What is... "Home?" (Hetalia Fanfic, W.A. '13 Finalist)

Chapter 26~!

Dr. Devis began to put his things in his bag: his stethoscope and thermometer, etc. "Don't worry, Mr. Jones. She just passed out from exhaustion and exposure to the cold. I would imagine she was walking for a long time in this storm."

"Jeez," America muttered. "Okay, okay. We'll ask her exactly what happened when she wakes up."

"Alright, that's good. And you said she sneezed a couple of times?"

America looked to his brother for confirmation. Canada looked up and nodded,, his hand layed over one of Melina's as she slept on the couch in the living room.

"Yeah, she sneezed twice," America said to the doctor.

"Okay. It's quite probable that she caught a cold, but she may not have. If she did then just give her some medicine and keep it from getting worse. Keep her warm and comfortable and Melina will be just fine."

"Thank you, Dr. Devis," Canada said even though he already knew the doctor couldn't see him.

America saw the doctor out of his home while Kumajirou patted Melina's nose with a gentle paw.

"Hey, Melina, wake up," he said in his high-pitched voice, but Melina just crinkled her nose and didn't wake.

"Kumasuna," Canada said, moving the bear's paw back down to his side. "Let her sleep, okay?"

"Who are you?" Kumajirou asked Canada, who just deadpanned and answered with the usual "I'm Canada."

"This is such a wacked-up vacation so far," America said as he walked back into the living room while rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.

"You can say that again," Canada replied, feeling the back of Melina's hand with his own. "She's still really cold. We should probably dry her off again since she's kinda damp still too."

America looked at his watch. "It's almost dinnertime. I'll be back, 'kay?"

"What? Where are you going?" Canada asked.

"To get the hero's universal cure!" America declared, grabbing his coat and raced out to the garage. The sound of his SUV leaving signalled that it was too late to stop him.

Canada sighed and picked up Melina to carry her bridal-style to her bedroom. Kumajirou toddled after them both and clambered up onto the bed beside Melina as she was laid down. Zip made the great leap up and settled next to her arm, licking it caringly.

"It'd be nice if you'd wake up so this wouldn't be such a mystery," Canada said. Her shoes and socks had already been peeled off and the two North Americans had used towels to pat her dry(er), but she wasn't quite warm and toasty yet, if you know what I mean.

"Why does this look so much like mine?" Mattehw wondered as he poked at Melina's ahoge. It was like his in a way that the only differences were it was longer (making a bigger arch in front of her face) and looped around twice, not just once. The second curl was near the end of the strand, leavinf just a little bit of un-loopy hair before it stopped. "Maybe we're related?"

That thought made him a little excited. 'Maybe she's my little sister! That would be cool, we could hang out a lot together.' But it also made him a little sad deep down. 'Yeah, but why am I a little sad at that idea? It'd be neat to have Melina as a sister... But maybe...' "I'm not missing any provinces or territories, I know I'm not. We shouldn't be related, i don't think..." 'That sounds right, I suppose.'

Kumajirou batted at the funky strand of hair and Matthew covered his roommate with a couple blankets and turned up the temperature in the room a little. In her sleep Melina raised one hand to her face and rubbed an eye without waking up. Matthew held one of her hands against his cheek for a second and smiled-- her skin was already getting warmer.