Winry gathered up the tools of her trade, trying her hardest to avoid turning her eyes back to her patient. Judging by the sound, Edward was pulling himself to his feet, stumbling as best as he could to the couch, where she knew he would lie until the pain stopped and the fever passed.
The automail reattachment had always affected Ed more severely than most people, despite Winry's best efforts to improve the nerve contacts. Some part of her suspected, no feared, that his punishing insistence of adjusting to the mechanical limbs within a year that had done some permanent damage. She shook her head as if the motion would physically shake the thought out of her mind and placed her tools back in their proper places, moving to the kitchen to ready a cool damp cloth and bring Ed a drink of water.
When she returned, glass and towel in hand, Ed was exactly where she expected, collapsed on the narrow couch with his shirt already rucked up above his stomach. Winry smiled wryly and took up her customary seat next to him, drawing the damp cloth over his already feverish skin.
"Winry?" His voice was soft, as if it hurt too much to speak, and she wished for the thousandth time that there was some way she could ease the pain.
"Yes, Ed?" she answered, concentrating on the action of drawing the cloth across his brow.
His eyes fluttered open, and he raised his left hand, gesturing to the ceiling. "Can you help me back upstairs? I want to sit with Al," he croaked.
Winry's hands stilled, and she closed her eyes, choking back a cry. Ed had not left the newly returned Alphonse's side since their return to Risembool three days ago, and only the combined efforts of herself, Granny, and Lieutenant Hawkeye had been able to pry the blond away to have his destroyed automail repaired. She saw how much pain it had been for Ed to sit beside his unconscious brother, ignoring the fact that his arm and leg were little more than frayed wires. She knew how much pain he was in now, physically, from the reattachment procedure. And she knew how much pain he was in, mentally, being away from Al.
Opening her eyes, Winry forced herself to smile, to keep her voice steady as she answered. "Sure, Ed. Just lie here for a few more minutes while I get another cot into Al's room. That way you'll be more comfortable while you're waiting for Al to wake up." Ed nodded and closed his eyes, his body relaxing.
Winry laid the cloth on his brow and stood up, moving towards the staircase. With one foot on the step, she turned back to look at Edward Elric. How could he bear so much pain? A part of her wished she knew the answer, but a much greater part of her wished she could give anything, everything, to make that pain stop.