The Long Road: Chapter Five

[lothinielflowermaiden]

Author’s note: Hopefully, I’ll be able to get this chapter posted okay. This website has been having issues. And in another note, unlike in previous chapters, I had to give one of the humans that appears in this chapter a name. I got the name from a website called “Behind the Name.”

Chapter Five

It wasn’t until early evening that a doctor came to speak to them again. This doctor was not the same one they had spoken to the night before, but he led them to the same room where they had spoken to the other doctor.

 

“We managed to convince the government to let you see Haldor. They’re not exactly happy about it, but the psychologists feel that the presence of his family might be good for Haldor. It will be very limited contact at first, but it will increase as he recovers.”

 

“When can we see him?”

 

“As soon as we’re done talking, here, someone will take you to his room. You won’t be able to stay more than a few minutes, and only two of you can be in his room at one time.” The doctor looked around at all of them in turn before speaking again. “Haldor’s condition is very . . . fragile right now. You need to try to keep him from getting too excited. I can give you more details after you’ve seen him, as I’m sure you’ll have some questions.”

~*~

 

Denmark and Iceland were the first to enter Norway’s room, as they were the closest to Norway. They had been warned that Norway wasn’t in very good condition, but hadn’t really been prepared for the sight of him.

 

Once again they were struck by how frail Norway looked. They had been prepared for how thin and pale he was, and the fact that he had been hooked up to an IV. They were not prepared for the heart monitor, or for the fact that his injured wrist was now immobilized with a splint. His eyes were closed, but they couldn’t tell if he was actually sleeping.

 

For a few moments, neither of them went further into the room than the doorway, then they hesitantly approached the bed.

 

Norway opened his eyes shortly after the other two had approached the bed. “You’re still here?” His voice was barely more than a whisper. “He said you left.”

 

“We’re not leaving until you’re all better,” Denmark said. Of course, considering his usual behavior, he wouldn’t be leaving then, either. Denmark had never managed to gain the ability to know when Norway didn’t want him around, and usually Norway might have pointed that out. The fact that he didn’t was just more proof of how far from normal he was.

 

Iceland hadn’t said anything, yet. He still didn’t know whether he was going to be sent away, so it wasn’t like he could promise not to leave. He also wondered who had told Norway that the rest of the family had left, when it wasn’t true. It was possible that someone in Norway’s government really objected to the time that the family spent together, and had used that tactic to try to distance Norway from them.

 

Norway had closed his eyes again, and they weren’t sure whether or not he was still awake. During the days before they had brought him to the hospital, the length of that short conversation had occasionally be the longest he was able to stay awake.

 

Denmark and Iceland did not stay in Norway’s room too much longer, as the doctor had said not to stay too long, and Sweden and Finland still needed their turn to see Norway.

 

Sweden and Finland did not stay in Norway’s room for very long, and was it clear when they left that they were just as concerned about his condition as Denmark and Iceland had been. Now that the whole family had had a chance to visit Norway, they were taken back to what they were beginning to think of as the conference room, where the doctor was waiting for them.

 

“I assume you’re wondering about the heart monitor and about why we put the splint on his wrist,” the doctor said. “We wanted to make sure his wrist was immobilized, just as a precaution. He occasionally becomes agitated while asleep or immediately after waking up, and we did want to take the chance that he may worsen his condition if he tries to move it. There is some significant tendon damage. We’ll also a little concerned about what else he might do, during those times he’s agitated, so someone will be watching him closely all he night. He tried to remove the IV earlier before we stopped him.”

 

“Is he going to be all right?” Did we bring him in in time? was the question that went unasked.

 

“Hopefully,” the doctor answered. “But some of that will depend on him. He is very weak right now. And a couple times today he has had an abnormal heart rate. We’re not sure if it’s from blood loss or if it’s a result of how underweight he is. I am concerned that he could be in serious danger if he loses anymore weight; he’s right at the point where he might risk organ damage. And then there’s the damage to his wrist. As soon as Haldor is stable enough, he will need an operation to repair the damaged tendon.”

 

“How much of a concern is the abnormal heart rate?”

 

“We can’t be sure yet,” the doctor answered. “At this point, all we can do is monitor it. If it doesn’t improve we may have to try something, but at the moment, we waiting to see if it resolves. We think it is a result of the weight he has lost, so we want to try to get him back up to a healthy weight. Obviously, that will take some time though, so if the problem with his heart worsens in the mean time, we may have to give him medication to correct the problem. And since it’s probably going to be your next question, I don’t know when he will have the operation to repair the damaged tendon in his wrist. It needs to be within the next few days, but we want to wait until he’s a little stronger. Most likely, he will have the surgery the day after tomorrow.”

