A week had passed since the eye appointment, and after the three more functional of the four nations had ordered the glasses, they had been informed that they would receive said spectacles in about seven days. Even if it was beginning to seem as if the glasses were going to be a bit late, since the current day was Sunday and it was the eighth day of their wait, they were still willing to remain patient. This was mostly because of the fact that America's lack of eye wear didn't seem to be too much of a problem. Sure, even for someone who was near-sighted, he appeared to be quite blind, and he would sometimes bump into things, or would become confused as to who was who (the other three could tell that he was at least able to decipher a few of the obvious differences between them by now, they just didn't believe that facial recognition was his strong suit at that moment, so whenever they were all sitting down; which made it difficult for him to study their physical bodies through his blurry vision, they would all end up looking about the same to him). This came to them as no surprise, though, as the eye doctor did warn them that he was close to being considered legally blind, but that was fortunately without any eye lenses, so obviously, they would have nothing to worry about once he received his glasses, as it would mean that he would be far from actually being considered legally blind. After all, it wasn't very likely, due to the fact that his vision didn't really change at all over the past two years, that his eyesight would remain horrible while wearing the spectacles. At least he was used to being practically blind, which was why he didn't seem to have too much trouble navigating throughout the house, other than sometimes running into things.
Even if they were willing to wait a couple of extra days for the glasses to come, they still wanted them to arrive as soon as possible, since all three of them believed that it would be easier for America to have a physical if he had them. The reasons as to why they hadn't had a doctor check the nation's condition yet was because for one, he was still somewhat blind, and they wanted him to be able to see what was going on during the appointment so that he wouldn't be as afraid of what was going on. For another, America didn't really show any signs of having any severe health problems yet. The reason why they still wanted him to go, regardless of the lack of obvious health problems, though, was because of the possibility of there being a rouge, long term health condition that could've been caused by either the scientists, or the damaged economy (of course, it wasn't as if the nation had become a third world country yet, but after what his ex-boss had done to his country, it had become somewhat harder for his people to survive). There was no harm in making sure that everything was alright with him. Even if he was a nation, and that made him stronger and more durable than any human that ever existed.
Despite the fact that America wasn't having too much trouble navigating through the house, since he was pretty much used to being nearly blind by now, the nations that were caring for him still wanted to keep an eye on him to make sure that nothing too terrible would happen. There had been one time during the past week when he'd been pacing around the living room (Russia hadn't been sure whether it was because he was bored, or that he had just wanted to look around the room, but when he tried to provide him with some entertainment at that particular moment, the young nation just gave him a look of confusion, as a sign that he didn't understand the purpose of his caretaker's action, and continued on with what he was doing). At first, no one had thought anything of the nonstop pacing, as the floor had been clear of any small objects that could trip or hurt the wandering nation, and he'd, for the most part, stayed away from the furniture, so that he wouldn't end up hurting himself from that as well.
At least, that was until he decided that exploring the clear area of the living room was suddenly too boring for him, and began to make his way out of the room at a much quicker pace. That was, until his new objective had been interrupted by the coffee table in the middle of the living room. America had not noticed the rouge object in the room, due to how short it was compared to him despite it being wide, and considering the fact that the table was only as tall as half of his leg, tripping on it was easy for him to manage. Not only did doing this cause a bruise to form on one of his legs, but he also ended up landing so that his chin clashed with the hard surface of the table, and a loud clank from his teeth could be heard by anyone who'd been within a yard's radius of the nation during the collision.
Russia, the one who had been keeping an eye on him during that time, had not expected that sudden accident to happen. Though he did feel guilty for not doing a better job of watching him, he knew that it would do him no good to dwell on his mistake, and instead made sure to slowly and carefully lift the young nation from the coffee table. He also couldn't help but feel a bit panicked when he noticed some blood dripping out of America's mouth. When he examined the nation's mouth, though, to see where the blood was coming from, he was relieved to find that he'd only bitten the inside of his cheek during accident, and that the wound wasn't too terrible at all. Since America was a nation, he would have no problem over coming the bite. Though the young nation had looked a bit upset about hurting himself on the coffee table, so Russia had decided to try and make him feel better by giving him something cold and sweet. Not only would the sweet taste help cheer him up and distract him from the pain, but his caretaker also figured that something cold would help his cheek heal.
After that incident, America did not want anything to do with the coffee table, and had tried his best to stay as far away from it as possible. He also appeared to be much more careful about where he wandered in the house, and walked much more slowly in order to avoid tripping or bumping into things. The other nations were happy with the fact that the young nation had learned from his tripping incident (even though the event did cause him a bit of pain), and that he had decided to be more careful than before about walking around the house. It wasn't as if he had never even bothered to try to be cautious about where he was going before, but they had figured that after a while of not bumping into anything, he'd grown a bit cocky about walking around the house with his horrible vision.
