So I have not the slightest idea why I wrote this. I've been recently diagnosed with depression (what a bummer), and one of the symptoms was waking up at random hours. So I've been up since three in the morning (Eastern time), and I was online. A picture of window washers dressed up as Spider-Man, and a picture of Batman visiting sick children gave me inspiration for this. In my headcannon, I see America as the type of person to put on a superhero costume to cheer up sick kids. He is a big kid himself right? This is the first of many 'Reader Oneshots' which are oneshots surrounding my other Hetalia story 'The Reader' (Go check it out.) This is a test drive to see how people react to this. And seeing that I got inspirations from two pictures on tumblr and I've been up since three in the morning, it's probably gonna suck. So read and review and tell me what you think. I don't own jack except for Hope Marianne. The rest go to their respective owners. And enjoy!
Silly To Worry
America hated seeing his citizens sick.
Every time he went to hospitals to visit patients, it always broke his heart to see sick his people, especially children, in hospital beds. And with that, he decided to cheer up the kids by wearing a superhero costume (mostly Spider-Man© or Batman©), and visiting children's wards to cheer them up. The kids would absolutely love it, and it brought such big and bright smiles on their faces. Seeing their smiles made America happy as well, even if it was just a moment. During the wars, he visited Veteran's hospitals as well to thank them personally (on the behalf of their country of course). At times, he would starts to cry at the sight of his citizens. Some may have lost a limb, more than one limb, or possibly their life, but their spirit and pride for their country never wavered, and that made America so very proud of his this time, he wasn't dealing with sick children or injured veterans. He was dealing with a sick teenager, or young woman as Britain like to call her, and he had not much experience with women.
To put it simply, Hope Marianne was sick with a cold.
It was hardly her fault for getting sick, and no one blamed her for that. She may have been the Reader with abilities to travel through time to defeat The Phantom, but she was still human, who were susceptible to diseases. It was normal and everyone knew that. Still, that didn't make America feel any better about the situation. Like any other citizen, it broke his heart to see her in such a sick state, but for some reason, it hurt him a little more than any other regular citizen. Her absence was duly noted to everyone, especially him. There was no one to give him sarcastic and clever remarks (except Britain, but that didn't make it any better). There was no one to talk to about superheroes with as she was a very big fan of superheroes and superhero movies, or video games which she was also a very big fan of. There was no one to eat hamburgers with as she was the only one who would tolerate eating hamburgers, and with him as well. Needless to say, America had started to get sorta lonely without her presence.
He usually went into her room to either check on her every once in a while, or to give her tea (which she always loved to drink even in the summer like a true Brit), cold medicine (which she hated to take and usually put up a fight before drinking it) or chicken noodle soup. They would usually make small talk (which would usually be America walking and Hope listening) with one another about upcoming superhero movies, video games. Sometimes, he just let her do all the talking, and he would sit back and listen. He was very glad to see that despite being sick, she still had the cheerful funny personality. Most of the time, their small talk ended when she was finished with her soup or tea, or when she felt tired. It rarely ended when her illness gave her a coughing spell so bad that he would force her to get some more rest. However their small talk ended, he would do the same thing before he leave. He would tuck her in, and always tell her to get better soon. She would complain that she wasn't a child, but would give a small smile and a nod, and fall right asleep peacefully.
A few days to a week was all she needed to get better, as he was told by his friend Japan. She would be good to go in a week. But, America was an impatient man and wanted her to get better right away. But time was not on his side. It's been almost three days and there hasn't been any sign of improvement from her. He knew it was silly to worry about her over a cold no less, but he couldn't help it. She was still a citizen, a part of him, and it still broke his heart to see her ill. He really want to help her feel better, or at least get a smile on her face, but what? And that's when it hit him.
To say that Hope Marianne Boyd was miserable was an understatement.
She always hated getting sick, which was probably the reason why she rarely got sick in the first place. She hated everything about being sick. She even hated the word 'sick'. Her older sister was usually the sick one, while she was the healthy one. Very few times had she been absent from school because of sickness. So it's to be assumed that she wasn't a happy camper when started showing the symptoms of a cold. It started a few days ago, after returning from a mission when she started sneezing. She brushed it off, assuming someone had a lot to say about her. But soon enough, she started to get a bad cough, which she also brushed off until the cough resulted in her a sore throat. The countries noticed the symptoms, especially Britain. He tried to check her temperature, and get her to rest many times, but she was too damn stubborn (a trait she, sad to say, got from him). She would tell him that he was silly to worry about her. But everything changed when she passed out in the kitchen.
