afraid that if he went there, it would be easier for Scandia to get to him.
He regretted having been forced to leave his phone behind. If he had it, he would call someone from his family to ask for help, which he knew he needed. He didn’t have enough money for any kind of transportation. But, he wasn’t sure he could manage to walk the whole distance, and the closest house that he could get to that way was the one where they had spent most of Scandia’s visit.
Once he had what he needed, Norway quickly left his house behind, knowing that he would be looked for there. He did not want to take even a small chance of being sent back to Birger’s house, even if he doubted that he could actually make it to anywhere else.
~*~
Needless to say, the other government officials were not happy when Birger reported an edited version of what had happened the night before. Of course, Birger was careful to leave out anything that would paint him in an unfavorable light.
Of course, the head of the department was not fooled. “I was very disturbed to learn that you were forbidding Haldor to have any contact with his family. But I can at least understand that you were trying to protect him. Now, though, you could have actually put him danger by driving him to run away in the middle of the night. So, I need to know exactly what you said to him.”
“I merely told him that we could talk in the morning, when he was capable of being rational. And I told him that he didn’t have to come in to work today.”
“You told him that he was crazy? And, because you were keeping his phone locked in a drawer, we have to no way to contact him. Haldor is out there somewhere with no phone and no identification. You had better hope that nothing happens to him. Now, I have some phone calls I need to make. And you want to start cleaning out your desk.”
The first thing the head of the department had to do was inform some of the government higher-ups, all of whom were very concerned when they learned about what had happened. After that, he had to start making an actual attempt to find out where Norway might have gone. Eventually, they might need to organize an official search, but for now he started by calling his counterpart in some of the nearby countries. The department head still suspected that Norway would most likely go to a member of his family, so he called and asked that they be questioned to find out if they know anything. He was careful to stress that he only wanted to make sure that Haldor was safe, and had no problem with letting him stay with his family for a while if he wanted to. However, the calls failed to yield any information.
After that, he did have to start an official search in motion. However, he did not suspect it to have much success. If Norway did not want to be found, then he would be able to evade the search. And, the department head worried that after the things that Birger had said, that Norway would not trust anyone enough to want to be found.
He never entertained for a moment the idea that Norway might actually be irrational. Although there had been a lot of concern after the apparent suicide attempt in January, nothing had occurred after that incident that could possibly give the impression that Norway wasn’t in his right mind.
What did concern him was Norway’s physical condition, especially after he talked to the doctor. According to the doctor, Norway might not be strong enough to travel very far on foot, and the fact that he had no ID or money with him would severely limit his ability to get any other form of transportation. Not to mention the fact that the lack of money would make it difficult to get food, which Norway couldn’t afford to do without right now, when he was already noticeably underweight.
All in all, the department head was very worried about Norway, and very angry at Birger for causing this situation in the first place. He just hoped that they could find Norway before it was too late.
~*~
When the other Nordics learned that Norway had run away again, they were all worried about him. They all remembered the condition he had ended up in the last time, and now he was almost in that condition to start with.
They also tried to look for him, but all they were able to learn was that he wasn’t at his house, or the cabin he had gone to before, or any of the other places that they could think of to look for him. Although none of them wanted to say anything, they were all worried that something bad may have happened to him.
Once they ran out of places to look, there was nothing they could do except hope that Norway would come to them this time.
~*~
For a little over a week, Norway just tried to avoid any of the people searching for him. He knew that people from his government would be searching for him, probably in order to make him return to Birger’s house. He didn’t even want to think about what might happen if Birger’s version of what had happened that last night was believed.
Even with the risk of being found, he did not go too far, as he was still trying to decide exactly where to go. As difficult as it was to admit, he was becoming increasingly aware that he needed help. He could not continue what he was currently doing forever, especially as the money he did have was about to run out. Practically the only reason he managed as long as he did, was because he still wasn’t eating enough, which at least cut down on the amount of money he needed to spend on food. However, he was aware enough of the effect that was having on him to know that he could only do that for so long. He needed to go to someone.
Once he realized that, it was only a matter of deciding who to go to. Knowing that there was a good chance that he would be sent back to Birger, kept him from going to his government. His lack of identification and money, as well as his hesitance to enter the other dimension, kept him from going to his family.
