Five, six, seven, ah rubbish! Arthur doesn't even care to continue counting how long Alfred has been pacing back and forth, his footsteps loudly echoing through the eerily silent room as he wrung his hands nervously while lost in thought.
Sighing Arthur placed his bookmark in between the pages of an old, withered book, and finally decided he could no longer stand the incessant movement coming from his husband. "You know, your pacing won't make him get well any time soon."
At the sound of his voice, Alfred's footsteps slowed before coming to a halt near their son's bed in his designated room at the hospital. He turned to look at Arthur for a moment before directing his woeful gaze towards their sleeping son, George. He is America's forty-second state and is known as Washington state worldwide although, to his parents, he is just George, their precious eight-year-old son who's sick right now. George was currently enveloped in a large quilted blanket his siblings had come together to make in hopes of aiding him in his recovery. At the moment, he had a breathing tube down his throat ever since his lungs had begun failing a few days ago after the rise of death from the fast-spreading virus Covid-19, more commonly known under the name, Coronavirus, had risen in his state.
Alfred allowed his hand to slip in between George's stiff fingers as he plopped himself down onto a nearby chair. "I'm sorry I just, I can't stop worrying about him and the rest of the kids. Did you see the looks on their faces when they saw George collapse at dinner? They must've been so scared and- and I couldn't be there for him when he needed me the most and now he's sitting here confined to this fucking bed-"
Arthur jumped up from his seat as he quickly shut the door before any of the nurses could come dashing through to escort his frantic husband out. The last thing he needed was a fight to break out between Alfred and the hospital staff. They would understand the situation, especially with the knowledge that Alfred was the personification of their nation. His citizens would be more than happy to let things slide, however, Arthur had no energy to deal with unnecessary issues. George's illness was enough. As he heard the door click shut, he joined Alfred by their son's bedside, intertwining their hands together, their rings slightly bumping into each other in the process. "Shhhh love, calm down. It's not your fault. You were already in the middle of attending an important meeting to discuss the virus in detail with the other nations-"
"But I wasn't here! I wasn't here to help him, any of them fight this!" He cried, his fingers tightening around Arthur's until his knuckles began to turn white. Tears streamed down his face as he sobbed loudly into Arthur's shoulder for a short while before they quieted, and all that remained of his outburst was the occasional soft sniffle coming from his reddened nose. For a while during this time, the room remained quiet, for Arthur could not bring himself to utter any words as he watched his normally strong husband break down for the first time in decades. There have been many moments over the years where it seemed as if he might cry yet he would stay calm and collected as the strong alpha he was. The last time he broke down like this was with New York's situation back in nine eleven. While he sat holding tightly to Alfred's shaking form as the man struggled to gain control of himself once more, the slight rustling of sheets and the sound of their son's heart rate on the monitor increasing quickly caught the omega's attention.
It seemed as though Alfred's outburst moments ago had disrupted George's slumber for he began to stir, eyes fluttering open drowsily while he turned his head in the direction of his sniffling father. His eyes roamed up, catching Arthur's as they widened in shock before settling on his father's small, shaking figure. George's unruly bushy brows he'd inherited from Arthur, as all his siblings from the two had, were pulled down into a frown as he recalled vaguely, through bits and pieces of conversation held while he slept, hearing his father blame himself for why he had become so sick and why, in his time of need, he hadn't been there to comfort him. This bothered the child so much that against his better judgment, he pulled off his breathing tube mask, setting it off to the side of his bed as he reached out towards Alfred.
"But you're here now dad," George uttered weakly as he grabbed onto his father's arm, stretching the sleeve of his dress shirt slightly. Alfred quickly turned towards the boy with tears in his eyes as he watched George struggling to breathe while sitting up without his breathing tube covering his mouth to give his lungs much needed air.
"George! You're not supposed to remove your breathing tube!" Arthur chided, moving to put it back in place while reaching over towards the headboard to press the button to call in a nurse.