So here she was, lying in bed, banned from getting out of it indefinitely (except for bathroom visits) by Britain. She would complain, but in the end he would always win the argument with experience, and much better argument skills. She didn't have a television in her room, but then again, British Television wouldn't interest her that much anyway other than Doctor Who and a few other shows they showed on BBC America. She was banned from using her laptop by France because he assumed that it would make her illness worse (which was completely nonsensical in her opinion.), and Germany and Britain agreed with him. On the bright side, she was still able to use her iPhone when she wanted, so it wasn't too bad. But that soon got boring after a while. Like America, she wanted to get better right away. At the moment she was currently reading the news on her New York Times© app, when she heard a knock on the door.
"Come in." She said with a weak raspy voice. The door opened to reveal...Captain America©? The Reader sat up instantly and raised an eyebrow at the superhero in question.
"What the hell?"
"Surprise Hope!" An all too familiar voice scream excitingly to her. She rolled her eyes and sighed at her country.
"America? What the hell are you doing in that costume?" Captain America revealed as America slowly walked toward her bed and knelt beside it.
"I usually go to kids' hospitals dressed up as a superhero to cheer them up, and today I'm doing the same for you!" He said as he smiled brightly at her. She shook her head at her country, but was actually very grateful for this. And she realized how generous and bighearted he was when she found out he visited children at hospitals dressed up as superheroes just for the sake of cheering them up. And now he was doing the same thing for her. She was unbelievably touched, but she would never tell him that.
"You...don't like it?" He asked in a small voice as he looked down and gave the kicked puppy look.
"I love it. This was very generous of you to do for me. I really appreciate this. Thank you." She said as she gave a real smile for the first time in days. One of the smiles she always give when she was reading a good book, or got a breakthrough on her missions. Seeing that smile, in turn made him smile even more.
"I just wanted to cheer you up. I was worried about you since you got sick, and I wanted to make sure you was okay."
"America, you are silly to worry about me. It's just a cold! I've had them before. I'll be good as new in a few days."
"I know, but you're still my citizen Hope. You're a part of me, a part of why I'm the hero. I'm always going to worry about you." She stared at him for a while, not saying a word to him.
"Wow. I didn't know I meant so much to you."
"Duh! Of course you do! You're the citizen of the hero! You're everything to me!" He exclaimed as he looked away, realizing he was blushing. She couldn't help but chuckle (because that was all she could do at the moment with her sore throat and all) at his exclamation.
"America, you are too sweet for your own damn good sometimes. But thank you for all of this." She said as she began to yawn.
"Tired?"
"A little." She said as she yawned again, much louder and bigger than before.
"You should get some rest."
"And miss this chance to see you in spandex, not a chance." She said jokingly as she started to have a small coughing spell.
"Okay, then how about this? From now until you get better, I'll dress up as a superhero for you-"
"Done."
"I wasn't finished." Hope smiles sheepishly and apologetically toward the Western nation.
"Sorry. Continue."
"As I was saying, I'll dress up a superhero for you from now until you get better if you get some rest, and stop fighting to drink the cold medicine." At first Hope thought he was joking about the deal, but his serious face proved that he wasn't joking. Hope had to really think about this. Was it worth drinking that disgusting cold medicine to see America in spandex? Then again, it would be a rare occasion and she probably wouldn't get this chance again. And she believed Alfred would be happy to pretend to be a superhero, even if it was just for a short while and only for her.
"Fine. I'll get some rest and stop putting up a fight when I have drink cold medicine."
"Good! That starts now by the way."
"No fair." She said as she yawned once more.
"It is too fair. You're yawning, which means you're tired, which means you need some rest." Hope crossed arms and began to pout like a child. America started to laugh, thinking how adorable she looked. The young woman who always wanted people to treat her like an adult was pouting like a child. Ultimately, her tiredness got the best of her as she finally laid down on her pillow. As usual, America tucked her in as if she was a child once more.
"You don't need to tuck me in. I'm not a child you know."
"Really? That pout of yours said differently."
"Shut it." America laughed, knowing he was right (for once).
"Get better soon okay?"
"Of course. You're silly to worry about me not getting better." She said as she yawned once more and fell asleep. America watched her sleep peacefully for a few moments, and then quietly left her bedroom. A few days later, Hope recovered from her illness and was healthy and happy again, thus proving her country wrong that he was in fact silly to worry about her over a cold.
But that didn't mean would stop worrying about her, even if it was silly to worry in her opinion and his own.
So, I think I made America too OOC in this. I was focusing more on his caring, sensitive side than the foolish, idiotic side he's always portrayed as. Whoops. And I do plan on writing more one shots with each specific country as a focus. Like how this one was America, the next one would probably be Britain or France. These oneshots won't be in order. They will take place before, during, or after 'The Reader', so ya never know what's gonna happen next. Some will be things I wanted to include in the chapters but couldn't, or scenes that you noticed were missing, or just something ridiculous. I warn you, some will contain spoilers for future chapters, but not much. That's all folks! I'm going to try and get more sleep for class. Until next time!
~Hopefaith2
