I posted the first part of this arc last year (lol get it) so you might wanna skim through the part before this to rejog your memory real quick.
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It is currently 2016. The 21st century. Which made explaining a sword injury on a person dressed in 15th century Polish armor at the hospital very awkward and made the doctors very confused.

The waiting room the hospital gave Shelby's party was tense to say the very least. Feliks, at first, had been sitting there alone, and had to text America and explain to him that his girlfriend was currently in the hospital. He was understandably not too happy with this news. Slowly, more people began to arrive. Canada and France came to comfort their brother. Poland decided he couldn't sit in a room alone at the moment, and eventually, Lithuania arrived.

As time ticked on, things boiled over.

"I'm nuking Germany." America muttered.

"No, you're not." Canada sighed.

"Yes I am. Prussia is east Germany. I have to nuke Germany."

"I find a lot of comfort that you are not the individual with the nuclear code." France stated, and America rolled his eyes. "You need to calm down. Shelby is not dead. She will be fine. It is just... Going to take a bit to heal."

"Fine? She is not fine!" Alfred glared at his older brother. Then, his sharp glare switched to Poland, who sat across the room, next to Lithuania, who brought him some clothes to change into, so he didn't look like he had just stepped off the battlefield. "What were you even thinking, dragging her into that stupid fight with a country that doesn't even exist anymore, dude? Are you really that much of a moron?"

"Hey, maybe we should all take a deep breath?" Lithuania suggested calmly.

"Do not be yelling at me. Her participation was totally consensual. I did not think she was stupid enough to run right into Prussia's sword!" Poland snapped, his blonde hair unusually disheveled.

"DUDE HAVE YOU EVEN MET HER?" America screamed, causing everyone in the room to flinch. "She has no common sense!"

"Alfred, this isn't the best time to be talking about this." Canada pointed out.

"No, it's effing true! If she had common sense, she wouldn't have jumped in between a sword coming for Poland when he's a freaking country. He wouldn't have died." Alfred seethed.

"Humans run on emotions, Alfred." France said, getting up and standing in front of his brother. He bent down and grabbed the sides of the teen's face. "Shelby is not immune to impulse. She has come to think of us as no different than her. She did not want to see her best friend get hurt."

"She's sorta like you in that sense." Canada murmured. "Kinda stupid, but brave, eh?"

"She's not supposed to be brave! That's my job! She's the smart one, I'm the brave one, Poland is the gay one-"

"Hej, pieprzyć was mężem!" Poland snapped, and Lithuania grabbed his wrist as he jumped up. "Don't insult me because you're all pissy! You think I meant for this to happen? Because if you do, then you are not only an idiot, but a dickass!"

America jumped up, causing both Canada and France to grab onto to him and keep him from lunging forward at the Pole. It was in that moment, however, a nurse walked inside, causing the five countries to freeze. She stared at the group, her mouth gapped slightly as she looked at each individual's face. They slowly melted into more relaxed states, and Francis stepped forward with a smile.

"Bonjour Madame." He flashed a sweet smile, stepping forward. "Is there any news on our sister?"

The nurse looked doubtfully at the group, hesitation in her eyes. Alfred instantly felt his stomach drop. If she had good news, why would she look so nervous?

"There were... Some complications." The nurse began. She held her clipboard with a white knuckled grip.

Poland's eyes widened. "What kind of complications?"

The nurse's lips pulled deeper into a sad frown. "We did everything we could to save her..."

France blinked. "S-save her? It was only her shoulder!"

"Yes, but she lost far too much blood. Between the blood transfusion and the operation..." The nurse choked up. "Her heart gave out. We tried resuscitating her, but eventually, the doctor had to call it."

Alfred felt numb. Half of him didn't believe the words he was hearing, it couldn't be true after all. Shelby was his best friend, he was her's and she was his. They had time... They had to have more time... She couldn't leave him after just 8 months. Their 5 seconds together weren't up yet.

Alfred looked around, his head swirling madly. Poland had a river of tears streaking his face, though his expression was stone. Lithuania rubbed his back. He showed no grief, being he never really got to know her, but he still frowned sadly. Canada and France were crying as well, softly, not like him, though Alfred couldn't determine whether it was for her or himself. He felt his own rush of hot tears cascading down his cheeks, but he didn't bother to wipe them away. His body started shaking, his vision started blurring.

Shelby... Was dead.

"Alfred?" The nurse asked in a familiar voice. She walked forward. "Alfred, are you okay?" He wanted to shout out that that was the stupidest question anyone had ever asked him, but he found his lips were sealed. The nurse set her hand on his shoulder. It was surprisingly cold. He recognized her voice from somewhere.

"Alfred, wake up."

Alfred's eyes snapped open. Staring over him in his livingroom was Shelby, her grey-blue eyes swimming with concern. She had her hand gripped on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked. Her voice sounded so different when she was worried. It sounded sweet and soft.

Alfred looked around. He was sprawled out on his couch. The TV was playing the ending credits to Hunger Games: Catching Fire. He and Shelby were having a marathon. He hadn't even made it past the Reaping in the first movie before he fell asleep.

His body was still tight from his dream. "I'm... Okay. You're okay." He breathed the last part, his eyes locking with her's again.

She raised a brow. "Well, I know I'm fine... But you're crying." She pointed out, reaching forward and wiping away the moisture from one of his cheeks.

He flushed, instantly wiping his other cheek before removing his glasses and roughly wiping at his eyes. Shelby took the glasses slowly from Alfred's hand and walked away to the bathroom. He composed himself, forcing himself to relax. She's alive. It was just a dream. They still have time. Their 5 seconds together weren't up yet.

Shelby returned, holding out Alfred's glasses. The lens were clean and smudge free. "Sorry, it's been bothering me for ages." She admitted, slipping the glasses back on his face. He smiled. She could be such a mom sometimes.

He opened his arms, "Can I have a hug?"

She blinked in surprise, "Oh, uh, yeah. Of coarse." She stated, leaning down and wrapping her arms around him. He pulled her in until she had no choice but to sit down on his lap, and buried his face in her messy hair.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

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YAY POLBY FRIENDSHIP AND SHELBMERICA FLUFF ALL IN ONE DREAM

It's a dream come true, right ಠ◡ಠ

Jk I'm not sure if that's considered fluff but that's about as fluffy as I get so take it or leave it people