Consequences

A/N: I was listening to BBMak's "Ghost of You and Me" while writing this. I'd recommend listening to this while reading it. It somehow fits, I think.

Stuff that's in -"quotes, bold, italics, and underline"- all at the time same with dashes before and after is lyrics from the song.

-"I hear the voices call, following footsteps down the hall, trying to save what's left of my heart and soul…"-

"Riza! Riza!"

What's going on? Why does he sound so panicked? I'm fine! Riza tried to open her eyes, starting to thrash when she realized that she could not do what she wanted. Pain flared in her shoulder. She tried to talk. Somebody, please tell me, what's wrong?

A wet, sticky hand gripped hers. She recognized the feel of half-congealed blood from Ishbal. The size, the warmth- there was only one person who belonged to this hand. But why was there blood on it?

"-Lost a lot. Good thing the event was so close to a hospital."

It clicked.

I got shot, and now my body's shutting down the unnecessary things, trying to save itself. But why was I shot? Weren't we enjoying that evening? What went- the memory returning suddenly stunned her so much that she did not recognize her own scream as something probed at the wound in her shoulder.

"Colonel Mustang, we need to do our job. You need to leave. You will be informed of our progress when the time comes," a stern voice commanded.

Something cold trickled into Riza's arm and slowly spread through her body. Finally, she could no longer hear the doctor's mumble.

-"Watching the candle flicker out, in the evening glow, I can't let go! When will the night be over?"-

She was floating- no, that was not it… She was suspended in air, not solid, either, she knew. It was a state of matter that she had never thought possible until now. How she came to this conclusion, she did not know, but she had the feeling that she was right.

There she was, on the operating table. Well, there was her body, anyway. Her shoulder was a mess, and the bodice of the dress that she had been stripped of was mostly stained a deep red.

Is he alright?

How she could be in the OR one minute and the waiting room the next was apparently a perk of her state of existence at the moment. Roy waited anxiously in a chair. As she got closer, she could see tears.

"Dammit, Hawkeye, how the hell could you do that to me? Are you going to leave, just like Hughes?"

Roy… she reached out to touch him, to comfort him, but something was tugging her back, back to her body.

No! He needs me! She struggled against the feeling.

He needs you alive. You are only being called back to your body. Do not worry- you will see him soon.

Why she trusted the voice, she would never know, but soon, she was back into darkness.

-"I didn't mean to fall in love with you, and baby there's a name for what you put me through: it isn't love, it's robbery…"-

She opened her eyes.

"Miss Hawkeye, it would be best for you not to move," a nurse suggested. "Your body has sustained a lot of trauma. You need to rest."

Riza asked, "When will I be able to see Colonel Mustang?"

At least, she tried.

No sound issued forth, except a few consonants. Riza lifted a hand to her throat in surprise.

"I'm sorry, Miss Hawkeye. Truly, I am, but the doctor said that it was either your voice or your life." The nurse left.

All Riza could do was lie there. What now? Tears leaked from her eyes, sobs shaking her body and the equipment attached.

"Riza…" She was unaccustomed to the softness in Roy's voice. "Riza… I…"

She had stopped crying to look at him when he had entered, but a fresh wave of grief sent her body into the same spasms of sobbing as before, not stopping when she heard Roy's voice again.

"It'll be alright, Riza." His hand, now clean brushed her bangs aside and gently stroked her hair. "Whatever happens now, it'll be alright. Whatever you need, I'll be there to help you, I promise."

Having quieted, she turned to face him. "It wasn't supposed to be this way!" she mouthed, shaking her head. "This isn't how it's supposed to turn out! I want my voice back!" She winced, lifting a hand to massage her neck.

"Rest," Roy commanded. "You're not to attempt to speak until you're told otherwise."

He's about to fall apart. She had seen that expression before, magnified at the scene of Maes's murder.

Roy had turned away. What could she do? Even if she hadn't been banned from talking, she could not speak. There was only one choice. She lifted her hand to grasp his and give it a gentle squeeze.

Whatever happens from here on out, it happens to the both of us.

-"I'm sleeping with the ghost of you and me."-

End

September 7th: This was written about a week ago. I've been so busy with school and work, though, that I haven't done much to it. In my opinion, the pacing's really off, the characters could use some work, and I could've made it seem a lot more real. However, I seem to have very little of that precious thing called "time" on my hands, so this'll have to do. I'll try to rewrite when I have the time.

A/N: This is no less depressing than its predecessor, in my eyes. I really did almost cry writing this. The music did it.

Okay, so a few things…

1) I've heard that the body blocks out unpleasant memories when you're in shock so that you don't have to deal with that stress.

2) I've also heard of out-of-body experiences during surgeries, especially life-or-death ones. Never having had extreme surgery (the only surgery I've had was for wisdom teeth), I wouldn't know.

IF ANYBODY FEELS THE NEED TO CORRECT ME, PLEASE DO! Just be nice about it, please?