"Daddy it's okay. I'm feeling a little better-" he started but was interrupted by a cough that chose to burst itself through his small chest at this very moment.
As Arthur fretted over the boy, pushing the call button rapidly, Alfred willed himself to speak.
"Hey there buddy, what you said earlier, you're right. I'm here now a-and I'm not going anywhere. Me and your daddy will be here along with your brothers and sisters to watch over you. I-I promise you I won't leave you alone again-" He choked out.
"Dad it's not your fault. And it's okay that you weren't here before, you- you had to work, daddy told me that at dinner before-" Again George's cough came back, forcing him to sit up rapidly as he clutched his chest in pain.
Thankfully the nurse that was called in came bursting through the door, carrying a new IV bag with sedatives to help poor George sleep. She set to work quickly readjusting his breathing tube, then changing his bag before exiting, closing the door behind her with a sad smile directed towards the solemn parents in the corner of the room.
"Who was feeling better again? Hmm? If you truly wish to feel better you'll need your rest." Arthur said as he lightly kissed George's forehead just as the medicine in the IV began to enter his bloodstream, causing his eyes to slowly flutter shut.
Once again the room was silent, only the occasional beep from the heart rate monitor could be heard as the couple stared down on George's sleeping figure. The pair soon exited the room to allow their son to get the rest he needed and silently walked outside into the parking lot where Alfred pulled out a cigarette from the box he'd kept hidden in his back pocket. He struggled to light it with his shaking hands so Arthur quietly held the lighter in the palm of his own hands for him until the butt was lit.
While Alfred took a long, much needed drag on his cigarette, Arthur chose this moment to speak.
"Hey, do you remember the day he was born?" He asked. The question seemed to help calm Alfred a bit because gone was the nervous look in his eyes, now replaced with a look of curiosity instead. A welcoming sight to Arthur considering their current situation.
"How could I forget? He was born underneath my cherry tree in front of the house. You had a rough time birthing him-"
"Oh, and who's fault was that? It's not easy carrying your children you know. They always come out 0.93 stone or more-"
"Says the one who won't stop overeating when he's pregnant."
"...I blame you for cooking very addictive meals."
At that, Alfred couldn't help softly laughing. Once he'd calmed down, he spoke once again, this time in a soft, pleading voice as his watery blue eyes focused on Arthur's never letting them go as he spoke.
"He's going to be okay right?"
"He's our child, he's going to be just fine."
Notes that I hope answer some questions:
This universe is set in the canonverse/omega verse
0.93 stone=13 pounds for all my fellow Americans out there
Nations are revealed and they have been since the time of their creation. Most people love them and wish to protect them
Alfred is an Alpha and Arthur is an Omega… funny enough, the roles were supposed to be switched but as I wrote the ending the conversation just… flowed? Honestly my omega verse is a universe where any nation can birth or help make a child with another nation. This only applies to nations and it's because America has slept with most of the world… they can't all be omegas right? Or things wouldn't work. I loosely use the term omega and alpha just so things don't get confusing since this is a oneshot in my complicated universe.
America has 50 states (50 kids) but Arthur did not birth all of them. He only birthed the original 13 plus some others so up to 21? I have to check again but the rest come from Alfred's relationships with other nations after* Alfred and Arthur's separation from the revolution
George is named George cuz… you guessed it! It's a tribute from Alfred to George Washington because of how close they were. Also he was born underneath a Cherry tree and Washington had a story about a Cherry* tree… coincidence?
George is physically 8 years old since he's technically the 8th to the last state to be given statehood. He was actually born wayyyyy earlier than 1889 tho and stayed a little baby for a while!
George is a Scorpio! His birthday is November 11, 1889
*Update! I changed the apple tree thing to cherry tree because a user on fan fiction .net corrected me about the fact that George Washington actually had a story about a cherry tree, not an apple tree like I originally thought. i also changed some minor details I messed up on hence the * in the notes