Eventually, though, Norway remembered that there was one human who had seemed to actually be thinking of him as an actual person, and who had made several attempts to get him to admit that he was unhappy with Birger. And so, once Norway accepted the fact that needed to get help from someone, he made his way to the same building that he had been forced to go to at least once a week since January.
Of course, Norway hadn’t expected to get quite the reaction he did. The frequent doctor appointments that he had been forced to go over the past several months meant that he was recognized by some of the staff, as soon as he entered the building. He was immediately ushered back into an examination room, and very soon after, the doctor entered the room.
“A lot of people have been worried about you, Haldor,” was the first thing the doctor said to him. “Your government has had people searching for you since the morning after you ran away, and I think your family has been looking for you, as well.” For a few moments, he studied Norway, as if trying to discern his condition by looking at him. “You look like you’ve lost even more weight. Have you been eating at all?”
Norway thought for a few moments, before answering. “A little. I–” He trailed off, not really sure how to finish that sentence. He hadn’t really thought that anyone might actually be worried about him. Although he had expected a search, he had believed that his government would only look for him because of what he was. And, he hadn’t even expected his family to be informed.
“I’m going to need to tell your government that you’re here. They really have been worried about you.”
“I . . . I can’t go to them,” Norway managed to admit at last. He didn’t want to talk about why, though, didn’t want to admit to anyone that Birger had accused him of being crazy.
Despite his attempt at protest, the call was quickly made, and a representative from his government arrived very soon after. To Norway’s relief, it wasn’t Birger who arrived. Instead, it was the head of the department, who seemed very concerned when he saw the condition that Norway was in.
“Haldor, you should have said something to me. I didn’t know that Birger was keeping you away from your family, and I was very unhappy to hear about what he said to you.”
The two humans then went on to talk about him like he wasn’t right there in the room with them.
“How is he?” the government official asked.
“I don’t think his condition is much worse than it was last week, but I am concerned by the fact that he has lost so much weight in the last couple of months, especially since this is the second time within the last year. I think it would be a good idea for him to spend at least tonight in the hospital for observation.”
The discussion continued on similar lines for a little while, and Norway was beginning to regret that he hadn’t just stayed hidden somewhere. He might not be with Birger anymore, but he was still being treated like he couldn’t make any decisions about things like where he wanted to stay. It didn’t actually occur to him that the two humans might be genuinely concerned for his health, since he still thought he had that situation mostly under control. He was aware of the fact that he hadn’t really been eating enough since the previous summer, but he didn’t think about the fact that he was giving people a valid reason to be worried about him. He wasn’t aware of how frail the amount of weight he had lost again made him look.
In the end, he had as little choice as any nation ever did when their government decided to impose something for their own safety. And so, following a thorough examination, he was admitted to the hospital overnight for observation. And he was left with the question of where he would be sent once he was allowed to leave the hospital.
~*~
Norway slept poorly that night, as he had most nights since his birthday. This night especially, he was afraid of having another nightmare where humans could witness it. And, he was worried that the night day, he might be forced to return to Birger’s house, or that he might be sent somewhere worse. He knew that because of what he was his government would not allow him to stay alone until he was fully recovered. But because so much of what was bothering him were things that humans couldn’t understand sometimes having to be around humans made everything worse.
Shortly after he had made a rather unsuccessful attempt to eat breakfast, the doctor came into his room to check on him, and came over to the bed to speak to him, looking obviously disturbed by the amount of uneaten food on the tray but not actually commenting on it. “Haldor, do you feel up to having some visitors?”
After all the time that he had spent in the hospital earlier that year, Norway was aware that it wasn’t visiting hours yet. And, he wasn’t in the mood for what he suspected would just be another round of questioning about what was going on with him. His government probably wanted him to talk to a psychologist again, which he really didn’t want to do. So, he remained silent and refused to answer, hoping that his silence would be taken as an indication that he did not want to talk to anyone.
“Your family is here,” the doctor told him, by way of explanation who the visitors were. “Someone from the government called them yesterday afternoon to let them know you were safe. They got here earlier this morning, and they want to see you as soon as possible. They’ve obviously been very worried about you.”