 

~*~

 

It was midmorning when Norway was awoken by one of the doctors entering his room. He had fallen asleep shortly after his family had left his room, and had slept through the night, even though medical personal had been in and out of the room all night.

 

The doctor approached the bed. “How are you feeling this morning, Haldor?” he asked.

 

Norway did not answer the doctor’s question.

 

“No more nightmares?” The doctor made another attempt to get an answer from him.

 

“No.”

 

“Hmm. That’s good at least. Do you feel up to eating some breakfast?”

 

Norway didn’t reply to that. He hadn’t had much of an appetite since Scandia’s visit several months previously.

 

“If you won’t eat regular food, we’ll put in a feeding tube,” the doctor said, seemingly noticing his hesitation. “You can’t afford to lose any more weight, without risking more damage to yourself.” He looked over at the heart monitor. “You heart rate is still too low,” he said. “We’re just lucky your family finally brought you in here, before you did any more damage to yourself. Now, are you going to eat breakfast, or do we need to force-feed you?”

 

“I’m not hungry.” He wanted to avoid being force-fed, though, so after a few moments of silence, he added, “I’ll try to eat something.”

 

“Good. I’ll have something brought in.”

 

Norway was alone for a few moments after the doctor left. It was the first time he had been alone while he was awake since he had been injured. He knew what his family believed had happened, but he didn’t know how to explain the truth to them. It was too much having them know what Scandia had done to him. If they learned anymore than that, he would never be able to face them again. Those first few days he had been glad to be back with his family, but ever since the meeting, he had begun to wish that they had never found him. They could do nothing to stop what would happen, after all. Somehow, Norway had to convince them to leave while there was still time.

 

He was lost in those thoughts, when a woman entered his room with a breakfast tray. She positioned the tray where he could reach the food with his good hand, and raised the bed into a sitting position.

 

Norway was relieved to see that they didn’t expect him to eat anything too heavy. Breakfast consisted of a bowl of porridge. He was able to eat about half of the bowl, before pushing the remainder aside.

 

The woman, who had remained in the room while he ate, came over to take the tray. She gave him a slightly disapproving look, after seeing how much food was left in the bowl.  “Do you want me to put the bed back down so you can rest some more?” she asked.

 

Norway shook his head. For the first time in several days, he felt free of the exhaustion that had plagued him. It was still there, but he felt like he could stay awake for a while longer. And, he wanted to postpone sleeping for as long as he could. He knew what would happen if he let himself sleep.

 

He hadn’t been alone for more than half an hour when the woman came back. This time she brought a pitcher of water, an empty glass, and one of the little cups hospitals used to distribute medicine.

 

“If you won’t eat, you at least need some nutrients,” she said. She set the items down on the tray by his bed and filled the glass with water. “You need to take these, and try to at least drink the water.” The medicine cup contained several vitamin supplements.

 

Norway forced himself to take the medication and drink most of the glass of water. It hadn’t been easy, though, as he was afraid of getting sick if he swallowed anything. He knew how bad his condition must look to other, but he’d had reasons for doing it. Reasons that he could not explain, even to his family who already knew part of his secret.

 

She seemed satisfied this time, although she left the pitcher and glass by his bed. “Someone will be by soon to talk to you. And I think your family is planning to visit later this afternoon.” Having said that, she left him alone, although he suspected he wouldn’t be alone for long.

 

The day before there had been people in and out of his room, but he had been too out of it to pay much attention to them. He remembered speaking to a couple of doctors, as well as to some people from his government. He also remembered that his family had been there for a little while in the evening as well, but he hadn’t been fully aware. He thought he might have said something about being surprised they were still there, though.

 

As he had suspected, he was not left alone for long. While he was still trying to remember what he might have said to his family the previous night, a woman entered his room. Norway thought that he might have seen this woman briefly the day before, but he wasn’t sure. The woman pulled a chair up to the side of his bed, and sat down.

 

“I don’t know if you remember, but my name is Rosemarie. I came to see you yesterday,” she said. “You weren’t up to talking, then, though. How are you feeling today, Haldor?”

 

Norway didn’t reply to her. He suspected what she was most likely there for, and he really didn’t want to have that conversation already. He had known when his family had brought him to the hospital a couple of days ago, that it would be only a matter of time before someone would make him talk to a psychiatrist.

 

“I know who you really are,” she said. “So you don’t need to worry about revealing that. And your government has already made it clear that I can’t tell anyone about you. Your government is very worried about you, Haldor. You realize that, don’t you?”

 

“They don’t need to worry.”