In fact, the other three had obtained so much confidence in America's ability to safely walk around the house that they figured there would be no need to keep an eye out for him every single second of the day, and had allowed him to be independent about where he roamed (though, they kept any doors that led outside locked, as they didn't want the nation to run away, or to become lost in the vast outdoors).
This, however, they had come to realize was a huge mistake, as one night, when Russia had forgotten to turn the light on in the room that he and the young nation were in, due to the fact that he personally didn't need it and hadn't remembered the fact that America would just so that everything would be easier for him to see, the one he was keeping an eye on had ended up tripping over yet another table. This time, the table had a vase on it, and the sound of shattering glass was what had averted Russia's attention from whatever he'd been doing before the incident, and caused him to rush towards the one he was caring for just to make sure he was alright. This time, after tripping and hurting himself, America was curled up on the floor and holding his ribs; looking winded from the impact his body had the misfortune of dealing with.
Making sure that the two of them avoided the broken glass on the floor, in order to prevent anymore more potential injury, Russia helped stand America up as he checked to make sure that there was no severe damage done to his ribs. It wasn't long after he started helping the young nation out after the accident that he heard another person enter the room. Before the said individual had neared the scene, though, Russia made sure to speak up in order to warn them of the danger that was littered all over the floor, "Don't get too close to this table. There's broken glass on the floor around it."
Russia glanced at whoever entered the room to find that it was Canada. It didn't appear as if the broken glass on the floor was what had worried him the most at that moment, though. Instead, all of his attention was focused on his brother. With concern radiating from his tone, Canada inquired, "Is he going to be okay? He looks like he's in a lot of pain."
"I'm sure that he's going to be fine," Russia answered, in the hopes of making the twin of the one he was caring for feel better about the situation at hand, "I checked his ribs, and it didn't seem as if anything was broken. It looks like he was only winded by the impact of hitting the table. He's probably going to have a bruise, though."
"Well, at least nothing is broken. I think he should lay down for the rest of the night, though. It looks like that accident really hurt him, and he's still pretty weak from all of that trauma he went through for two years, so this might be affecting him more than it usually would. Laying down might make the pain more bearable for him."
Russia glanced over at America to study his current condition. The young nation had both of his hands covering the area of his torso he'd just hurt, as if he was desperate to believe that holding himself this way would help the pain go away. He was also slouched and leaning against his caretakers form; a sign that he didn't want to be standing any longer. Wrapping one arm around America, in order to help hold him up so that he didn't have to put so much energy into standing, Russia replied to the advice Canada had just given him, "I think you're right about him not wanting to stand right now. I'll go lay him down, then."
Before the two of them began to make their way into the living room, so that the hurt nation could lay down on the couch (Russia didn't want to take America all the way upstairs, as he figured that walking wasn't something that the young nation would want to do at all during that moment, even if he was being physically supported by another person), Canada stated, "I'll go get an ice pack, and clean up this broken glass so that it isn't a burden to you."
"Thanks, Matvey," was all Russia said, before he headed out of the room with the one he was caring for.
Upon entering the living room, Russia had been quick to remove all of the unnecessary objects he had left on the couch before checking on the one he was currently helping out, before slowly, and carefully (as to not cause him any more pain) lifting the nation that was once standing next to him up and setting him down on the couch. Before leaving the room in order to retrieve a blanket for the hurt nation, he made sure to place a pillow under America's head to help him become comfortable. When he did grab the blanket that he deemed perfect for making the young nation comfortable and returned to the living room after going upstairs to grab it, he made sure that it was wrapped tightly around the form of the one he was caring for, but not before he grabbed the ice pack that Canada had left for him on the coffee table and placed it on the area of America's torso that had been hurting. At first, it had been a bit of a struggle to try and keep the ice pack on his ribs, as the young nation flinched and squirmed and tried to push it away, as how frigid it felt compared to the warmth of the blanket was, at first, only succeeding in making him feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, though, after a while of being forced to keep the ice pack on his torso, the young nation began to realize that the cold was helping him overcome his pain, and so he had eventually given up on the struggle of trying to remove the chilly discomfort, and instead, decided to embrace it.
For the rest of the time that America was still awake, Russia had decided to sit down on the area of the floor next to the couch and keep his fellow comrade company. He didn't think that the young nation would necessarily need the comfort. After all, he did appear to be much more content, now that he was wrapped in a thick blanket and laying on a couch, rather than when he'd just hurt himself. The reason why he wanted to hang around him and cuddle him while he slowly drifted off was not only because he didn't really have anything else to do at that moment, and that he was in a cuddly mood. There was just something about seeing others in pain that made Russia feel a lot of sympathy for those people, and made him want to make them feel better through snuggles. Especially if that certain someone had an innocent state of mind, such as America at that current moment with his memories erased.