Considering how the past several months had gone, Norway hadn’t believed anyone from his government would call his family. He did want to see them, though. He had wanted to go to them, if he could have figured a way to do so that he actually felt was safe. And so, although he still didn’t say anything, he nodded to show that he was willing to see them.
Once he had been left alone, Norway closed his eyes and tried to mentally prepare himself for seeing his family again. He still did not know what exactly had happened to cause them to be sent away in January, so he did not know how to keep it from happening again. He needed to be as much in control of himself as possible, though, and make sure not to show any signs of fear while they were there, in case that led to his being forbidden to contact them again. His attempt at composing himself was brought to an end when he heard an all too familiar exclamation.
“Nor! We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Are you alright?”
Norway had opened his eyes at the first exclamation and had to use all of his self-control not to flinch when he thought that Denmark was going to touch him. He hated being touched by someone who was standing over him. To his surprise though, Denmark did not actually touch him, and in fact, remained a short distance from the bed.
The brief moment of apprehension passed, Norway relaxed enough to look for the other members of the family. He noticed they all seemed to be keeping some small distance from him, although he was less surprised that the rest of them had done so. He had gotten used to the way Iceland usually stayed at the far end of the room now, although it still hurt since he saw it as his child rejecting him. And, he trusted Sweden and Finland enough to know that they would respect whatever boundaries he wanted to set.
“How are feeling, Norja?” Finland asked.
Norway wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question, which was part of the reason he hadn’t answered the earlier question either. He wasn’t really alright; the fact that he had been admitted to the hospital pretty much proved that. However, at the same time, he believed that was just because his government was being overcautious. Looking at his family, though, Norway could see that they had been worried about him—that they still seemed to be worried. “I’m alright,” he answered at last, not wanting them to worry anymore.
He could tell, though, that his answer did not seem to have convinced them. However, for the time being at least, none of them questioned him. They also did not ask him about what he had happened to make him run away. In fact, they seemed to be obviously trying to avoid doing or saying anything that might upset him. Once again, he found himself wondering exactly what had happened to make Birger decide to send them away—what was hidden in those moments he still had no memory of.
It was only a little while later that the doctor and the government worker both entered.
“Now that you have seen for yourselves that Haldor is safe, I have something that I want to discuss with all of you,” the government worker said. “I have been going through the records relating to what happened in January, and nothing seems to have been documented explaining why you weren’t allowed to have any contact with Haldor. In fact, I had no idea that contact had been forbidden until you asked for permission to see him on his birthday. However, over the past couple months, I did notice that something was bothering Haldor, and I chose to look the other way, as did most other people who noticed. So, now, we need to determine the course of action that would be best for Haldor’s recovery. However, in order to determine that, we need more information.” He then turned his attention to Norway. “Haldor, we need to ask you some questions that might be difficult for you to answer. We hoped that you might feel more comfortable talking about some of this with your family here, since from what I have been able to gather, this involves them. However, if you would rather not discuss this in front of them, we can arrange that.”
Considering that the questions probably wouldn’t involve anything that his family didn’t already know, that was an easy decision for Norway to make. “I want them to stay,” he said. Truthfully, he didn’t want to have the conversation that he knew was about to happen, but he knew that delaying it would only postpone the inevitable.
A couple moments passed in silence, before the first question was asked, “According to Birger’s side of the story, you had a nightmare the night after the holiday. He claims that you were acting irrationally, and that you ran away sometime after he left you alone to calm down. Based on other information I have learned, I doubt that his version is true, but I still need to hear your side.”
Norway hesitated for a moment before replying. The last time he had shared any personal information with a human he had been accused of being crazy. However, knowing there were four people in the room who would probably believe his side gave him the strength to answer. “I did have a nightmare, and when I woke up Birger was in my room. He blamed the nightmare on the fact that I had been allowed to spend the day with my family. For several months . . . I had been unhappy with . . . some of his rules.” His explanation was somewhat halting, as he kept pausing to think of how he wanted to word things. “When he made that accusation . . . I—I couldn’t take anymore . . . I told him that I would report what he had been doing. At first . . . he accused me of repeating lies that my family had told me . . . and he made accusations against them. That was when I told him the information he had been trying to get for several months . . . He didn’t believe me, though . . . That was when he accused me being irrational. Then, he left, after saying we could continue the conversation later.” There had been more to the conversation, but he didn’t want to talk about that. He didn’t want to have to explain exactly what information he had given Birger, because he was afraid that doing so might make the other humans believe that Birger’s version of the events was the true one.