 

She gestured towards the splint immobilizing his left wrist, and the wrist was still bandaged under the splint, as well. “You attempted suicide. That seems to be a valid reason to worry. Add to that the fact that you’re practically refusing to eat.”

 

“I have a reason for that,” Norway said, after a few moments of silence. “And I can’t talk to you about it.”

 

“Can’t or won’t?” Rosemarie asked. “Well, we don’t need to talk about that. We can just talk.”

 

“I’m not going to tell you what happened.” He thought it was important to make that clear from the beginning.

 

“You don’t need to tell me any more than you feel comfortable talking about,” she said. “However, your government is concerned about you, and they want to be assured that you are not a danger to yourself. And I would imagine your family is worried about you as well. They stayed here all day yesterday, even though they had been told they wouldn’t be allowed to see you.”

 

“They don’t need to worry about that.”

 

It seemed to take her a moment to understand what he meant by that. “Why shouldn’t they worry, after you were found in a locked room with a cut on your wrist? What other possible conclusion is there, except that you did that to yourself.”

 

“I didn’t.” No one had actually asked him what had happened. So far, everyone had just assumed that he had attempted suicide. And he knew that he was what it looked like.

 

“You didn’t hurt yourself? Then was this a cry for help?”

 

“No. It just happened. I can’t explain how,” Norway answered. Telling the truth wouldn’t help in this situation. Humans would never believe him.

 

“Okay. Well, could you explain why you’re refusing to eat?”

 

“I’m not refusing. I’m just not very hungry.”

 

“And is there a reason for that?”

 

“I can’t explain it to you.”

 

“Is it a nation issue, Haldor? Is that why you can’t explain it?”

 

There was silence for several moments, as Norway refused to answer. He wouldn’t even look at Rosemarie.

 

After several moments, Rosemarie broke the silence to ask. “What happened six months ago?”

 

“Nothing . . .”

 

“According to the government’s records, you asked for time off. Then, a couple of months later, your family contacted the government to ask where you were. Then two days ago they brought you here, in this condition, so something must have happened. Did your family have something to do with it? Did someone hurt you?”

 

Once again, Norway refused to answer, or to look at her. But just for a moment, something had shown on his face, before he managed to force his usual non-expression back into place. It had only been for a few seconds, but she still caught it.

 

“Haldor, did someone hurt you?” she asked again.

 

“Please, don’t ask about it. I can’t tell you.”

 

“Was it a member of your family? Did one of them hurt you?”

 

“No.”

 

“Haldor, we need to know what happened to you. You’re too important to all of us. No one wants to take any chances with your safety. Will you please tell me who hurt you?”

 

“I can’t tell you.” He looked away again, and it was obvious that he was tired, and the weakness that had plagued him for the last few weeks was not gone.

 

“Alright, I’ll leave so you can rest now. But you have to talk to someone, Haldor. It’s the only way we can help you.”

 

“I don’t need help,” Norway said. “I’ve dealt with this by myself for . . .” He stopped talking, realizing what he had almost said. First he had admitted that something was wrong. Second, he had almost admitted how long ago it had happened. Rosemarie may know that he wasn’t human, but that didn’t mean he needed to admit how long ago the incident had started.

 

Rosemarie had gotten up and began to leave the room, but she stopped by the door when Norway spoke. Turning back to face him, she asked, “Haldor, is it something from your past that is bothering you?”

 

After his accidental admission, Norway realized there was no point in concealing that. “Yes,” he barely spoke above a whisper and it was clear that admission was reluctant.

 

“But you won’t talk about it?”

 

“No.”

 

Realizing that she would get no more out of him, Rosemarie turned and left the room. As she did so, she made a mental note to consult a historian before the next time she talked to Norway.

---------------------------

 

Author’s notes: I know I made a mistake about the hospital visiting hours in the previous chapter. When this website is a little more reliable, I will try to post a corrected version of the chapter. Also, I’m not as satisfied with this chapter as I’ve been with previous chapters, but I’ve already rewritten the whole thing once.

 

I apologize if the scene with the psychologist ended up reading a bit more like a police interrogation. I partially based Rosemarie on my former best friend, who was a psychology major, and who I could imagine asking those kinds of questions. I’ve tried to block out any other experiences with psychiatrists, so that was the best I could do.

 

I’m still making up some medical stuff, here, although I am doing research to back some of it up. I do know that it is a little unusual that they would give him the vitamins, since the IV would contain nutrients. Basically, that was partially a test, because they’re trying to figure out some of what’s wrong with him. They wanted to see if he would take the pills.

 

I’m not sure when the next chapter will be out, as I’ve been having a lot of issues with writer’s block lately, and I’m not quite sure where I’m going with this story at the moment.