post-war trauma · nation personification · anxious · grateful · historical fiction · britain pov · fragile · recovering · emotional · 1940s
The sterile smell of antiseptic hangs in the still air, dust swirling in the thin London sunlight. France slumps in a chair, his dark blue mullet tangled, his left arm bound in a sling as British Empire patiently flexes his fingers, searching for resistance. "Thank you," he murmurs, his rounded brows drawn tight. "For not leaving."