“If you were that unhappy, why didn’t you come to me? I could have arranged for you to stay with someone else from the department.”
That was another question that Norway didn’t really want to answer. “I thought he was acting under your orders,” he admitted after a few moments of silence.
The rest of the questioning wasn’t much easier. He was asked to give more details about the way that Birger had treated him, about what exactly had been said that last night, and exactly what had happened back in January that had led to his having to be admitted to the hospital the first time. Norway did answer most of the questions about what had happened while he was staying with Birger, but he refused to give any other information. The events of that night had made even more convinced that he could not let humans learn anything about what had happened to him.
Then the questioning turned to something else that he didn’t want to talk about. “Why aren’t you eating?”
He didn’t really have an answer for that, and the question itself wasn’t strictly true. After all, he hadn’t completely stopped eating. “I don’t know,” he eventually answered, an answer that was mostly true.
“Do you realize what you doing to yourself?” This time the doctor was the one who ask the question. “Four months ago, you had lost enough weight that it was beginning to have a serious effect on your health. As I told you before, if you were human, you might not have survived. We can’t see you approaching that condition again, and just sit back and do nothing. And before you start thinking it, I’m not just saying this because of what you are. Right now, you are my patient, and I cannot let you continue doing something that is jeopardizing your health.”
“It’s not that bad,” Norway insisted. “I still have it under control.”
“Haldor, this might not be as easy to control as you think. And none of us are going to just be able to sit back and watch you risk your life like this.”
Apparently they had decided to stage an intervention. Norway looked over towards his family. None of them had said anything while he was being questioned by the two humans, but just having them there had made it easier to for him to say as much as he had. Of course, they also knew some of what he had not said—could not say. He wasn’t sure if they had been in on this intervention planning, but he could tell that they agreed with what the doctor had just said. He turned away again, because seeing their concern did make him feel like he was doing something wrong.
“You need help, Haldor. I don’t know what happened to you, but judging by the condition you are in, it’s something that you can’t deal with alone. You need to let someone help you.”
Did that mean that he was going to end up right back in a situation like the one he had run away to get out of? His government would just find someone else for him to stay with, who would control who he could be in contact with and whether or not he was allowed to attend meetings.
“Based on what happened last time, though, we think it might be best if you didn’t stay with someone from the government. We still don’t feel you should be on your own, until you have recovered more, but we have come up with a compromise, if you agree to you,” the government official said. “I spoke to your family earlier, and they are willing to look after you, if you would rather stay with them. It was wrong for Birger to try to keep you away from them, and I think they might have a better idea of what is bothering you than we do. However, if you would rather not stay with them, I can still look into making other arrangements. I don’t want to force you to stay somewhere you will be unhappy, especially after what happened last time.”
Norway didn’t respond immediately. He wanted to be with his family—that was pretty much all he had wanted since April. However, he couldn’t believe that he was actually being given that option; especially by someone from his government—not after the way Birger had treated that idea. Once again, he looked over towards his family, and finally managed to give his answer. “I would prefer to stay with them,” he said.
“Then you can stay with them. I will have your phone, and identification brought here before you are discharged,” the government official said. “Is there anything else you left at Birger’s house that you would like to have with you, or should we just hold onto everything else?”
Norway hadn’t really left that much at Birger’s besides the things that had been locked in the drawer. He had never been allowed to have much there in the first place, after all. He had left behind some clothes, a few books, and his stuffed bunny. Of those things, the bunny was the only one he kind of wanted, but he didn’t want to ask someone from his government for it, so he shook his head.
“Alright, I will have those things brought to you. If some kind of incident comes up, we will call you, but otherwise, you don’t need to come in to work until you’ve recovered. I don’t want you to worry about anything except getting better.”
“If that’s settled, I would like to talk to the four of you,” the doctor said, turning to the other Nordics. “There are a few things you need to be aware of before Haldor can be released into your care.”
~*~
They were led the same room where they had spoken to the doctor a couple of times back in January. And once they were all in the room, he didn’t waste any time getting to what he needed to say to them.
“Haldor will be discharged in a few hours, and I want to make sure you are ready to care for him.”
