Yet again Francis found himself sitting next to his husband in the hospital.
Arthur was sleeping fitfully and Francis couldn't help the tears the poured down his face.
He kept staring at the tube in the man's throat as if he was being forced to memorize it.
"Arthur," he whispered sadly.
The memory of the doctor arriving kept playing in his head.
He was clutching Arthur's hand desperately as he tried to control his panic.
Someone knocked on the door and he turned to see who was there.
The doctor stepped into the room holding a clipboard with a grim expression on his face.
"Mr. Bonnefoy?" he asked.
Francis nodded.
"What is it? What's wrong with Arthur?" he demanded with terrified eyes.
The doctor shifted his clipboard in his arms.
"Coughing up blood can be caused by many different factors and diseases. We ran some tests and one came back positive."
Francis waited impatiently.
"Which one was positive?"
The doctor met his eyes with a sad expression.
"Pulmonary edema," he said simply.
Francis gasped.
"Ar-are you sure?"
The doctor nodded.
"I'm afraid so." He peered at his clipboard again. "According to the damage to his kidneys and heart, he's been dealing with this for a while; at least a couple months." He looked back at Francis. "Did anything happen in the last few months?"
"He had twins. We're still not sure how."
The doctor dropped his clipboard in surprise.
"He had kids?" Francis nodded. "You need to bring them in right away! They could have been affected!"
Francis paled.
First his Arthur and now his kids could be sick?
"I'll have the people watching zem bring zem in," he said with worry clear in his voice. "But until zen, what about Arthur?"
The doctor sighed.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Kirkland's heart and kidneys are too damaged to save him."
Francis almost passed out.
"Y-You mean…Arthur is going to-going to-" he couldn't finish his sentence.
"Mr. Kirkland is going to die," he said clearly.
Francis felt his head hit the back of his chair before everything went black.
He had woken up half an hour later and immediately called Feliciano and Ludwig.
"Ciao!" an excited voice answered.
"Feliciano! I need you to bring Courcil and Peureux here immediately!"
"Why? What's wrong?" he asked in an unusually serious tone.
"I don't have time to tell you! Is Ludwig zere?"
He heard a rustling then the strict tone of the German.
"Vich hospital are you at?" he demanded.
"Pitié-Salpêtrière. Please hurry!" "Ve shall see you soon!" he yelled before hanging up.
Francis had waited for about forty minutes before Ludwig burst into the room with his kids in hand.
He leapt out of his chair and ran to meet him.
"Courcil! Peureux!" he cried as he pulled them into his arms.
He felt more tears threatening to spill out at the corner of his eyes, but he held them in.
"Now! Vhat was ze problem!"
Francis took a deep breath.
"Arthur has pulmonary edema. Apparently he has for a while."
"Vhat does that mean?"
Francis looked away from him.
"He's going to die."
Ludwig gasped and his eyes widened.
He heard a thump behind him and turned to see that Feliciano had fainted.
"Oh Italy, vhat am I going to do wizh you?" he sighed as he scooped the man into his arms.
"You call him by his national name in public?" Francis asked.
Ludwig nodded.
"Ja. Vhy?"
Francis looked at the man in lying motionless in the crisp, white bed.
"He never let me. He didn't want anyone to be suspicious of who we were."
Ludwig looked at Arthur too.
"Do you know how long he has?"
Francis shook his head.
"Zey haven't told me yet." He looked down at his kids in his arms. "But I want to know if zey're okay first."
Ludwig nodded.
"I shall go get a nurse."
He laid Feliciano on the spare bed and walked into the hall.
Francis cuddled his kids to his chest and hoped they would be okay.
Francis was pacing nervously around the room.
Courcil and Peureux had been taken away to be examined a little while ago and he was waiting for the results.
"Calm down France," Germany said from his chair. "Zhey'll be fine."
Francis knew he was probably right, but he couldn't help worrying.
The door opened and the doctor walked in.
Francis immediately stopped his pacing and practically ran over to the man.
"I have the results of the tests we ran on your sons."
"Vhat are they?" Ludwig insisted.
The doctor peered at his noted.
"Umm…the bigger one, Courcil, is fine. He wasn't affected by the disease."
"And Peureux?" Francis urged.
"It's good you brought him in. He has a little damage to his kidneys, but we can take care of that." He looked Francis in the eye. "He will have to stay with us for some time, but he should be able to go home in a few weeks."
"Is zat why he was so small?"
The doctor nodded.
"He should start growing to a proper size after clear him of the disease."
"Can I see zem?"
"You can see Courcil, but Peureux has already started treatment."
"Merci. Zank you."
The doctor checked on Arthur.
"How much longer does he have?"
"Maybe a week, two at the most."
Francis felt tears sting the edge of his eyes.
"Will he wake up soon?"
"I have no way of telling that."
Ludwig walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Go see Courcil. Ve'll call you if Arthur wakes up."
Francis faced him.
"Zank you, Ludwig."
He turned back around to the doctor and followed him out of the room.
AN: I had to write another chapter! People were freaking out about Arthur and wanting to know what was wrong with him.
For those of you who don't know, this story is about tragedy and getting over said tragedy. It also has revenge in it. That's going to be coming up soon.
I had to research illnesses that make you cough up blood and this was one of the few that was fatal if untreated and obviously it was untreated.
The next chapter is probably going to be sad and might include the mentioned revenge.
Oh! And yes, GerIta is implied.
See ya soon!