Considering the fact that Russia was much older than America, he felt as if it was his moral obligation to help him over come his current condition. He even felt as if he should protect him as if he was his own child. Some people probably would find this to be a bit creepy, or even view it as an insult to the young nation's accomplishments, but just because his caretaker had this desire, didn't mean that he necessarily thought of the American as weak, or dependent. He was well aware of all the of the accomplishments the nation had achieved at his very young age, along with his capability to be independent. He just thought that it would be unethical to not even attempt to help the America out in his time of great need. No nation had ever had their memory wiped (at least, Russia was not aware of any nations that had had their memories wiped), which meant that this was a problem that no one quite knew how to deal with, and the more people who were willing to try and figure out how to help, the better. Besides, things would be so much harder for the young nation if he had to overcome this obstruction on his own. In fact, it would almost be impossible, since there were many countries who possibly had an interest in conquering him in his vulnerable state, and would want to keep him down by making sure that his memory was never recovered. These considerations were all some of the reasons why Russia wanted to help the young nation out.
While Russia continued to run his fingers though America's soft, wheat colored hair, he spoke to him in a voice that was almost a whisper, despite him not being able to understand a word he was saying, "I'm sorry for not turning on the light when it started getting dark. I'm sure that accident wouldn't have happened if I was paying more attention. It's definitely one-hundred percent my fault this time."
America felt himself becoming even more relaxed, as he listened to the soft tone coming from his caretaker. He didn't understand how any noise that came from a human could be so soothing to him. Especially when that human was a man. Yet this still didn't stop him from enjoying the concept he was still completely unfamiliar with.
Seeing as America was growing more comfortable in his presence just from listening to his voice, Russia continued to speak in the same, soft tone, "I hope those glasses are going to finally be here tomorrow. I'm sick of seeing you sometimes struggle with your horrible eyesight. Besides, you deserve to be able to see the world as more clear and beautiful, not as some blurry mess. I remember hearing someone once say that, after only seeing the world with horrible vision your whole life, you become amazed by how beautiful the world looks when you first put on a pair of glasses. I hope that you will be amazed by the change too. Maybe for once, you will actually smile when you finally see what the world really looks like. I haven't seen you smile once since we saved you from those scientists, so I guess you must have forgotten how to do so. I'm sure you'll learn how pretty quick, though, once you're able to properly see us do it. I can't wait to see it. You probably have one of the most contagious and adorable smiles I've ever seen."
America showed no signs of understanding the significance of the compliment whatsoever, but was still willing to show appreciation towards the affection and attention that was liberally being given to him at that moment by scooching closer to Russia in the hopes of being able to cuddle with him as best as he could while his caretaker was sitting on the floor. He didn't understand how being spoiled with this strange attention (at least to him it was strange; to everyone else, it would be seen as affection) could make him feel so at peace. It was even able to bring about that strange, unfamiliar warmth in his stomach that made him feel all fuzzy on the inside. He couldn't even begin to fathom what this meant, or why he felt the way he did, but he didn't want to question it. It was much better than the draining, shaky feeling that fear gave him; as well as the lung squeezing agony of panic and the skin prickling, boiling sensation of humiliation.
Sure, there still was something within him that tried to urge him to move away from the human in front of him. The small paranoia kept explaining to him the best that it could in his nonverbal mind that the creature in front of him was dangerous and disgusting. That it's only intention was to hurt anything that wasn't like it. It didn't need a valid reason to do so. It was just in it's nature to be pleased by the pain of other creatures. Yet, America ignored the traumatizing memories the irrational (or perhaps, it would be considered rational, depending on how one were to view it) suspicion tried to play in his head. He was too tired to want to listen to his instinct, and instead, closed his eyes as he continued to allow himself to be caressed by the gentle, protective hands of the human in front of him. The human had shown him nothing but kindness the whole time he knew him, would there really be any harm in letting his guard down in his presence for once?
A/N: Sorry guys, he still doesn't have his glasses in this chapter. I was originally going to make a second part of this chapter where he finally does receive them, but at the last minute, I decided that it would be best to split this chapter into two. So the next chapter I post, I promise that he will have his glasses.
Also, you guys may find it odd and unrealistic that America has not smiled once in two years. I personally thought, though, that in some way, this would actually be realistic for his situation. It all stems from something that I learned during a health fair that was hosted at my high school. One of the set ups showed us the various steps of the development of a fetus, along with some of the behaviors that a fetus will learn on its own while in the womb. If I remember correctly, one of the facts said that the fetus starts to frown at some point to express negative emotions, but that a human does not smile until they learn how to do so by watching others smile. I could be completely wrong about this, but when I tried looking this up on the internet, I couldn't really find any reliable sources, so I think I'll take the doctor's word for it. I personally thought that this was very interesting, and held some relevance towards America's situation. Since he forgot a lot of behaviors that we learn as we grow up, along with the fact that his vision is almost useless, he probably hasn't been able to really see anyone smile, and if he did, it wasn't for the right reason. I figure that this will just be one of the behaviors he'll learn while he is recovering his memory.