“Are you sure he’s ready? He seems to have gotten worse just in the last week.” After all, it had been only a little over a week since they had last seen Norway, when they had visited him on his birthday.
The doctor seemed to be taking a minute to consider his answer. “Truthfully, I’m not entirely sure, but I feel that based on what happened before, keeping him here probably won’t do him any good. I don’t know exactly what is bothering Haldor, but the physical problems he is having all seem to be caused by an emotional issue. At this point, I would say that the only way Haldor can recover is if that emotional issue is dealt with. My hope is that you will be able to give him whatever help he needs with that, because I don’t think there’s anyone else who can. We haven’t had much luck finding someone that he will talk to about anything that is bothering him, so I am hoping that he will talk to you at least.”
“He did talk about it a little bit at the beginning of April,” Finland said, referring the conversation they’d had the afternoon before the meeting. As far as anyone knew, that was the only time that Norway had talked to anyone about what was bothering him. Even most of what the family knew, they only knew because of what they had witnessed on that final morning of Scandia’s visit, and because of some of the comments that Scandia had made during that confrontation.
“I thought his emotional state had improved after he came back from the meeting,” the doctor said. “Some of us had been getting very worried about Haldor’s emotional state for several months, although at least one person claimed it was normal behavior for him. But it actually seemed like he didn’t actually feel anything, rather than like he was just trying to hide what he felt. I have noticed that he does that a lot of the time lately.”
“What about his physical condition? Is there anything we need to watch for there?” They wanted to avoid a repeat of what had happened last time, if they could. At various points during the last few months, they had all wondered if they had made a serious mistake by waiting so long to make sure that Norway got actual medical help. If they had taken him to a hospital right after they had found him, then it might have been possible to avoid the deterioration in Norway’s condition that had started with his panic attack at the world meeting and culminated in his suicide attempt. They couldn’t exactly ignore the fact that Norway could have died because they had waited so long before taking him to the hospital. But, they had given in to Norway’s instance that no one learn of his condition, and because of that, they had almost lost him.
“Haldor’s condition is still better than it was in January, but if it continues to deteriorate, it won’t be long before he reaches that point again. His blood pressure is a bit lower than it should be, although not dangerously so. However, if he starts having problems with lightheadedness or even fainting spells, that might be a sign that he needs medical help. As you might remember, a few months ago, the malnutrition actually had an effect on his heart. Fortunately, that resolved itself once he managed to gain back some of the weight he’d lost, and that has not recurred yet. However, if it does happen again, it might be harder to resolve this time. That is main reason I want you to watch for the symptoms of the low-blood pressure worsening; that may be a sign of some underlying problem. The main issue though, is that Haldor needs to get his weight back up to a healthy level. However, there are some things you will need to watch for there as well. I will make sure that you are given these instructions in written format before leaving, but basically you need to watch him to make sure that he is actually eating. Also, since he has probably been eating even less than usual in the past week, there are some things that he shouldn’t eat right away. All of that will be included in the printout, though.”
That was actually a little more than they had expected to be told to watch for, and it made them a little worried that Norway’s condition was worse than the doctor was telling them. That worry was not lessened when the written instructions they were given turned out to include information on how to help someone who was dealing with an eating disorder.
Author’s Note: This chapter is probably the end of the involvement that any of the human character will have in the story. I know I’ve said that before, but this time I think it will actually be true. And if anyone is wondering, Birger did get some trouble for the way he’d been treating Norway, but I’m not sure exactly what happened to him. The best case scenario for him is that he got transferred to a different government department.
Also, I don’t know if anyone is wondering about this, but since I did mention it being included in the instructions that the rest of the family was given I want to clarify that Norway has not actually been diagnosed with an eating disorder. He is showing some of the symptoms of one, and obviously his doctor is aware of that fact. However, no official diagnosis is being made, because they’re not sure whether or not he actually has one.
The next chapter should be out by the end of the month, and depending on how much time it covers, may finally include at least one long overdue conversation.
Once again, I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I don’t think there’s anything specific that I need to reply to this time, but I will say that one of my reviewers might not what I was referring to in the previous paragraph, when I mentioned that a long overdue conversation might finally be had. (And yes, that is intended to be something of a teaser for the next chapter.)
